DENVER — The first day of the state spirit championships is in the books, and five champions were crowned on Friday night.
Grandview captured the 5A pom competition; Rock Canyon won 5A cheer; Dakota Ridge won 4A/5A co-ed cheer; Mountain Vista won hip hop; and Heritage won jazz.
Below are the complete results, including the finalists and their order of finish.
[divider]
Class 5A poms
Grandview won the 5A poms competition at state spirit. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie break
1
Grandview
94.83
471.00
2
Thunderridge
94.50
470.50
3
Cherry Creek
93.33
466.50
4
Ralston Valley
92.67
461.50
5
Legacy
92.50
461.50
6
Arapahoe
92.00
462.00
7
Chatfield
90.17
450.00
8
Regis
89.33
445.50
9
Fairview
89.17
440.00
10
Fruita Monument
87.33
437.50
11
Horizon
86.50
431.50
12
Prairie View
84.50
422.00
13
Eaglecrest
83.33
419.00
14
Rocky Mountain
83.17
417.50
14
Doherty
83.17
414.00
16
Boulder
83.00
417.00
17
Arvada West
82.00
408.50
18
Dakota Ridge
81.17
404.50
19
Littleton
80.33
400.00
20
Brighton
79.50
399.50
21
Grand Junction
79.17
394.00
22
Fossil Ridge
79.00
399.00
23
Denver East
78.67
393.00
24
Central (Gj)
76.33
380.00
25
Mountain Range
76.17
384.50
26
Bear Creek
70.67
357.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie break
1
Grandview
95.00
473.00
2
Thunderridge
94.67
472.50
2
Legacy
94.67
468.00
4
Arapahoe
93.83
468.50
5
Cherry Creek
93.33
468.00
6
Ralston Valley
92.50
462.00
[divider]
Class 5A cheer
Rock Canyon won the 5A cheer competition at state spirit. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie break
1
Rock Canyon
91.47
457.00
2
Grandview
88.63
445.00
3
Douglas County
88.53
441.10
4
Eaglecrest
87.70
435.70
5
Chaparral
85.83
428.20
6
Rocky Mountain
83.67
419.10
7
Arapahoe
83.17
411.20
8
Pine Creek
81.70
407.20
9
Fossil Ridge
79.10
397.70
10
Regis
76.63
388.60
11
Prairie View
73.93
366.80
12
Horizon
73.83
369.50
13
Legacy
71.37
354.60
14
Monarch
71.27
356.80
15
Standley Lake
70.83
348.10
16
Highlands Ranch
70.83
355.30
17
Loveland
69.93
347.90
18
Cherry Creek
69.63
349.70
19
Bear Creek
68.87
335.20
20
Poudre
68.67
342.00
21
Heritage
68.40
339.90
22
Denver East
68.07
343.30
23
Smoky Hill
67.93
340.60
24
Grand Junction
66.87
331.60
25
Rangeview
65.73
331.60
26
Brighton
62.90
317.50
27
Columbine
62.73
312.20
28
Rampart
59.47
293.20
29
Littleton
58.87
288.70
30
Greeley West
57.90
291.50
31
Thornton
54.40
269.70
32
Boulder
53.97
275.70
33
Northglenn
52.33
274.40
34
George Washington
48.07
249.90
35
Overland
45.77
231.80
36
Chatfield
44.73
230.30
37
Hinkley
35.00
182.40
38
Gateway
0.00
0.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie break
1
Rock Canyon
93.23
466.80
2
Eaglecrest
91.10
456.50
3
Grandview
89.70
447.30
4
Pine Creek
87.53
431.80
5
Rocky Mountain
83.40
417.80
6
Douglas County
83.23
418.50
7
Arapahoe
83.13
421.80
8
Chaparral
80.87
404.50
[divider]
Class 4A/5A co-ed cheer
Dakota Ridge won the co-ed cheer competition at state spirit. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie break
1
Dakota Ridge
88.53
440.60
2
Mountain Vista
84.23
421.80
3
Thunderridge
76.63
385.30
4
Castle View
76.40
379.10
5
Cherokee Trail
74.93
372.40
6
Palisade
72.80
366.00
7
Air Academy
71.47
357.00
8
Falcon
70.50
355.50
9
Legend
70.37
353.30
10
Ralston Valley
69.67
342.30
11
Fruita Monument
68.30
339.50
12
Fountain-Ft. Carson
66.80
332.10
13
Centaurus
65.27
326.60
14
Liberty
63.90
317.30
15
Greeley Central
60.90
311.10
16
Doherty
59.07
297.00
17
Arvada West
58.13
296.80
18
Westminster
56.27
285.20
19
Montrose
55.43
282.10
20
Steamboat Springs
53.17
276.50
21
Abraham Lincoln
52.33
261.70
22
Central (Gj)
51.47
261.50
23
Pomona
50.30
252.40
24
Pueblo County
48.97
247.40
25
Denver West
48.10
239.50
26
John F. Kennedy
47.73
243.30
27
Arvada
44.43
228.00
28
Aurora Central
44.37
215.00
29
Adams City
43.93
224.80
30
Denver South
41.90
214.30
31
Skyview
0.00
0.00
31
Sierra
0.00
0.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie break
1
Dakota Ridge
93.80
465.60
2
Mountain Vista
83.17
414.20
3
Castleview
78.20
391.50
4
Thunderridge
74.30
375.00
5
Cherokee Trail
72.43
358.00
6
Palisade
57.77
288.30
[divider]
Hip hop
Mountain Vista won the hip hop competition at state spirit. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie break
1
Mountain Vista
94.67
472.00
2
Overland
91.33
457.00
3
Monarch
90.33
452.00
4
Greeley West
87.67
435.00
5
Smoky Hill
86.00
431.00
6
Thornton
84.67
425.00
7
Northglenn
84.17
423.50
8
Sand Creek
83.67
417.50
9
Northridge
82.67
414.00
10
Montezuma-Cortez
82.00
408.00
11
Weld Central
80.33
399.00
12
Pueblo Central
78.83
389.50
13
Skyline
72.00
359.00
14
Pomona
70.67
353.00
15
Greeley Central
62.33
312.00
16
Rampart
58.00
292.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie break
1
Mountain Vista
96.00
476.00
2
Overland
93.33
466.50
3
Greeley West
92.00
457.50
4
Monarch
91.50
458.50
[divider]
Jazz
Heritage won the jazz competition at state spirit. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
AURORA — After a year away, Legacy’s softball team is back on top of the Class 5A mountain.
The Lightning won their sixth title in seven years, edging Legend 6-4 at a chilly Aurora Sports Park on Sunday.
“We see everybody’s Sunday best,” Legacy coach Dawn Gaffin, who has been the head of the Lightning softball program for 14 years. “Everybody comes to play us. People from other teams line up on the other side and cheer against us, and we are getting used to it. We set this goal at the beginning of the year, every year. We don’t think about anything else, except this. We know it is a progression. Even though we lost five games I would say we probably played the toughest schedule in the state. We didn’t get rewarded for that, but I didn’t care where we were seeded because we have to play everybody anyway.”
Legacy, which was seeded No. 5 in the 16-team state tourney, ended its season with a 21-5 record. Legend (20-6), which started playing varsity sports in 2009, was trying to win the school’s first state team title.
“They put the bat on the ball and put pressure on us,” Legend coach Shelly Boyd said. “They are experienced and have been here before and they are a much older team than we are. We are a very young team. We started three freshmen and a sophomore out there.”
Legend’s varsity softball program had compiled a 31-36 record since its inception before its 2013 breakout season.
Legacy moved into the state championship game by edging Brighton 5-3 in the semifinals Sunday morning. Legend muscled past Fossil Ridge 9-4.
Legend actually jumped out to quick 1-0 lead on Kaley Garcia’s RBI single in the top of the third inning. Garcia brought home Steph Cardona who doubled.
“I felt like falling behind kind of lit a fire under us,” Legacy pitcher Haley Smith, a junior, said. “We started hitting the ball.”
Legacy’s offense came alive in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four runs on four hits. The Lightning’s Shania Leon had an RBI single and Jordan Sheard brought home another run on a squeeze bunt.
(Pam Wagner)
“At this point it is just muscle memory,” said Leon, a senior, about her hit which sparked the Lightning’s offense. “You just have to calm the adrenaline down and then let it take over. We are pretty confident. We have amazing coaches who led us this far.”
In the sixth inning, thanks to some Legend miscues Legacy took a 6-1 advantage. Those two insurance runs proved to be crucial as Legend’s Karlee Arnold blasted a three-run homer to get the Titans within 6-4 in the seventh.
“I wasn’t nervous after that three-run homer,” Smith said. “I knew we had one out and we just had to go back to work. This is crazy (to win another state title). It is indescribable, the feeling after you win.”
Leon also was thrilled to help her team back on the 5A prep throne.
“Every year is a different year,” Leon said. “We have to start off the same as any other team. No team has it from the beginning, you have to work hard. This team just meshed together.”
Aurora Sports Park sits quiet prior to Saturday’s action. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) A roundup of Saturday’s action at the state softball tournaments at Aurora Sports Park.
AURORA — Fossil Ridge won its first two games at Saturday’s opening rounds of the 5A state softball tournament by a combined score of 29-7. It now finds itself in the semifinals for the first time in school history.
In fact, Fossil Ridge had never even won a game at the state tournament before Saturday.
The third-seeded SaberCats beat No. 14 Pine Creek in the opening round, 10-3, then followed with a 19-4 mercy-rule-shortened win over No. 6 Eaglecrest which ended on Haley Donaldson’s walk-off three-run home run.
Legacy softball coach Dawn Gaffin goes over instructions between innings Saturday afternoon during the Lightning’s 8-1 quarterfinal victory against Dakota Ridge. Legacy, 5-time Class 5A state champion, will face Brighton in the 5A state semifinals 10 a.m. Sunday at Aurora Sports Park. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)
Fossil Ridge is 22-1 in 2013. The SaberCats’ lone loss this season came to Legacy on Sept. 16. They could get a rematch on Saturday — but first they’ll need to get past No. 7 Legend, another first-timer in the semis.
Legend (19-5) dispatched No. 10 Grandview 13-8 to open the tournament, then beat No. 2 Rock Canyon 6-1 in the quartefinals.
No. 9 Brighton was the lone team to knock off a No. 1 seed on Saturday. The Bulldogs, now 22-2, beat No. 1 Douglas County 8-4 in the quarterfinals. That followed an 11-1 win over No. 8 Loveland, the defending champion.
In the semis, Brighton will get No. 5 Legacy, which beat a pair of Jeffco squads (Chatfield and Dakota Ridge) to earn its seventh consecutive berth into the state tournament semifinals.
No. 12 Chatfield gave Legacy a tough test before the Lightning pulled away in the late innings for a 6-2 win.
“I think we kind of learned from it,” Legacy senior pitcher Haley Smith said. “Our bats were kind of cold at first, but we had everybody set up.”
Legacy used some “small ball” tactics in the third inning against No. 4 Dakota Ridge to score four runs on the way to an 8-1 victory.
Despite the rich tradition of winning five straight 5A state crowns from 2007 to 2011, Smith doesn’t believe Legacy will be nervous going into the semifinals.
“If anything I think there is less pressure because everyone thinks we can’t do it,” Smith said. “We are the underdogs.”
Semifinal games:
(9) Brighton vs. (5) Legacy, 10 a.m.
(3) Fossil Ridge vs. (7) Legend, 10 a.m.
[divider] Broomfield is headed to the semifinals. More photos. (Pam Wagner)
Fifth-seeded Broomfield narrowly survived being No. 13 D’Evelyn’s second upset victim of the day. But the Eagles did survive, and advance, to the 4A semifinals on Sunday.
Broomfield rallied from 2-0 and 4-2 holes to hold on and beat D’Evelyn 7-6 on Saturday. The Eagles had a four-run fifth-inning which led to the win. They will face top-seeded Wheat Ridge in the semifinals.
Wheat Ridge junior Erin Dalton connects with a pitch during the Farmers’ 5-0 win against Roosevelt in the opening round of the Class 4A state softball tournament Saturday at Aurora Sports Park. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)
Wheat Ridge didn’t have much problem advancing.
The Farmers shut out No. 16 Roosevelt by a 5-0 score in the opening round and cranked out 11 hits in a 9-4 quarterfinal victory against No. 8 Mountain View. Still, Wheat Ridge coach Marty Stricklett said there is “some improving to do” going into the final day of the season.
The Farmers edged Broomfield 2-0 earlier this season. Sophomore Christina Nelson hit a two-run home run in the first inning and senior pitcher Jessica Salbato pitched a shutout against Broomfield back on Aug. 30.
A 1-0 loss to Niwot in the 4A semifinals last year still motivates the Farmers heading into their eighth straight trip to the state semifinals.
“Tomorrow we are still going off what happened last year,” Stricklett said. “We’ve got to show up and play our game. The name of our game is hitting. We’ve got to hit the ball.”
On the other side of the bracket, No. 6 Erie beat No. 11 Silver Creek 11-1 and No. 3 Pueblo East 7-1 to advance to Sunday. The Tigers will face No. 2 Ponderosa, which escaped No. 15 Palmer Ridge’s upset bid, 5-4, to open the tournament, then beat No. 7 Berthoud 6-0 in the quarters.
The four semifinalists at the 3A level each only played one game on Saturday. That’s because Strasburg, Sterling, Holy Family and Valley all had opening-round byes as seeds Nos. 1-4.
Top-seeded Strasburg beat No. 9 Basalt 11-0, and will meet No. 4 Valley, which eeked past No. 5 Eaton 1-0.
In the other semifinal, No. 2 Sterling will meet No. 3 Holy Family. Sterling beat No. 7 Lamar 5-0 and Holy Family beat No. 11 Dolores Huerta 3-0.
WESTMINSTER — Fairview, ranked second in this week’s CHSAANow.com 5A football poll, led just 20-14 at the break, but pulled away from Legacy in the second half to notch a 38-20 win.
