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.
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.
ThunderRidge 31, Overland 16, Monarch 7, Legend 5, Douglas County 3, Grand Junction 3, Mullen 2, Doherty 1, Fountain-Fort Carson 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Pine Creek (11)
110
2
Montrose
81
3
Pueblo South
75
4
Longmont
67
5
Denver South
53
6
Broomfield
43
7
Standley Lake
36
8
Dakota Ridge
28
9
Pueblo Centennial
26
10
Windsor
25
Others receiving votes:
Pueblo West 18, Vista Ridge 17, Loveland 13, Fort Collins 5, Coronado 3, Palmer Ridge 2, Wheat Ridge 2, Falcon 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Lutheran (3)
65
2
Delta (3)
53
3
Holy Family
52
4
Rifle (1)
40
5
Roosevelt
33
6
Evergreen
25
7
The Classical Academy
19
8
Palisade
16
9
Lewis-Palmer (1)
15
10
Vista PEAK
11
Others receiving votes:
Fort Morgan 9, Northridge 9, Pueblo East 7, Mead 4, Conifer 3, Discovery Canyon 3, Erie 3, Frederick 3, Woodland Park 2, Eagle Valley 1, Pueblo Central 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Platte Valley (5)
66
2
Faith Christian (1)
64
3
Brush (1)
54
4
Manitou Springs
41
5
Kent Denver
38
6
Florence
31
7
Strasburg
24
8
Bennett
23
9
Lamar
16
10
Olathe
9
Others receiving votes:
Gunnison 7, La Junta 4, Sterling 4, Eaton 2, Middle Park 1, Moffat County 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Paonia (4)
63
2
Centauri (2)
58
3
Limon (1)
53
4
Buena Vista
49
5
Resurrection Christian
40
6
Burlington
36
7
Monte Vista
30
8
Yuma
13
9
Wray
10
10
Cedaredge
8
Others receiving votes:
Platte Canyon 6, Colorado Springs Christian 5, Meeker 4, Holyoke 3, Hotchkiss 3, Rye 2, Front Range Christian 1, Wiggins 1.
Legacy opens as the No. 1 team in the preseason 5A softball poll. (Pam Wagner)
Two teams that finished runner-up a season ago head CHSAANow.com’s preseason softball rankings.
Erie (4A) and Sterling (3A) both fell in the championship games of their respective classifications last season. A year later, they’re both the preseason favorites.
In 5A, defending champion Legacy is the unanimous preseason No. 1. Legend, runner-up last year, is No. 2, and is followed by No. 3 Brighton, No. 4 Fossil Ridge and No. 5 Eaglecrest.
Dakota Ridge is sixth, Douglas County is seventh and Loveland is eighth. Rock Canyon (No. 9) and Fort Collins (No. 10) round out the 5A ranking.
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.
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.
Skyview’s football team has never stepped onto its home field under the lights. This season, the 27th in school history, that changes.
Due in large part of a grassroots community effort, as well as determination from its school board, Skyview has installed lights onto George DiTirro Stadium in Thornton. Those lights will turn on August 29, a Friday, when the Wolverines open the season against Summit.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“Playing on Friday nights is going to be awesome,” Skyview coach Bill Nelson said on Thursday. “Everybody’s excited.”
Skyview had been relegated to playing Saturday afternoons ever since the school was founded when the old Mapleton and Highland high schools combined in 1988. Mapleton had lights on its football field, but the new school moved to Highland’s campus. That stadium didn’t have lights.
So Saturdays became the norm when playing at home for Skyview. Early in the season, that meant dealing with heat. It usually always meant playing in front of sparse crowds.
“Saturday afternoons were wicked,” Nelson said. “I love coaching there, the people are good to me. But playing on Saturday afternoon just killed me.
“We are hoping attendance is going to go up,” Nelson added. “Even sometimes (entire) visiting team’s (crowds) didn’t come. A lot of our people didn’t come.”
(Pam Wagner)
The Wolverines have six home dates this season. All games are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Fridays.
“It just puts a different tone on our program,” Nelson said. “It’s more of a typical high school setting. We’re going to try to do some new traditions. Either have a meal or have some kind of session that we didn’t normally do.”
The school’s other teams that use the facility will also benefit from the lights. Notably, soccer games can start later. Those athletes had been leaving classes at 2 or 3 p.m. to prepare for a 4 p.m. start.
“Getting out of school just to play a home soccer game?” Nelson said. “Now we’re not going to have to do that.”
As part of the agreement to put lights up, the City of Thornton will also have access to the facility.
But on a Friday night in late August, DiTirro stadium will belong to the Wolverines. There’s a public Facebook group inviting alumni to attend.
Chris Kemm, Skyview’s girls basketball coach and a 1991 alum of the school, is a driving force behind the night.
“The only time we ever pack the stadium is for graduation,” Kemm said.
That may soon change. A full house is expected for the opener.
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MLB draft picks sign
Ralston Valley graduate Jordan Holloway. (Dennis Pleuss)
The MLB’s deadline for 2014 draft picks to sign was July 18.
Among those starting professional careers were Freeland and 2014 graduates Brock Burke (Evergreen), Max George (Regis Jesuit) and Jordan Holloway (Ralston Valley).
Freeland has made three starts for the Rockies’ Rookie-A affiliate in Grand Junction, but has thrown just nine innings. He has a 1.00 ERA, seven strikeouts and hasn’t allowed a walk.
Burke has thrown three innings for Tampa Bay’s Rookie-A affiliate, and hasn’t allowed a run.
George is with Freeland at Grand Junction and is hitting .303 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 21 games. He hit for the cycle on July 13.
Holloway has yet to play a game.
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Short stuff
MaxPreps recently ranked the 20 “most dominant” football programs in Colorado since 2004. The top three are not exactly a surprise: Mullen, Valor Christian and Columbine. Those three schools have won all but two Class 5A titles since 2004.
Earlier this month, we wrote about the Nate Ekhoff Kicking Camp. Campers got an awesome surprise when Broncos kicker Matt Prater showed up as a counselor. “Matt worked with the kickers for over four hours and never left the turf,” Marshall Ekhoff wrote in an email.
Jefferson Academy’s Jennifer Kupcho, the reigning Class 4A girls golf champion, lost during the match play portion of the U.S. Girls Junior Golf Championship in Flagstaff, Ariz. this week. Kupcho did finish in a tie for eighth at 1-under during the two-day stroke play portion, and was the highest Colorado finisher. Dakota Ridge’s Gillian Vance (+12), Regis Jesuit’s Jaclyn Murray (+21), Dakota Ridge’s Sydney Merchant (+22) and Skyline’s Erin Sargent (+27) also took part in the stroke play event, but missed the cut for match play.
Eaglecrest’s Jordyn Poulter and Lewis-Palmer’s Alexa Smith both won a gold medal while competing for the United States at the Under-20 NORCEA Continental Championship, an international volleyball tournament.
The inter-Colorado Springs coaching swaps continued when boys basketball coach Jarris Krapcha moved from Mitchell to Doherty last week.
New Denver Bronco DeMarcus Ware helped Doherty’s football team during its fundraiser.
Former Columbine athletic director Ed Woytek will remain in his advisory role with Valor Christian this season.
Front Range Christian and Jim Elliot will co-op in football for the 2014-15 school year.
Coveted 2016 big man De’Ron Davis of Overland added an offer from Oregon, according to his club team. Among his offers: Arizona, Indiana, UCLA and Wake Forest.
Valor Christian graduate Alex Kozan was a Freshman All-SEC pick as a redshirt freshman at Auburn last season. A guard, he’s now landed on the Outland Trophy watch list, given annually to college football’s top interior lineman.
Last year’s event featured 13 volunteer coaches who had either college or NFL experience. (Courtesy of the Ekhoff family)
It’s an event to honor his memory, but the Nate Ekhoff Kicking Camp also aims to help local kickers, punters and long snappers.
The camp honors former Ponderosa kicker Nate Ekhoff, who was diagnosed with leukemia just after his senior season in 2011. He died from complications of the disease less than a year after that.
Last summer, Nate’s family started the Nate Ekhoff Kicking Camp. It featured 13 current and former college/NFL kickers, punters and long snappers as volunteer coaches. Thirty Colorado high school players took part. Ultimately, the camp provided $4,000 in college scholarships to four Colorado athletes who went on to play at the Division II level.
(Courtesy of the Ekhoff family)
“Our family is very excited to help them out a little,” Marshall Ekhoff, Nate’s dad, wrote in an email.
This year’s event is Saturday at Sports Authority Stadium in Parker from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Registration is $125 and includes lunch and a t-shirt.
Coaches include former Northglenn and Colorado State punter/kicker Jimmie Kaylor; former Mullen and CSU long-snapper John Treacy; former Arvada West and CSU punter/kicker (and current A-West baseball coach) Matt McDougal; former Oregon State and NFL punter/kicker Sam Paulescu; former Arapahoe and CSU kicker Jason Smith; and former Nebraska punter/kicker Dan Wingard.
In addition, there will be a concurrent tailgate party from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in the parking lot at Sports Authority Stadium. Admission is free. The tailgate will feature games, music, grilled food and there will also be a silent auction and drawings.
Donations will be accepted, as well, on behalf of the Nate Ekhoff Kicking Scholarship Fund.
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Local short stuff
John Hickey will be the new football coach at Flager. He has more than 25 years of coaching experience, most of it in DPS. He was Denver South’s interim coach in 2006, and has also headed Stratton. His stops as an assistant include Denver North, Denver East, Denver South and Alameda. His son, Johnny Hickey — who played at Broomfield — will serve as defensive coordinator.
North Park hired Chad Carlstrom as its football coach.
Cherry Creek hockey announced it has hired Brent Tollar as an assistant coach. Tollar was Steamboat Springs’ head coach last season as the Sailors went 10-7-1.
Denver East graduate Chyna Ries will head to the University of Texas instead of USC. “Initially I verbally committed to USC but was unable to get in,” Ries told co.milesplit.com. “Texas was one of my favorites as well but I had some additional work I needed to do to get in there. This was a long process and I want to reinforce to others to take your academics serious day one.” Ries won the long jump, was second in the 200 meters and third in the 100 at the Class 5A state track and field meet this past spring.
Fossil Ridge boys lacrosse’s Jake Frane committed to Notre Dame. He will be a sophomore this coming season.
Big news in the administrative realm: Russ McKinstry, the very successful boys basketball coach, has taken over as the athletic director at Monarch. Said McKinstry, to BoCoPreps.com: “There are high standards and expectations, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The Colorado Athletic Directors Association has a new twitter account: @CoAD_Assn.
Doherty boys basketball coach James Lane resigned in late June. He was there for three seasons, and went 16-8 last spring as the Spartans made 5A’s second round.
Dakota Ridge teammates Gillian Vance and Sydney Merchant, Regis Jesuit’s Jaclyn Murray, Jefferson Academy’s Jennifer Kupcho and Silver Creek’s Erin Sargent (who plays for Skyline) all qualified for the U.S. Girls Junior Golf Championship, set to be held July 21-26 in Flagstaff, Arizona. Denver East’s Sarah Hunt is an alternate.
Kyle Freeland, the Thomas Jefferson product who went No. 8 overall to the Rockies in this summer’s MLB Draft, made his pro debut on Wednesday night. He pitched just two innings, but didn’t allow a run and struck out two against three hits. He also topped out at 96 mph. “When I got done with that second (inning), I just felt like I was getting in my groove,” Freeland told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, “but they said, ‘We’re done after two. You threw 17 pitches, your two innings are up, we’ll just prepare for the next start.’”
In mid-June, Mead’s baseball and softball fields were vandalized by “unidentified youths” who sliced up the Mavs’ windscreen with a knife. The damage was estimated to be roughly $5,000.
Genoa-Hugo and Karval will co-op once again in 2014-15 in volleyball, football, boys and girls basketball, as well as baseball.
One school district in South Carolina has voted to prohibit parents from coaching their own kids at the varsity and junior varsity levels. According to The Post and Courier, a newspaper which covers the district, that extends to volunteer coaches, as well. There is a waiver, however, which would allow a parent to coach their kid if they are “determined to be vital to the existence of the program.”
Ohio is revamping its classification system. Some are hailing the change as a solution to competitive balance, though it only affects football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball and softball. Essentially, enrollment numbers are being adjusted based upon if a student’s parents reside in the attendance zone or not, and if the student has been in the same district since seventh grade. Here are more details from theSuburbanite.com.
There’s an interesting transfer case brewing in Pennsylvania. It revolves around a Philadelphia-area football player.
The 2014 all-state boys lacrosse 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 coaches, and then a vote of coaches.
Players of the year were also selected by a vote of the coaches.
The 2014 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 coaches, and then a vote of coaches.
Players of the year were also selected by a vote of the coaches.
Raccoon Creek Golf Club, the site of the two-day, 36-hole tournament, is Columbine’s home course.
Tait has even more of an advantage. Her father, Pat, is the club’s head pro. She even works at the course. And, as expected, she plays a lot of rounds there.
Her round on Monday of 3-over-par 75 put her in a tie for first place with Grandview’s Morgan Sahm.
“It’s a total different feeling than coming out with my friends,” Tait admitted of playing with a state title on the line.
In actuality, “The scores were higher coming in than I expected,” she said.
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Denver East’s Sarah Hunt held the lead at the mid-point at 2-under and made the turn at even par. She lost four strokes on the final three holes to finish at 4-over 76.
Still, “This has been my best day,” Hunt said of her best round of the season. At one behind the leaders, she’ll be in the lead threesome on Tuesday.
Tait at one point was one over. She was hoping to finish at least in the top six, which would put her in the top two groups heading into Tuesday. She thought she might have lost that chance when she double-bogeyed 17.
At 3-over, “I didn’t putt as well as I had liked,” she said.
With rain and snow on the course within the previous week, it was softer than she was used to. In addition, she normally plays Raccoon Creek from the blue or black tees. The tournament is being played from the white tees and she had to club down on many tee shots.
Tait has qualified for the state tournament in each of her four years. Her best finish was 13th as a sophomore. Last year she won the regional tournament but did not play well at state, something she is hoping to rectify this year.
Course conditions might differ in the afternoon, when she plays half her round.
“As far as how the course changes, that should be all right,” she said.
It’s packed at the top in the battle for the team title.
Legacy, Regis Jesuit and Rock Canyon are all tied for first place at 29-over. Legacy is the only one of the three with just three golfers competing, so all three count toward the team score.
Hunt’s score helped Denver East stay close to the leaders; the Angels are in fourth at 250, six strokes ahead of Arapahoe.
Defending champion Calli Ringsby of Cherry Creek ended her first round at 6-over, as did Arapahoe’s Hannah Wood, an expected challenger for the title. The two played in the same group Monday. Dakota Ridge’s Sydney Merchant, another challenger, is 5-over.
