Todd Casebier talks to his Montrose team after a win during the 2014 season. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Todd Casebier has had an enormous amount of success building Montrose into a Class 4A football power. Now, Fruita Monument is hoping the coach can do the same for its program.
Fruita announced it had hired Casebier as its next football coach on Tuesday. In a statement, the school said it was “excited to have a coach of this caliber lead its football program.”
Casebier had been at Montrose for 10 seasons, going 86-30. The year prior to his arrival, Montrose went 1-10.
Now, he’ll tackle a similar challenge at Fruita Monument, a 5A program which is coming off of a 1-9 season. The Wildcats haven’t had a winning season since 2004 — when they went 6-5 — and are 34-66 since 2005.
Fruita will have some pieces back in 2015, including quarterback Sam Schroeder (1,811 yards, 11 total TDs) and wideout Grady Winters (445 yards, four TDs).
But Casebier’s Montrose teams have traditionally relied heavily upon the run — for instance, last year, they ran 88 percent of the time and averaged 357.4 yards on the ground per game. So it will be interesting to see how his offense develops at Fruita.
Before coaching at Montrose, Casebier had a successful stint at Palisade (1998-2004), a school from where he graduated in 1985. He was also an assistant at Durango from 1990-97.
Montrose went 10-2 last season and earned the No. 3 seed in 4A. The Indians lost to Broomfield in the quarterfinals.
That followed a 12-2 year in 2013 which included a run to the 4A title game.
Montrose made the playoffs nine times under Casebier, and had six seasons of nine wins or more.
Below is a list of Week 10 games for teams which did not make the Class 5A football playoff bracket. These teams were paired up by the 5A seeding committee.
Columbine’s players celebrate a home run on Saturday. More photos. (Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)
Jennifer Romero led Columbine to the biggest upset in the softball regionals on Saturday.
The sophomore pitched in all three games her No. 31-seeded Rebels played in the Class 5A bracket, and didn’t allow a run — including a complete-game performance against No. 2 Legacy, the defending 5A champion, which clinched a berth in next weekend’s state tournament.
“She really stepped it up a notch,” Columbine coach Brooks Roybal told CHSAANow.com on Saturday evening. “She pitched really, really well.”
Columbine actually dropped its opening game of the 5A Region 8 bracket at Broomfield Industrial Park. That was also against Legacy, and the Rebels fell 6-0.
But Romero entered in the final two innings of the opening game, and didn’t allow Legacy another run.
Columbine dropped to the loser’s bracket for the second game, and face Cherokee Trail — a team the Rebels had beaten 12-11 in the second game of the season. Like the first meeting, offense ruled. Cherokee Trail led 7-6 midway through before Romero again entered again — and again shut the opposing offense down.
Columbine went on to rally and win that game, 11-7, thanks in part to a home run from Carly Perry.
Meanwhile, Douglas County had topped Cherokee Trail 6-0, and then beat Legacy 7-0 to win the region. It set Columbine up with a rematch, with a berth to state on the line.
This time, Romero started. She pitched a complete-game shutout, and buoyed by a grand slam from Perry, Columbine pulled the upset, 8-0.
“I think playing against Cherokee Trail, our bats came alive a little bit and they had a little more confidence going against Legacy that second round,” Roybal said. “Especially after we shut them down. Legacy might have been down a little bit, too, because they just got beat by Douglas County. You catch them at the right time sometimes.”
The end result was this: Columbine, a No. 31 seed, moved on to the state tournament, while Legacy did not.
“We told them afterwards it was probably the biggest win Columbine has had in the last eight years,” Roybal said. “We haven’t been a qualifier for seven or eight years.”
Columbine already had a number of big wins this season, including topping Brighton and Ralston Valley.
“They’ve got a few good wins under their belts this year which have been huge,” Roybal said. “You know, we’ve never beat Brighton, we’ve never beaten Ralston Valley. And I’m sure we’ve never beaten Legacy. We’ve always thought we could beat anybody, if we played well.”
More 5A notables
No. 24-seeded Pine Creek upset No. 9 Mountain Range in the opening round in Region 2, then advanced to the state tournament with a 10-9 win over Fruita Monument in the final game.
Horizon, a No. 28 seed, rallied from being no-hit by Castle View in its first game to top No. 21 Greeley West (13-2), and then No. 12 Pomona (8-5) in reaching the state tournament.
No. 29 Arvada West dropped its first game, but then won two straight to earn a berth. Included was a 10-5 win over No. 13 Rock Canyon.
The complete 5A state field, with regional seeds noted: No. 1 Fossil Ridge, No. 3 Dakota Ridge, No. 4 Brighton, No. 5 Castle View, No. 6 Legend, No. 7 Grandview, No. 8 Broomfield, No. 10 Grand Junction Central, No. 11 Rocky Mountain, No. 14 Chaparral, No. 16 Eaglecrest, No. 18 Douglas County, No. 24 Pine Creek, No. 28 Horizon, No. 29 Arvada West, No. 31 Columbine.
The softball seeding committee will meet at the CHSAA office at 9 a.m. Monday to seed the state tournament.
Air Academy, a No. 24 seed, dropped its first game of the tournament, to Erie, 3-1. The Kadets then beat No. 25 Holy Family 1-0, and upset eighth-seeded Mountain View 7-5 to claim a state berth.
Region 4 had a length rain delay which disrupted play in its second round games. Prior to the delay, Wheat Ridge advanced. After the delay, No. 20 Thompson Valley went on to upset No. 13 Pueblo East for the other berth.
No. 26-seeded Mead rebounded from an opening-round loss to win its next two games and advance to the 4A tournament. The Mavericks beat No. 23 Thomas Jefferson and No. 10 Berthoud.
D’Evelyn, a No. 27 seed, actually upset No. 6 Vista Ridge in the first round but then dropped the winner’s-bracket game to No. 11 Ponderosa. D’Evelyn had to turn around and beat Vista Ridge again for the tournament berth.
The complete 4A state field, using regional seeds: No. 1 Frederick, No. 2 Valor Christian, No. 3 Pueblo West, No. 4 Wheat Ridge, No. 5 Silver Creek, No. 7 Discovery Canyon, No. 9 Erie, No. 11 Ponderosa, No. 12 Mullen, No. 14 Niwot, No. 16 Falcon, No. 18 Windsor, No. 20 Thompson Valley, No. 24 Air Academy, No. 26 Mead, No. 27 D’Evelyn.
Surprisingly, there was not a single upset during the entire 3A regional tournament. It meant the new format, which would have only played a third game if the top seed in a given region lost, was not used this season.
The complete 3A state field, using regional seeds: No. 1 Strasburg, No. 2 Valley, No. 3 La Junta, No. 4 Sterling, No. 5 Eaton, No. 6 Lamar, No. 7 Skyline, No. 8 Burlington, No. 9 Cedaredge, No. 10 Brush, No. 11 Rocky Ford, No. 12 Basalt.
Nine minutes remained in the fourth quarter on Friday night, and Columbine led Bear Creek 28-7. The Rebels would win 43-42 an hour and five minutes later.
Wait, what?
Despite nearly letting the game slip through its fingers, Columbine battled through double overtime to outlast Bear Creek.
Columbine quarterback Jake Lowry. (Dennis Pleuss)
“I was proud of how our kids stepped up and did fight, and made plays at the end, just enough to win it,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry told ColoradoPreps.com’s Scoreboard Show after the game. “Our kids just never gave up and our offense just made plays at the end in overtime, and we squeaked one out.”
Bear Creek was shut out until five minutes remained in the third quarter, and actually trailed 21-0 at that point. But the Bears’ rally really didn’t start until six minutes remained in regulation, when they cut it to 28-14. After an onside kick recovery, and two more scores, it was suddenly tied up and heading to overtime.
“I give Bear Creek a lot of credit for just fighting and playing hard,” Lowry said. “Their coaches did a good job, and they made a lot of plays. We just couldn’t finish in that fourth quarter.”
After blowing the late lead, “We were down a little bit,” Lowry said, “but we just talked to (the team) about how this is a good challenge for us to be able to grow up and face some adversity and have to fight for something.”
Both teams scored in the first overtime, and then Bear Creek converted on its offensive possession in the second. So did Columbine — but the Rebels opted to go for two, and Columbine’s junior quarterback, Jake Lowry, kept the ball to convert for the win.
“My coaches were calling for it, saying, ‘Go for two! Go for two!’” Andy Lowry said. “We just hadn’t stopped them for quite a few possessions in a row. The offense was doing well, and they were over-loading one side, and we just decided to put it in Jake’s hands.
“He made a great play and got in the end zone. You just hate to miss an extra point or something like that and end something that way, so we kept it in our offense’s hands.”
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4A: (9) Fort Collins 13, (8) Windsor 12
Windsor led 6-0 at halftime and later 12-7 in the fourth, but Fort Collins quarterback Kyler Sigsbee found Dawson Johnson for the winning 5-yard score with six minutes remaining.
The Lambkins’ defense recovered a Windsor fumble on the ensuing drive, and Fort Collins was able to run the clock out.
“We we kind of using this as a barometer to find out where we rank among the 4A elite, because we definitely consider Windsor an elite 4A team,” Fort Collins coach Eric Rice told the Scoreboard Show. “I’m really glad our kids passed the test tonight.”
Later, he added, “When you hold a team like Windsor, which has a potent offense and is good at what they do, to 12 points, you’ve got to be happy about that.”
Not only did Arickaree/Woodlin position itself to take over the top spot in the poll on Monday, the squad also knocked off the defending 6-man champions.
“This is probably the biggest win since we restarted the program four years ago,” Arickaree/Woodlin coach David Saffer told the Scoreboard Show. “The seniors this year have come from the bottom and worked their way up, so it was a very good win for us.
“We also understand that we’ve got a long season ahead of us, and we’ve got to keep going week-by-week here.”
On the presumptive No. 1 ranking, Saffer said, “We’ve got a target on our backs. We’ve just got to stay focused and keep working.”
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5A: (6) Fairvew 35, Horizon 28
Horizon nearly pulled off its second-straight upset.
Nearly.
A week after knocking off then-No. 6 Chatfield, Horizon battled with Fairview all night on Friday. Ultimately, though, the Knights secured the win.
Horizon actually led 21-7 early in the second quarter, but Fairview rallied to tie things with 3:56 to play before the half. Then, quarterback Johnny Feauto found Tim Ryan for a 20-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left in the half to give the Knights the lead.
“Yeah, he’s our version of Johnny Football,” Fairview coach Tom McCartney joked on the Scoreboard Show. “He’s a tremendous player, he’s the point guard on the basketball team, he was on the baseball team that was in the Elite 8. He loves the center of attention, he loves competition. He just makes a ton of plays for us, and we’re fortunate to have Johnny Football.”
Oh, but Horizon wasn’t done. The Hawks tied it up early in the fourth on a touchdown pass of their own.
Jason Harvey then provided the heroics. His 14-yard run with 1:39 to play proved to be the difference — but only after the Knights’ defense stopped Horizon on fourth-and-2 from near midfield.
“It was a good stop there to try to get that thing secure,” McCartney said.
“The second half was just hard-fought, two teams going at it. … We just found a way.”
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1A/2A: (2) Buena Vista 21, (10) Manitou Springs 0
Buena Vista, a 1A school, held serve at home against 2A Manitou Springs.
“What got us going, I would say, is our defense and how they stayed disciplined,” Buena Vista coach Matt Flavin told the Scoreboard Show. “I told them we needed to stay disciplined, and they responded and stayed with the gameplan even though they came out and started running the ball on us.
“That kind of got a spark in us to keep going. They got the offense going, as well.”
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Notes
In a rematch of last year’s 1A championship game, No. 1 Paonia handled No. 4 Centauri 44-0.
Mountain View beat Loveland 24-21 on Jayce Melby’s 24-yard field goal with six seconds left.
Falcon also got a late field goal to beat Pueblo West 16-14. Falcon’s 16 points were actually unanswered after trailing 14-0.
With Valor Christian’s loss, Dayspring Christian now solely owns the longest winning streak in the state at 15 games. The defending 8-man champions play Soroco on Saturday.
Poudre took down Monarch, 7-2. Monarch actually had a chance from the 9-yard-line with 0.4 seconds to play, but couldn’t score.
Eaglecrest, a 5A program, upset 4A No. 3 Denver South 12-6.
Overland rolled Legend, 54-0. The Trailblazers are now 4-0. As recently as 2011, they opened 0-4.
Boulder running back T.J. Jones rushed for 300 yards in his team’s 42-22 win over Thornton, according to BoCoPreps.com.
5A No. 4 Grandview rushed for six touchdowns in its 49-27 win over Arapahoe.
4A No. 4 Montrose rebounded from its first loss with a 55-0 win over Fruita Monument.
In a top-10 4A matchup, No. 9 Holy Family took care of No. 7 Palisade. Said coach Mike Gabriel to the Scoreboard Show: “We really needed it after last week. We played a little less than what we were capabale of last week, so this is a big win for us.”
There were three other top-10 games in 6-man this week besides the 1-2 showdown: No. 3 Eads 52, No. 8 Cheyenne Wells 6; No. 6 Peetz 53, No. 7 Prairie 0; No. 9 Flagler 46, No. 10 Kit Carson 22.
Fairview senior Johnny Feauto (17), pictured last season after a win in the Class 5A semifinals. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Fairview’s offense was supposed to take a hit after graduating its quarterback and three leading receivers. Right?
Yeah, right.
The Knights, ranked No. 7 in this week’s poll, not only picked up right where they left off last Saturday, they expanded upon what last year’s near-record setting offense did on its way to football’s Class 5A championship game last season.
Led by senior Johnny Feauto, their “new” quarterback — more on that later — Fairview racked up 510 passing yards and 712 yards of total offense in its 58-28 win at Grand Junction.
The passing yards now rank No. 3 in the state record book, while the total offense is No. 10.
Here’s what’s scary: Fairview trailed Grand Junction 14-0 after the first quarter.
Last season, Anders Hill and Feauto combined to throw for 4,005 yards. It was only the third time in state history that a program had surpassed the 4,000-yard mark in passing. But Hill, now at Columbia, accounted for 3,878 of that — which is No. 4 all-time in state history for a single season.
Still, Feauto didn’t come out of nowhere. As a sophomore, he played in six games in relief of an injured Hill and threw for 2,316 yards and 21 touchdowns. In fact, his 414 yards on Saturday are just the third-most of Feauto’s career. He had outputs of 433 and 429 yards as a sophomore.
With a fully-healthy Hill back last season, Feauto focused on his role at cornerback and had six interceptions — including two in the semifinals against ThunderRidge.
Anyway, on Saturday, Feauto also had 122 rushing yards. That put his total output at 536 yards, which is now No. 7 all-time.
So this offense, despite losing guys like Hill, Sam Martin, Cam Frazier and Owen Harris, is still very potent. Because of Feauto, and because of other guys like Thomas Creese — who threw for the other 96 passing yards on Saturday — Carlo Kemp (two rushing touchdowns), David McWilliams (202 receiving yards, two touchdowns), Connor May (94 receiving yards, two touchdowns), Tim Ryan (109 all-purpose yards) and Steve D’Epagnier (41 receiving yards).
If anything, they’re just upholding tradition. Historically, Fairview has had one of the state’s best offenses.
The Knights own the Nos. 3 and 4 total marks for passing yards in a season. In addition to the 2013 mark of 4,005 yards, the program threw for 3,977 in 2002. Fairview also sits Nos. 1 and 2 in the record books for passes attempted and completed by a team in a season. And Martin, now at Miami of Ohio, holds the state records for catches (112) and receiving yards (1,860) in a season.
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Jefferson Academy’s Kupcho plays well at Colorado Women’s Open
(Courtesy of Mike Kupcho)
Jefferson Academy senior Jennifer Kupcho, last season’s Class 4A girls golf champion, finished tied for second at the Colorado Women’s Open last weekend. She finished at 1-under (215) over the three-day event, and actually held the lead after the first day at 6-under.
Kupcho was the top-placing amateur of the event.
“It’s really exciting to finish that high up in a pro tournament,” she told BoCoPreps afterward.
Other notable finishers:
2014 Cherry Creek grad Calli Ringsby (tied for 24th)
2010 Doherty graduate Paige Crawford (tied for 28th)
2012 Regis Jesuit graduate Kathleen Kershisnik (tied for 38th)
Columbine football hadn’t lost its opening game since 2006. Last week, the Rebels started 0-2. I can’t find the last time that happened in the program’s history. That said, both losses were five-point games. Columbine is off then week, then hosts Bear Creek next Friday.
Pueblo West boys soccer beat Lewis-Palmer 6-5 last Friday. Jaydon Moreschini, a senior, scored all six goals for the Cyclones.
Valor Christian quarterback Dylan McCaffrey, a sophomore, has been classified as an a four-star recruit by Scout.
More preseason volleyball honors for Lewis-Palmer’s Alexa Smith and Eaglecrest’s Jordyn Poulter: Both were named to High School Illustrated’s preseason All-American team.
Sticking with volleyball: Thomas Jefferson’s Jessica Jackson, a senior, was selected to play on an all-star team from the United States in Europe this summer.
Regis Jesuit announced that former DU defenseman Zach Blom, a member of the Pioneers’ 2005 national championship team, has joined its hockey program as an assistant.
Colorado’s mark on Wyoming football program has long been undeniable, but that seems extra true this season. Two Colorado products have been named captains of Wyoming’s football team: Grandview grad Eddie Yarbrough (a defensive end) and Palmer grad Dominic Rufran (a wide receiver). Rufran will start at wide receiver — along with former Grandview star Tanner Gentry. In all, 20 products of Colorado high schools are on Wyomong’s roster — including four 2014 grads. By comparison, CSU has 40 Colorado products on its roster this season and CU has 26.
Christian McCaffrey, who graduated from Valor Christian in May after an outstanding athletic career, had an electric debut for Stanford football on Saturday. We are all well aware of McCaffrey’s versatility — his 8,839 all-purpose yards are a state record — and he showed it in the Cardinal’s win against UC Davis. He had this 52-yard touchdown reception — the first of his career — and a 44-yard punt return. McCaffrey had one rush for 10 yards, the 52 receiving yards, returned three punts for 60 yards, and was even on kickoff coverage. Said Stanford offensive coordinator Mike Bloombgren to sfgate.com: “Nah, that didn’t surprise me. I’m not sure he’ll be able to do anything to surprise me anymore.”
2014 Falcon graduate Kalen Ballage also scored a touchdown in his debut for Arizona State last week. He finished with 37 yards on 12 attempts. Still, Ballage told the Arizona Republic, “I definitely want to be better. Now that I hit the ground running and got the first game out of the way, I’ll be able to just play.”
2010 Rocky Mountain graduate Marco Gonzales picked up his first MLB win on Saturday. “It feels pretty rewarding,” Gonzales told MLB.com afterward. He made his debut in June.
Another recent addition to football’s record book: Holy Family just recently submitted the career (2011-13) numbers for former quarterback David Sommers. His 8,326 yards of total offense are No. 10 all-time.
Former Pine Creek setter Rory McCloy was named the NJCAA Division I national player of the week last week. Now at Laramie County Community College in Wyoming, she had 175 assists in her team’s first four matches — and averaged 10.9 per set. She’s currently leading the nation in assists with 345.
Jefferson Academy alum Ally Thimsen, a 2014 graduate, was named the Big Sky offensive player of the week after recording two goals and an assist in one game.
Fruita Monument has hired Jake Smith to coach its boys lacrosse team, the school announced Tuesday.
Smith moved to the Grand Junction area in 2013, but spent six seasons as the head coach of University of Nebraska’s club program prior to that.
He played for Northern Colorado’s club team, and helped them to appearances in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association’s Division II national tournament in 2006 and 2007.
At Nebraska, Smith led the Huskers to the postseason for the first time in going 9-4 in 2009. That also marked the program’s first-ever winning season.
Fruita went 4-9 last season under former coach Mark Young.
Lutheran football has a new coach in Blair Hubbard this season. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Perhaps no football coaching change this offseason was as major as Blair Hubbard leaving Faith Christian for Lutheran.
Hubbard won three state championships in 15 seasons as head coach at Faith Christian, a perennial power in the Class 2A ranks. His teams were 148-30, made the playoffs 14 times and won 10 league titles.
But in the offseason Hubbard was looking to tackle something new. Lutheran — a 3A team since the school was formed by a merger of the old Denver Lutheran and Lutheran-Parker schools prior to the 2012 season — was a fit.
“I was just kind of looking for a new challenge, so when the opportunity presented itself I took some time to think about it, talked it over with my wife and some other wise council and decided to go ahead,” Hubbard said. “This was a good opportunity to make the change. I’m excited about this season and just the future of Lutheran High School football in general.”
Faith Christian moved quickly to hire Ralph Nance, Hubbard’s defensive coordinator, as his successor. It meant that Hubbard’s staff — which had been together for “over 10 years,” he said — was not going to stay intact.
“I’ve hired a completely new staff,” Hubbard said. “That was a specific challenge. And it was a good process.”
Hubbard’s new staff at Lutheran comprises 10 assistants — five of whom are in the building.
“I feel very comfortable with the coaches that we have on staff,” Hubbard said. “We’ve just got a good cohesiveness together. Everybody’s on the same page and is there for the same reason. We’re there to help build young men into men, boys into men. We’re not there necessarily for the wins and the losses. If we do our jobs, those kinds of things will hopefully take care of themselves. Our purpose is to have an effect in young men’s lives.”
Lutheran was 31-11 in former coach Daryl Moe’s four seasons, including three playoff appearances. So Hubbard is inheriting a great program.
Lutheran quarterback James Willis. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Included are quarterback James Willis and receiver Josh Clausen, both seniors and four-year varsity members, who combined for more than 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns through the air last season.
Willis, entering his third year as the starter at quarterback, threw for 2,306 yards and 24 touchdowns last season.
“He’s someone that’s just a humble leader, he’s a hard worker,” Hubbard said. “That’s the kind of athlete we’re looking to model our program after. Someone’s that just has that blue-collar work ethic and is humble and willing to help other kids out along the way.”
Clausen already has 2,312 receiving yards in his three seasons, which is just outside the top-10 in the state’s career record book.
“He’s (6-foot-4) and he’s got very good speed and great hands,” Hubbard said. “He’s getting some looks from some of the area Division I schools, so it’s exciting to work with him. He’s got that same kind of work ethic that we’re looking for, as well.”
A group of linemen also return.
“They have been very consistent in the weight room, and whenever you’ve got the kids up front that are dedicated to spending time in the weight room, you’re going to have a good opportunity to win some battles up front,” Hubbard said.
Lutheran opens the season in Houston, playing at Lutheran South Academy — a Division II school in Texas which went 8-3 and made the playoffs last season. It’s an opportunity for everyone to get to know one another really well, really quick.
“It will be a fun experience for the kids and for the coaches,” Hubbard said. “There’s a lot of logistics involved and we’ve gotten a lot of outstanding administrative support from the school.
“They’re of the mindset that they’re there for the athletes and the athletic program and want to do as much as they can to help the young men and women out in the athletic programs to have a great experience in their time at Lutheran.”
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Short stuff
During its transition to a regional program, the former Montbello High School athletic department will be known as the Warriors (Montbello). Eventually, the plan is to simply call the teams the Warriors — without including the Montbello clarifier.
Last week at the All-School Summit, a new approach to the classification structure was discussed. Every impression I’ve gotten seems like this is where the state will head this fall — though there was some resistance voiced during the classification breakout session at the Summit. We’ll see if that initial uneasiness turns into action ahead of CLOC’s November meeting.
Valor Christian’s Eric Lee Jr. and Pine Creek’s Avery Anderson, both defensive backs, will enroll at Nebraska early, the school announced.
Regis Jesuit offensive linemen Tim Lynott’s father tweeted out his official offer letter from Colorado. Lynott is a CU commit, and was recently moved up to a 4-star recruit by Scout.com.
Here’s a neat picture of Windsor’s football team playing in a flooded field near its school during storms last week. (Coach Chris Jones was quick to urge safety to his players: “Be smart about the water in front of the school,” he tweeted.)
Tony Ramunno had been the head football coach at Lewis-Palmer for 25 seasons, but he resigned late last month. “I really like Friday nights; it’s probably the best job a guy can have in the country,” he told the Colorado Springs Gazette. Former defensive coordinator Dustin Tupper will replace him.
Grandview hired Patrick Chapla as its boys lacrosse coach. He had been an assistant at Mountain Vista, and is also a club coach at 3d Lacrosse. “We are excited to add his passion, experience and love of the game to our program,” Grandview athletic director Jamee Ulitzky wrote in an email.
Eagle Ridge has a new girls basketball coach, according to the Brighton Blade: Vern Rathbun, who has been coaching for more than 30 years.
The numbers from the NFHS Network are in from the past school year, and the most popular events were as follows: Arapahoe-Fossil Ridge boys basketball in the 5A tournament; Overland-Denver East boys basketball in the 5A tournament; and the state track meet.
It seems like this is a weekly occurrence now, but here’s another reminder to kids that how you act on social media can have a very negative effect on your recruitment.
Fruita Monument wrestler Jacob Seely earned All-American status with his seventh-place finish at a national tournament in Fargo, North Dakota last month.
Doherty is holding a golf tournament at Colorado Springs Country Club on Aug. 18, and is seeking teams to participate. That’s the same course where the Class 5A state meet will be held. Interested schools should contact Doherty AD Chris Noll: CHRISTOPHER.NOLL@d11.org.
Likewise, Jefferson Academy is seeking schools for its golf invitational on Sept. 2 at Omni Interlocken Golf Club Resort. Contact Jags’ AD Michael Wilson: mwilson@jajags.com.
Horizon is inviting schools to its annual Popsicle Run at the Adams County Fairgrounds on Sept. 5. It’s a 4k course, and offers popsicles at the end. Contact: Antonio.Ricciardi@adams12.org.
Kim and Branson will co-op in football (ineligible for the playoffs), boys golf, volleyball, boys and girls basketball, as well as track. They will be the Kim Mustangs in all sports but football, where they will compete as the Branson Bearcats.
Alumni short stuff
Heritage alum Shane Opitz, now playing minor league baseball, was interviewed by the Dunedin Blue Jays’ radio network about a recent rehab of an injury, but also spoke about hailing from Colorado. “There’s a lot of talent coming out of Colorado, but people don’t necessarily recognize that because we don’t play year-round,” Opitz said. “There’s not a lot of good weather during the winter time, we’re under snow. But there’s a lot of talent.” A 2010 grad, he’s hitting .280 at Dunedin in 13 games so far this season.
Chaparral alum Shane Callahan has been cleared to play immediately for CU following his transfer from Auburn. Here he is in a video speaking with the media after practice. “I’m proud to wear Colorado on my jersey, this is my hometown,” he said. “Excited to have the chance to play for my home state this year!” he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
Kalen Ballage, a 2013 Falcon graduate, is “turning heads” as Arizona State opens football camp. Coach Todd Graham said he’s “the most impressive freshman running back we’ve ever had. Ever.”
Bobby Dalbec, who graduated from Legend in 2013, tore it up at the Cape Cod Baseball League this summer. He had five home runs and 18 RBIs in just 29 games, and hit .228. He also took part in the home run contest during All-Star festivities. Dalbec just completed his freshman season as the starting designated hitter/first baseman and reliever at Arizona. He hit .266 with two home runs and 30 RBIs for the Wildcats, and also had a team-best 2.13 ERA in 22 appearances. Dalbec did tell the Arizona Daily Star that his future is as a position player: “If we really need a guy to be a starter, I’d obviously do it. But I like my future after Arizona to be with the bat. I’m not real big on pitching. I do it and compete, but I prefer to be in the box.”
2003 Golden graduate Mark Melancon, a three-sport star in high school, returned to Colorado as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates late last month, and picked up a save at Coors Field. It was the third save he’d gotten against the Rockies in nine days. “Always fun playing on the field I grew up dreaming of playing on as a Big Leaguer,” Melancon tweeted.
This was neat: Former Grandview boys basketball star Eric Garcia pointed out that he (now at Wofford), Denver East alum Dom Collier (CU) and former Regis Jesuit player Josh Perkins (Gonzaga) will all be on national television at the same time during the college basketball season.
