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.
The preseason football rankings are out ahead of the 2018 season. No. 1 teams include Cherry Creek (5A), Pine Creek (4A), Palmer Ridge (3A), Bayfield (2A), Strasburg (1A), Sedgwick County (8-man) and Stratton/Liberty (6-man).
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
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.
Rock Canyon’s Emily Sloan. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
LAKEWOOD — Emily Sloan knows Class 4A’s top hurdler well.
Nearly a decade ago, Sloan and Anna Hall were already teammates in a club track program. They have been great friends ever since.
Now donning the black and gold of Rock Canyon and the blue and white of Valor Christian, the tandem has flourished into Colorado’s premier hurdlers.
During the state track preliminary rounds of the 300 hurdles at Jeffco Stadium, Sloan saw her friend break her Colorado record with a time of 40.76 seconds, bettering the Jaguar’s time of 40.77 last week at the Continental League Championships. Then, Sloan managed to flip the script on Hall and take her record back in her 5A prelim with a new all-classification best of 40.60.
In a terrific display of sportsmanship and a sign of the friends’ bond, Hall cheered loudly on the infield during Sloan’s attempt at the feat.
“I definitely had extra motivation going into that race, because Anna’s my best friend,” Sloan, a senior, said. “I’m happy she got it, but I definitely wanted to take it back from her. She’s a great competitor though. We’ll push each other throughout the years.
“We’re sisters almost.”
Sloan and Hall, still only a junior, tallied the second and third best times in the nation for the 2018 season. As impressive as Friday’s hurdle races happened to be, the prep stars have a laundry list of other accomplishments.
Sloan chose to sign with the University of Oregon, having already claimed four state titles (three in a row in 100 hurdles) going into her final season for the Jaguars.
“It’s been a dream school of mine since I was little,” she said. “I knew that would be the best place to give me a shot at my goals.”
She has ambitions of winning an individual and team national championship at Oregon, but before she embarks on even greater goals she’ll be putting the final touches on an illustrious prep career on Saturday in the 100 hurdles (No. 1 seed), 300 hurdles, and 200 (No. 2 seed at 23.93 seconds).
Valor Christian’s Anna Hall. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
As for Hall, the junior has been a national champion indoors in the high jump and pentathlon, along with being tabbed the defending state champion in both hurdles in 4A.
On top of that, she claimed her first long jump state crown on Friday with a mark of 18 feet, 9.75 inches. Valor Christian’s latest elite female in track could have a flurry of accomplishments coming her way at the prep level and beyond.
As usual, the 4A and 5A competitions delivered plenty of eye-opening performances. Denver East girls continued their domination in sprints with a time of 46.51 seconds in the 400-meter relay in prelims, tying the state record held by George Washington from 2007. Later on in the meet, despite not running Arria Minor in the final, the Angels won the 800 relay (1:40.25).
Denver East and Grandview both shattered the all-classification state records (previously held by George Washington) in the 800 meter sprint medley relay with marks of 1:42.62 and 1:42.89. Freshman Kyairra Reigh ran the 400 anchor leg for East.
The beauty of track and field is that times and marks never lie though. With competitors from all five classifications testing themselves against the state’s finest athletes at Jeffco Stadium, small school competitors sometimes prove themselves as the best in Colorado.
Soroco’s Ben Kelley.
Soroco senior Ben Kelley shattered the 2A state record in the 800 three consecutive seasons at Jeffco Stadium (1:55.61 in 2016, 1:54.75 in 2017, 1:52.77 in 2018). He also broke the classification record in the 1,600 with a time of 4:17.23 at the St. Vrain Invite last week, a best time held by Paul Roberts of Lyons in 2016 (4:17.35).
Kelley also claimed state crowns in cross country as a senior, the 1,600 as a junior, and the 3,200 as a junior. He has chosen to pursue collegiate running at Columbia University in the Ivy League.
Oh, and the sensational Soroco harrier even ran the fastest 800 time in all classifications on Friday. Kelley feels inspired by the town he lives in.
“I come from a super small community,” he said. “We have less than 90 kids in our school, so we’re practically 1A. We’re like a family. We get a lot of support from the community. Even the teachers, people who aren’t necessarily associated with athletics, they always keep up with it.”
The state track and field meet will resume at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
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Class 5A notes:
Fairview junior Marlena Preigh (2:09.19) fended off Broomfield senior Madison Mooney (2:10.19) and Highlands Ranch sophomore Bryce Johansen (2:10.55) in the 800-meter run.
Grandview senior Kylee Harr (5-10) won high jump with an impressive mark.
Landon Rast, a senior for the Legend Titans, won the 800 in 1:53.03.
Fountain-Fort Carson boys (1:26.53) beat a game Cherry Creek (1:26.65) contingent in the 800 relay. Fountain also finished first in prelims of the 1,600 relay (3:17.85).
Class 4A notes:
Valor Christian girls won the 800 relay (1:41.89). They might also claim the team title on Saturday.
Discovery Canyon junior Liberty Ricca (10:57) and Valor Christian sophomore Cole Sprout (9:22) topped all competitors in the 3,200 races.
Mead girls (1:45.17) continued their high-level relay performances with a sprint medley championship.
Niwot freshman Taylor James (2:13.55) strided away from everyone in the two-lap 800 final. Former Niwot great Elise Cranny holds the classification state meet record with a time of 2:08.
Vista Ridge senior Raymon Harper has been terrific in all three jumps, finishing first in long jump (23-3) and second in high jump (6-9). He was also the winner of the triple jump on Thursday.
Garrett Martin, a Standley Lake veteran, cleared 6 feet, 10 inches to conquer high jump.
Pine Creek boys were victorious in the 800 relay (1:28.07).
Silver Creek superstar James Lee (1:54.25) is a back-to-back 800 state champion.
Class 3A notes:
TCA senior Erika Willis, the sister of Colorado record holder Andrea, broke her own 3A state meet record in pole vault. Last season she cleared 12-5, but this year 12-9 won it over Platte Canyon’s Hayley Rayburn (12-6).
The Classical Academy also won the girls 800 relay (1:43.91).
Sierra senior Alexandria Burns brought a triple jump title back to Colorado Springs with a mark of 36-5.
Maggi Congdon of Steamboat Springs (2:14) and Rasce Englehardt (1:56.41) claimed the 800 crowns. Denver West sophomore Yasin Sado (1:56.45) was barely second in the two-lapper.
Pagosa Springs senior Keena Murphy (127-10) topped the field in girls discus.
Faith Christian senior Reece Davidson finished first in another throwing event (53-4.50 in shot put).
Lutheran boys broke a 16-year record held by Yuma in the 800 relay with a blistering 1:28.01. The previous 3A record was 1:28.31. Lutheran girls won the sprint medley relay as well (1:49.43).
Bayfield senior Carl Heide (38.36) shattered the 3A state meet record in the 300 hurdles. The record was from 1995 and held by Ben Myers of Colorado Springs Christian (38.39).
Class 2A notes:
Telluride senior Soleil Gaylord (11:16) won her third consecutive title in the 3,200 with a 37-second winning margin.
Monika Williams anchored Denver Christian to a victorious sprint medley relay (1:51.67).
Peyton junior Kaylee Kearse (2:18) pulled away from the field in the 800. Peyton also won the 800 relay in 1:48.93.
Logan Kuskie of Lyons continued a family tradition of success in pole vault with a gold medal (11-2).
Holyoke sophomore Taeryn Trumper (18-1.75) was the long jump champion.
Burlington senior Alex Bauer won girls shot put (39-2.25).
Cedaredge (1:32.02) claimed the boys 800 relay.
Rocky Ford senior Cody Danley (9:42) put his foot on the gas in the final 1,600 as Lyons sophomore Isaac Roberts (9:55) and Custer County freshman Micah Zeller (10:04) showed plenty of distance promise for future years while rounding out the top three in the 3,200.
Brady Lenz of Sanford outperformed everyone in triple jump (43-2.5).
Crowley County junior Lane Walter (160-1) was terrific in boys discus.
Jake Chrisman of Yuma won pole vault (13-4).
Class 1A notes:
Springfield nipped the 1A state record in the girls sprint medley relay with a time of 1:53.88. JT Borunda also won boys discus (136-6) for Springfield. They were also champions in the girls 800 relay (1:50.89).
Heritage Christian once again dominated distance events as Leeann Wagner (2:25) and Levi Kilian (1:59.13) crushed the 800 races. Isaiah Bowsher finished runner-up in the 800 as well.
43-1.5 won boys triple jump (Jade Cass of Pawnee).
Genoa-Hugo swept gold and silver in girls shot put as Heather Graham (39-5.5) and Ryely Smartt (36-8) were first and second.
Matalynn Dawson (Miami-Yoder) was impressive in triple jump with a mark of 34-6.
Jerraldawn Rector of Simla (5-1) beat Dawson in a jump-off in the girls high jump discipline as both cleared 5-1.
Plateau Valley (10:28.66) shattered the 1A girls state record in the 3,200 relay. Heritage Christian boys did the same (8:23.44).
Haxtun boys (1:32.93) broke the classification record in the 800 relay.
LOVELAND — For the past couple of years, Yuma High School boys basketball was under construction.
It was a program that had won just 12 games over the past two years combined and was in the state tournament for the first time since 2013. But finally, this year, Yuma built a winner.
Taking on the moniker of a cartoon construction worker, Bob The Builder — or “BTB,” an abbreviation that Victor Mendoza says will now be engraved on the team’s state championship rings — the Yuma boys completed an incredible turnaround from an 8-12 season a year ago to a 25-2 state championship season.
“After a game last year, we had a couple of starters out and we still won the game,” junior Victor Mendoza said. “We said, ‘You know what? We’re going to take this into next year.’ We said like Bob the Builder, BTB. Bob the Builder is in what zone? The construction zone. So we just said we’re going to keep building, and this year we finally got it.”
(Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)
Yuma will now be in for some more remodeling as it hangs a fourth boys basketball state championship banner on its decorated gymnasium wall, ending a drought that dated back to 1981. On the other side, Crowley County was vying for its first title since 1968.
Crowley County, usually led by a potent offense, struggled to gain its footing early on and its two key bigs, senior Bradley Carnes-Clabey and junior Lane Walter, both picked up three fouls before the first half ended.
Couple the Charger foul trouble with a quick start on the other end — Yuma jumped out to a 13-5 lead after the first eight minutes — and a pair of 3-pointers from Steven Wells off the bench, and Yuma had a formula for success.
“(Crowley County is a very good team, a lot of credit to them,” Yuma coach Dave Sheffield said. “They do what they do well, and their strength was their bigs inside. We pretty much sent doubles at them the entire night and we were able to stifle them. All credit to these guys, they put in a tremendous amount of work and they deserve every ounce of what they just did.”
The Chargers made a run early in the second half but never closed the gap to fewer than six points. Mendoza finished with 12 points, including six in the fourth quarter, while teammate Connor Hixon led the scoring with 15 points thanks to a pair of dagger 3-pointers in the final frame.
Until Saturday night, no school had won both the boys and girls state basketball championships in the same season since Holy Family accomplished the feat in 2014 in Class 3A.
But Yuma, surely playing inspired by watching the girls team soar to a title just before they took the court, did just that. Coincidentally, Grandview also accomplished the title sweep in the Class 5A tournament on Saturday.
“It’s an incredible, incredible situation,” Sheffield said. “You look up in the stands and see all of the red here, and you can tell how much it means. These guys follow us around and it’s a passionate fanbase.”
LOVELAND — Nestled along Highway 71 in the southeast corner of the state, the town of Ordway isn’t exactly a metropolis.
There’s a firehouse. There’s a country store. A set of railroad tracks.
And then there’s Crowley County. Friday at the Budweiser Events Center, which has a seating capacity that more than triples the entire population of Ordway, No. 1-seeded Chargers showed enough flash to light up the whole Arkansas Valley.
Crowley County topped No. 5-seed Meeker 63-47 in the Final 4, utilizing a quick start and a fourth-quarter burst to down the energetic Cowboys and advance to the Class 2A boys state basketball championship game for the first time in several decades.
The Chargers’ last (and only) boys’ state hoops crown came in 1968. At 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, they’ll be playing to put their tiny town on the map.
“I just got chills thinking about it,” said coach Brett Rusler, who grew up in the Arkansas Valley prep sports scene just a skip away in Swink. “It’s huge for the community. Playing for a state championship is everything that every kid dreams of. I’m just happy for these players.”
Charger senior Bradley Carnes-Clabey scored on a layup just three seconds into the game, setting the pace for an up-tempo first quarter that saw the No. 1 seed take a 23-11 lead in the first eight minutes.
Meeker started the game 0-for-5 shooting from the field but eventually found a rhythm with a 9-0 run in the first five minutes of the second quarter to bring it to 23-20. The Cowboys eventually cut the lead down to two when Doak Mantle hit his third 3-pointer of the first half, and a low-scoring third quarter set the stage for excitement in the fourth.
Leading 46-39 with under six minutes to play, Charger junior Lane Walter took over. Walter hit back-to-back layups within a span of 30 seconds to help push the Charger lead back to double-digits, where it stayed the rest of the way.
Raymundo Suarez led all scorers with 18 points, four of which game on clutch free-throws in the fourth quarter, while Carnes-Clabey finished with 14 and Walter 10.
For the soft-spoken Walter, a trip to the state championship game sounded great — but there’s still 32 minutes of Charger flash left before the celebrations can begin.
“Everyone is real excited, but we haven’t won nothin’ yet,” Walter said. “This group just sticks together as a team and we overcome a lot. We can play anybody.”
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(2) Yuma 58, (3) Byers 54
There must be something in the water out in Yuma, as both the boys and girls basketball teams advanced to their respective Class 2A state championship games.
In a thriller of a nightcap on Friday, the No. 2 seed Yuma boys held on for a 58-54 win over No. 3 Byers to set up a showdown between the top seeds in the tournament for the title. Yuma meets No. 1 Crowley County Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
At 24-2, Yuma has now doubled its win total from the previous two seasons combined, and it has made its first trip to the state tournament since 2013 a memorable one.
Clad in red and white, Yuma was indeed white-hot to start the game, jumping out to a 9-0 lead off the tip and holding an 18-5 advantage after one.
But Byers refused to go away, closing the gap to 24-23 at half and ultimately overcoming a deficit as large as 10 in the fourth quarter to have a chance to tie the game.
Byers’ Austin Davis — who scored a game-high 34 points — hit a 3-pointer, had a steal-and-score, and made another layup in the span of the final minute-plus to give the Bulldogs a chance late.
But Yuma’s Victor Mendoza, who went 8-for-10 from the free throw line in the final quarter and finished with 18 points on the night, helped to seal the deal.
LOVELAND — Bradley Carnes-Clabey might want to consider adding another hyphenated word to his name: Clutch.
The Crowley County senior came up big in a 48-41 win for the top-seeded Chargers (24-0) over No. 8 Sanford on Thursday at the Budweiser Events Center. Carnes-Clabey finished with a game-best 20 points and had five blocked shots — three in the first half and one crucial denial in the final minutes — to lead the way in the Class 2A boys basketball quarterfinal game.
His performance was a memorable one, and something he’d been looking forward to since long before he grew into the 6-foot-4 Charger he is now.
“I’ve been dreaming about coming and playing at state since I was like an eighth grader,” Carnes-Clabey said. “All season we’ve been preaching to each other and from our coach to just hustle and play defense. Getting those blocked shots is part of my defensive game plan, just protecting the paint. Coming out I just wanted to work hard for my teammates and that’s what I did.”
Though a matchup of an unbeaten No. 1 seed and a No. 8 seed is, at least on paper, lopsided, the game was anything but. Sanford, a tradition-rich program with eight state titles to its name, refused to go away and went on a 6-0 run to end the half trailing by only three points.
The Chargers zoomed out to an 8-0 run of their own to open the third quarter and build their biggest lead of the night at 30-19, only to see that lead dwindle and fizzle in the third quarter when a steal-and-score from Sanford senior Zach Sittler tied it up at 34.
“We knew it was going to be a dog fight going into it, (Sanford) has been here for I don’t know how many years in a row,” Crowley coach Brett Rusler said. “(At halftime) I just told the guys, ‘That’s not us.’ We needed to play like we knew how, and they responded well.”
Chris Meyer broke the tie with a steal-and-score of his own, and Carnes-Clabey’s late fourth quarter block and ensuing layup ultimately put the game out of reach at 42-34 with 3:21 to play.
Now Crowley County, which hasn’t won a state title since 1968 and is making its first tournament appearance since 1994, is in the state semifinals with an entire Arkansas Valley community behind it.
“That community, they always have our back no matter what,” Carnes-Clabey said. “Just seeing the looks in everybody’s eyes…I just love my community and I’m happy to be able to represent them.”
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(2) Yuma 62, (7) Ellicott 28
Yuma took care of business Thursday thanks in large part to the efforts of juniors Victor Mendoza (16 points) and Jake Chrisman (15 points). The two scored all of Yuma’s 14 points in the third quarter to propel their team into the semis.
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(3) Byers 65, (6) Ignacio 44
A 25-point first quarter and a 26-point effort from senior Austin Davis were the key cogs in a quarterfinal victory for the Byers Bulldogs. They’ll now take on No. 2 Yuma in the semis at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.
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(4) Highland vs. (5) Meeker
The Cowboys shot 54 percent from the field in the first half while simultaneously stifling the Highland offense, riding a hot start to secure a 74-59 win and a trip to the semifinals.
Highland sophomore Tate Bessire put forth a 30-point effort, scoring 19 in the second half, but Meeker survived as the only lower-seeded team to win a quarterfinal game.
The Cowboys face No. 1 Crowley County Friday at 5:30 p.m.
