All but one boys golf regional completed play last week, and that made for a number of changes to CHSAANow.com’s boys golf polls this week.
The No. 1 teams — Regis Jesuit (5A), Valor Christian (4A) and Alexander Dawson (3A) — stayed put, but a total of seven new teams joined the rankings. In 5A, Fossil Ridge (No. 8) and Grand Junction (No. 10) joined; 4A added Coronado (No. 7), Steamboat Springs (No. 9) and Thompson Valley (No. 10); while new to 3A were Eaton (No. 5), and Aspen (No. 7).
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.
Brush took down former No. 1 Platte Valley on Friday. Monday, the Beetdiggers took its spot atop CHSAANow.com’s Class 2A football poll.
Brush, which won the game 28-10, was ranked second last week. It received all 10 first-place votes in the poll. Platte Valley dropped to third, behind Kent Denver.
The 2A poll added Faith Christian (No. 8) and Aspen (No. 10) this week.
In 5A, ThunderRide continued to lead the way and received 13 first-place votes to No. 2 Valor Christian’s 11. Columbine remained in third, and Ralston Valley stayed at No. 4.
Chatfield moved up from seventh to fifth, and is followed by No. 6 Cherokee Trail and No. 7 Fairview. Grandview is eighth, Regis Jesuit is ninth, and Cherry Creek rejoined the ranking at No. 10.
Monarch stayed atop 4A’s ranking, but there’s a new No. 2 team in that poll: Montrose, which moved up from third. It’s excellent timing, considering the two teams play Friday.
Douglas County jumped into this week’s CHSAANow.com football poll in 5A at No. 6. It is the first time this season the Huskies have been ranked.
Cherry Creek, meanwhile, dropped all the way out in something of a surprise.
Cherokee Trail returned to the 5A ranking following a week on the outside looking in. The Cougars are eighth.
ThunderRidge held on to 5A’s top spot — but only narrowly. The Grizzles edged No. 2 Valor Christian by two overall points, despite beating then-No. 4 Grandview last week.
Columbine bumped up to third from fifth, and Ralston Valley went from sixth to fourth. Regis Jesuit rounds out the top five.
Chatfield is No. 7, Fairview is No. 9, and Grandview dropped from No. 4 to No. 10 following its loss to ThunderRidge.
Monarch continued to lead the 4A poll, which added Montbello for the first time this season, at ninth. Along with Denver South (No. 2 in 4A) and Denver West (No. 9 in 2A), it means Denver Public Schools has three ranked schools.
Cherry Creek 55, Pomona 31, Doherty 15, Grand Junction 15, Arapahoe 11, Mountain Vista 8, Legend 7, Fountain-Ft. Carson 4, Mullen 2.
Dropped out
Cherry Creek (3), Grand Junction (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Monarch (20)
2-0
214
1
Bye
2
Denver South (2)
3-0
186
2
W
3
Montrose (1)
4-0
170
4
W
4
Loveland
2-0
122
7
Bye
5
Falcon
3-0
112
6
W
6
Wheat Ridge
2-1
95
5
W
7
Pueblo West
2-1
69
3
L
8
Standley Lake
3-0
60
9
W
9
Montbello
3-0
43
–
W
10
Windsor
2-1
42
10
W
Others receiving votes:
Durango 34, Pine Creek 34, Mesa Ridge 22, Pueblo Centennial 21, Sand Creek 11, Thompson Valley 7, Widefield 6, Vista Ridge 5, Dakota Ridge 4, Mountain View 3, Broomfield 2, Longmont 2, Pueblo South 2.
Dropped out
Pine Creek (8).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Silver Creek (12)
2-0
159
1
Bye
2
Rifle (3)
3-0
140
3
W
3
Holy Family
2-0
122
4
Bye
4
Palisade
3-0
90
6
W
5
Elizabeth
2-1
88
10
W
6
Coronado (1)
4-0
81
8
W
7
Lutheran (2)
3-0
71
7
Bye
8
Roosevelt
1-1
59
9
Bye
9
Discovery Canyon
3-1
58
2
L
10
Conifer
2-1
26
5
L
Others receiving votes:
Delta 23, Erie 21, D’Evelyn 19, The Classical Academy 11, Evergreen 11, Eagle Valley 6, Pueblo East 3, Mead 2.
Dropped out
None.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Platte Valley (8)
2-0
96
1
Bye
2
Brush (1)
2-0
85
2
Bye
3
Kent Denver (1)
2-1
76
3
W
4
Florence
2-1
57
4
W
5
Manitou Springs
3-0
51
8
W
6
Lamar
3-0
45
9
W
7
Strasburg
3-0
43
6
W
8
Eaton
1-1
34
7
Bye
9
Denver West
3-0
15
–
W
10
Bayfield
2-1
11
10
W
Others receiving votes:
La Junta 9, Faith Christian 8, Fort Lupton 7, University 5, Aspen 3, KIPP 3, Sterling 2.
Dropped out
La Junta (5).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Buena Vista (9)
3-0
140
1
W
2
Limon (4)
3-0
112
2
W
3
Cedaredge (2)
3-1
109
3
W
4
Hotchkiss
2-1
74
4
W
5
Holyoke
3-0
71
5
W
6
Monte Vista
3-0
68
6
W
7
Crowley County
3-0
53
8
W
8
Wray
2-1
40
7
W
9
Centauri
2-1
39
–
W
10
Wiggins
2-0
36
9
Bye
Others receiving votes:
Meeker 20, Rye 12, Resurrection Christian 10, Clear Creek 8, Front Range Christian 7, Jefferson 7, Roaring Fork 7, Burlington 6, Paonia 3, Center 2, Cornerstone Christian 1.
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 expectations were already high. Now, perhaps, things have been kicked up a notch.
ThunderRidge, coming off a 36-18 win over then-No. 3 Ralston Valley, took over atop the CHSAANow.com football poll in 5A this week. The Grizzlies had been No. 2, but jumped Valor Christian, which lost in overtime to Bingham (Utah).
Valor has yet to play an in-state opponent this season, and the four-time defending champion still received half of the first-place votes. Still, the Eagles are No. 2 this week.
Cherry Creek had its own big win last week — over then-No. 6 Pomona — and moved up on place to No. 3.
Grandview (No. 4) also moved up one place, and faces ThunderRidge this week.
Columbine went from No. 7 to No. 5 to round out the top five.
Ralston Valley settled in sixth following its loss, Regis Jesuit is seventh and Fairview is eighth.
The 5A top-ten is rounded out by two newcomers: Chatfield (No. 9) and Grand Junction (No. 10).
In 4A, Monarch continued its hold on the No. 1 spot. Denver South moved up to second, and the ranking added Standley Lake at No. 9.
Class 1A also got a new No. 1 team this week with Buena Vista taking over at the top.
Pomona 42, Cherokee Trail 40, Arapahoe 34, Douglas County 20, Doherty 8, Horizon 4, Legend 2, Mullen 2, Mountain Range 1, Mountain Vista 1.
Dropped out
Pomona (6), Cherokee Trail (8).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Monarch (19)
2-0
192
1
2
Denver South (1)
2-0
170
3
3
Pueblo West
2-0
120
7
4
Montrose
3-0
113
5
5
Wheat Ridge
1-1
98
2
6
Falcon
2-0
96
6
7
Loveland
2-0
88
8
8
Pine Creek
1-1
70
4
9
Standley Lake
2-0
31
–
10
Windsor
1-1
29
9
Others receiving votes:
Montbello 15, Dakota Ridge 14, Mesa Ridge 14, Durango 13, Pueblo Centennial 9, Longmont 7, Vista Ridge 5, Sand Creek 4, Ponderosa 3, Widefield 3, Green Mountain 2, Pueblo South 2, Thompson Valley 2.
Dropped out
Dakota Ridge (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Silver Creek (8)
2-0
124
1
2
Discovery Canyon
3-0
97
2
3
Rifle (4)
2-0
89
3
4
Holy Family
2-0
80
6
5
Conifer
2-0
79
5
6
Palisade
2-0
53
8
7
Lutheran (1)
3-0
50
9
8
Coronado (1)
3-0
45
–
9
Roosevelt
1-1
35
7
10
Elizabeth
1-1
28
4
Others receiving votes:
Eagle Valley 16, Pueblo East 15, Northridge 10, Erie 4.
Dropped out
D’Evelyn (10).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Platte Valley (7)
2-0
79
1
2
Brush (1)
2-0
64
4
3
Kent Denver
1-1
62
3
4
Florence
1-1
45
2
5
La Junta
2-0
40
6
6
Strasburg
2-0
36
8
7
Eaton
1-1
33
5
8
Manitou Springs
1-0
18
10
9
Lamar
2-0
16
9
10
Bayfield
1-1
12
–
Others receiving votes:
Fort Lupton 11, Denver West 7, Faith Christian 7, Ridgeview Academy 6, University 2, Aspen 1, KIPP 1.
We’ve got a No. 2 vs. No. 3 showdown on our hands this Saturday in Class 5A football.
ThunderRidge, following an impressive showing, bumped up one spot from its preseason No. 3 ranking in this week’s CHSAANow.com football poll. And Ralston Valley, the Grizzlies’ opponent this weekend, went from seventh to third after two big wins.
Valor Christian remained in the top spot, and garnered 22 of the 23 first-place votes. Cherry Creek stayed put at fourth, while Grandview (No. 5) and Pomona (No. 6) swapped spots.
Columbine is seventh in the 5A ranking, and Cherokee Trail dropped from second to eighth following its loss to Chatfield.
Regis Jesuit moved up one spot to ninth, and Fairview is the lone new team to the 5A poll, at tenth. The Knights edged Chatfield with 42 total points to the Chargers’ 38. Grandview and Arapahoe are also just on the fringe.
The 4A ranking continued to be led by Monarch, and added Montrose (No. 5), Loveland (No. 8) and Dakota Ridge (No. 10).
Silver Creek stayed on top of 3A, which added Palisade (No. 8), Lutheran (No. 9) and D’Evelyn (No. 10).
Platte Valley is the only new No. 1 team among all classifications, having taken over the top spot in 2A following a win over previous No. 1 Kent Denver.
Valor Christian is the preseason No. 1 team in Class 5A. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Football is back, and things seem to be picking up right where we left them.
Valor Christian leads the first-ever CHSAANow.com 5A football poll, which is voted on by coaches and media members across the state. The Eagles are four-time defending champions across three classifications, and beat Cherokee Trail to win last year’s 5A crown. Cherokee Trail, not surprisingly, is No. 2 in the preseason poll.
ThunderRidge, a semifinalist a year ago, is third, followed by Cherry Creek and Pomona. Grandview is No. 6 to begin the season, Ralston Valley is No. 7, while Columbine (No. 8), Chaparral (No. 9) and Regis Jesuit (No. 10) round out the 5A poll.
A total of three teams received first-place votes in the ranking: Valor Christian got 14, while Cherokee Trail and Cherry Creek received one each.
Monarch, the defending 4A champion, leads the preseason ranking in that classification, while Denver South, runner-up a year ago, is second. Wheat Ridge, Pine Creek and Pueblo West round out 4A’s top five teams.
In fact, each of the defending champions lead their respective preseason rankings. That includes Silver Creek (3A), Kent Denver (2A), Cedaredge (1A), Hoehne (8-man) and Fleming (6-man).