Colorado Preps

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside again, Mother Nature pulled one more wild card out of her pocket last weekend. A cold front that brought snow to the region created havoc at state track, as well as with all of the other postseason schedules.

State track got started on Thursday with a warm day, leading to a number of outstanding performances. But the weather changed on Friday, with the snow causing a postponement of more than a day. With snow surrounding the track the rest of the weekend, the student-athletes still excelled, breaking a number of records.

Yuma's Clay Robinson was one of the first to break a record, as he posted a time of 21.90 seconds in the Class 2A 200-meter prelims on Thursday . That was .33 faster than the previous mark. He would go on to win the title in the event on Sunday, one of three golds on the weekend (200, 400, long jump). set a new mark in the 400 (49.08), trimming more than a second off the old mark. Limon's Gabe Schubarth prevented him from going 4-4 in the meet, as the Badger nipped him by .01 in the 100.

That 100-meter final was a thriller, as the top three finishers were separated by just .03. Trinidad's Joe Ross took third. Overall, Yuma won its second straight team title, edging Limon 59-56 in the chase.

The expected fight between Mohamed Ibrahim from Wiggins and Bryant Schoenthal from Wray materialized in the throws. Ibrahim broke the record in the shot put with a heave of 59-10, besting a mark that had stood for 58 years. Schoenthal finished second. But the Eagle would get his revenge over his rival in the discus, recording a winning toss of 177-06.

There wasn't much drama in the 2A girls team race, as Cedaredge dominated the field with 118 points. Hoehne and Sedgwick County tied for fifth with 40 points. Emily Fowler helped pace SedgCo, taking third in the 100 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles. She was also part of two relays that finished in the top five.

Heritage Christian dominated 1A, in both boys and girls, with both programs being the only teams to top 100 points over the weekend. Cheraw's boys tied for second with Sanford, thanks in part to strong efforts from Braeden Harris and Josh Snyder.

Harris won the 300 hurdles and finished third in the 110 hurdles. He was also third in the 200 and fourth in the 100. Snyder took second in the 1,600, third in the 3,200 and fourth in the 800.

Cheyenne Wells, Arickaree/Woodlin, Stratton and Akron placed fourth through seventh in the team title hunt. For the Tigers, they were nearly four seconds faster in the 1,600-meter relay than their qualifying time, winning the event by more than seven seconds over Cheraw. Arickaree/Woodlin got a pair of individual titles from Jacob Jefferson in the 110 hurdles and the 400 meters. He also took second in the 800 and third in the 300 hurdles. Charlie Clapper grabbed the title in the long jump for Stratton and Akron controlled the pole vault, with Ryan McCaffrey and Ivan Losa taking the top two spots. The Rams had four of the top nine finishers in the event.

Merino took second in the girls field, posting 77 points to edge Idalia (60) and Fleming (55). Fleming's Kally Kirkwood was the breakout star on the weekend, winning the 200 and 400, while also helping the Wildcats to wins in the 400 and 800 relays. Idalia's freshman Krista Wieser also had herself a great state meet debut, winning the 100, finishing second to Kirkwood in the 200 and adding a fourth in the 400.

One of the biggest local story lines in 3A girls came in the discus, where defending champion Alee Tice from Lamar saw her repeat bid shattered by Melita Ferchau of Gunnison, on Ferchau's final throw. Tice had the lead with a toss of 134-06, but Ferchau sent her final toss 139-02 to win the event. Tice would not go home without a gold, however, as she wrapped up her stellar high school career by repeating in the shot put. Teammates Lauren Reyes and Kreslyn Smith finished third and sixth, respectively, in the shot.

The snow also created issues for baseball, with some of the regional brackets having to be played on Friday and Sunday, with others being pushed to Monday. But the 1A teams did not have to worry about that, as the classification wrapped up its season on Thursday in Lakewood.

Merino, the top seed, ousted Nucla, 18-0 in the opening semifinal, with the Rams taking advantage of seven Nucla errors in the second inning. The Rams scored 11 of their runs in that frame. They would face defending champion, Holly, in the title contest, after the Wildcats got a 6-5 win over Haxtun in the other semi. Nick Vasquez delivered a walk-off single to give Holly a shot at a repeat.

The championship contest was an instant classic. Holly got on the board first, pushing a run across in the top of the third. Merino got two in the bottom of the fourth and added an insurance run in the sixth. Facing their final at-bats, the Wildcats scratched out two runs in the top of the seventh and forced extra innings. Neither team would score again until the 10th, when Deacon Trenkle drove home the winning run in the person of Chance Everhart. The 4-3 win was the first baseball title in program history for the Rams.

Two of the top eight seeds in Class 2A failed to navigate their way through the regional round over the weekend. Seventh-seeded Swink was upset by No. 26 Monte Vista (4-2) in the first round of their regional, which No. 10 Buena Vista eventually won. Meanwhile, No. 4 Burlington loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh against No. 13 Denver Christian, but could not push the tying runs home, falling 8-6 in the regional final.

St. Mary's and Limon, seeded sixth and first, respectively, had to wait until Monday to see if they could join BV, Denver Christian, Peyton (2), Rye (3), Highland (5) and Wiggins (8) in the state quarterfinals this weekend in Pueblo.

In Class 3A, only No. 4 Sterling remains alive out of the four local teams. The Tigers hammered Middle Park (20-0) and Delta (13-3) on Friday to win their region. Sterling hit three home runs in the win over Middle Park, two by Cast Combs and the other by Dylan DiOrio. They each had a grand slam. Combs homered again in the regional final.

Brush and Lamar each made it to the final of their respective region, but neither could advance. The Beetdiggers fell 2-1 to Resurrection Christian, while Lamar dropped an 11-9 decision to Manitou Springs. La Junta dropped a heartbreaker to Alamosa, 9-8, in their regional semifinal.

Fort Morgan also saw its season come to a close over the weekend, as the Mustangs were bounced by Pueblo East, 8-2, in their 4A regional semifinal. The Mustangs gave up an eight-spot in the third and could not come back.

Girls regional golf was impacted by the snow over the weekend, as the competition at Hollydot for 3A was pushed back from Monday to Wednesday. Region 3 was still slated to go on Monday at Mariana Butte Golf Course in Loveland, but most regions across the spectrum take place on Tuesday.

Lamar's semifinal contest in 2A girls soccer was also pushed back to Monday. They were slated to face #10 Crested Butte on Saturday, but the contest, at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, had to be postponed due to an unplayable field. A win would have Lamar playing for the title on Wednesday, at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.