The 2014 all-state girls soccer 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 coaches, and then a vote of coaches.
Players of the year were also selected by a vote of the coaches.
Chaparral’s Keenan Eaton was among locals selected in the 2014 MLB Draft. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
A slew of local products, including a host of 2014 graduates, were selected on the third and final day of the MLB Draft on Saturday.
Eighteen former Colorado high school baseball players were taken, bringing the total number of local products who were drafted this year to 23. Of those 23, 12 just completed their senior season this spring.
True to Colorado’s history, 14 of the draftees are pitchers.
Saturday was a good day for 2014 graduates. Ten of them went:
Ralston Valley’s Jordan Holloway
Grand Junction’s Owen Taylor
Rocky Mountain’s Carl Stajduhar
Regis Jesuit’s David Peterson
Pueblo South’s Cory Voss
Mountain Vista’s Nick Leonard
ThunderRidge’s Brody Westmoreland
Fairview’s Ryan Kokora
Legacy’s Lucas Gilbreath
Chaparral’s Keenan Eaton
In addition, eight more alumni were selected out of college on Saturday. Those are:
Saturday, Henry was the first local off the board. He went in the 17th round to the Kansas City Royals at No. 513 overall.
A 6-foot-4, 205-pound left-handed pitcher, Henry was picked out of Bellevue (Neb.) University, where he just finished his junior season. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson in 2010, then went on to play two seasons at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling.
Henry just finished his junior season at Bellevue, an NAIA school, where he was 9-2 with a 3.59 ERA in 77 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out 101 against 51 walks.
Ralston Valley’s Jordan Holloway was a 17th-round pick in the MLB Draft on Saturday. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Holloway was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 20th round, becoming just the third local 2014 graduate taken in this draft. He went with the No. 587 overall pick.
At 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, Holloway is a sizeable right-handed pitcher. He was 6-1 with a 2.60 ERA in 43 innings during his season year at Ralston Valley, and struck out 50 batters, while walking 26.
But Holloway also played third base for the Mustangs, and made plenty of noise with his bat. He hit .419 with five home runs and 25 RBIs. Included was a three-homer, nine-RBI game against Standley Lake on April 19.
Holloway is a Nebraska-Omaha recruit.
Glanz, a 2010 graduate of Arvada West, was the third Colorado product taken by the Rockies this year when he went to the local club in the 23rd round with the No. 683 overall pick.
A 6-foot-2, 205-pound right-handed pitcher, Glanz played two seasons at Seward (Kan.) Community College before heading to Oral Roberts. As a junior this year, Glanz was 3-5 with a 3.27 ERA and 50 strikeouts to 30 walks.
Glanz’s father, Scott, was also drafted, going to the Angels in the 13th round in 1982.
Later in the 23rd round, the Atlanta Braves took 2010 Rock Canyon graduate Tanner Krietemeier, a first baseman.
Krietemeier spent his freshman season at Nebraska, then moved to Iowa Western CC as a sophomore. He transferred to Oklahoma State as a junior, and just completed his senior season there.
This season, Krietemeier hit .275 with 10 home runs and 52 RBIs.
As the draft hit the 27th and 28th rounds, six further Colorado products went in quick succession. The group was selected over a span of 50 picks.
Taylor, a 2014 Grand Junction grad, went to the Toronto Blue Jays in the 27th round, No. 804 overall. He’s a 6-foot-2, 200-pound first baseman, and is a Kansas recruit. Taylor hit .266 with 15 RBIs this season.
Robertson graduated from Montrose in 2011, and also played basketball for the Indians. He was a 27th round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and went No. 810 overall.
A 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior shortstop, Robertson hit .356 with six home runs and 48 RBIs this season as the Mavericks made the Division II final. He also stole 25 bases on 28 attempts.
Amedee is a 2011 alum of Rocky Mountain, and was part of multiple championships with the Lobos. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted him in the 27th round, as well, at No. 821 overall.
After graduating, Amedee went to Northern Colorado, Central Arizona Community College and spent last season, his junior year, at Texas-Arlington. A right-handed pitcher who stands 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, he was 1-4 with a 6.52 ERA in 48 1/3 innings as a junior.
Rocky Mountain’s Carl Stajduhar went in the 27th round. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Stajduhar went two picks after Amedee at No. 823 overall, becoming a 27th-round pick of the Braves. A 2014 graduate, he led Rocky Mountain to the Class 5A championship this spring, capping a brilliant career.
As a senior, Stajduhar hit .489 and led the state with 13 home runs and 51 RBIs. He is a New Mexico recruit.
Piche went to the Los Angeles Angeles in the 28th round, No. 854 overall. He’s a 6-foot-1, 180-pound right-handed pitcher who graduated from Resurrection Christian in 2010 and is now at Kansas.
Prior to becoming a Jayhawk, Piche spent two seasons at Indian Hills CC in Iowa — which is where Fountain-Fort Carson graduate Nick Green was drafted out of in the seventh round Friday.
As a senior this past season, Piche went 6-5 with a 4.59 ERA in 82 1/3 innings. He had 69 strikeouts to 29 walks.
Next off the board was Regis Jesuit pitcher David Peterson, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound lefty who fractured his right fibula prior to the season. Peterson, a 2014 grad, went in the 28th round to the Boston Red Sox, No. 854 overall.
Peterson battled back from the injury to return to the Raiders in mid-April and finished with a 1.15 ERA in 24 1/3 innings. He held opponents to a .180 batting average. Despite the shortened season, he was 3-0 and had 40 strikeouts to 12 walks.
Peterson is an Oregon recruit.
“I want to thank the Red Sox for drafting me,” Peterson tweeted Saturday. “It is such an honor to be picked by one of the best organizations there is.”
Tharp, meanwhile, went to the New York Mets in the 30th round, No. 895 overall. He was also a football star for Fairview before graduating in 2010.
A 5-foot-10, 195-pound outfielder, Tharp hit .310 with six home runs and 39 RBIs as a senior at Kansas this season. He also stole 11 of the 15 bases he attempted to.
Voss became the fourth local picked by the Rockies this draft when they took him in the 34th round, No. 1013 overall. A 5-foot-10, 190-pound catcher, he hit. 469 with four home runs and 22 RBIs this past season.
Like Stajduhar, Voss is a New Mexico recruit.
“Thanks to the Rockies for drafting me!” Voss tweeted on Saturday. “Huge honor to be selected by such a great organization! Thanks to everyone for the support!”
Leonard, Mountain Vista’s right-handed pitcher, was next, going to the Braves later in the 34th round, at No. 1033 overall.
Leonard graduated this spring, is a Washington State recruit and was flat out dominant this season. Listed at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, he went 8-3 with a microscopic 0.88 ERA in 80 innings this season. He had 105 strikeouts to 16 walks.
ThunderRidge shortstop Brody Westmoreland was drafted by the Rockies in the 35th round. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
ThunderRidge’s Westmoreland, a 2014 grad, then went in the 35th round to the Rockies, becoming the fifth local selected by the team. A San Diego State recruit, he hit .420 with seven home runs and 40 RBIs this season, and also stole 12 bases.
Westmoreland is listed as 6-foot-3, 185 pounds — and despite speculation to the contrary, he has not been approached about moving to a corner infield spot and will stay at shortstop at San Diego State, or as a professional should he sign. In fact, he’s been told by scouts that he’s a prototypical shortstop.
“Thank you Rockies for drafting me today!” Westmoreland tweeted. “Want to thank everyone for all the support and looking forward to playing at San Diego State!”
Fairview’s Kokora, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound right-handed pitcher who graduated this spring, was the fourth Colorado product selected by the Braves on Saturday. He went in the 35th round, No. 1063 overall.
A Hawaii Pacific recruit, Kokora went 9-0 with a 1.38 ERA this season. He held batters to a .166 average, and struck out 65 to 15 walks in helping the Knights to the 5A Final 8.
Gilbreath, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound left-handed pitcher from Legacy, was the Rockies’ sixth and final local selection when he went in the 36th round, No. 1073 overall.
Gilbreath graduated this spring and is a Minnesota recruit. He went 6-2 with a 1.45 ERA this season. Gilbreath had 111 strikeouts, which led 5A, to just 22 walks.
Ghidotti just finished his senior season at Ouachita Baptist, a Division II school in Arkansas. He graduated from Ponderosa in 2010.
A 6-foot-2, 210-pound right-handed pitcher, Ghidotti was 0-1 with eight saves and a 2.06 ERA in 35 innings this past season.
Chaparral’s Eaton, who graduated this spring, was the final local product selected in this year’s draft. He went in the 39th round, No. 1162 overall, to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Eaton, who is a Wichita State recruit, was drafted as a 6-foot, 195-pound left fielder. He hit .328 with with a home run and 13 RBIs this season.
Columbine won its first girls soccer title Thursday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park with a 3-1 win in the Class 5A state championship game over Jeffco League rival Ralston Valley. The Rebels were also able to send retiring principal Frank DeAngelis out with Columbine’s first girls’ team state championship in the school’s history.
“We drew motivation from that,” Columbine coach Brian Todd said of the Rebels’ longtime principal. “He is probably one of the better leaders of public education that Colorado has ever seen. We wanted to send him out with something special. It doesn’t get much better than this.”
Columbine trailed 1-0 at halftime, but a pair of Columbine goals three minutes apart — in the 47th and 50th minute — in the second half erased the deficit.
A long direct free kick by Columbine sophomore Kelcey Cavarra slipped through the hands of Ralston Valley goalie Renee Roemer in the 47th minute to tie the game at 1-1.
“It was pure luck. I didn’t think I had it,” said Cavarra, who scored goals in four straight playoff games this postseason. “Once it went in I think it was the turning point of the game.”
Freshman Amanda Porter gave the Rebels the lead in the 50th minute on a tough angle shot into the short side upper corner.
“I saw the ball go through and I just hit it,” Porter said. “It went straight in.”
Ralston Valley had a few chances in the final 10 minutes of the second half. Columbine goalie Sarah Luebking had a big save in the 73rd minute on a shot from Ralston Valley sophomore Alyssa Kaiser.
Columbine sealed the win when sophomore Tatum Barton scored her 26th goal of the season on a breakaway with 52 seconds left in the second half. The Rebels (17-3) became the first 5A Jeffco team to win a girls soccer state title since Chatfield in 2009.
“We are going to continue to build the program to get back to games like this,” Todd said of his young squad that featured several strong underclassmen. “Ralston Valley is a team that can be back here next year too. Jeffco is young. We have a great league. I’m proud of Jeffco.”
Columbine took a 1-0 victory over Ralston Valley in the conference match back on April 29 that decided the 5A Jeffco League title. Cavarra had the lone tally in the first meeting.
Ralston Valley took the upper hand Thursday night. The Mustangs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute of the first half. The freshman combo of Sarah Bevington and Lindsay Guerrero set up the goal.
Bevington tapped the ball over to Guerrero at the top of the goalie box. Guerrero fired a shot that Luebking was able to get a hand on, but not enough. The ball just tipped of Luebking’s fingers and under the crossbar for the initial goal on Ralston Valley’s first shot on goal.
“We knew after our Pine Creek game that one goal means nothing,” Ralston Valley coach Kamee Morwood said of the halftime lead. “Columbine came out with a bit more momentum.”
The Mustangs faced a 2-0 halftime deficit to Pine Creek in the semifinals. Ralston Valley battled back to take a 3-2 victory.
“I want to be back here. This is definitely not the end of us being in the finals,” said Morwood, who guided the Mustangs to a 16-4 record this year. “There is a bright future for these girls. We are losing an awesome (senior) class of leadership, but this team has the guts. They will be back.”
Ralston Valley’s girls soccer program was also looking for its first gold trophy. It was the second state championship appearance for the program in the school’s history. The Mustangs advanced to the 4A title game in 2006, but lost in overtime to Broomfield.
It’s been more than a decade since Columbine played for a girls soccer state championship. The Rebels played in five 5A title game over an eight-season span from 1993 to 2000, but finished runner-up each season.
Having an all-Jeffco 5A title game Thursday between the No. 10-seeded Ralston Valley and No. 8-seeded Columbine was a bit of a surprise. The Rebels took down defending 5A state champion and No. 4-seeded Mountain Vista in the semifinals Saturday.
The Mustangs also had a tough postseason road. Ralston Valley defeated three higher seeds in Cherry Creek (No. 7), Rock Canyon (No. 2) and Pine Creek (No. 3) on it was to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
The 5A state championship game was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but the hailstorm that pelted the home of the Colorado Rapids forced the 4A game to start at 7 p.m. Wednesday night and pushed the 5A title game to Thursday.
Mother Nature wasn’t done Thursday night. Heavy rain and lightning delayed the start of the 5A championship game by more than an hour.
“It definitely messed with our minds. It got our nerves going, but in the end I think it helped us,” Cavarra said. “We were a lot calmer today.”
Columbine girls soccer players embrace in from of the Rebels’ student section Thursday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Columbine won its first girls’ team state championship in the school’s history with a 3-1 victory over Jeffco rival Ralston Valley in the Class 5A girls soccer title game. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)
COMMERCE CITY — The Class 5A girls soccer championship game, already postponed a day, has been delayed Wednesday night.
With lightning in the area of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, kickoff of the game between Ralston Valley and Columbine has been pushed back to roughly 6:15 p.m. Lightning remained in the area until 5:30 p.m.
The area within a six-mile radius of the stadium has to be free of lightning strikes for 30 minutes before players are allowed to enter the playing surface. They will then have 10 minutes to finish their warmup.
Thursday’s storm has also brought a pretty decent amount of rain, so when the game does kick off, it will be a soggy affair.
The 5A championship game was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Thursday. It was originally slated for 7 p.m. Wednesday, but a hailstorm pushed back the 4A game ahead of it to 7 p.m., and so the 5A game was moved to Thursday to avoid starting after 9 p.m.
Further updates will be announced on CHSAANow.com, as well as CHSAA’s social media accounts.
Ralston Valley players celebrate a goal on Tuesday. More photos. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
HIGHLANDS RANCH — Rock Canyon girls soccer entered Tuesday as the No. 2 seed in the Class 5A playoffs. It was 16-1, ranked No. 19 in the nation by MaxPreps, and had only lost to another state title favorite, Mountain Vista, this year.
The Jaguars had outscored their opponents 48-6 and weren’t shut out this season.
Ralston Valley, the No. 10 seed, didn’t care about the odds it faced. The Mustangs transformed from the long-shot to the dominant squad with an overpowering 3-0 quarterfinal upset of Rock Canyon at Shea Stadium.
The win sealed Ralston Valley’s first ever semifinal appearance in 5A in the school’s short history.
In a slow-starting, defensive battle early, Brenna Martinez broke through for a deep goal to give Ralston Valley a 1-0 lead with twenty minutes to go in the opening half. The Jaguars’ backline was strong in the first twenty minutes, typical for the Rock Canyon program, but Martinez had a powerful strike.
“We knew that they would pack it in defensively with their style of play,” Ralston Valley coach Kamee Morwood said. “We knew that we would have to take outside shots, so that first one from the outside, we’ve worked on it, we’ve practiced it, and it was almost textbook.”
The Jaguars never seemed to recover after first blood. Ralston Valley’s Emma Musson then opened the floodgates with a fastbreak goal.
“No one was back and I just saw our defender get the ball and I asked her to just go big,” Musson said. “When it dropped right in front of me, I saw I needed to score. I placed it and we were up two.”
Musson’s speed and foot skills pierced the Rock Canyon defense and the rout was on.
Janelle Feldmann added the third Mustang goal early in the second half and Ralston Valley’s defense did the rest to seal the upset victory.
Goalie Renee Roemer was outstanding in pitching the shutout.
“Renee played awesome,” Morwood said. “She’s been working really hard in our practices, she’s been working with goalie coaches. She has her heart and soul in this team. When she steps on the field, her focus is 100 percent there.
“Defensively, I think we played very strong, so she was able to have a little bit of time on some of the shots. Everything that she’s been working on, she did it perfectly tonight.”
Roemer was quick to credit her Mustang teammates for the performance.
“I think it was our defense tracking back, because at one point during the end of the game, they shifted four people up top,” Roemer said. “It was definitely our defense just staying with their marks, not letting them turn on the ball and hit it.”
Ralston Valley’s execution offensively, defensively and in goal buried last year’s state runner-up.
“We knew we had to come out and play aggressive, play controlled, and keep our composure and we were able to do it,” Morwood said. “We’ve been able to do that all year and win balls out of the air, keep control of it, and find our forwards up front.”
Ralston Valley will look to keep executing, keep playing free, and keep enjoying the ride deep into the 5A playoffs. The Mustangs will face No. 3 seed Pine Creek in the semifinals on Saturday, a team coming off a 1-0 win over Arapahoe in their quarterfinal matchup.
Pine Creek is another state championship favorite, but the Mustangs are a dangerous, confident new contender.
“We haven’t known anything about anyone we’ve played,” Morwood said with a laugh. “We’ve never been here so the pressure is not on our backs. One of our seniors’ favorite quotes is, ‘Play like you love soccer,’ and that’s what they’re doing as a total team.”
No. 4 Mountain Vista is unlike Ralston Valley. They do have pressure. The Golden Eagles are the defending state champions. Vista rose to the occasion in the nightcap at Shea Stadium with a 2-0 victory over No. 5 Fairview to keep their hopes for a second straight title alive.
Both teams found a way to advance. For Mountain Vista, the win was expected. For Ralston Valley, the 10th-seeded Mustangs announced themselves as a new threat for the 5A crown, one that is embracing the unexpected run.
“It’s unbelievable,” Roemer said of the semifinals appearance. “We’ve never been here as a team before, even as a school in 5A, so it’s just amazing.”
