The preseason girls soccer rankings were released on Monday, and leading the charge are preseason No. 1 teams Grandview, Evergreen, Colorado Academy and Denver Christian.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association.
New polls are released each Monday during the regular season.
Salida 14, Manitou Springs 13, Stargate School 9, Lutheran 8, The Academy 8, Colorado Springs Christian 7, Roaring Fork 6, Eagle Ridge Academy 5, St. Mary’s Academy 5, Faith Christian 3, Basalt 2, Frontier Academy 2, Delta 1, DSST: Montview 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Denver Christian (5)
0-0
77
2
Dawson School (3)
0-0
73
3
Fountain Valley
0-0
50
4
Flatirons Academy
0-0
47
5
Crested Butte
0-0
42
6
Telluride
0-0
41
7
Colorado Rocky Mountain
0-0
30
8
Loveland Classical
0-0
22
9
Rye
0-0
15
10
Front Range Christian
0-0
12
Others receiving votes:
Ridgway 10, Del Norte 7, Belleview Christian 5, Vail Christian 5, Rocky Mountain Lutheran 2, Thomas MacLaren School 2.
The 2019 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 from the results of the coaches’ vote.
AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Starting a tournament four strokes behind on the final day is not a high percentage road to success.
It got worse when Westin Pals struggled to start his day at the Class 3A boys golf state tournament, bogeying his opening hole and falling five strokes behind Prospect Ridge Academy’s Walker Franklin.
The wind was gusting fairly heavily as Pals and Franklin began their days, one in each of the final two threesomes to take the course. Both Pals and Franklin struggled a bit with the wind, but Pals was quicker to settle into his groove.
By the end of the ninth hole, Pals was 1-under and Franklin 2-over. Franklin still held the lead, but by only a single stroke. And the winds had calmed down measurably since the gusts of the morning.
Pals’ threesome was playing one ahead of Franklin’s threesome, giving Franklin the advantage — if that is what is was — of knowing what Pals had shot on each hole ahead of him.
The battle see-sawed through multiple lead changes over the final nine holes. Pals sank a long put to birdie 12. Franklin answered with a birdie on 13. Back and forth. Never more than a stroke of difference between the two.
A bogey for Pals on 16 proved costly, however, allowing Franklin to take a one-stroke lead with his birdie on the same hole. Both Pals and Franklin parred 17. Pals parred 18 after a magnificent approach shot tried to settle then caught the slope and rolled several meters away from the pin.
All Franklin had to do to secure the win was par hole 18. Franklin had been parring holes all day long, but the par eluded him on this hole. Franklin three-putted for a bogey, sending the contest into a playoff.
The playoff didn’t last long. Franklin’s tee shot hit the rough, and he could not make up the lost ground. Pals calmly parred the hole and the contest — one which spanned the last ten or so holes with seemingly every spectator in sight checking their phones for updates on scoring with each hole.
Golf was probably a little less stressful before the advent of live scoring.
Pals’ approach to the day reflected the demeanor of one not given to adding pressure to stressful situations.
“I saw the forecast, and it was pretty windy, so I knew I wouldn’t have to go crazy low,” he said. “I didn’t get off to the greatest start. I was two-over through four or five, and I just said, ‘This is my last golf tournament, let’s go out there and see what we can do.’”
But there was still the 18th hole to conquer.
(Alan Versaw/CHSAANow.com)
“I thought he [Walker Franklin] was going to make it,” Pals said. “Walker’s been my buddy for years now. I know the feeling of missing a three-footer to win the tournament, but at the end of the day we were tied and went to the playoff.”
Pals was still keeping things calm for the playoff. Surrounded by purple shirts rooting him on, Pals reflected, “Well, I’m color-blind, so everything looks the same.”
Even so, he was making a conscious effort to tune out the crowd.
“When we were on the first tee of the playoff, I kept telling myself, ‘Don’t look behind me; don’t look behind me!’” he said.
And the strategy worked well enough for a win Pals is unlikely ever to forget.
A lot of folks at Lutheran won’t forget it any time soon, either. As it turns out, Lutheran got a twofer on the day. Not only did Pals win individual honors, but a team with three players, a team that made it to state as a team only because those three players qualified as individuals, won a state title. And they won it rather convincingly.
As Pals and Franklin were doing their thing over the last several holes, Pals’ teammates Jackson Lowe and Owen Deas were enjoying solid days, as well. Lowe shot six-over for the day and 11-over for the tournament to place 12th. Owen Deas shot 14-over for the day and 23 over for the tournament to place 36th.
On a day when the wind was messing with player’s games all morning long, that was enough for the win. One by one, the teams in the title hunt fell by the wayside or struggled to close the gap, leaving Lutheran alone at the top.
Aside from Lutheran, Holy Family had easily the best day and finished five back of the Lions. But the Tigers never could get close enough to catch Lutheran. Aspen, the co-leader at the end of the first day, finished 13 strokes behind Lutheran.
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Around these parts, the first sign of fall for golfers is when your tee time gets delayed by frost on the course. It was definitely fall on Monday morning, though the frost delay was rather manageable at only about 15 minutes.
Fall or not, the Eisenhower Blue Course at the Air Force Academy wasn’t giving any easy passes to the golfers. Several golfers struggled to hold par consistently through the course and birdies were tough to come by for all.
Prospect Ridge’s Walker Franklin shot 2-under 70 to finish as the only golfer under par for the day, and he holds the lead after the first day.
Still very much within striking distance, however, are the Pevny brothers of Aspen. Nic shot an even par, while Jack finished 2-over. Also closing out the day at two over were Westin Pals of Lutheran and Jeffrey Zhou of Kent Denver.
That leaves out a small handful who figured as potential threats to win the tournament. But, it’s a major undertaking to come back on Tuesday from more than four strokes back on Monday.
Thirteen schools brought complete teams to the tournament.
Those teams left in the title hunt include co-leaders Aspen and Lutheran at 16-over for the first round. On the heels of the Skiers and Lions are Holy Family (three back), Kent Denver (five back), and Sterling (six back). All other teams are at least 10 strokes off the lead.
On paper, Lutheran ranks as the surprise of the tournament thus far. The Lions finished third in their region and qualified through the back door with only three players.
But, regardless of who might have surprised with today’s showing, coach Kevin Volz had a hunch this might be coming: “Westin Pals has been my No. 1 player for a few years now,” he said. “He got a good start out of the gate. The other guys saw that, and it helped them get on track.”
Also coming up big for Lutheran today was freshman Jackson Lowe at 5-over.
“When you get two guys going that well, things tend to come around,” Volz added.
Peak to Peak’s Davis Long has a little something to prove. The senior is almost two years removed from winning the Class 3A boys golf state championship and has every intention of taking medalist honors next month when the state tournament is played at the Eisenhower Golf Course at the United States Air Force Academy.
He has every intention of doing that because he couldn’t repeat his championship performance last year as a junior. He finished 3-over, four strokes off 2018 champion Jackson Klutznick of Kent Denver, to take third place.
At the time, it was a tough loss to take especially since he had played so well as an underclassman for the Pumas.
“In 2017, it was a one-day tournament which I was able to win,” Long said at fall sports media day. “In terms of preparation, I know after winning in 2017 I put a lot of pressure on myself and had to do well in other tournaments.”
He’s taking that approach to heart this season. On Monday he shot a 3-under-par 69 to win the Metro League tournament at Lone Tree Golf Club. His worst round of the year is a 77 at South Suburban where he notched a seventh-place finish.
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
His consistency all season is one of the primary reasons he’s considered one of the favorites to come away with gold at Eisenhower. And it all started with a mentality that he developed heading into last year, a year in which a state title eluded him.
“I went into 2018 more laid back and knowing what’s going to happen is going to happen,” Long said. “The more you force it, the more difficult it gets.”
Such is the case with golf. The numbers he comes away with after each round are enough to make a weekend adult hacker give up in frustration and list his clubs on Craigslist. He’s gone for 69, 72, 73, 74 (twice), 75 and 77.
He sits third in the iWanamker.com 3A rankings and both of the golfers ahead of him have numbers more impressive. Prospect Ridge’s Walker Franklin has broken 70 three times and has shot no worse than 72. Early in the season Holy Family’s Jacob Mason went for 68 twice and established himself as a championship contender.
But the thing that Long has that neither Franklin or Mason do is the experience of winning on the biggest high school stage of the year.
And with regionals looming next week, Long’s journey at winning a second career title begins right about now. His mentality on the course is more mature than it was two years ago and that’s something that makes this fall all the more intriguing for him and his teammates at Peak to Peak.
Above all else, Long knows that in order to seize another championship he needs to let the game come to him and not get discouraged when the ball takes a wrong turn or a bad bounce, which it always does at times.
“The more you realize you just need to take the good breaks and forget the bad ones, the better it’s going to get,” Long said.
It’s a lesson that any Sunday afternoon hacker knows all too well.
The 2019 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.
[divider]
Class 5A
Mountain Vista’s Sam Ireland. (Tim Bourke)
Player of the year: Sam Ireland, Mountain Vista
Coach of the year: Matt Darr, Regis Jesuit
First Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Riley Cornelio
Pine Creek
RHP/INF
Senior
Sam Ireland
Mountain Vista
RHP/3B/1B
Senior
AJ Jergensen
Ralston Valley
OF
Senior
Geno Macias
Regis Jesuit
Senior
Brice Martinez
Cherry Creek
Jack Moss
Cherry Creek
Drew Stahl
Mountain Vista
INF
Senior
Jacob Thompsen
Regis Jesuit
Junior
Caden Wagner
Regis Jesuit
Senior
Second Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Justin Boyd
Legend
SS/CF
Senior
Jose Cintron
Overland
3B/2B/INF
Senior
Peter Goldy
Grandview
RHP/1B
Senior
Calvin Hunt
Ralston Valley
RHP
Senior
Cale Lansville
ThunderRidge
Grant Magill
Mountain Vista
C
Senior
Nathan Mitchell
Cherry Creek
Ryan Stohr
Dakota Ridge
RHP/1B
Senior
Patrick Strawbridge
Regis Jesuit
Senior
Case Williams
Douglas County
RHP/3B/1B
Junior
Honorable mention:
Trey Adams, Ralston Valley, INF/RHP, Senior
Simon Baumgardt, Lakewood, P/SS, Senior
Radek Birkholz, Valor Christian, P/INF, Sophomore
Zach Boone, Castle View, CF/LF, Senior
Clay Burke, Mountain Vista, RHP/1B, Senior
Jake Campbell, Rocky Mountain, P/1B, Senior
Tony Castonguay, Grandview, C/3B, Junior
Pete Chronowski, Heritage, LHP, Senior
Kellen Cox, Cherokee Trail
Garrett Crawford, Overland, OF/RHP, Junior
Clay Cutter, Cherry Creek
John Emerson, Denver East, CF/LHP/SS, Senior
Chase Esplin, Legacy, Junior
Matt Glover, Denver South, RHP/OF/SS, Sophomore
Jake Greiving, Legend, C/OF/3B, Senior
Josh Hojnowski, Grandview, RHP/3B, Senior
Ben Horwith, Douglas County, Senior
Owen Lockner, Windsor, Senior
Jayden Martinez, Grandview, OF, Senior
Braden Martinez, Windsor, Senior
Bryce Matthews, Chaparral, OF, Senior
Ryan McKown, Chaparral, OF, Senior
Mason Mitchell, Heritage, OF/RHP, Senior
Justin Moehlenpah, Horizon, LHP/OF, Senior
Ben Perla, Cherry Creek
Jaren Piepho, Rocky Mountain, C, Senior
Kevin Pipich, Rock Canyon, RHP/1B, Senior
J.C. Rodriguez, Far Northeast Warriors, Sophomore
Jacob Roybal, Chatfield, P/OF, Junior
Teddy Schoenfeld, Boulder, Senior
Macully Sehr, Legacy, Sophomore
Colby Shade, Fort Collins, OF, Junior
Derek Shaver, Grand Junction, Senior
Blake Templeton, Fort Collins, SS/RHP, Junior
Diego Velasquez, Smoky Hill, P/1B/OF, Junior
Ben Whipple, Valor Christian, RHP/1B, Sophomore
Tristan Wolf, Mountain Range
Matt Zaccaro, Bear Creek, OF/P, Senior
[divider]
Class 4A
Pueblo West’s Tyler Barth. (Bobby Stevens/MaxPreps)
Player of the year: Tyler Barth, Pueblo West
Coach of the year: Dan Sanchez, Pueblo West
First Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Lincoln Andrews
Canon City
INF/P
Senior
Aaron Arcilise
Wheat Ridge
RHP/INF
Senior
Tyler Barth
Pueblo West
Senior
Aaron Berkhoff
Cheyenne Mountain
INF
Senior
Charlie Deeds
Palmer Ridge
SS/RHP/2B
Senior
Nate Denniston
Pueblo West
Senior
Kyle Jameson
Pueblo West
Senior
Collin Kringlen
Holy Family
1B/RHP
Senior
Spencer Rich
Silver Creek
Senior
Second Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Tayler Aguilar
Northridge
CF
Senior
Brodie Blackford
Pueblo West
Junior
Jayden Cordova
Pueblo West
Senior
JP Hamer
Fort Morgan
Senior
Ben McLaughlin
Golden
SS/RHP
Junior
Brady Renck
Longmont
2B/SS/P
Senior
Jason Shuger
Lewis-Palmer
P/INF
Senior
John Thoren
Erie
Michael Wegleitner
Silver Creek
Junior
Honorable mention:
Zach Becker, Holy Family, SS/2B/RHP, Senior
Johnny Behm, Lewis-Palmer, /OF, Senior
Dominic Bronk, Wheat Ridge, 3B/RHP, Junior
Angel Carlos, Lincoln, Senior
Tyler Declusin, Pueblo West, Senior
Devin Dodson, Cheyenne Mountain, C/RHP, Junior
Tyler Dollahan, Glenwood Springs, Senior
Garrett Flaagan, Eagle Valley
Avery Fulford, Conifer, Senior
Michael Guber, George Washington, UTIL/RHP, Senior
Chris Gumeson, Longmont, RF/C/INF, Senior
Tyler Hrin, Thomas Jefferson, OF/1B/LHP, Freshman
Charlie Jackson, Silver Creek, Junior
William Kapner, Evergreen, 2B/1B, Junior
Emmert Kastendieck, Montrose, OF, Junior
Noah Lasecki, The Classical Academy, 1B/P, Senior
Isaac Linker, Fort Morgan, Senior
Cesar Loma, Greeley Central, 3B/RHP/C, Senior
Seth Lucero, Denver North, SS/RHP/OF, Senior
Nico Martin, Pueblo Central, CF, Senior
Parker Martin, Coronado, C/INF/OF, Senior
Cole Martino, Pueblo County, P/1B/3B, Sophomore
Bryce McKee, Coronado, SS/UTIL/RHP, Senior
Kolton Miller, Ponderosa, Sophomore
Adam Muniz, Pueblo Central, 3B/SS/2B, Senior
Corey Musch, Skyview, CF/LF, Senior
Cameron Nellor, Thompson Valley, SS/P/UTIL, Junior
The 2019 all-state girls soccer 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.
Colorado Academy edged Prospect Ridge Academy 2-0, then Jefferson Academy followed with its own 2-0 win over Kent Denver.
Jefferson Academy beat Colorado Academy earlier this year, 1-0. The two teams will play for the Class 3A title Wednesday, 7 p.m. at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
[divider]
(1) Colorado Academy 2, (13) Prospect Ridge Academy 0
(Cannon Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Mari Annest knocked it in off the post to open it up. Then, Maya Pellegrini added the dagger three minutes later to send Colorado Academy to the Class 3A title game.
“It was about time we put one away,” Annest said after the game. “It was great service from (Pellegrini).”
Pellegrini was active offensively, trying multiple times to set Annest up with an opportunity.
Colorado Academy advanced with a controlled attack, continually chipping away — sometimes quite literally — at the goal. Including Annest’s goal off the post, the Mustangs heard the clang of the crossbar and posts four separate times.
“It was definitely a really frustrating first half,” Annest said. “We were putting a lot of pressure on ourselves and rushing forward.”
All it took to ease the frustration was a talk from head coach Sean Stedeford at halftime.
“At halftime, our coaches talked to us about calming down and playing our game,” Annest said. “We play a really good possession-style soccer, and that actually led to us getting that corner.”
And all it took to fully erase the frustration was the result of that corner — an Annest header off the near post and into the back of the net. It was her 37th goal of the season.
“Not just from a coaching standpoint, but from a team standpoint, it sort of calmed the nerves a little bit of like, ‘Ok, we’re alright,” Stedeford said.
After making its way to the Class 3A semifinals with two double-overtime wins in a row, Prospect Ridge Academy couldn’t find the goal against a rock-solid Colorado Academy defense.
“We’re incredibly organized,” Annest said. “Our defenders, midfielders, and goalkeeper do an amazing job. They’re super organized in the back. They’ve been super solid all year, so props to them.”
This season, Colorado Academy (18-1) has allowed just five goals in 19 games.
Colorado Academy threatened early and often, starting with an opportunity in the 13th minute by Pellegrini. Pellegrini got in on goal, but Prospect Ridge Academy’s Linda Leahy stopped her shot.
Colorado Academy and Pellegrini continued to apply pressure in the 16th minute. Pellegrini set up Annest with a cross in front of the net, but Leahy stoned Annest.
Leahy had 20 saves in the semifinal game.
“We had a great lions share of the possession,” Stedeford said. “Had great attempts on goal, couple big time saves, couple posts. That first half could be completely different.”
The Mustangs continued their offensive flurry in the second half as Britt Lochhead’s shot hit off the far post, and minutes later Catie Groves sent a shot off the crossbar in the 51st minute. Lochhead continued the barrage on the goalposts with a header off a corner kick straight into the crossbar.
Colorado Academy beat Prospect Ridge Academy 10-0 in April. The Mustangs were played much closer earlier in the season against the two teams on the other side of the bracket, Kent Denver and Jefferson Academy. Colorado Academy came away with a 2-0 win against Kent Denver, and lost 1-0 to Jefferson Academy (the Mustangs’ only loss this year).
“Prospect Ridge put up a big time fight,” Stedeford said. “That was a bit unexpected for our girls, but I think the resilience that that group had shown in previous rounds came through today.”
Sarah Spitz wasted no time as she squeezed a shot through the hands of Mika Fisher in the fifth minute after the Jaguars were flying into the box, peppering the Kent Denver goal.
Taylor Franco extended the Jefferson Academy lead to 2-0 toward the end of the first half. Minutes later, Brooklynn Kirkpatrick made a terrific diving save off of a deflected shot in the 40th minute to keep the 2-0 Jefferson Academy lead heading into halftime.
The Jaguars survived yet another Kent Denver attack in the second half to keep the shutout with a shot off the crossbar, a rebounded shot, and eventually a kick-save from a defender.
The early attack from Jefferson Academy held up and advanced the Jaguars into the title game.
Kent Denver beat Jefferson Academy 1-0 in the first meeting between the two teams.
