Grandview’s Aaron Harris blocked a punt that the Wolves recovered for a touchdown to cut into Eaglecrest’s lead early in the third quarter. They had possession deep in the Raptors’ territory on their next possession, but the drive stalled and the Wolves turned it over on fourth down.
Eaglecrest then went back up 21-7, and held that lead for most of the fourth quarter.
4A: (10) Pueblo West 55, (3) Pueblo South 54 (2OT)
4A Football: @wilkyway22 with the TD, then a subplot… Long snapper hurt, PW thinking of going for it. But a sub long snapper does this pic.twitter.com/R34pANGm40
In a wild one, Pueblo West took down their crosstown foe in two overtimes.
The game was tied at 42 after regulation — but Pueblo West had to rally to get to that point. South led 35-21 at the half, only to see Pueblo West tie the game at 35 in the third quarter.
Roosevelt scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to come roaring back and upset the Trojans.
The Roughriders’ defense got their team started with a safety early in the fourth quarter, and then Angelo Hurtado cut it to 12-9 with a 21-yard rushing touchdown.
Four minutes later, Roosevelt’s Trent Beall scored what proved to be the winning touchdown on a 14-yard rush.
Jaydon Elkins had a rushing touchdown for Longmont.
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4A: (4) Windsor 40, (8) Broomfield 14
(Steve Oathout)
Windsor jumped out to a 26-0 lead at halftime, and the Wizards kept their foot on the pedal in the second half en route to the big win.
Quarterback Connor Apodaca, a senior, accounted for four total touchdowns, including two through the air.
Big win for No. 6 Holly in 8-man, topping No. 2 Hoehne 33-14.
Gilpin County upset No. 10 Caliche in 8-man, 36-30.
There is once again a tie atop the all-time football wins list. West Grand’s forfeit win over Nederland became official tonight, giving coach Chris Brown his 318th career win.
Prairie, No. 8 in 6-man, is now 3-0 after beating Arickaree/Woodlin 34-14. “You can’t be displeased with 3-0,” coach Justin Kerns told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “We’re looking forward to next week.”
Skyview continued its hot start with a 29-3 win over Summit and is now 4-0. Its the first time the Wolverines are 4-0 since 2011.
3A No. 7 Erie’s Noah Roper rushed for 308 yards and four touchdowns in a 47-23 win over Northridge.
Masiah Hudson rushed for 188 yards and four touchdowns on just five carries as Manual beat Sheridan 42-6. Corey Jones added 111 rushing yards and a score.
Trevor Reuss threw three touchdowns for Basalt in a 35-7 upset win over No. 6 Delta in 2A.
Bryce Sugden had two touchdown passes as 8-man No. 3 Dayspring Christian beat Springfield 47-17.
Peetz, ranked No. 2 in 6-man, beat Idalia 60-12. Bryson Long had three receiving touchdowns, while Tre Fehringer tossed two TD passes.
Rowan Neal threw two touchdowns in leading Vista Ridge to a 28-16 win over Dakota Ridge in 4A.
Eaton beat Brush 35-21, and Austin Coalson had two passing TDs. Travis Cunningham also rushed for two touchdowns.
CHSAA’s Board of Directors voted to hire Blanford-Green as the association’s next commissioner on Tuesday, board president Eddie Hartnett told CHSAANow.com.
“She’s going to lead the communities of Colorado to the next level, and we’re so excited about that,” Hartnett said. “She’s a progressive thinker. That came out in the interviews, as well as what we know about her historically.”
Blanford-Green will be introduced to the membership as commissioner at the Legislative Council meeting in April.
Blanford-Green worked at CHSAA both as assistant commissioner and associate commissioner from 1996-2012. She was the executive director at the Nebraska School Activities Association from 2012-15, and has been an assistant executive director at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association since 2015.
“I stayed connected to Colorado, even when I wasn’t here physically,” Blanford-Green said. “I stayed connected with staff, and I stayed connected with ADs.”
Blanford-Green often returned to Colorado to speak at student conferences and leadership events.
“It will feel like coming home,” she said of returning as CHSAA’s next commissioner. “It’s almost like this has been a circle: I started here, had the opportunity to have the experience in Nebraska, I had the opportunity to have the experience in Louisiana. It’s just come full circle.”
Blanford-Green was selected from a group of three finalists who interviewed at the CHSAA offices on Monday and Tuesday with the Board, the CHSAA administrative staff, and the CHSAA administrative assistants.
“We had great candidates apply. It was a very tough decision,” Hartnett said. “We had three really great finalists. Any one of them could’ve led us into the next decade.
“When you compared experience,” Hartnett added, “Rhonda has commissioner experience in Nebraska, and also has Colorado history, which we heard from our schools was very important. That put her ahead of the pack.”
Blanford-Green said it was “an honor to considered with such strong candidates.”
“The process was one of the most intense and personal that I have ever been involved with over the years,” she added. “I look forward to working collaboratively with the CHSAA Board of Directors and staff to serve the membership and Colorado student-participants.”
The process to select the next commissioner started two years ago, with input from member schools filtering through to the Board. Hartnett stressed transparency and statewide feedback throughout the process.
“Every member school was heard,” Hartnett said. “We brought that up repeatedly today.”
Hartnett also praised the Board of Directors’ work throughout the process.
“This was a long process that required a lot of work to be sure it was done right,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of the work the Board did.”
Blanford-Green will become the first female to serve as CHSAA’s commissioner, as well as the first African-American.
She has quite an extensive resume, including her time at CHSAA. At various times in Colorado, she oversaw boys soccer, spirit, track and field, cross country, hockey and skiing. She also was in charge of equity, marketing, public relations and legislative relations.
She started a number of initiatives at CHSAA, including the creation of the association’s transgender policy, which has since become something of a national model used by other states.
“If you look at the equity policies she’s put in place, she’s been a leader nationally,” Hartnett said.
In 2012, Blanford-Green was named the executive director of the Nebraska School Activities Association — becoming the first African-American woman in the country to serve in that capacity.
She led the Nebraska association for three years, parting ways in 2015, and has been the assistant executive director at the Louisiana High School Activities Association since August 2015.
A 1981 graduate of Aurora Central High School, where she starred in track and also competed in spirit and volleyball, Blanford-Green went on to become an All-American in track at the University of Nebraska.
After college, she twice qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials. She was a coach for a spell before joining CHSAA.
Blanford-Green is a member of the CHSAA Hall of Fame as a participant (2012 inductee), the Sportswoman of Colorado Hall of Fame, the Nebraska Black Sports Hall of Fame, and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
A mother of two, John and Aspen, she is married to John Green, the former district athletic director of Cherry Creek Schools.
Blanford-Green is the first external hire as commissioner since Ray Plutko was hired from California in 1986.
Jeffco’s Bryan Wickoren, far right, organized the first Colorado High School Adapted Basketball Tournament on Thursday at Gold Crown Field House in Lakewood. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
LAKEWOOD — Jeffco Public Schools’ Adapted Athletics program made to quantum leap Thursday hosting the inaugural Colorado High School Adapted Basketball Tournament.
A total of 21 schools — 31 teams — took part in the tournament. Teams from school districts in Aurora, Boulder, Brighton, Denver, Colorado Springs, Frederick, Greeley, Littleton, Longmont and Jeffco gathered at Gold Crown Field House in Lakewood first state-wide basketball tournament of its kind in Colorado for students with special needs.
“We had a great response,” said event organizer Bryan Wickoren, Adapted Physical Education Coordinator for Jeffco Public Schools. “It’s a great representation of schools from the eastern side of the state. It’s a start.”
The event got such a great response that 10 schools were on a waiting list for the tournament. Wickoren, who is a part of the Department of Education adapted team advisory counsel, presented his idea last fall of having a state basketball tournament that Jeffco would host.
Wickoren said there is already talk about adding a state-wide soccer tournament in the fall, along with state-wide track and field meet next spring to serve students with special needs.
Sand Creek senior D’Shawn Schwartz, left, served as a coach for the Adapted Basketball tournament. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“I’m extremely proud,” Wickoren said of the growth of Adapted Athletics. “Eight years ago we had five schools doing a couple of athletic events. Now we are doing something every month in Jeffco. We are just building and growing. We have a solid foundation and base. We’ll keep going.”
Bringing in schools from outside Jeffco has been a goal for Wickoren.
“We want to offer this to more than just Jeffco schools,” said Wickoren, who added he hopes in the future Adapted Athletics will be sanctioned by the Colorado High School Activities Association like it is in Minnesota.
Bonnie Mendenhall, Adapted PE teacher for middle and high schools in Falcon School District 49 in Colorado Springs, jumped at the chance to get her students involved in Thursday’s basketball tournament. Sand Creek brought two teams to compete.
“We’ve always wanted to get involved in unified sport, but we just didn’t have anything going on in the Springs,” Mendenhall said. “Talking to Bryan (Wickoren) he told me all about it. We decided to come up. This is our first time and our two teams we have are really excited.”
Schools from across the state took part in the Adapted Basketball Tournament. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Sand Creek also brought up a familiar face to Colorado prep basketball fans. Senior D’Shawn Schwartz, one of the top basketball recruits in the state that has committed to play at the University of Colorado next school year, was on hand as a coach for the Scorpions.
“This is my first time,” Schwartz said about helping with Adapted Athletics. “We had one practice and then came out here. It’s pretty fun. It’s cool.”
A couple of teachers at Sand Creek told Schwartz about the tournament and he decided to be apart of it. Schwartz has helped lead the Scorpions to a 13-1 record this season averaging more than 26 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game.
“It’s different, but it feels good to get away from competition,” Schwartz said about being a coach on the basketball court instead of facing a box-and-one defense. “I can just come out here and be loose.”
Arvada and Standley Lake high schools had members of its basketball teams on hand too as referees and scorers for games. Jeffco will hold its Adapted Athletics Basketball Day for Jeffco schools Friday, Jan. 20.
“We want to keep more kids involved in sports. It’s a win-win for everybody,” Mendenhall said. “They see the other kids in sports and it gives them the opportunity to be in sports. It gives them great self-esteem. They can be a part of a team.”
At the end of the day Thursday, Gateway lifted the first-place trophy.
Gateway was crowned the first-place champions in the first Colorado High School Adapted Basketball Tournament. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The 2016 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.
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Class 5A
(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Player of the year: Dylan McCaffrey, Valor Christian
LITTLETON — Arapahoe boys soccer got two second-half goals to beat Aurora Central 3-1 on Thursday to advance to the second round of the Class 5A state tournament.
The 2015-16 all-state girls basketball players of the year. (Photos: Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com; Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com; Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com; Jeff Tucker/jefferywtucker.zenfolio.com)
The 2015-16 all-state girls 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 then a week-long vote of coaches.
A specific player of the year vote was held in each class, as was a vote for coach of the year.
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Class 5A
Grandview’s Michaela Onyenwere is the 5A girls basketball player of the year. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
