ThunderRidge is the preseason No. 1 in 5A. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Defending champions lead CHSAANow.com’s preseason baseball rankings in four of the five classifications heading into the 2014 season.
Those No. 1 teams: ThunderRidge (5A), Mountain View (4A), Holy Family (3A) and Denver Christian (2A). Stratton (1A) is the lone preseason No. 1 to not win a title last season; defending champ Fleming opens at No. 5.
ThunderRidge received 11 of the the 17 first-place votes in the 5A poll, and topped the ranking with 154 overall points. The Grizzlies return a number of key pieces, including shortstop Brody Westmoreland, pitcher/outfielder AJ Jones, pitcher/outfielder Tyler Loptien and infielder Josh Brown.
Regis Jesuit got three first-place votes, and is No. 2. Rocky Mountain is No. 3, Cherry Creek is No. 4 and Grandview rounds out the top five.
Mountain View, No. 1 in 4A, returns the bulk of its team from last season’s title team, including star shortstop and pitcher Adam Baumann.
The rest of the 4A top five includes No. 2 Valor Christian, No. 3 Air Academy, No. 4 Montrose and No. 5 Pueblo West.
Holy Family leads the 3A poll and is followed by No. 2 Eaton, No. 3 Faith Christian, No. 4 Lamar and No. 5 Brush.
In 2A, Denver Christian leads the way. Resurrection Christian is second, and is followed by Lutheran, Las Animas and Paonia.
Stratton is on top of the preseason 1A poll. No. 2 Caliche, No. 3 Elbert, No. 4 Eads and No. 5 Fleming compile the top five.
Fairview 21, Pine Creek 18, Dakota Ridge 14, Chatfield 12, Monarch 12, Legacy 11, Columbine 10, Fossil Ridge 8, Northglenn 8, Cherokee Trail 6, Smoky Hill 6, Arapahoe 5, Rock Canyon 4, Heritage 2, Mullen 2.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Mountain View (10)
0-0
113
–
0-0
2
Valor Christian (2)
0-0
76
–
0-0
3
Air Academy (1)
0-0
58
–
0-0
4
Montrose
0-0
56
–
0-0
5
Pueblo West
0-0
49
–
0-0
6
Durango
0-0
38
–
0-0
7
Windsor
0-0
37
–
0-0
8
Cheyenne Mountain
0-0
34
–
0-0
9
Longmont
0-0
29
–
0-0
10
Green Mountain
0-0
25
–
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Pueblo South 22, Canon City 21, Evergreen 19, D’Evelyn 18, Ponderosa 17, Wheat Ridge 17, Erie 12, Broomfield 11, Palmer Ridge 11, Northridge 10, Mesa Ridge 8, Fort Morgan 7, Falcon 6, Thompson Valley 6, Centaurus 5, Pueblo East 5, Widefield 3, Thomas Jefferson 2, Niwot 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Holy Family (7)
0-0
70
–
0-0
2
Eaton
0-0
63
–
0-0
3
Faith Christian
0-0
53
–
0-0
4
Lamar
0-0
42
–
0-0
5
Brush
0-0
33
–
0-0
6
La Junta
0-0
27
–
0-0
7
Kent Denver
0-0
18
–
0-0
8
Olathe
0-0
15
–
0-0
9
Bayfield
0-0
12
–
0-0
10
Bennett
0-0
10
–
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Basalt 7, Peak to Peak 7, Manitou Springs 5, The Classical Academy 5, St. Mary’s 4, Sterling 4, Valley 4, Platte Valley 2, Strasburg 2, Trinidad 2, Gunnison 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Denver Christian (3)
0-0
57
–
0-0
2
Resurrection Christian (2)
0-0
49
–
0-0
3
Lutheran (1)
0-0
44
–
0-0
4
Las Animas
0-0
34
–
0-0
5
Paonia
0-0
26
–
0-0
6
Swink
0-0
23
–
0-0
7
Holyoke
0-0
21
–
0-0
8
Rye
0-0
19
–
0-0
9
Kiowa
0-0
18
–
0-0
10
Limon
0-0
17
–
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Yuma 7, Peyton 6, Front Range Christian 3, Byers 2, Sargent 2, Burlington 1, Del Norte 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Stratton (4)
0-0
53
–
0-0
2
Caliche (1)
0-0
43
–
0-0
3
Elbert
0-0
40
–
0-0
4
Eads
0-0
36
–
0-0
5
Fleming
0-0
32
–
0-0
6
Granada
0-0
30
–
0-0
7
Holly
0-0
28
–
0-0
8
Community Christian (1)
0-0
20
–
0-0
9
Baca County
0-0
13
–
0-0
10
Cheyenne Wells
0-0
11
–
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Dove Creek 7, Briggsdale 6, Peetz 4, Pawnee 3, Walsh 2, Cotopaxi 1, Weldon Valley 1.
Doherty’s Haleigh Washington, left, with coach Tara Hittle. (Courtesy @DHSAthletics on Twitter)
The 2013 all-state volleyball teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These team were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues and coaches, and then a vote of coaches. Find more information here.
The players who received the most votes in their classification were selected as the player of the year in their class.
Scroll down to see the teams, or use the menu below to navigate to the class of your choosing.
DENVER — The state spirit championships continued on Saturday, and seven more champions will be crowned by night’s end. Find Day 1 results here.
Saturday’s champions include Evergreen (4A poms); Broomfield (4A cheer); Faith Christian (3A cheer); Clear Creek (3A poms); Salida (2A/3A co-ed cheer); Cheyenne Wells (2a cheer); and Vail Christian (2A poms).
[divider]
Class 4A poms
Evergreen won the 4A poms championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Evergreen
94.67
470.00
2
Broomfield
94.33
468.00
3
Valor Christian
93.00
463.00
4
Battle MountainÂ
90.00
445.00
5
Wheat Ridge
89.33
446.00
6
Windsor
89.17
443.00
7
Mullen
88.00
431.00
8
Durango
87.00
423.00
9
Eagle Valley
86.67
435.50
10
Canon City
86.50
423.50
11
Lewis-Palmer
85.50
424.50
12
Mead
84.67
422.00
13
Frederick
82.50
403.50
14
Green Mountain
79.33
397.00
15
Centaurus
75.33
378.00
16
Conifer
73.67
366.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Evergreen
96.33
477.50
2
Broomfield
94.67
469.50
3
Valor Christian
92.00
461.00
4
Battle Mountain
90.33
449.00
[divider]
Class 4A cheer
Broomfield won the 4A cheer championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Broomfield
85.20
428.10
2
Palmer Ridge
78.87
389.20
3
Valor Christian
77.80
388.90
4
Pueblo West
76.40
381.40
5
Erie
74.33
371.80
6
Glenwood Springs
72.13
361.40
7
Sand Creek
70.23
348.80
8
Coronado
70.07
347.20
9
Pueblo South
65.67
324.60
10
Windsor
64.63
324.30
11
Weld Central
64.00
319.50
12
Ponderosa
61.70
304.00
13
Vista Ridge
60.97
305.80
14
Green Mountain
59.50
299.70
15
Thompson Valley
58.93
297.30
16
Longmont
58.77
290.90
17
Rifle
58.73
296.20
18
Woodland Park
58.13
292.10
19
Canon City
57.97
290.90
20
Wheat Ridge
57.30
284.50
21
Durango
56.17
285.70
22
Skyline
55.57
271.60
23
Englewood
55.57
273.90
24
Elizabeth
54.97
271.50
25
Golden
54.13
266.80
26
D’Evelyn
54.07
267.60
27
Pueblo Centennial
53.37
265.60
28
Mead
52.77
260.60
29
Mullen
52.37
267.20
30
Lewis Palmer
52.03
263.30
31
Battle Mountain
51.70
257.90
32
Northridge
51.30
257.00
33
Montezuma-Cortez
46.53
228.20
34
Ft. Morgan
43.73
228.50
35
Roosevelt
43.33
215.30
36
Pueblo Central
41.23
210.30
37
Denver North
40.47
210.60
38
Silver Creek
19.27
98.90
39
Conifer
0.00
0.00
39
Mountain View
0.00
0.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Broomfield
90.27
451.10
2
Pueblo West
77.27
389.90
3
Palmer Ridge
75.27
376.60
4
Glenwood Springs
75.03
375.80
5
Erie
74.60
373.60
6
Valor Christian
73.57
366.80
7
Sand Creek
72.97
360.00
8
Coronado
71.87
358.60
[divider]
Class 3A cheer
Faith Christian won the 3A cheer championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Faith Christian
71.67
355.20
2
Manitou Springs
68.70
346.20
3
University
68.23
340.00
4
St. Mary’S
67.40
335.30
5
Dolores Huerta
67.10
330.30
6
Coal Ridge
60.17
301.20
7
Holy Family
59.77
299.90
8
Frontier Academy
58.83
294.60
9
Machebeuf
58.77
293.10
10
Sterling
58.27
293.70
11
Lamar
56.73
282.10
12
Pagosal Springs
55.77
277.20
13
The Academy
54.73
278.10
14
Buena Vista
54.03
270.50
15
Florence
53.93
275.40
16
Bayfield
53.37
268.40
17
Middle Park
52.13
261.50
18
Alamosa
51.20
256.10
19
Pinnacle
50.60
246.60
20
La Junta
46.37
227.80
21
Kipp Denver
45.63
226.80
22
Trinidad
45.17
224.60
23
Jefferson
44.20
220.60
24
Peak To Peak
0.00
0.00
24
0.00
0.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Faith Christian
72.80
364.60
2
Manitou Springs
70.47
353.30
3
St. Mary’S
69.10
346.90
4
University
59.87
301.80
[divider]
Class 3A poms
Clear Creek won the 3A poms championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims/Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Clear Creek
83.33
415.00
2
Bayfield
82.00
411.00
2
Bennett
82.00
405.00
4
Sheridan
81.33
407.00
5
Aspen
80.83
404.00
6
University
80.17
398.50
7
Grand Valley
77.33
382.00
8
Basalt
61.33
303.00
[divider]
Class 2A/3A co-ed cheer
Salida won the 2A/3A co-ed cheer championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Elizabeth is in the 4A volleyball semifinals. (Pam Wagner)
DENVER — They weren’t supposed to be in the semis. Not as a No. 9 seeds.
Yet, Class 4A’s Elizabeth and 2A’s Yuma — ninth-seeded, both — were the first two teams to punch their tickets to Saturday’s semifinals during the first day of the state volleyball tournaments at the Denver Coliseum on Friday.
“Today, we’re just here,” Elizabeth coach Russ Haman said. “Nobody expects much out of us.”
Haman’s Cardinals topped No. 4 Montrose to start the day, 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-10), then ruined No. 5 Thomas Jefferson’s coming-to-state party with another 3-1 win (25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21).
“We felt we could compete with everybody,” Haman said. “We didn’t set expectations. We were just like, ‘We’re going to do the best we can and play together as a team.’ That’s what we’ve had to work on all year, is playing as a team. That’s what they’ve chosen to do.”
In preparation for big-time moments and teams his squad faced Friday, Haman scheduled matches and scrimmages with some of the elite programs in the state — including Lewis-Palmer, Cherry Creek, Cherokee Trail and Lakewood.
“You get with those big-hitting teams and we learned how to try to work a defense around that,” Haman said. “Ideally, we want to play the hard, hard teams and get better and better.”
Elizabeth could match up with Lewis-Palmer, 4A’s top seed, in the semifinals. It would be a fun personal matchup — Rangers coach Susan Odenbaugh “got me into coaching,” Haman said.
Yuma advanced to the 2A semifinals. (Pam Wagner)
Yuma also took No. 4 and 5 seeds en route to the semis. The Indians beat No. 5 Sangre de Cristo 3-1 (25-12, 25-8, 24-26, 25-13) and No. 4 Paonia 3-0 (25-18, 25-8, 25-19).
“You know, we were a little disappointed in our seed, but I think it kind of lit a fire under the girls and they wanted to prove it a little bit more,” Yuma coach Megan Martinez said. “They came out ready to play.”
This week, Martinez scheduled early practices to help her girls acclimate to playing so early in the day.
“That got them ready to go,” Martinez said.
Elsewhere, 5A’s top seed Grandview swept Castle View in its only match of the day. The Wolves will face No. 8 Rampart for a semifinal berth on Saturday morning.
Cherry Creek. (Pam Wagner)
No. 4 Mountain Vista and No. 5 Cherry Creek both beat No. 9 Fruita Monument, meaning their Saturday morning matchup will also determine a semifinal spot.
No. 2 Arapahoe and No. 7 Doherty will play for the semis on Saturday following their wins over No. 11 Cherokee Trail. Doherty rallied from a 2-0 hole to beat CT 3-2.
The final semifinal spot in 5A comes down to No. 3 Fossil Ridge and No. 6 Eaglecrest, who both topped No. 10 Pine Creek on Friday.
In 4A, No. 1 Lewis-Palmer beat No. 12 Coronado 3-1, and No. 8 Roosevelt swept Coronado. Those teams meet Saturday morning to determine the semifinalist from Pool I.
No. 2 Longmont and No. 7 Ponderosa will play for a semifinal berth out of Pool II. Both teams beat No. 11 Pueblo West.
Pool III has a Colorado Springs flavor, with No. 3 Cheyenne Mountain and No. 6 Air Academy battling for the semis after both beating No. 10 Valor Christian.
In 3A, No. 1 Eaton and No. 8 Bayfield both beat No. 12 Lamar, so they’ll play for a semifinal spot on Saturday. Out of Pool IV, No. 4 Platte Valley and No. 5 Holy Family both topped Coal Ridge and meet for a semifinal berth on Saturday.
Valley, seeded second, and No. 7 University will play for the semis on Saturday. Both teams beat No. 11 Machebeuf.
No. 3 Manitou Springs and No. 6 Gunnison are set to play for the final 3A semifinal spot after taking down No. 10 Sterling.
Dove Creek playing Kit Carson. (Pam Wagner)
In 2A, No. 12 Meeker upset No. 8 Ridgway in Pool I. Couple with No. 1 Resurrection Christian’s later win over Meeker, it could make Saturday morning’s match between Ridgway and Resurrection Christian interesting. Should Resurrection Christian win, it’ll get the semifinal spot. But if Ridgway wins, the semifinalist will be determined on a tiebreaker.
No. 2 Lutheran and No. 7 Lyons will battle for the semis after both beat No. 11 C.S. School.
Pool III sets up like Pool I with No. 10 Akron beating No. 6 Swink on Friday. It means No. 3 Fowler can win the pool with a win over Swink, but a Swink win in that game sets up the tiebreaker scenario.
In 1A, No. 1 Dove Creek and No. 8 Vail Christian will play for a semifinal spot following wins over No. 12 Kit Carson. Out of Pool IV, No. 4 Fleming and No. 5 Eads will meet for that semifinal spot after both teams beat No. 9 Stratton.
No. 3 Otis and No. 6 Flager are set to play for the semis on Saturday. Both teams beat No. 10 Rocky Mountain Lutheran.
Pool II has a potential tiebreaker scenario. No. 11 Idalia beat No. 7 Hi-Plains but lost to No. 2 Caliche on Friday. That means if Caliche beats Hi-Plains on Saturday, it gets the semifinal berth. If Hi-Plains wins, the teams will go to the tiebreak.
Windsor (4A), Lamar (3A), Vail Christian and Rocky Mountain Lutheran (1A) are newcomers to this week’s CHSAANow.com volleyball polls.
The five No. 1s from last week — Grandview (5A), Lewis-Palmer (4A), Manitou Springs (3A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Caliche (1A) — all stayed put.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
