Chaparral is No. 5 in this week’s 5A volleyball poll. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

Chaparral and Regis Jesuit both joined this week’s CHSAANow.com volleyball ranking in Class 5A.

Both teams were unranked in the preseason. Chaparral joined the poll at No. 5 after going 4-1 over the first two weeks of the season. Regis Jesuit, meanwhile, is No. 10 after going 3-2.

Rampart remained atop the 5A ranking. In fact, the only No. 1 team to change this week was in 3A, where Eaton takes over for Manitou Springs. Lewis Palmer (4A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Fleming (1A) all held firm in their respective top spots.

Mullen (No. 9) was the lone newcomer in 4A, while Gunnison (No. 10) joined 3A. The 2A poll added Swink (No. 6) and Hoehne (No. 9). Cheraw joined 1A at No. 10.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, polls will be released each Monday.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

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CHSAANow.com Volleyball Polls

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.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A

A complete schedule and scoreboard for football’s top-10 teams during Zero Week.

• Live scoreboard
• Complete CHSAANow.com rankings
• Full schedule and scoreboard of this week’s games
• Follow all the action in our live chat, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A | 8-man | 6-man

A complete schedule and scoreboard for football’s top-10 teams during Zero Week.

• Live scoreboard
• Complete CHSAANow.com rankings
• Zero Week schedule
• Full schedule and scoreboard of this week’s games
• Follow all the action in our live chat, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday

All games are Friday, unless noted.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A | 8-man | 6-man

Lewis-Palmer, the defending 4A volleyball champion, heads the preseason ranking in that class. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

Rampart, Lewis-Palmer, Manitou Springs, Resurrection Christian and Fleming are the preseason No. 1 volleyball teams in their respective classifications.

CHSAANow.com’s preseason poll was released on Monday, and three of last year’s champions are atop the rankings. Those are Lewis-Palmer, Resurrection Christian and Fleming.

Rampart, which received eight of the 11 first-place votes, heads the Class 5A poll. The Rams made the state tournament last season, where they went 1-1 in pool play. They return a number of top players from that team.

Cherokee Trail is No. 2 to start the year, and is followed by No. 3 Fossil Ridge, No. 4 Grandview — the defending champion — and No. 5 Cherry Creek.

Pine Creek is sixth, Eaglecrest is seventh, Legend is eighth, Arapahoe is ninth and Mountain Vista rounds out the ranking.

Lewis-Palmer heads 4A. Ponderosa is No. 2, and Air Academy, last year’s runner-up, is third.

Manitou Springs is on top of the 3A ranking, just ahead of defending champ Eaton. Manitou was runner-up last season.

Resurrection Christian leads 2A, while Fleming is on top of 1A.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, polls will be released each Monday.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

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CHSAANow.com Volleyball Polls

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.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A

Valor Christian is the preseason No. 1 in 5A. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

Defending champions head six of football’s seven preseason CHSAANow.com rankings, which were unveiled Monday morning.

The lone exception is Lutheran in Class 3A — which saw both its champion (Coronado) and runner-up (Silver Creek) move up to 4A this cycle.

In fact, that ranking was also the most split of any other, with both Lutheran and preseason No. 2 Delta both getting three first-place votes. Lutheran got the No. 1 nod with 65 total points. Delta had 53 points.

Lutheran was eliminated in the first round of the 3A playoffs last season, while Delta made the semifinals. Lutheran is entering its first season under new coach Blair Hubbard, formerly of Faith Christian.

Valor Christian, a five-time defending champion across three classifications, opens up as No. 1 in Class 5A for the second year in a row. The Eagles topped Fairview to win the 5A title last season.

Cherry Creek, a quarterfinalist a year ago, is No. 2 in 5A. Cherokee Trail is ranked third, Pomona is fourth and Columbine is fifth.

Chatfield begins the season as No. 6, Regis Jesuit is No. 7, Grandview is No. 8, Ralston Valley is No. 9 and Fairview rounds out the preseason poll.

Platte Valley celebrates last year’s 2A championship. (Jon E. Yunt)

Among those receiving votes in 5A were ThunderRidge, Overland, newcomer Monarch and Legend.

In 4A, Pine Creek begins as the No. 1 team. The Eagles beat Montrose in last year’s title game. Montrose is No. 2 in the ranking.

Other preseason No. 1 teams are Platte Valley (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Stratton/Liberty (6-man).

The rankings are voted upon by coaches and select media members, and are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, rankings will be released each Monday.

Complete rankings are below.

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CHSAANow.com Football Polls

Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org.

These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding, except in 5A where they are used as part of the seeding criteria.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A | 8-man | 6-man

The 2014 football league and classification alignment, as set by the football committee, and approved by CLOC and the legislative council.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A | 8-man | 6-man

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Class 5A

* – Denotes playing up

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Class 4A

** – Denotes playing down
# – Must qualify in the 5A playoffs

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Class 3A

* – Denotes playing up
** – Denotes playing down

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Class 2A

* – Denotes playing up
** – Denotes playing down
# – Must qualify in 3A playoffs

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Class 1A

* – Denotes playing up
** – Denotes playing down
# – Must qualify in 2A playoffs

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8-man

* – Denotes playing up
** – Denotes playing down

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6-man

** – Denotes playing down

The 2014 all-state boys track and field teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.

These teams were created based upon results at the state meet.

Scroll down to see the teams, or use the menu below to navigate to the class of your choosing.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A

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Class 5A

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Class 4A

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Class 3A

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Class 2A

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Class 1A

The 2014 all-state girls track and field teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.

These teams were created based upon results at the state meet.

Scroll down to see the teams, or use the menu below to navigate to the class of your choosing.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A

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Class 5A

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Class 4A

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Class 3A

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Class 2A

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Class 1A

Denver East’s Dom Collier, center, is the player of the year in 5A. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)

The 2013-14 all-state boys basketball teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.

These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues and coaches, and then a vote of coaches.

The players who received the most votes in their classification were selected as the player of the year in their class.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A

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Class 5A

Player of the year: Dominique Collier, Denver East

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Class 4A

Player of the year: Ghassan Nehme, Cheyenne Mountain

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Class 3A

Player of the year: David Sommers, Holy Family

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Class 2A

Player of the year: Brady Baer, Akron

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Class 1A

Player of the year: Avery Marzolf, Hi-Plains

(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)

LOVELAND — The Hi-Plains boys basketball team is a cohesive unit with star power. Avery Marzolf, Justin Miltenberger, and their “band of brothers,” as Miltenberger puts it, were good enough to claim the Class 1A crown on Saturday evening at the Budweiser Events Center.

In a wild finish, the Patriots claimed their first state championship since 2008 — they also won in 2006 — with a 52-51 survival of powerhouse Caliche.

Caliche came in as the faster, more athletic team that loved to play at breakneck speed from the tip. Hi-Plains can get up and down the floor, but were the more solid team in the half-court entering the 1A finale. The more versatile Patriots won out in a game that treated fans with speed, clutch shots, and even a highlight-reel dunk by Caliche’s Dakota Kingsley.

Both teams started the contest with great intensity in a heated, loud environment. The Patriots’ Avery Marzolf, a 6-foot-4 senior forward with strength, made his presence felt against the smaller Buffaloes with two quick buckets in the paint. That proved to be a preview of what was to come.

In a game filled with lead changes, Hi-Plains led 50-44 with 54.7 seconds remaining on the clock, but the Buffaloes never quit with back-to-back baskets.

Justin Miltenberger, a high scoring guard, got fouled with 16 ticks left on the clock. He proceeded to bury two free-throws to give the Patriots a 52-48 lead.

Caliche’s Austin Yahn drained a trifecta with only 2.6 seconds left to cut the deficit to one. They fouled Hi-Plains’ Clay Cordell, who missed a pair to give the Buffaloes one last hope, but Caliche failed to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.

Hi-Plains was overcome with ecstasy after the game.

“Words don’t describe it,” Hi-Plains coach Dave Sheffield said. “They’ve done so much work. To see it pay off, that’s what it’s all about. I can’t really put it into words.”

“It’s kind of surreal,” Miltenberger said about claiming the gold ball. “You think of this as little kids, but until it actually hits you.  It’s incredible.”

“I don’t even know yet,” Marzolf said about trying to explain his joy.

Marzolf was a force throughout the game and a major matchup problem for Caliche. He scored 22 points and grabbed numerous rebounds. He was humble about his performance in the title game afterwards.

“Honestly, I do the easy part,” Marzolf said. “Those kids that bring it up, that stopped their penetration, they’re the ones that should be getting interviewed right now. Alex Nelson, remember that kid. He’s the hardest working kid in the state.”

His coach was quick to praise the big man, though.

“He’s incredibly versatile,” Sheffield said. “I think he’s the best player in the state. He’s a point guard, he’s a five, he can range to the three, and he ran however many positions today.”

Miltenberger came through with a bucket seemingly every time Hi-Plains needed one. He chipped in 12 points and played tough defense.

“He’s a stretch three, he’s our best free-throw shooter, he’s a kid that’s going to come through in the clutch and he did,” Sheffield said of Miltenberger.

Both Sheffield and his players agreed that the key to the title run was hard work and the cohesion of the squad.

“Everybody looks out for each other,” Miltenberger said. “It’s all about helping out friends. It’s all about helping the other guy.”

“We stayed together,” Marzolf added. “We’re a family. It’s just everybody right there, playing together as one, and we were successful.”

“These guys got in the yellow bus with me before their freshman year and we started traveling to summer camps. We worked and we worked and we worked and work gets you something,” Sheffield concluded.

Caliche, winners of four straight boys basketball titles until last season when they placed fourth, were denied an eighth title overall, but have a bright future with first-year coach Derek Weingardt at the helm. Weingardt was a 2009 graduate of Caliche who was groomed under legendary coach Randy Kirkwood. The Buffaloes are a traditional small-school power who finished 23-3 this season.

It was Hi-Plains’ night on Saturday, though, and Sheffield, who earned his third state championship as a coach, knows what that means to the town of Seibert, a tiny place in the Eastern Plains.

“Any small town to win a championship is huge,” Sheffield said. “We’re a school with 45 high school kids. It means the world to small towns and the community.”