Out In Leftfield 
BY BRUCE WARREN

If you have news of local athletes, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 303-652-2433.

RUGBY
Luke Lahman (Niwot) was the only player for the University of Colorado named to the College Premier Division Coaches’ West All Conference Team.  Lahman is a 5’10” junior back, listed at 195 pounds.  He also recently played for the Western All-Star Select Side in Glendale, CO. The team won thefirst game against the Northeast All-Stars and lost the championship against the Mid-Atlantic All Stars.

FOOTBALL
Tyler Strong (Niwot) stayed in Laramie this summer to take classes at the University of Wyoming and work on conditioning and football skills. Strong saw action on the defensive line last season, but moved to offensive guard in the spring. He is expected to battle for the starting position in the fall. 
Colorado School of Mines looks to have a strong Niwot presence this fall.  Redshirt freshmen Kelton Manzanares and Matt LaBorde will be competing for playing time after redshirting last season.  Manzanares is listed as defensive back at 6’0” and 165 pounds while LaBorde is listed as an offensive lineman at 6’3” and 290 pounds.  Justin Traxinger, who played football at Niwot before transferring to Longmont High, is a true freshman offensive lineman, listed at 6’7” and 245 pounds. 

BASEBALL
Sean Ratliff (Niwot) continues to recover from a serious eye injury suffered at the end of spring training at the minor league complex of the New York Mets.  Ratliff was struck in the eye by a foul ball while waiting in the on deck circle.  He suffered a partially detached retina, and underwent two surgeries to reattach it.  In addition, several bones in his face were broken.  After the initial treatment in Florida, Ratliff returned to his parents’ home in McKinney, Texas to recover, where he is seeing an eye specialist. Ratliff is scheduled for more surgery later in the year. He hopes to return to action next season. 

Ryan Strufing (Niwot) has headed back east to play summer baseball for the Newport (R.I.) Gulls of the newly organized New England Collegiate Baseball League for college sophomores and juniors. Strufing is a left-handed pitcher for the Gulls.  Strufing had a rough outing in his first game, giving up four earned runs in two innings while taking the loss.  In his second appearance, he pitched a scoreless inning, allowing only one hit in an 11-2 win over NorthShore. 

In his last start for Long Beach State, Strufing pitched four and one-third innings, giving up five runs, only two of which were earned.  He allowed five hits and walked three, with one strikeout.  For the season, Strufing had a 3-2 record and a 5.24 ERA in 15 games. He held opposing hitters to a .267 batting average while striking out 30 and walking 22.

Cody Lahman (Niwot) took a tough-luck loss to the University of Nebraska at Kearney in the season-ending game for Mesa State. Lahman entered the game with one out in the ninth inning and the bases loaded.  Lahman hit the first batter, forcing in the tying run. He retired the next batter on a fly ball, and the runner on third was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.  Lahman left after hitting the first batter he faced in the 10th inning, and the relief pitcher gave up a game-winning base hit.  For the season, Lahman finished 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA, allowing 13 hits in 14 plus innings.  He struck out 13 and walked seven.  His .236 batting average against was second on the team among relief pitchers and fourth-best overall. 

Ben Packard (Niwot) had two hits in five trips to the plate, driving in two runs and scoring once for the University of Northern Colorado in a 7-5 win over Texas Pan-American.  He also had a double, driving in the only two UNC runs of the game in a 6-2 loss to Utah Valley.  For the season, Packard hit .374, tops on the team among regulars. He had four homers and 43 RBI’s with a .581 slugging percentage, all second-best on the squad.  Packard served as a designated hitter and also fielded his position at first base flawlessly with a 1.000 fielding percentage. He began his collegiate career as a pitcher for UNC, but after back surgery last year, he gave up his mound duties. Packard was named a second-team Academic All-American as well.

SOFTBALL
Jennessa Tesone (Niwot) finished tied for fifth all-time among Division II softball players nationwide with 56 career homers.  Tesone also broke the Metro State and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference records for homeruns in a career. She was named honorable mention Daktronics All-America.  Players are nominated and voted on by sports information directors across the country.  Tesone finished the season batting .396 with 14 home runs and 14 doubles, 50 runs batted in and 49 runs scored.  She also had a .762 slugging percentage and a .479 on-base percentage. Metro State won its third consecutive regular season Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship and finished with an overall record of 34-18.

VOLLEYBALL
Niwot High coach Chris Koerner is running an open gym at Niwot this summer, with players showing up from 3 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 2 to 5 p.m. on Fridays.  Koerner has been pleased with the turnout so far.  “We’ve had 30 freshman show up, and most come once or twice a week,” Koerner said.  He plans to take one or two of them to a tournament in Colorado this summer. 
Koerner will also have his players attend a team camp at CSU later in the summer.  Most of his coaching staff will return this fall with the exception of freshman coach Tonja Twito.  Preston Brown will take over the freshman squad coaching duties as Twito is due to have a baby this fall. 

RUNNING
The Bolder Boulder had 253 runners from Niwot this year.  Trevor Ammons (M27) had the best overall time among Niwot runners at 4:29.40. Ammons finished in 915th place overall, and 31st in his age division.  James Gilbert (M45) was second among Niwot runners, 1006th  overall, and 16th in his age group.  Kristi Jordan (F47) was the top female runner from Niwot, and third-best among all Niwot runners, with a time of 43:52.67, third-best in her age group.  Sandy Cranny (F46) was the second fastest among Niwot women, seventh among all Niwot runners, and second among women in her age group. 
Other top runners from Niwot included (4) Steve Lenger (M37), (5) Damon Clark (M50), (6) Jeffrey Uhland (M47), (8) Erik Bengston (M18), (9) Jordan Klevdal (F21), and (10) Robert Sibley (M55). Klevdal was ninth in her age group. Karen Edwards (F50) and Robin Flannery (F63) were also ninth in their respective age groups. Lars Soderholm (M67) was 10th in his age division. 

JUMPING
Jesse Hall (Niwot) took first place in the ProBase Tracking Race in Kjerag, Norway June 25.  For an up close look at BASE jumping, go to www.jessehallskibase.com. 

TENNIS
Miikka Keronen stepped down as the Niwot High School girls coach shortly after the state tournament this spring, but it wasn’t long before he was back in the mix as the new head coach of the Broomfield High School girls program. Keronen lives in Longmont, but works at The Ranch Country Club in Westminster as the tennis pro. 
When he left the Niwot position, Keronen cited the need to spend more time with his young children, who are just starting to take up the sport. When the Broomfield position opened up unexpectedly, Keronen was attracted by the fact that the school was only a few minutes from his job, eliminating the long commute to Niwot. He will continue to coach the Niwot Boys team.  

GOLF
Cole Nygren of Niwot, who will be a senior at Alexander Dawson this fall, won the boys division of the Aspen Junior Golf Classic. Nygren had to win a one-hole sudden-death playoff to claim the victory. He shot a five-over par 218 in the three regulation rounds.