The Huskies, off to a 8-0 start, are ranked No. 8 in CHSAANow.com’s poll.
The other big mover in 5A was Chaparral, which went from No. 5 to No. 2.
Olathe joined the 3A poll at No. 10, while 2A added Rye (also No. 10) this week. The 1A poll has two newcomers: No. 9 Springfield and No. 10 McClave.
All five No. 1 teams stayed the same this week: Rampart (5A), Lewis-Palmer (4A), Eaton (3A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Fleming (1A).
The biggest battle for the top spot came in 3A, where four different teams received first place votes, including Eaton, Valley, Manitou Springs and Platte Valley. Those teams are Nos. 1-4 in this week’s poll.
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.
Lakewood is No. 9 in this week’s 5A football ranking. More photos. (Tom Hoganson)
Lakewood, coming off a big win over Montrose, has joined the Class 5A football poll this week.
The Tigers beat Montrose, then ranked No. 2 in 4A, on Saturday. Monday, they entered CHSAANow.com’s ranking at No. 9.
Elsewhere in 5A, Valor Christian remained the unanimous No. 1 team, but things changed behind the Eagles. Cherokee Trail (No. 2), Pomona (No. 3) and Grandview (No. 4) all moved up one spot this week after Cherry Creek, last week’s No. 2, fell to Pomona.
Creek is No. 5 this week, and is followed by Fairview, Ralston Valley, Regis Jesuit, newcomer Lakewood and Overland.
Denver South is ranked No. 3 in this week’s 4A poll. More photos. (Pam Wagner)
The 4A ranking also added one team in No. 10 Longmont, which was ranked in the preseason. Pine Creek maintained its spot at No. 1. Pueblo South moved up to No. 2 after Montrose’s loss, and Denver South bumped up to No. 3. Montrose is fourth this week, and Vista Ridge is fifth.
In 3A, Erie joined at No. 10. Lutheran continued its stay at No. 1, and Delta remained just behind at No. 2. Discovery Canyon bumped up to No. 3 after its big win over Holy Family last week.
The 2A poll added No. 8 Bayfield, while 1A added No. 7 Cedaredge and No. 9 Platte Canyon. Granada (No. 7) joined the 8-man ranking, while 6-man added No. 8 Cheyenne Wells and No. 9 Flagler.
The No. 1 teams in each of those classifications remained the same. Those are Brush, Paonia, Dayspring Christian and Stratton/Liberty, respectively.
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 select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding, except in 5A where they are used as part of the seeding criteria.
Chaparral is No. 5 in this week’s 5A volleyball poll. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Chaparral and Regis Jesuit both joined this week’s CHSAANow.com volleyball ranking in Class 5A.
Both teams were unranked in the preseason. Chaparral joined the poll at No. 5 after going 4-1 over the first two weeks of the season. Regis Jesuit, meanwhile, is No. 10 after going 3-2.
Rampart remained atop the 5A ranking. In fact, the only No. 1 team to change this week was in 3A, where Eaton takes over for Manitou Springs. Lewis Palmer (4A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Fleming (1A) all held firm in their respective top spots.
Mullen (No. 9) was the lone newcomer in 4A, while Gunnison (No. 10) joined 3A. The 2A poll added Swink (No. 6) and Hoehne (No. 9). Cheraw joined 1A at No. 10.
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 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 9, Castle View 6, Highlands Ranch 6, Monarch 5, Legend 3, Mountain Vista 3, Douglas County 2, Lakewood 1.
Dropped out
Legend (8), Mountain Vista (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Lewis-Palmer (9)
1-0
90
1
2
Cheyenne Mountain
1-0
74
4
3
Ponderosa
0-0
66
2
4
Air Academy
0-1
55
3
5
Elizabeth
0-0
39
5
6
Pueblo West
0-1
37
8
7
Montrose
1-0
35
7
8
Longmont
0-0
32
6
9
Mullen
2-0
19
–
10
Valor Christian
1-1
16
9
Others receiving votes:
Thomas Jefferson 10, Windsor 10, Roosevelt 5, Steamboat Springs 3, Woodland Park 3, Holy Family 2, Niwot 2.
Dropped out
Thomas Jefferson (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Eaton (7)
2-0
97
2
2
Manitou Springs (3)
0-0
89
1
3
Valley
3-0
80
4
4
Platte Valley
2-0
62
5
5
Bayfield
1-1
61
3
6
University
0-1
36
6
7
Sterling
1-2
26
7
8
Lutheran
2-4
21
8
9
Colorado Springs Christian
0-0
16
10
10
Gunnison
0-1
12
–
Others receiving votes:
Pagosa Springs 10, Coal Ridge 9, St. Mary’s 8, Machebeuf 6, Lamar 5, Faith Christian 4, Frontier Academy 4, Centaurus 1, Grand Valley 1, Olathe 1, The Academy 1.
Among the returning starters who received all-state recognition last fall are 5-foot-11 middle hitter Timmi Keisel, 5-foot-2 libero Megan Chintala and 5-foot-6 setter Rachel Frantz — all first-team selections — along with second-team all-state outside hitter Deborah Kurtzer. Keisel was the 1A player of the year.
“We’ve got some talent,” an understated Herbert said, “but our biggest key is how we work together. A lot still has to come together.”
Fleming lost only two games in winning pool play, the semifinals and the championship match to take last year’s state title.
“It takes a lot of chemistry,” Herbert said of the main ingredient of earning a state championship. He should know. Last year’s title victory was Fleming’s fourth in seven years.
Fleming is No. 1 in CHSAANow.com’s preseason poll. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
The road to a second straight state title will not be without its challenges. Of the eight teams qualifying for last year’s state tournament, only Dove Creek, which lost to Fleming in the title match, and Caliche were senior dominated. Caliche has since moved up to 2A.
Otis, a four-time state champion, graduated just one player. Idalia, which had no seniors on its state qualifying squad, could have perhaps the tallest team in 1A with 5-10 outside hitter Reagan Shaffer and 5-10 right-side hitter Stephanie Helling. The Bulldogs and Wolves should compete for supremacy in the YWKC League.
Sangre de Cristo, which qualified for last season’s 2A tournament, drops to and could be the team to get past in the Southern Peaks League. It also graduated just one player.
Look for 6-3 senior outside hitter Tanaia Hansen of Eads to be among the dominant forces on net. Kit Carson, another High Plains League power, is also expected to make a strong run toward a return state tournament appearance.
Another frequent state qualifier, Flager, will again be a force in the Lower Platte League.
Then there are teams such as Weldon Valley, which gave Fleming all it could handle in the district playoffs last November. The Warriors, which were a sophomore-dominated team, got better as the season progressed.
“1A’s going to be really tough,” said Herbert, who’s in his 11th season as the Wildcats’ head coach.
Fortunately for him, that starts with the defending state champs.
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Class 1A volleyball
Defending champion: Fleming
Runner-up: Caliche (moved up to 2A)
Returning All-State players: Megan Chintala, Fleming, Sr. (1st); Rachel Frantz, Fleming, Sr. (1st); Tanian Hansen, Eads, Sr. (1st); Timmi Keisel, Fleming, Sr. (1st); Kylee Kuntz, Otis, Jr. (1st); Antonya Schaffert, Otis, Jr. (1st); Hanna Herman, Fleming, Sr. (2nd); Aurelia Isenbart, Kit Carson, Sr. (2nd); Brooklyn Krehmeyer, Weldon Valley, Jr. (2nd); Deborah Kurtzer, Fleming, Sr. (2nd); Reagan Shaffer, Idalia, Jr. (2nd).
Lewis-Palmer, the defending 4A volleyball champion, heads the preseason ranking in that class. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Rampart, Lewis-Palmer, Manitou Springs, Resurrection Christian and Fleming are the preseason No. 1 volleyball teams in their respective classifications.
CHSAANow.com’s preseason poll was released on Monday, and three of last year’s champions are atop the rankings. Those are Lewis-Palmer, Resurrection Christian and Fleming.
Rampart, which received eight of the 11 first-place votes, heads the Class 5A poll. The Rams made the state tournament last season, where they went 1-1 in pool play. They return a number of top players from that team.
Cherokee Trail is No. 2 to start the year, and is followed by No. 3 Fossil Ridge, No. 4 Grandview — the defending champion — and No. 5 Cherry Creek.
Pine Creek is sixth, Eaglecrest is seventh, Legend is eighth, Arapahoe is ninth and Mountain Vista rounds out the ranking.
Lewis-Palmer heads 4A. Ponderosa is No. 2, and Air Academy, last year’s runner-up, is third.
Manitou Springs is on top of the 3A ranking, just ahead of defending champ Eaton. Manitou was runner-up last season.
Resurrection Christian leads 2A, while Fleming is on top of 1A.
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 media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
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.
[divider]
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.
Fairview is the No. 1 seed in 5A. (Courtesy photo)
The groundwork, as is so often the case, was laid four years ago. Tom McCartney saw it in his freshmen then. Those freshmen are now seniors, and that group has Fairview seeded No. 1 overall in the Class 5A football playoffs.
“We knew that it was a special group,” McCartney, Fairview’s coach, said Sunday morning. “We also knew that for them to do the things and reach some of the goals they’ve set, you’ve got to have junior compliments. You want to know that your juniors are also part of that.
“We’ve been kind of waiting on this group of seniors for a while, and a lot of them have gotten a lot of playing time as sophomores and juniors,” he continued. “When you get in those kinds of battles against teams like Pomona and Ralston Valley, and Legacy and Arvada West and Boulder — and Grandview in the playoffs last year, and Regis the year before — all of those experiences help. So, yes, to be honest with you, we’ve seen this coming from this particular group. We knew this was a talented group.”
The Knights were the lone 5A team to finish the regular season unbeaten (9-0). They were ranked No. 2 in the CHSAANow.com football poll in recent weeks, but were No. 1 in Wild Card points during that stretch, and finished atop the final Wild Card standings released Sunday morning.
And so, when the 5A bracket was unveiled, it was Fairview in the No. 1 spot. (See the full bracket.)
“It feels awesome,” McCartney said. “It’s playoff football. We’re just going to prepare. We understand that if you win you move on, and if you don’t you’re done. We want to keep playing. The best way to keep playing is to be prepared and to improve.”
Fairview draws No. 32 Mountain Vista (3-6) in the first round. The two teams played in 2010 and 2011, both Mountain Vista wins.
“Our seniors, when they were freshmen, played them. And so we know a little bit about them,” McCartney said. “We’ve got a ton of respect for coach (Ric) Cash. His teams are always prepared. They’re always hard-nosed.”
Rounding out the top-5 seeds in 5A were No. 2 Valor Christian, No. 3 Cherry Creek, No. 4 Regis Jesuit and No. 5 ThunderRidge.
The top 16 seeds host in the first round, meaning No. 6 Cherokee Trail, No. 7 Columbine, No. 8 Pomona, No. 9 Chatfield, No. 10 Grand Junction, No. 11 Mountain Range, No. 12 Doherty, No. 13 Prairie View, No. 14 Rangeview, No. 15 Ralston Valley and No. 16 Douglas County will get home games.
The 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man brackets were also released on Sunday.
Brush is 2A’s top seed. As the top-8 host in the first round, No. 2 Manitou Springs, No. 3 Platte Valley, No. 4 Faith Christian, No. 5 Gunnison, No. 6 Bennett, No. 7 Kent Denver and No. 8 Florence will all get home games.
Also qualifying in 2A were No. 9 Strasburg, No. 10 Lamar, No. 11 Olathe, No. 12 Fort Lupton, No. 13 Aspen, No. 14 Ridge View Academy, No. 15 Jefferson and No. 16 The Academy.
In 1A, Buena Vista got the top seed. No. 2 Limon, No. 3 Centauri, No. 4 Paonia, No. 5 Monte Vista, No. 6 Hotchkiss, No. 7 Yuma and No. 8 Platte Canyon will also host first-round games.
Additional 1A qualifiers were No. 9 Resurrection Christian, No. 10 Rye, No. 11 Burlington, No. 12 Cedaredge, No. 13 Colorado Springs Christian, No. 14 Wray, No. 15 Lyons and No. 16 Front Range Christian.
Hoehne is 8-man’s top seed. Also hosting in the first round will be No. 2 Dayspring Christian, No. 3 Norwood, No. 4 Simla, No. 5 Caliche, No. 6 Kiowa, No. 7 Sargent and No. 8 Dove Creek. Also qualifying were No. 9 Sanford, No. 10 Vail Christian, No. 11 Merino, No. 12 Walsh, No. 13 Akron, No. 14 West Grand, No. 15 Fowler and No. 16 Granada.
Liberty/Stratton grabbed 6-man’s top seed. Also qualifying were No. 2 Hi-Plains, No. 3 Eads, No. 4 Prairie, No. 5 Otis, No. 6 Peetz, No. 7 Hanover and No. 8 Flagler
