Jacob Smith recovers from his lone double-bogey with an eagle and cruised to a win at Tuesday’s Rifle Invitational.
He ended his day with a four-under-par 68, winning the tournament by a staggering 13 strokes. He couldn’t lift his team to the title, however, as Summit was able to edge Rifle by just three strokes.
But it was Smith who impressed the most on the day. He went three-under going out, including an eagle on No. 2, a 477-yard par five.
His second eagle on the day came on No. 17, a hole after he made double-bogey. He recorded only two holes over par through the entire round.
Tyler Horii was the top player for Summit, shooting a 81 to help lead his team to a win.
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Prairie View dominates the top of the EMAC North leagerboard
Prairie View had four of the top five finishers at Tuesday’s EMAC North tournament at Coyote Creek Golf Course.
The only spot they couldn’t grab in the tournament was the top one. Jay Audette-Smith shot a 76 to grab the win, beating Thunderhawks senior Terrance Barrios and freshman Tyler Jenson by just one stroke.
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Mead’s T.J. Shehee stands tall at Highland Meadows
Mead’s T.J. Shehee and Sterling’s Brayden Lambrecht each shot a 69 at the Trial-Valley tournament at Highland Meadows on Tuesday.
According to iWanamaker, it was Shehee who came away with the win.
Lambrecht didn’t go home empty-handed, however, as Sterling grabbed the team win, shooting only four-over as a team.
[button color=”white” size=”big” alignment=”none” rel=”follow” url=”https://old.chsaanow.com/sports/boys-golf/stats/”]Find complete results of all the day’s golf tournaments by clicking here.[/button]
The 2017 all-state baseball 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 then a vote of head coaches.
Player and coach of the year was also selected by a vote of the coaches.
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Class 5A
(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Player of the year: John Sorensen, Rocky Mountain
Coach of the year: Scott Bullock, Rocky Mountain
First Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Liam Eddy
Brighton
P/RF/3B
Senior
Matt Givin
Rock Canyon
RHP/SS/2B
Senior
Tyler Hyland
Rocky Mountain
OF/P
Senior
James Notary
Broomfield
P/INF
Senior
Casey Opitz
Heritage
C/INF
Senior
Tanner O’Tremba
Cherry Creek
OF
Junior
Caleb Sloan
Regis Jesuit
RHP
Senior
John Sorensen
Rocky Mountain
SS/P
Senior
Jordan Stubbings
Legend
3B/1B/C
Senior
Second Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Carter Akerfelds
Dakota Ridge
RHP
Senior
Jacob Arellano
Mountain Range
Senior
Tyler Carpenter
Fairview
1B/P
Senior
Drake Davis
Ralston Valley
RHP/OF
Senior
Kalen Hammer
Rocky Mountain
INF
Senior
Jacob Hilton
Heritage
RHP/INF
Senior
Jack Liffrig
Mountain Vista
LHP
Junior
Garrett Tisdall
Eaglecrest
RHP/C/3B
Senior
Jack Winkler
Chatfield
INF/P
Senior
Honorable mention:
Sean Arnold, Highlands Ranch, 1B/OF, Junior
Michael Baer, Regis Jesuit, 1B, Senior
Alex Bumpus, Coronado, CF/P, Senior
Kyle Cardona, Legend, SS/RHP, Senior
Joshua Chamberlain, Legacy, RHP/2B, Senior
Andrew Chavez, Cherry Creek, C, Senior
Riley Cornelio, Pine Creek, SS/RHP, Sophomore
Jeff Cyr, Ralston Valley, SS/RHP, Senior
Andrew Danko, Eaglecrest, SS/RHP, Junior
Colby Deaville, Legacy, SS, Senior
Moses Dokes, Denver East, Freshman
Spencer Gendreau, Rocky Mountain, 1B/OF, Senior
Mikey Griebel, Columbine, CF, Senior
Colton Hill, Rock Canyon, OF, Senior
Sam Ireland, Mountain Vista, 1B/RHP, Sophomore
Patrick Kauffmann, Denver East, Senior
Hunter Kelchner, Grand Junction Central, RHP/1B, Senior
Ryan Kirby, Grand Junction Central, INF, Sophomore
Cooper Legault, Dakota Ridge, OF/RHP, Junior
Jordan Medina, Highlands Ranch, UTIL/P, Junior
Mitch Morales, Broomfield, P/OF, Sophomore
Trey Morrill, Fruita Monument, P/OF, Junior
Conner Nantkes, Cherokee Trail, P/UTIL, Senior
Jakob Pigati, Bear Creek, CF/LF/RF, Senior
Jack Radford, Bear Creek, P, Senior
Cody Schultz, Cherry Creek, INF, Senior
Mason Speirs, Broomfield, C/C, Senior
Jose Treto, Brighton, P/SS/OF, Senior
Matt Turner, Broomfield, 1B, Senior
Jadon Uhrich, Rocky Mountain, C/INF/OF, Senior
Quincey Ulrich, ThunderRidge,
Jake Willemsen, Fairview, OF, Senior
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Class 4A
(Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
Player of the year: Luke Ziegler, Valor Christian
Coach of the year: Steve Jones, Evergreen
First Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Mike Berg
Thompson Valley
C/OF/3B
Senior
Micah Bregard
Air Academy
INF/P
Junior
RJ Dabovich
Pueblo West
Senior
Noah Kuzma
Valor Christian
C
Junior
Ben Muscatello
Evergreen
P/SS/INF
Junior
JD Wadleigh
Green Mountain
RHP/OF
Junior
Judah Wilbur
Denver North
SS/2B/RHP
Senior
Cole Winn
Silver Creek
INF/P
Junior
Luke Ziegler
Valor Christian
3B/RHP
Junior
Second Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Josh Danyliw
Valor Christian
P/RF
Junior
Alan Garcia
Pueblo West
Senior
Trystan Kimmel
Thomas Jefferson
INF/RHP
Senior
Skyler Messinger
Niwot
P/INF
Senior
Dylan Norsen
Mountain View
P/INF
Senior
Joel Pierce
Valor Christian
LF/RF
Senior
Jose Robles
Denver North
RHP/C
Senior
Andrew Shaw
Summit
LHP/OF/1B
Senior
Corte Tapia
Windsor
Senior
Honorable mention:
Mason Bennett, Ponderosa,
Matt Berg, Thompson Valley, SS/2B/OF, Senior
Aaron Berkhoff, Cheyenne Mountain, 3B, Sophomore
Brody Bettis, Green Mountain, 2B, Senior
Dalton Bishop, Mesa Ridge, C/INF/SS, Senior
Nick Bowermaster, Thomas Jefferson, SS/RHP, Sophomore
AURORA — The baseball regional tournament brackets for Class 5A, 4A and 3A were released on Wednesday.
Cherry Creek, Denver North and Lamar are the top seeds in their respective classes.
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Cherry Creek claims top overall seed in 5A
(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Cherry Creek edged out Legend to claim the top overall seed in 5A. The Bruins (14-5) got back on track after a two-game skid just in time for the state tournament.
No. 2 Legend will host Region 5 which includes No. 31 Pomona, No. 19 Grand Junction Central and No. 18 Fairview.
No. 5 Rock Canyon gets Grandview in the first round in Region 4. No. 12 Heritage and No. 21 Grand Junction are on the other side of the bracket.
Mountain Range grabbed the No. 6 spot and will host Region 8.
No. 7 Regis Jesuit and No. 10 Broomfield are set up for a potential matchup in Region 6 if they can get past No. 26 Loveland and No. 23 Arapahoe, respectively.
Denver North is on top in 4A after capping an undefeated regular season. The Vikings went 18-1 in the regular season last year, before losing to Niwot in district play.
The Mustangs are in Region 5, hosted by Lutheran — the No. 2 overall seed.
No. 3 University will host Region 7 that includes defending champion Faith Christian and The Academy. The Bulldogs will face Kent Denver in the first game.
La Junta and Peak to Peak are the No. 4 and 5 seed, respectively.
Delta came in at No. 6, earning a Region 4 host. The Panthers are on an 11-game win streak.
Bayfield is the No. 7 seed and Region 6 host. Resurrection Christian faces Salida, while Bayfield gets Denver Science & Tech: Stapleton.
Bennett (14-4) rounds out the top eight seeds. The Tigers are a strong No. 8 seed, with No. 9 Colorado Academy on the other side of their bracket.
A back and forth battle saw the Pueblo South Colts come away with a 50-47 win over Golden on Friday, advancing to the Class 4A Final 4.
Golden had the ball with just under three seconds in the game, but was unable to make the tying basket.
Pueblo South will play Windsor in a rematch from the regular season. Pueblo South beat Windsor 52-45 previously.
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(2) Pueblo West 58, (7) Mesa Ridge 48
Pueblo West topped Mesa Ridge 58-48 to advance to its fourth Final 4 in six seasons.
The Cyclones jumped out on an 18-2 run to take the lead at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth. Pueblo West didn’t look back and held on for the win. Hailey Geier had seven blocks.
Pueblo West will take on No. 3 Evergreen in Thursday’s 4A girls basketball Final 4.
Rifle couldn’t overcome a slow start in which they shot six-of-twenty in the first half. Elly Walters and Samantha Hinkle had the only points for Rifle in the half — Walters had 10, Hinkle had 11.
Windsor will look to avenge an earlier loss to Pueblo South in the semifinals of the 4A tournament.
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(3) Evergreen 59, (6) Valor Christian 40
The last time that Evergreen played Jeffco rival Evergreen, it was for the Class 4A state championship. Valor came away with the win and took home the hardware that each team in the state hopes to win every year.
This time, it was Evergreen getting a 59-40 win. There wasn’t any hardware at stake in this one, but the opportunity for the Cougars to win it is still intact as they will play in next week’s 4A Final 4.
Colorado Academy’s Caroline Jordaan takes at the green. The Mustangs will compete as a 3A team in 2017. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
With great numbers comes great opportunity.
In high school athletics, that is the name of the game after all: opportunity.
That will be afforded to more girls this spring as golf will begin play with a third classification for the first time.
In 2017, the state of Colorado will feature 104 golf programs. The numbers are there, meaning that it was time to widen competition and add a third class in order to provide more chances for girls from smaller schools not just to participate, but to compete.
“It was going to be very difficult with a classification as big as 4A and 5A was for a lot of our smaller schools to be able to compete,” said golf committee chair Mike Hughes, the athletic director at Vista PEAK. “Even though it’s an individual sport, there is still a team component. To have a sport with such a big swing from the smallest schools in the state to schools with about 1,300 kids makes it fairly tough for those schools to compete.”
That’s not to say that schools that are 3A schools that were competing in Class 4A weren’t succeeding. Colorado Academy claimed the overall team title. This year, the Mustangs will compete as a 3A team.
Kent Denver’s Marin Halvorsen and Rifle’s Elly Walters both excelled individually last year and as a result, made the CHSAANow.com all-state team. Both will return to the links this spring, looking to claim individual golf championships and better placings for their teams.
“It’s exciting,” Walters said. “Obviously Colorado Academy is still in our classification and they’re going to be really good again, but I’m excited because as a team too, I really think we have a chance (to compete).”
But for smaller schools with some potential lower participation numbers, the overall addition of a 3A class can provide girls a chance to do things they maybe couldn’t do a year ago.
“I think it’ll give more girls an opportunity to say that they’ve played in a state tournament,” Manitou Springs coach Ken Vecchio said. “I know in the past, I’d bet that about 65 percent of the kids that qualified were from 4A schools and the 35 were below. Having a 3A and below, I think that’ll be good for girls.”
In each of the last two 4A tournaments, the Mustangs have only qualified one golfer for the state tournament. But now the door is open for more girls from schools like Manitou, Alamosa, Wray, Swink, and others, to step on the course at a state championship event.
It’s not just a benefit for those at smaller schools. The creation of 3A will also see positive results in the 4A and 5A classes as well. With the classes evened out through enrollment it should provide tough competition at events such as regionals or state championships.
“I think it’s the right thing to do,” Cheyenne Mountain coach John Carricato said. “What my understanding is that the top third in enrollment are in 5A, the middle third is in 4A and the bottom third is 3A. When you look at it that way, it certainly levels out the playing field. You still have to have stud players.”
And that will be the case for each class. Stud players will remain atop the leaderboards, but now girls who may have finished in the top 20 now have a chance to bring home a medal.
And with 252 total golfers set to compete at the state championship tournaments in May, more of those opportunities exist today and will continue to grow in the coming years.
“The opportunity comes from more people and more teams potentially having success because there’s three classes now,” Carricato said. “I can draw back to last year and even though we were three-time state champs, taking second was still rewarding. Now another team gets to take second.”
It’s another sign of increased interest and participation in high school athletics. And with 2017 marking the first year of additional chances for new players and teams to compete, it’s only a matter of time before more athletes begin taking advantage of them.
“Anything we can do as a state and as an association that can positively impact the development and growth of a child in a positive way is going to be a win for us,” Hughes said. “How we go about structuring that and how we go about offering opportunities for kids and schools to compete is something that’s going to adjust every couple of years.”
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Girls golf preview
Class 5A
Defending individual champion: Mary Weinstein, Regis Jesuit (graduated)
Defending state champion: Grandview
Regular season begins: Mar. 2
Regional tournaments: May 11-12
State tournament: May 22-23, The Club at Rolling Hills, Golden
Returning all-state golfers: Julia Baroth, Sr., Denver East; Amy Chitkoksoong, So., Grandview; Leigha Devine, So., Fossil Ridge; Jaclyn Murray, Sr., Regis Jesuit; Jordan Remley, Sr., Regis Jesuit.
Class 4A
Defending individual champion: Erin Sargent, Silver Creek (graduated)
Defending state champion: Colorado Academy (now 3A)
Regular season begins: Mar. 2
Regional tournaments: May 11-12
State tournament: May 22-23, Colorado National, Erie
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY — The Rifle Bears are feeling like they’re flying high on their way home from the United States Air Force Academy.
The No. 13 team in the Class 4A girls basketball tournament was able to shut down No. 4 Air Academy and make the right baskets at the right time to come away with a 42-35 overtime win, living to fight another day.
“(The bus ride) is going to be phenomenal,” Bears coach Kristy Wallner said. “We get to go over the pass back to the Western Slope in the snow and probably have to drive again.”
From the start, Rifle (22-3 overall) had a clear defensive game plan. They wanted to slow the game down and specifically deny Katelin Gallegos the ball in the post. The senior was averaging over 14 points per game coming in and with the Kadets (20-5) not a strong 3-point shooting team on the year, as long as the game stayed close, it would play in favor of the Bears.
But they also needed enough on offense to give them a little spark. Off a missed Air Academy shot in the closing seconds of the second quarter, Katy Manueppella was able to get down the floor and connect on a layup to give cut the Kadets lead to 15-14 at the break.
“They had us knocked back on our heels a bit,” Wallner said. “They went on a run and it was just a heads up play. Of course that’s a huge momentum boost going into the locker room and coming out in the second half.”
It looked like it was going to carry over as Elly Walters got to the free throw line early in the third quarter and sank both shots to give the Bears a 16-15 lead.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Air Academy looked like it was finally turning a corner offensive, going on a six-point run after surrendering the lead. Brooke Sulski started it off then Mary Parchinski connected on back to back buckets forcing Rifle to take a timeout.
At that point, it felt the game was firmly in the Kadets’ hands.
“It seemed like we were in rhythm, it seemed like we were creating turnovers,” Air Academy coach Phil Roiko said. “Then we just couldn’t sustain it.”
The five-point lead would be the biggest of the game for Air Academy as the Bears were able to slow the scoring roll. In the fourth quarter, the Kadets finally got back to back baskets from Gallegos to take a 31-27 lead, but those would be the final points of regulation for them. Gallegos would finish with 14 points on the night.
After a Walters 3-pointer, Karly Manuppella made one of two free throws to tie the game. The Kadets had the ball at the end of regulation, but couldn’t get a shot to fall.”
“Defense is our bread and butter,” Walters said. “They gave us their best shot, but we were able to make the stop and go into overtime.”
Walters also scored 14, but to start overtime it was Peyton Caldwell got perhaps the most important basket of the game for the Bears, giving them a quick lead. The Kadets continued to struggle offensively and Rifle countered by getting to the free throw line often.
They went 8-10 from the charity stripe in overtime to come away with the win and an elated feeling of moving on in the playoffs.
“I can’t believe we made it to (the Great 8),” Walters said. “I’m just so happy for our girls. We knew we could do it coming in.”
With Windsor’s 49-43 win over The Classical Academy, the Bears will hit the road again on Friday as they’ll see the Wizards with a trip to the Final 4 on the line.
The 2016 all-state football teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of head coaches across the state.
Players were placed onto the first-team, second-team and honorable mention based upon the number of votes they received. In 5A-1A, spots were reserved for linemen and one kicker/punter, while 8-man reserved spots for linemen.
CHSAA does not determine who makes or doesn’t make the team; they are created entirely from the results of the coaches’ vote.
[divider]
Class 5A
(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Player of the year: Dylan McCaffrey, Valor Christian
Windsor is ranked No. 9 in 4A football this week. (Josh Watt/CHSAANow.com)
Heading into the last week of the regular season, Windsor is back in the Class 4A CHSAANow.com football rankings.
The Wizards found themselves trailing Skyline 13-0 after the first quarter on Friday, but scored 28 points in the second and went on to win the game 35-27.
They reenter the rankings at No. 9 this week and are the only new team to break into the 4A top 10.
Denver South held on to the No. 1 spot this week thanks to a 49-0 win over Standley Lake.
In fact, the top eight teams from last week’s rankings all held their ground going into the final week of the regular season.
