Colorado Preps Weekly

As CHSAA's Season C winds near a close, champions were crowned in gymnastics last weekend. Lone Star finished 10th in the Class 4A team competition, while Fort Morgan came in 15th. Lone Star's Alivia Weathers brought home an eighth-place finish in the floor during the team competition, earning her a spot in the individual final, where she took 12th place.

Weathers was the highest finisher from the area in the all-around, snagging 25th place. Her teammate, Elizabeth Miller, was 68th, while Fort Morgan's Aaliyah Palisoc was 78th.

Boys soccer got its first round of the postseason knocked out last week and the only area team to qualify, Lamar, was upset in that opening match. The Savages were the third seed, but came up short in their contest with #14 Frontier Academy, 1-nil. Frontier Academy then went on to upset #6 Manitou Springs 2-1 in the quarterfinals. Lamar finished the season 8-2, with the two losses coming in their final two outings.

The playoff brackets for spring football came out over the weekend and to no one's surprise, Hoehne is the top seed in the 8-man bracket. The Farmers completed a perfect regular season, blanking Las Animas 58-0 last Friday. It was the second straight victory for Hoehne by that score.

The Farmers will have a bye in the quarterfinals, as only six teams were included in the bracket, with Primero not fielding a squad this season, and Las Animas having to go remote learning this week. Hoehne will face either #4 Plateau Valley or #5 Justice in the semifinals. They beat those two teams by a combined score of 108-18 in the regular season.

Volleyball wrapped up its regular season over the weekend and the final week saw quite a bit of drama for top teams. In Class 1A, two of the remaining four unbeatens were knocked off during the week, leading to some shuffling in the final standings. Fleming, the #1 team all season, fell to Merino in three sets on Tuesday and also suffered a similar fate in Friday's contest with Sterling. That was a match-up of the defending 1A and 3A state champs. Sterling took it 25-22, 25-23, 25-23.

Stratton/Liberty took a 13-0 mark into the final day of the regular season, but the Lady Knighted Eagles were tripped up by Briggsdale in a wild five-set contest. Stratton/Liberty took the first set 25-22, but then went down 2-1 after the Lady Falcons claimed the next two 25-16 and 25-20. The road team staved off elimination with a crazy 31-29 win in the fourth, but could not carry that over, as Briggsdale took the fifth 15-9.

Wiley solidified its claim as a regional host, winning the Ark Valley crown by defeating Springfield in four sets on Saturday. The Lady Panthers, who gave Springfield both of its losses, have won 11 straight matches since a 3-0 defeat by Fleming early in the season. Springfield was still in the mix to host a regional, even with that loss.

Wiggins, Sedgwick County and Fowler were all in the equation to host regionals in Class 2A. Wiggins finished the regular season with a five-match winning streak, one more than that of Sedgwick County. Fowler only won its last two, but very nearly took down Alamosa in five sets. The Lady Grizzlies dropped that affair last Tuesday, 15-17 in the fifth. All three of their losses this season were to 3A opponents.

One of those 3A teams with a win over Fowler is Lamar. The Lady Savages were as close to perfect as one can be during the regular season. They went 14-0, winning all 42 sets played. The Lady Savages will be hosting a regional this weekend and Sterling very easily could be, too.

Heading into Monday morning, Fort Morgan was on the fringe of making the Class 4A field. The Lady Mustangs were just outside of the top 24 in two of the three seeding index metrics, the Freeman Rankings (MaxPreps) and CHSAA RPI. Their fate rested in the hands of the other coaches in the classification. That poll had not been released before publication deadline.

The regional brackets were scheduled for release on Monday morning, but again, after the deadline for our publication. You can find that information on our website: http://www.coloradopreps.com.

Monday also saw the official start to Season D practices, for all sports except girls golf, which got the jump and began last Monday. Baseball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls track and field, boys tennis, boys volleyball, boys swimming and diving, girls tennis and girls soccer all got their initial workouts in earlier this week.

Last Monday saw a special event hosted by Akron High School. The Rams met up with the Northeast Coyotes in an adaptive basketball game, in front of a packed field house. From the introduction of the athletes and their partners, to the final horn, a dry eye was hard to find.

The Northeast Coyotes have athletes with disabilities from three schools in the area, with Haxtun, Holyoke and Lone Star being represented. Most of their partners come from Lone Star. Their program is open to anyone in the area.

The program will be hosting the inaugural Coyote Invitational track meet at Holyoke on May 6. Events will include the softball and Frisbee throws, 50 meter dash, 400 meter dash, 4x50 meter relay, running or standing long jump, egg/spoon race and grocery relay. After the meet, the Coyotes will begin their golf season.

For more information about getting involved as an athlete or partner, contact either Amanda Cook ([email protected]) or Craig Parker ([email protected]). You must be willing to commit to Saturday morning practices.