Runner of the year: Cole Sprout, Valor Christian Coach of the year: Mark Stenbeck, Dakota Ridge
First Team
Name
Year
School
Gus McIntyre
Senior
Palmer
Ben Morrin
Senior
Dakota Ridge
Cole Nash
Senior
Chatfield
Connor Ohlson
Senior
Dakota Ridge
Cole Sprout
Senior
Valor Christian
Jacob White
Junior
Dakota Ridge
Parker Wolfe
Junior
Cherry Creek
Second Team
Name
Year
School
Wes Beckham
Senior
Rock Canyon
Derek Fearon
Senior
Rock Canyon
Cory Kennedy
Senior
Heritage
Caleb Mann
Junior
Liberty
Jack O’Sullivan
Senior
Mountain Vista
Scott Prieve
Junior
Palmer
Yasin Sado
Senior
Gateway
Honorable mention: Michael Beck, Junior, Heritage; Grant Bradley, Junior, Overland; Ben Conlin, Junior, Rampart; Kevin Conlon, Senior, Fort Collins; Will Daley, Senior, Denver East; Wiley Feiger, Senior, Fairview; James Gregory, Senior, Fort Collins; Lukas Haug, Junior, Boulder; Davis Helmerich, Senior, Mountain Vista; Parker Lee, Senior, Legacy; Ryan Montera, Junior, Legacy; Ben Piegat, Senior, Dakota Ridge; Edward Rush, Junior, Castle View; Luke Sundberg, Senior, Valor Christian; James Thomas, Junior, Broomfield; Harrison Witt, Junior, Mountain Vista.
The 2019 all-state softball teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These team were created following a process where the coaches voted upon a list of nominees. Players who were named first-team all-league are eligible for the all-state ballot.
Coaches also voted specifically for player and coach of the year.
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Class 5A
(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Player of the year: Korbe Otis, Columbine Coach of the year: Jim Santaniello, Columbine
THORNTON — Thornton’s Hailey Like put the rest of Class 5A on notice Saturday at the state gymnastics individual event finals.
She’s one of the best in Colorado, and the freshman is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Two days after finishing fourth in the all-around competition on Thursday night, Like, a student at Horizon who competes with Thornton, finished first in the balance beam (9.625) and the vault (9.725) and finished third in the uneven bars (9.5) and the floor exercise (9.625) as she announced her presence with authority.
The fact that she’s only a freshman is not lost on her, and for a brief moment on Saturday it gave her pause. But not for very long.
“Going into today I felt a little bit nervous because I’m only a freshman and I knew that everybody else here (for finals) is more of an upperclassman,” she admitted. “But going through the meet I realized that even though I am a freshman I can’t be underestimated and that I am as good as all of them.”
You can say that again.
Beam and vault were the two events in 5A’s first rotation, and Like, not to mention the rest of her Thornton teammates, really loved her performances.
She scored a 9.625 in the beam to finish ahead of Overland’s Bailey Rodriguez (9.525), then moved over to the vault, where she scored a 9.725 to finish ahead of Pomona’s Mia Tims (9.65) and Kaylie Berens (9.65), the two-time 5A all-around champion.
“It feels great,” Like said. “I feel really accomplished and I’m glad that my team was here to support me.”
In the second rotation, Like scored a 9.625 in the floor exercise to place third behind champion Mabry Robinson of Overland (9.85) and Berens (9.7). She then scored a 9.5 in the bars to finish behind champion Isabella Gee of Lakewood (9.6) and Kalise Newson (9.525) of Pomona.
“Bars and floor are two of my harder events,” Like revealed.
For Thornton head coach Phil Sailas, the results were not unexpected.
“I knew we had a great chance at winning beam and vault, so it was definitely not a surprise to me for her to do that,” he said. “She’s fantastic. Everything she does, she does well. She’s perfect. She is very meticulous about how she does everything.”
Like is just the third athlete in Thornton history to win a state championship, and the first since Melissa Frank won the all-around crown in 1999. In 1984, Chrys DeAragon captured state in the uneven bars.
Despite being a freshman, Like was ready to roll at the state meet.
“She always has a game-face on. She is always ready to rock and roll. It doesn’t seem like she ever gets rattled,” said Sailas. “To have a gymnast like that … she’s just very precise and has no nerves. That’s want you want out of a gymnast.
“She’s a little rockstar. And she’s a freshman.”
In 4A, Mia Curry of Niwot followed up her all-around championship from Friday night with a first-place finish in the floor exercise on Saturday as she tallied a 9.5 score to finish ahead of of Green Mountain’ Lucy Meinert (9.375) and Emily Kruse (9.3).
“I did super well,” Curry said of her routine. “I went really hard for all of my tumbling passes, and tried to make my leaps as pretty as they could be and my jumps as pretty as they could be. Smiling was key, too. It all happened, and it all paid off.”
“She did great,” said Niwot coach Marisa Purcell. “She’s a sophomore. She’s definitely one of the younger ones on our team. She came out and just gave it her all. I told her just to have fun. She went out and had a blast. She showed everything off. She performed her routine very well.”
In other 4A individual events, Mya Nguyen of Standley Lake won the uneven bars with a score of 9.475, Sarah Hitchcock of Green Mountain captured the vault with a score of 9.5 and Meinert earned the top podium spot in the balance beam with a score of 9.375.
ARVADA — Golden looked very much like a No. 2 seed in the Class 4A boys soccer tournament Tuesday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
The back-to-back 4A Jeffco League champs cruised past No. 15 Niwot to the tune of a 3-0 victory. The win advances Golden into the state quarterfinals Saturday where the Demons host No. 26 Centaurus back at NAAC.
Niwot senior Manual Soto (3) clears the ball away from Golden junior Daniel Erger (9) during the first half Tuesday night at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“We got really fortunate with our seeding to give us some home games,” Golden junior Daniel Erger said after the Demons’ third straight shutout victory. “Obviously I love this pitch. I love to be at home. We feel good here.”
Centaurus scored its second straight postseason road victory Tuesday night. Centaurus edged No. 10 Discovery Canyon 2-1.
“There is a pedigree there. A few years ago they played in the state championship game,” Golden coach Larry Harding said referring to the Warriors losing to Air Academy in the 4A title game back in 2017. “We are just going to have to go back to the pitch and tighten up some things to get the boys ready for Saturday.”
Centaurus opened the postseason upsetting No. 7 Holy Family 5-0 last week before defeating another top-10 seed Tuesday night.
“Once the postseason hits seedings don’t matter,” Golden senior Sam Markovich said.
The Demons were definitely ready to play in the opening dozen minutes against Niwot. Golden finished off a pair of scoring chances in the 10th and 12th minutes to grab an early lead.
Golden senior Christian Sekavec ripped home the first goal with a low shot that zipped past Niwot freshman goalie Javier Amaya in the 10th minute.
Golden senior Ian Persky (12) works past Niwot senior Jared Osteen during the Class 4A boys soccer state playoff game Tuesday night at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
A direct free kick led to another Demon goal two minutes later.
Erger was fouled outside the goal box by Niwot senior Andre Worrell in the 12th minute. Senior Ian Persky took the free kick that was tipped by senior Josh Colin and then Erger was able to get a foot on the ball to flick it over the head of Amaya for an early 2-0 lead.
“Before the game I was talking about playing it one the ground and playing it low so I could get a touch on it,” Erger said. “There was a nice little flick by Josh (Colin) as well. It worked out in our favor.”
Golden (15-1-1 record) extended its lead to 3-0 in the 26th minute. Niwot was called for a handball in the goal box off a free kick from Persky. Golden senior Joaquin Garfias slammed home the penalty kick to give the Demons a commanding 3-goal lead.
Niwot had a flurry of scoring chances with about five minutes to play in the first half, but Golden senior goalie DJ Koury was up to the challenge. The Cougars (11-6) couldn’t trim into the Demons’ lead at halftime.
“We’ve been a strong defensive team all year, but we haven’t played to many complete games,” Markovich said after the Demons’ sixth shutout win of the season. “It was nice to get a clean sheet (shutout) like this. We come out with the mindset that we aren’t scared of anybody. We do whatever it takes to keep the ball out of the net.”
Tuesday’s win was a far cry from Golden’s first-round win Saturday where the Demons squeaked out a 1-0 victory against No. 31 Denver West.
“They came out tonight more focused. Especially in the first half,” Harding said. “I’m enjoying this.”
Golden is the lone 4A Jeffco League team to advance to the state quarterfinals. Standley Lake suffered a 2-0 loss to Silver Creek on Tuesday night.
“At this point it’s all about motivation and how badly you want it,” Harding said. “The hard work is paying off. They have worked really hard.”
Golden will be back at the North Area Athletic Complex to host a Class 4A boys soccer state quarterfinal game Saturday, Nov. 9. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
