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Niwot High Fall Sports Previews
BY BRUCE WARREN
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Volleyball
Coach Chris Koerner returns for his second season with most of his staff intact, intent on changing the mindset of the program. “We have 10 players on varsity, and six of them are seniors,” Koerner said. “We should be very competitive. It’s time to get that winning mentality going.”
NHS grad and former college setter Jamie Dwyer returns as JV coach, and Troy Kannella returns to handle the C team. Preston Brown is new to the program, but has a great deal of experience coaching volleyball. He will coach the D team. Koerner also added a varsity assistant this season, Keri Churchich, who was an all-state volleyball player in California.
With 53 players trying out, Koerner had to make 10 cuts to get down to a more manageable 43 athletes. “We have 21 freshmen, and two of them are on JV,” Koerner said.
Senior Tara Buck enters the fall playing her third year on varsity for the Cougars. “She’ll be a power on the outside,” Koerner said. Buck was named all-conference last season. Senior Becca Chavez returns as a setter. She rotated at the position last year when Niwot played a 6-2. Sophomore Meghan Richard is also competing to play setter, and if the Cougars go to a 5-1 this year, she or Chavez will see action on the right side.
Koerner is thinking of making the switch to a 5-1 offense so that the hitters will get consistent balls from the same setter.
Another senior, Emily Stagnitti, moves up from last year’s JV squad. She is expected to play the right side or defensive specialist. Senior Katie Meek, who started in the middle last year, will return to the same position this fall.
Senior Mandi Newton will be a defensive specialist, while Renee Plomondon, a junior, moves up from JV to play outside hitter this year. Junior Jacqui Sigg will be a defensive specialist, while senior Julia Teta will play the middle. Junior Julia Vaiser will play outside hitter.
“It’s going to be a fun year,” Koerner said. “Our goal is to be above .500. We have to develop the mindset that we can win. The team chemistry is really good. Most of the kids on varsity play club volleyball.”
Koerner lists Longmont and Silver Creek as the Cougars’ main competitors. “We open with Silver Creek, so we should know right away if we can win or go to the fifth set, we’ll be okay.”
Boys Golf
Al Backlund takes over as head coach this fall. Backlund served as an assistant to his longtime friend and golf buddy, Rick Phillips, last season. Backlund, who lives in Lafayette, has golfed all of his life, growing up in Alexandria, Minn., where he worked as a caddie and at the pro shop. He moved to Colorado in 1974 and worked for Storage Tek until 1996.
Niwot’s boys golf team opened play at the Greeley West Invitational, with senior T.K. Coody carding a 77 to lead the team. Coody is the top returning golfer for the Cougars. “TK played well last year,” Backlund said. “He’s coming around and working hard at it.”
Senior Sean Guderian was next with an 80. “Sean has grown up and hits the ball further now,” Backlund said. “He was always very accurate, but he hits the ball 20 to 30 yards further off the tee.”
Junior Sam Toillion was third on the squad at 86 and Mike Tuttle was fourth at 91. The Cougars have three freshmen on the squad, with Luke Toillion, Sam’s brother leading the way, followed by Jay Ostrom and Forrest Weaver. “Luke is going to be a very good player,” Backlund said. “I’m looking for some great things out of him. Alex Nicholson, a sophomore who played last season, will likely have to miss the season due to injury.
Football
The Niwot football program is back to fielding teams at three levels this fall with 65 players out for the squad. “The numbers are definitely up,” coach Ron Tesone said. “It’s been very positive. Things are coming together.”
Tesone’s staff has seen some major changes with longtime assistants Alan Stabe, Aaron Martinsen and John Heller moving on. Ron Tesone’s brother, Jim Tesone, has joined the staff and will serve as defensive coordinator. Scott Thomas, who will teach PE at Niwot, will coach the offensive line after coaching at Mead last season. J.B. Hall will join the staff as defensive line coach, and J.P. Lefever will coach the freshman offense.
NHS grads also make up part of the coaching staff. David Ross returns to coach wide receivers, special teams and assist with the JV squad. Mitch Nissen will coach the linebackers and serve as the head coach for the freshman squad. And Ben Garcia, who was a sophomore on Niwot’s 1990 state title team, will coach running backs and assist with the JV squad.
Tesone believes the strength of the team is in the skill positions. Junior Nate Merriman returns at quarterback after missing part of last season due to an injury. Sophomore Billy Drake will serve as his backup. Jake Sarosi returns at fullback and his backup is sophomore Wyatt Sigafoos. Senior Dillon Manzanares will be counted on to carry the load at tailback, with senior Nick Stager and sophomore Bryan Meek backing him up. Stager has been hampered by an injury early in camp, but is expected to be ready early in the season.
Receivers include tight end Damian O’Hare, wide receiver Max McCaddon and wide receiver Nate Edwards. O’Hare is only a sophomore, but McCaddon and Edwards are seniors. Junior Cahill Kellighan and senior Rick Faulkner will rotate in at tight end, while sophomore Elijah Noterman, junior Kyle Conarro, and seniors Tommy Dyer and Sage Eckman will see action at wide receiver.
On the line, the Cougars lack size but hope to make up for it with skill and athleticism. Senior Akil Bhagat will start at center. Junior Roman Sharp will play left guard, with senior Nate Shipley at left tackle. Junior Sean Harrison is the front-runner at right guard, but has been battling an injury. Junior Wyatt Wood will start at right tackle. Junior Kyle Howe will likely get the nod if Harrison is unable to go. Seniors Abe Allen and Kyle Swenson along with junior Josh Heape will also see playing time on the offensive line.
On defense, Wood and Shipley will start at defensive tackle, while Kellighan and Sigafoos will start on the ends. Sarosi will direct the defense from his middle linebacker position, with Stager and Faulkner on the outside. Meek will likely fill in for Stager until he is ready to play.
Manzanares and Conarro will play the corners, with Edwards and Noterman as safeties.
Senior Abe Allen will also see action at defensive tackle, with Bhagat and Swenson rotating in. Heape and Sharp will back up the starters at defensive end, while sophomores Andy Siamango and Keenan McCauley will be backup linebackers. Sophomore Kenny Grubb, a transfer from Silver Creek who attends Catalyst School in Lafayette, will back up Sarosi at middle linebacker.
Dyer and sophomores Joey Lambert and Jack Setter will see action at cornerback, wihile junior Damian Blaylock will back up the safeties.
Co-Captains for the season are Merriman, Shipley and Stager. The Cougars open at Adams City. Last season’s aborted plan to play an afternoon game at Niwot will not be resurrected. “There are just too many issues,” Tesone said. Niwot’s homecoming game will be played on a Thursday night this year.
Boys Tennis
Coach Miikka Keronen has two defending state titlists returning in No. 1 singles player Harrison Lang, a junior, and No. 2 singles player Michael Ogez, a senior. Lang’s younger brother, freshman Spencer Lang, has earned the No. 3 singles slot.
“We are ranked number three in state pre-season,” Keronen said. “Our singles are very solid. We’re probably the best or second-best in state. It will come down to how we play in doubles.”
The doubles positions appear to be strong too, led by returning state finishers Connor Mulshine and Matt Londa at No. 1 singles. Mulshine finished fourth in state at No. 1 doubles last year, while Londa finished fourth at state in No. 2 doubles last fall. Both are seniors this year.
Sophomore Drew Pasma and junior Scott Rutherford will team up at No. 2 doubles this year, while brothers Jesse Jones, a senior, and Trevor Jones, a sophomore, will play at No. 3 doubles. Freshman Carter Pentz and junior Cecil MacGregor will hold down the No. 4 doubles position.
“MacGregor played a lot in the summer, five hours a day he told me,” Keronen said. Sophomore Michael DeMatteo is pushing for a varsity position as well. “He’s next in line,” Keronen said. “He could be varsity later in the year.”
Keronen has 50 young men in the program, and will field varsity I, II and III squads. Long-time assistant Nora Harrison returns to coach varsity II, while Scott Spielman returns to coach varsity III.
Softball
Former Niwot assistant and former Longmont head coach Bobby Matthews takes over the program this season with a team ranked fifth in the state in Class 4A preseason. “We’re on our way to competing for a conference title,” Matthews said. “If we can just play defense behind Nicki, we’ll be okay.”
“Nicki” is Nicki Blue, who is expected to be one of the top pitchers in the state. Blue is also an offensive force for the Cougars. Other returning starters include catcher Taylor Supino, a junior, and shortstop Jordan Eutsler, a senior.
The Artzer sisters will hold down the corner infield spots, with senior Halie Artzer at first base and sophomore Mikalah Artzer at third base. Junior Raven Baca will see most of the action at second base.
In the outfield, the Cougars have senior Haley McPherson in leftfield, senior Rosie VandeHoef in center, and freshman Jessica Johnson in right. All of the Cougar starters play competitive softball in the summer.
Matthews hopes he won’t need any backup pitchers, but both Artzer sisters and Johnson can pitch if needed. Sophomore Sage Cooley will serve as a backup at second base and in the outfield, and is also expected to be used as a courtesy runner. Senior Jalen Valdez will back the outfielders, and senior Meagan Whitney, who is battling an injury, will be an infield backup.
Matthews, who played college baseball as an infielder, has a solid coaching staff, led by veteran Stephanie Arguello, returning for her ninth season as JV coach. NHS grad Lindsay Jacobs will help with the pitchers, while Shannon DePuy, another Niwot grad, will also serve as an assistant coach after completing her college playing career at Midland University in Nebraska. Micki Keller, whose daughter played for Matthews at Longmont and is now playing in college, will also assist.
Matthews also recruited his roommate, former University of Arizona and St. Louis Cardinals minor league infielder Colt Sedbrook, to help coach. Sedbrook, who played high school baseball at Broomfield, also played for Niwot’s summer Connie Mack team several years ago. He is working on his teaching certification at the University of Northern Colorado.
“We are working hard to shore up our defense,” Matthews said. “The girls are really working hard. There are a lot of new faces.”
Boys Soccer
Coach Rob Johnson lost four of his starters before practice even began, with Ben Braman, Alex Braman, Jason Pillard and Chris Gurule all forgoing the high school season to play for the Colorado Rapids Development Academy team this fall.
Gurule, who was the Northern Conference Player of the Year last season as a junior, is playing on the U17/18 Development Team. Pillard, a junior, was named MVP of the Colorado State Cup U16 Final for the Boulder County Force. The Braman twins, both juniors, are playing for the Rapids Development Academy U15/16 team.
“We have to play as a team now,” Johnson said. “We don’t have the individuals.” Johnson isn’t worried about how his team will fare without the players who left. “The Academy has hurt a lot of teams.” Johnson’s goal for the team is to be number one in the city among Silver Creek, Longmont and Skyline high schools, and to go deep in the playoffs.
Niwot has 63 players on the squad, and will have a JV squad and a C Team squad as well as the varsity. Jeremy Drake returns to coach the JV team, and Brett Butrick is back to coach the C Team.
Seniors Caleb Payne, Robert Charles, Luis Montealegre and Josh Watt are returning starters for the Cougars. Payne will play center defender, while Charles and Montealegre will play center midfield. Watt is the goalkeeper.
Other players who are expected to start include senior Tommy Hoffmann, a forward who played with the varsity last year, and senior Chris Oswald, who will play outside defender.
Sophomore Grant Webster also saw varsity action last year, and will be a center midfielder. Freshman Quinton Pearson, younger brother of former NHS girls soccer player Annick Pearson, will play center defender.
Cross Country
Coach Doug Duffy expects approximately 60 runners on the squad this season. “We have a ton of seniors,” Duffy said. “We have good senior leadership.”
For the Niwot girls, seniors Kaiti Shepherd, Maddy Jalbert, Haley Dennerline and Leanna Hirsh lead the way. Junior Madi Dolifka and sophomores Elyse Cranny, Amber Liu, Megan Tatusko and Haley Bergeson are expected to be among the top Cougar runners as well.
For the Cougar boys, seniors Nick Harris, Scott Everett, David Schahrer, William Zimmerman, Ryan Faulkner and Alejandro Garcia will provide leadership. Junior Elijah Fisk and sophomore Austin Schuler are also expected to run for the varsity.
Fifteen freshman are out for cross country this fall, with several expected to push the veteran runners. “We ran more than we probably ever ran this summer,” Duffy said.
Duffy will be assisted by Jason Hartman, now in his third year with the program, and newcomer Kylee Schuler. Hartman is a Nike runner and will run the Olympic marathon trials in January. Schuler was a runner at the University of Richmond before moving to Colorado, where she attends grad school at Metro State in Denver.
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