Lakewood sophomore Ryan Liao, left, watches his drive during his round of 6-under-par, 66 on Monday at West Woods Golf Club in Arvada. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
ARVADA — Lakewood sophomore Ryan Liao opened up the boys golf season in Jeffco with a stellar 6-under-par, 66 on Monday at West Woods Golf Club in Arvada.
Liao finished four strokes ahead of Chatfield junior Max Heupel (2-under-par, 70) to claim the Class 5A Jeffco individual title for the tournament. Valor senior Jake Welch finished third with a 1-under-par, 71. Valor placed first in the 5A team race with a 5-over-par score. Lakewood (20-over-par) finished second and Ralston Valley (21-over-par) took third.
On the 4A side, Evergreen senior Nolan Miller was the only 4A golfer to finish under par, shooting a round of 71 to win the medalist title.
The Cougars are coming off finishing as runner-up at the 4A state tournament last season.
The 2018 all-state baseball teams honor the best players in the sport as judged by the leagues and coaches. They are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of head coaches.
Player and coach of the year was also selected by a vote of the coaches.
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Class 5A
Mountain Vista’s Sam Ireland. (Tim Bourke/MaxPreps)
Player of the year: Sam Ireland, Mountain Vista
Coach of the year: Ron Quintana, Mountain Vista
First Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Brayden Brooks
Mountain Range
Senior
Garrett Declue
Arapahoe
LHP/CF
Senior
Riley Egloff
Heritage
RHP/3B
Senior
Sam Ireland
Mountain Vista
RHP/3B/1B
Junior
Niklavs Levensteins
Ralston Valley
3B/2B
Senior
Jack Liffrig
Mountain Vista
LHP
Senior
Justin Olson
Pine Creek
1B/LHP
Senior
Tanner O’Tremba
Cherry Creek
Zach Paschke
Mountain Vista
INF
Senior
Second Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Justin Boyd
Legend
SS/CF
Junior
Matthew Boyd
Regis Jesuit
Senior
Riley Cornelio
Pine Creek
SS/RHP
Junior
Brandon Dryer
Arapahoe
LF/RHP/2B
Senior
Hayden Heinze
Rocky Mountain
OF
Senior
AJ Jergensen
Ralston Valley
OF
Junior
Arian Jimenez-Quezada
Heritage
SS/3B/RHP
Senior
Kasey Koppelmaa
Chatfield
LHP/OF
Senior
Andrew Morris
Monarch
2B/P
Senior
Josh Thompson
Highlands Ranch
P
Senior
Honorable mention:
Luke Bailey, Chaparral, OF, Senior
Jake Barber, Cherokee Trail, Senior
Simon Baumgardt, Lakewood, P/SS, Junior
Tyler Boggs, Fruita Monument, C, Senior
Alex Champagne, Heritage, SS/2B, Freshman
Colten Chase, Cherokee Trail, Senior
Dorsey Chatham, Boulder,
Pete Chronowski, Heritage, LHP/1B, Junior
Benjamin Derosiers, Castle View, LHP/1B/CF, Senior
Ozzie Dominguez, Aurora Central, P/1B, Senior
John Emerson, Denver East, Junior
Tanner Garner, Broomfield, Senior
Zach Goodman, Arapahoe, C/OF/UTIL, Senior
Jake Greiving, Legend, C/OF/3B, Junior
Zach Harstad, Loveland, 1B/LHP/OF, Junior
Calvin Hunt, Ralston Valley, RHP, Junior
Jenner Kehe, Lakewood, P/OF/SS, Sophomore
Cam Kennedy, Smoky Hill, CF/3B/2B, Junior
Reese Lansville, ThunderRidge, RHP/INF, Senior
Cale Lansville, ThunderRidge, RHP/INF, Freshman
Grant Magill, Mountain Vista, C, Junior
Jayden Martinez, Grandview, OF/DH, Junior
Nick Merone, Rock Canyon,
Trey Morrill, Fruita Monument, P/OF, Senior
Cade Nelson, Rocky Mountain, INF/P, Junior
Drew Norsen, Fort Collins, OF/LHP, Sophomore
Jay Onken, Pine Creek, OF/RHP, Senior
Ryan Overboe, Legacy, LHP/1B/RF, Senior
Quentin Parr, Cherry Creek,
Mike Polson, Mountain Range, Senior
Henry Rock, Fairview, Junior
Tyler Schultz, Cherry Creek,
Frankie Shearn, Columbine, OF, Senior
Ross Smith, Legacy, RHP/RF, Senior
Drew Stahl, Mountain Vista, INF, Junior
Ryan Stohr, Dakota Ridge, RHP/1B, Junior
Zach Sulyma, Eaglecrest, 3B/C, Senior
David Velasquez, Brighton, SS/P/3B, Senior
Wyatt Wendell, Rock Canyon,
Reggie Williams, Douglas County, Senior
Kevin Zapanta, Overland, 2B/1B/RHP, Senior
[divider]
Class 4A
Valor Christian’s Josh Danyliw. (Paul DiSalvo/MaxPreps)
LAKEWOOD — Jeffco Stadium, site of the Colorado High School State Track and Field Meet on May 15-17, was a busy place late afternoon Thursday.
Arvada, Bear Creek, D’Evelyn, Dakota Ridge, Green Mountain, Littleton, Pomona, Standley Lake and Wheat Ridge took part in the Jeffco Qualifier #2 in the final track meet before spring break for Jeffco Public Schools.
LAKEWOOD — Baylee Galan-Browne won back-to-back Class 4A girls basketball state titles, so celebrating on the court is old hat to the Evergreen senior guard.
Nine days after celebrating on the court at the Denver Coliseum, Galan-Browne had a similar celebration leap and run toward the bench Monday night at the Gold Crown Field House in Lakewood. The Evergreen senior hit the game-winning shot with 7 seconds left in the inaugural Jeffco High School Senior Basketball Game to give the White squad a 78-75 victory.
Evergreen’s Baylee Galan-Browne hit the game-winning shot in the inaugural Jeffco HS Senior Basketball Game. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“I was like OK, I’m really good at last-second shots so this one is going to go in,” Galan-Browne said with all smiles after the victory. “It went in and I was like, OK. That’s cool. I like that.”
The final 30 seconds (see video above) was wild. The Blue team held a 75-73 lead, but a fed by Evergreen senior Kristina Schreiber into the post to Ralston Valley senior Samantha Van Sickle was just what White coach Chris Olson wanted. Van Sickle, who was named the White team MVP with 13 points, made a nice move in the post to tie the game at 75-75 with 27 seconds left.
“The best thing I did was not say anything and just cheer them on,” Olson said. “I just let them do there thing. Having that many great kids was awesome.”
Olson, D’Evelyn girls basketball coach, was filling in for Evergreen coach Amy Bahl who had to miss the game due to a medical issue with one of her young daughters.
Two of Bahl’s former players were key in the game-winning basket. After a miss by Lakewood senior Sassy Coleman, Schreiber grabbed the rebound and fired a pass up court to her former Cougar teammate. Galen-Browne, who will play at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. next school year, pulled up for the 3-pointer that hit nothing but net with 7 seconds to play.
Golden’s Makena Prey, left, blocks the shot of Evergreen’s Kristina Schreiber. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“We just focused on the little things and pressure on defense,” Galan-Browne said of the White team erasing an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Golden senior Abby Garnett, who was named the Blue squad MVP with a game-high 21 points, wasn’t able to get off a shot before the buzzer.
“It was awesome,” said Garnett of the experience. “I was sitting on the bench and talking with some players that I played with in eighth-grade. Coming back and having that chemistry back right away was so much fun. Win or lose it was so much fun.”
Garnett is headed to play at Ohio University.
“It was a great way to end high school for sure,” Garnett said. “It was more fun playing with some Jeffco girls instead of against them.”
The inaugural Jeffco High School Senior Basketball Games were put on by the Gold Crown Foundation, Jeffco Public Schools and 1stBank.
Olson had been big on creating a Jeffco all-star game for several years.
“I’ve been excited for years to put this together,” Olson said. “I’m glad Gold Crown stepped up and Jeffco was with them to get it all together. After this game, girls are going to want to play in it. I want to be apart of it.”
Valor’s Abby Wright, left, gets a shot up and over D’Evelyn’s Angi Reed on Monday night at the Gold Crown Field House. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
A roundup of Jeffco prep highlights from January with Dennis Pleuss, Jeffco Public Schools’ Communication Specialist. This month’s edition features early Class 5A boys basketball action between Bear Creek and Dakota Ridge. Also, early girls basketball action featuring Golden in a non-league game against Heritage and D’Evelyn squaring off with Valor Christian. Arvada’s boys basketball team opened up its Colorado 7 League action against Skyview. We close with Pomona grabbing a trio of individual wrestling titles at the annual Arvada West Invitational.
ARVADA — Conifer’s boys basketball team found its scoring touch in the nick of time Tuesday night at Arvada High School.
Holding on to a 39-37 lead through three quarters against an improved Arvada squad, the Lobos scored 27 points in the final eight minutes to take a 66-48 road victory in the Class 4A/3A Colorado 7 League game.
“It all started on the defensive end really,” Conifer senior Mark Studer said of the Lobos’ 27-point fourth quarter. “As soon as we get stops on the defensive end it translates into the offensive side.”
Conifer’s Mark Studer had a game-high 22 points against Arvada. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Studer (22 points) had carried Conifer offensively through three quarters, but seniors Seth Sankey, Antonio Lucero, Andrew Wood, David Jacobson and Joe Mead all had buckets to allow the Lobos to pull away in the final quarter.
Mead had a trio of baskets during a Conifer 10-0 run in the final quarter. Jacobson buried a key 3-pointer that started a 9-0 run in the final three minutes.
“We actually talked about that at halftime,” Conifer coach Eric Valerio said of getting more scoring from different players after Studer scored 16 of 31 points for the Lobos in the first half. “Mark Studer is an exceptional player and even a better kid, but you have to have somebody else step up.”
The win kept Conifer (8-9, 4-1 in league) in the mix for a conference championship and automatic bid for the 4A state tournament. The Lobos’ lone league loss was a heartbreaking 1-point home loss to Skyview (8-6, 2-1) last Friday night.
Skyview, Fort Morgan and Conifer are the likely candidates to come out on top of the league this season.
“That’s been a big goal for these guys,” Valerio said of winning a conference title. “I’m excited to play some more good teams and see how league finishes up.”
The Lobos have a key road game against Fort Morgan (5-10, 3-1) on Friday night.
Conifer’s Antonio Lucero (10) takes a shot over Arvada’s Quentin Terry. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“It was absolutely scary, but it’s just another game for us,” Studer said after Tuesday’s win. “Just one more to get us to our goal of a league championship. Every game is going to be just as important.”
Conifer left the 4A Jeffco League after the 2015-16 season and joined the 4A/3A Colorado 7 League. The first year in the new league the Lobos had a strong conference record and qualified for the 4A state tournament for the first time since the 2009-2010 season.
Arvada (4-10, 1-4) hosts another former 4A Jeffco foe — Alameda — who is also now in the Colorado 7 conference at 7 p.m. Friday. The Pirates defeated the Bulldogs 74-61 in their first league meeting back on Jan. 16.
Arvada senior Quentin Terry was a dominating force at times Tuesday against Conifer. The Bulldogs’ big man finished with a team-high 15 points. Senior Marcel Sobhi poured in a dozen points for Arvada and junior Isaiah Vigil contributed nine points from his point guard position.
The Bulldogs held a 12-point lead late in the first quarter before Conifer was able to chip away with some pressure defense that led to some easy buckets.
“He (Arvada coach Vernon Whittington) has done an incredible job with this program,” Valerio said of the Bulldogs’ first-year coach. “They do things the right way. I was very impressed how well they played. I think really highly of their coach.”
Conifer’s Andrew Wood (11) and the rest of the Lobos are eyeing a 4A/3A Colorado 7 League title. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The 2017 all-state football teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of head coaches across the state.
Players were placed onto the first-team, second-team and honorable mention based upon the number of votes they received. In 5A-1A, spots were reserved for linemen and one kicker/punter, while 8-man reserved spots for linemen.
CHSAA does not determine who makes or doesn’t make the team; they are created entirely from the results of the coaches’ vote.
