Coaches’ Corner

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NHS Boys Basketball

The Cougars played three of the top teams in the state, losing by a total of 15 points to Silver Creek, Broomfield and Longmont.  The Longmont game was particularly tough as Niwot took the Trojans to overtime.

“Andy Wegleitner has been really steady throughout the season,” Coach Travis Maron said.  “Cody Heiman has turned it on the last week or so.  We’re still trying to find our way for the last 10-12 games of the season.

“We want to take that next step,” Maron said. “We’re trying to stress that you can’t turn it on and off.  Finding that consistency is our goal.”

The Cougar boys picked up a solid win over Thompson Valley Jan. 18, with several younger players seeing action in the third quarter.  Maron put Alex Janzen, Max McCaddon, Forrest Lee and Alex Kinnison in the lineup early in the third quarter.  “I was trying to make a statement to my guys,” Maron said.  “They had the switch turned off.  I pulled them all out and said, ‘Let me know when you’re ready to play.’  It seemed to work. Everybody’s contributing.  We have really good balance; we’re not relying on one guy.”

Maron has used an 8-man rotation most of the time, with Wegleitner and Heiman joined by Alex Kicera, Sam Forrer, James Hong, Taylor Kloepfer, Henry Sebesta and Michael Ogez.  Early on in Maron’s first year as coach, the emphasis was on defense.  “We struggled a little bit offensively,” Maron said. “We’re trying to clean it up and execute better. We really want to be playing our best now.  The coaches are working extremely hard.  I’m having a blast. I feel very fortunate. The parental support has been phenomenal.”

The Cougar boys have done an excellent job promoting the team to the public, with noticeable results.  The team put out a poster with a schedule, which can be found in most Niwot businesses.  Game day signs along Niwot Road let people know when there’s a game.  And a top-notch program is available for a dollar, featuring photos by Courier photographer Ed Navarro and his crew.  Local businesses paid for production of the program with ads.  The NHS pep band often plays at games, and long-time fans, including Marvin Prahl, whose son Erich played at Niwot in the 1990’s, have been attending games.

NHS Softball

Niwot High Coach April Martinez has stepped down as head coach for the Cougars after heading up the program for the past eight years.  Martinez, who has three children under the age of seven, and a full-time job, found that the demands of family and work would not allow her to continue.

“Softball is a year-long job, and I finally felt I had to put them first,” Martinez said. “I can’t begin to say how grateful I am for being able to coach at Niwot for the last eight years. The hardest part is to meet with these kids.  The coach coming in will have a very nice organized situation.”

When Martinez arrived in 2003, she inherited a difficult situation.  The Cougars had a well established program under coaches Paul Talafuse and Randi Willemsen through 2001, reaching the state title game once.  Talfuse left to become a middle school principal after the 2000 season, and Willemsen left a year later due to her growing family.  The coach who took over the program lasted only one season, and Martinez had to pull the program back together and take it to the next level, which she did with the help of Niwot Softball, Inc., a non-profit which took over the summer competitive program, now known as the Lynx.

Under Martinez, the softball field was brought up to top-notch standards, and summer competitive players fed the high school program.  Martinez has served as manager of the Lynx program, and plans to stay involved for at least another year or two. She recently joined the board of directors and will serve as the secretary, taking over for the late Peggy Broyles, one of the founding board members.

“I want to thank all the past players and their families,” Martinez said.  “I could not have done it without their support.” She noted that frustration began to set in during the 2009 season as she tried to balance her time.  “I have a new position at work, and I wasn’t able to put in the time I had in the past. I love softball, I love these kids, and I wasn’t able to do as much.  It wasn’t fair to them.”

Martinez hasn’t exactly left the coaching ranks.  “I’ve been coaching my kids in the rec program for the last two and one-half years,” she said.  “I’ve coached T-Ball, basketball, soccer and flag football.”

The position has been posted, but a new coach has not yet been hired.

NHS Girls Swimming

Coach Sarah Heller’s squad has had a very busy January, with four duals and two major meets within the first three weeks.  “We have lots of time drops, lots of really fast swims,” Heller said. 
The Cougars won a dual over Greeley Central before they even resumed classes, then won the All-City Meet over Silver Creek, Skyline and Longmont two days later.  State qualifiers at the first dual included Kaley Wheless in the 200 Freestyle and 100 Butterfly, Hannah Driscoll in the 50 Freestyle and 100 Breaststroke, Caroline Joyce in the 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle, and Melissa McCaddon in the 100 Backstroke.

“It was a very exciting day,” Heller said.  Top finishers included the first-place Medley Relay (McCaddon, Driscoll, Wheless and Zoie Jordan).  The “B” team Medley Relay came in third overall, with Cate Rose, Lauren Fitzgibbons, Mariah Lopez and Elise Cranny swimming.  The 200 Freestyle Relay teams also took first and third, with Driscoll, Joyce, Jordan and Wheless taking first, and Kylie Pillard, Cranny, Fitzgibbons and Kylie Fischer taking third.  The 400 Freestyle Relay teams were close, posting second and third-place finishes.  Pillard, Fischer, McCaddon and Joyce took second, while Lopez, Rebekah Cass, Rose and Victoria Jepson took third.

In the 50 Freestyle, Niwot swept the top three spots, with Wheless, Driscoll and Jordan finishing first, second and third. Wheless also took top honors in the 100 Freestyle, while Joyce took first in the 100 Butterfly.

The Cougars lost a dual to Thompson Valley, the defending state champions.  “We lost that meet, but still had some good swims,” Heller said.  Niwot followed with a sixth-place finish at the Jeffco Invite, which featured 22 schools, mostly from Class 5A.

Driscoll had the highest places overall, finishing fourth in the 50 Freestyle and fifth in the 100 Breaststroke.  Other notable swims included Pillard in the 100 Freestyle (13th) where she posted a state qualifying time, and Cranny in the 100 Breaststroke (8th) where she posted a state qualifying time.

JV swimmers also had a chance to compete at the Jeffco Invite, with solid results. The 400 Freestyle Relay (Charlotte McGrath Noni Ziel, Annika Jarvinen and Sarah Szakas) finished second, while the Medley Relay (Kristen Nordham, Maggie Fitzgibbons, Maggie Webster and Becca Milani) took seventh. McGrath, Jarvinen and Ziel took fourth, fifth and eighth, respectively, in the 200 Freestyle, Hannah Thramann and Milani took third and sixth, respectively, in the 50 Freestyle, and Kate Kucera and Szakas took fifth and seventh, respectively, in the 500 Freestyle.

Kucera also placed seventh in the 200 IM, and Thramann took third in the 100 Freestyle.  Sarah McCaddon finished fifth in the 100 Breaststroke, and Maggie Fitzgibbons took seventh in the same event. 
For Senior Night Jan. 18, Heller gave all of the seniors first chance to swim against Centaurus in a dual meet.  “The seniors had a good showing,” Heller said, as the Cougars won the last home dual meet handily.  Diver Ariel Mosier took first as did Joyce in the 200 Freestyle, Cranny in the 200IM, Fischer in the 50 Freestyle, Lopez in the 100 Butterfly, Driscoll in the 100 Freestyle, Melissa McCaddon in the 500 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke, and Lauren Fitzgibbons in the 100 Breaststroke.

Other individuals placing included Emily Guy, who took third in the 500 Freestyle, and Sarah Krafft, who took second in the 100 Backstroke.  Niwot won each of the relays, and the “B” team relays finished second or third. Melissa McCaddon, Driscoll, Wheless and Lauren Fitzgibbons won the 200 Medley Relay, and the “B” team placed third, with Mary Nozykowski, Amanda Rutherford, Webster and Szakas swimming.  Rutherford, Nozykowski, Webster and Ziel won the 200 Freestyle Relay, with the “B” squad of Maisey Harrison, Jenn Ferrall, Kaitlin Soucie and Jade Ng finishing second.  Fischer, Cranny, Maggie Fitzgibbons and Pillard won the 400 Freestyle Relay, while Hannah Stischer, Sarah Martinez, Kucera and Lopez finished second.

“The team is a really cohesive unit,” Heller said. “They’re getting along very well.  A very nice state team is developing.”  The Cougars followed with a fifth place finish at the Boulder County Invitational, and were second among Class 4A teams.  The best performance of the day came from Mosier in Diving, who qualified for state with a score of 331.90 points to take first place. Wheless, Driscoll and Jordan each posted a state qualifying time in the 50 Freestyle.  Joyce in the 100 Butterfly, Wheless  in the 100 Freestyle, McCaddon in the 500 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke, Driscoll in the 100 Breaststroke and all three relays posted state qualifying times as well.

NHS Girls Basketball

All eleven varsity players scored in a 60-40 win over Greeley Central, including senior Natalie Heap, who came off the bench to score six points.  “She had three buckets, including a great driving layup where she really elevated,” Coach Clark Burton said.  “It was one of the better plays we’ve made all season.”  Senior reserves Shaylene Burd and Kenzie Ward also entered the scoring column.
The Cougars followed with a win over Skyline to raise their record to 5-7.  “Everybody’s starting to fit into their roles,” Burton said. “Each one understands what she needs to do for us to be successful.”

“Lea Gralewski is shooting really well, Kelsy Blessing is playing great defense, Sara Bishop is getting rebounds, and Katy Hedlund is running the show,” Burton said.  Senior Casey McPherson saw her first action of the season against Greeley Central and got into the scoring column.  “She’s just starting to get back.  She’s still real tentative on her ankle. Casey’s a ball handler and a calming force, which we need sometimes.”

Kelsey Traxinger, Amy Keschl and Janae Larsen have also been playing well.  Larsen had eight points against Greeley Central.  Traxinger and Keschl scored eight and seven points, respectively, against Skyline, and each came up with six rebounds.

“The parents have been very supportive, and I have great assistant coaches,” Burton said.  “The C team is doing really great.”  Niwot picked a good time to get hot as only 32 teams in Class 4A make the playoffs this season, down from 48 last year.

NHS Wrestling

Nick Stager is the top Cougar wrestler, ranked fifth in the stae at 140 pounds.  “He’s wrestling really well,” Coach Scott Sanchez said.  “Landon Nolting is ranked eighth or ninth, but he’s still kind of ‘iffy’ as he caught a little bit of the injury bug.”  Nolting wrestles at 285 pounds.

“We’re gearing up for regionals,” Sanchez said. “The first half of the season wasn’t so great, but the whole team has picked it up.  A lot of the freshmen are kind of starting to wrestle now.” 
Marcus Cano at 125 pounds and Joey Lambert at 130 pounds have been the most consistent freshmen.  “Christian Ramirez, who’s a sophomore at 119, really picked it up,” Sanchez said.  “He’s been more aggressive, and I really like the way he’s wrestling right now.”

Sanchez also mentioned the two Slepicka twins, who are freshmen.  They are not identical twins, as Jesse wrestles at 112 and Brandon at 189.  “At 103, Kenny Ellis, who missed the first part of the season due to a foot injury, has picked up a couple of wins for us,” Sanchez said.  “Morgan Shoep at 135 has also wrestled well.”

Sanchez also noted that seniors Jimmy Pentz at 145, Austin Boldt at 160 and Ben Roper at 152  have all picked it up a notch.  Damian O’Hare has been going back and forth between 160 and 171 pounds for Niwot.

“We took some kids to Smoky Hill who did really well,” Sanchez noted. Stager took first place with a 4-0 record in the tournament, while Boldt took fourth overall.  Ramirez finished fifth, and Lambert came in sixth in the tournament.