Colorado Preps Weekly

State championships in many sports will be earned this week, as the 2020-21 campaign comes to a close. Eight of the sports that were part of Season D wrap things up, including girls golf, baseball and track and field.

After as much as a two-week lay-off since regionals, girls golf finally got its championships underway on Monday and Tuesday. The area was very well represented, with participants from Brush, Burlington, Holyoke, Washington County, Yuma and Kit Carson in the Class 3A field at Elmwood Course in Pueblo.

Brush had three qualifiers in Haley Ostwald, Nevaeh Tolentino and Daisy Grado. Holyoke (Emma Thompson and Erin Andersen), Washington County (Kendall Velder and Mary Dracon) and Yuma (Jada Young and Ema Richardson) each had two qualifiers. Lauren Hays was Burlington's lone competitor, while Stephanie Framel represented first-year program Kit Carson. Lexys Siebrands represented Fort Morgan in Class 4A.

Class 1A baseball played its semifinals and finals on Wednesday at University High School in Greeley. One semifinal had top-seeded Flatirons Academy squaring off with #5 Nucla in a 2019 championship game rematch. Nucla eliminated Cheyenne Wells (7-2) in a regional semi, before upsetting #4 Evangelical Christian in the final. Flatirons hosted a regional with Dove Creek and Haxtun. Haxtun lost 12-11 to Dove Creek in eight innings. Both of those regionals were held last Saturday.

The other 1A semifinal had #3 Merino facing #2 Holly. Merino punched its ticket to State by beating Dayspring Christian 9-2. Dayspring had eliminated Caliche 7-2 earlier in the day on Friday. Holly took out Eads 10-0 on Friday, earning the Wildcats a final four berth. Eads had rolled Simla 17-2 in the semifinals.

Class 2A's final will be played on Saturday, featuring Limon and Peyton. Limon handed the Panthers their only defeat of the season, 4-2, back on May 21st. The Badgers headed into the finals 19-0.

Burlington came up short in its bid to make the State tournament, falling to Highland 13-5 in a regional final last Tuesday. The Cougars led 2-1 heading to the bottom of the fourth, but Highland struck for seven in the frame and never looked back. Burlington had walked off Meeker 9-8 in the bottom of the seventh of the semifinal to earn the spot in the regional final.

Wiggins also made a regional final last Tuesday, as the Tigers ousted Sargent 11-1 in a semifinal contest. That earned them a shot at the host, Buena Vista. The Demons used a seven-run second and another seven-run sixth to claim a 14-6 win.

The Class 3A championships play out over two days. Eaton has already punched its ticket to the final on Saturday and whomever the Reds face will have to win twice, as Eaton is unbeaten in tournament play. Lamar lost to Eaton 16-5 in opening round action last Friday. The Savages were then eliminated by University 7-3 on Saturday.

State track and field will be a three-day event, for all classes, starting on Thursday. Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood is the site for all of the competition. The list of qualifiers had not been released as of early Monday morning. However, a number of area athletes own the top performances this season in many events.

In Class 1A girls, Merino's Taysa Conger has the top time in the 400 meters, while Brakelle Westphal from Springfield is tops in the 800. Shaylee Scheler of Cheyenne Wells leads the way in the 300 hurdles. Alivia Weathers of Lone Star (100 hurdles, pole vault) and Maggie Haase from Eads (high jump, triple jump) are both double threats in individual events. Haase's teammate, Colby Stoker leads the field in the shot put. Haxtun and Springfield are top contenders in several relays.

Cade Mitchek of Cheyenne Wells has the top time in the 1A boys 200 meter and the Tigers have the top time in two relays. Eads holds the fastest time this season in the 400 meter relay. Kyle Fryrear has the best time in the 100 meter, while the top times in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles belong to Cheraw's Braeden Harris and Flagler's Caide Stegner, respectively. Brady Kuntz of Lone Star is the leader in pole vault and Granada's John Hainer is tops in the shot.

Holyoke has two top contenders in throwing events in Class 2A. Lauren Herman leads the field in the discus, while Corey Koellner is first in the shot. In 2A boys, Mohamed Ibrahim is the favorite in the shot. Ibrahim has been rewriting the record books for Wiggins all season.

Sterling's Valerie Allen leads the 3A girls triple jump, while Alee Tice from Lamar is the favorite in the shot put. Tucker Myers from Sterling enters the meet as the top seed in the boys triple jump.