Coaches Corner - October 2010 - Softball, Soccer, Cross Country, Golf, Tennis, Volleyball, Gymnastics, Football

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NHS Softball

“It’s been a rollercoaster of a season,” Coach April Martinez said, coming off a 18-0 win over Greeley Central.  “We’re getting better.  We have a lot of new starters on varsity.  We’ve had our ups and downs, but the younger players are getting experience.”

Martinez noted several players who have been team leaders. “Nickie Blue has been doing it all for us, offensively and defensively.  She has a hit in every game, and her pitching record should be a lot better than it is.”  Catcher Liz Paterra is one of the few returning starters.  “Liz puts a lot of work into studying batters,” Martinez said.  “She has really taken on a leadership role.”

Centerfielder Rachel Johnson was another player singled out by Martinez.  “Rachel has improved leaps and bounds as a leadoff hitter.  She’s been able to get on base and has a lot of confidence.”

Third baseman Emma Goodenow is another player who has come around for the Cougars.  “She didn’t play summer ball, so it took a while, but she’s been hitting the ball a lot better lately.  She has a good glove at third base.”

Martinez spoke about the memorial to Peggy Broyles, who died unexpectedly a month ago.  Broyles, a founding member of Niwot Softball, Inc., was honored at the Silver Creek game Sept. 28.  “If it wasn’t for her and her husband, Doug, I wouldn’t be at Niwot,” Martinez said. “I knew her from summer ball because her daughter Amanda played for me when I coached the Warriors.  Peggy called me when the Niwot job opened up.”

NHS Boys Soccer

Coach Rob Johnson’s defending state champion squad has suffered two early season defeats, the last one against perennial power Cheyenne Mountain, 3-0.  But the Cougars are on a 3-game winning streak after beating a tough Skyline team 2-1.  “We had to score late in the second half to get the win,” Johnson said.  “Skyline is really improved, but we’re now 2-0 in the city, 2-0 in the league, and aiming for state.  Those are our three goals for the season.”

The loss to Cheyenne Mountain was not quite what it seemed.  “We would like to play them again later in the season,” Johnson said.  “It was supposed to be a home game, but we ended up having to play at their field due to the fire.  There were some communication problems and there was a mix-up on the starting time.  We had 12 minutes to warm up, and they scored early.”  When Cheyenne Mountain scored again, Niwot was forced to bring everyone forward to try to get back in the game, and it never happened.

Johnson noted that Tommy Xiong and Chris Gurule have been two players the opponents worry about.  “Tommy was sick a little bit against Skyline, but he still scored,” Johnson said.  “Chris has been playing a little bit everywhere, but mostly at forward.  He presents some real match-up problems.”

Santiago Velez has everybody aiming for him, Johnson noted.  “Santi is a next level player.  So are Tommy and Chris.”  Other players performing well are the Braman brothers, and the goalkeeper, Josh Watts.  “He lives in Erie,” Johnson said.  “He’s actually home-schooled, but plays for Niwot.  Jason Pillard is a leader for us in the back.”

Johnson noted that the JV squad is undefeated with one tie under Jeremy Drake, and that Brett Buttrick is doing a great job with the C team.

“The team has had to adjust to a new coach and a new coaching style,” Johnson noted.  “I coach more in a college style, not a lot of screaming.  We let them try some things, make some mistakes and correct them later.  We’re trying to make them be good young men.  I just give them the outline; the rest of it they fill in.”

NHS Cross Country

“It’s racing season now,” Coach Doug Duffy commented. The Niwot girls, ranked fifth in the latest coaches’ poll by Milesplit.com, could move up after the Broomfield meet results are considered.  “Katie Shepherd is back and healthy,” Duffy said. “She ran her first race yesterday. She’s tough and gutsy and a team leader.”

Freshman Elise Cranny has been leading the way in Shepherd’s absence.  Cranny has the 39th best time in the state at any class, running a 19:27 at the St. Vrain Invitational.  Cranny and Shepherd finished fourth and sixth, respectively, at Broomfield in all classes.  The Girls squad finished fourth overall, and two of their top runners, Lauren DeGroot and Annie Horsch, didn’t run as they were under the weather.

“We have 10 or 11 girls, and any one of them could be on the varsity roster at the end of the year,” Duffy said.  Runners who ran well at Broomfield included Maddy Jalbert, Kate Judge, and Haley Dennerline, all of whom scored for Niwot.  Others who ran just behind them were Madi Dolifka and Lauren Fitzgibbons. “We have a strong group of freshman girls,” Duffy said, naming Cranny, Fitzgibbons, Amber Lui and Haley Bergeson as possible varsity runners.

On the boys side, the squad is not as deep, but ran well at Broomfield.  “We beat some 5A teams that were pretty tough,” Duffy noted.  The boys finished sixth overall, and third among Class 4A teams.  “Nick Harris finished in the top 10,” Duffy said. “After that we’re a little more spread out.”  Quinn Harris was next, finishing 20th overall.  “Will Zimmerman ran his first race,” Duffy said.  “He had been injured.” Zimmerman finished 36th. Other runners scoring were Scott Everett and David Schahrer.  Ryan Faulkner and Kevin Bueno also ran well.

NHS Boys Golf

Niwot’s T.K. Coody qualified for state for the second year in a row, shooting a 76 at Regionals at Sterling, good for third place.  “They try to spread the tournaments out,” Coach Rick Phillips said. “The course in Sterling is a short course and it’s not in great shape.”  Althought conditions were less than ideal, Coody has a knack for stepping up when it matters.  He entered the day as the Cougars’ number three player with an 80 average, good for 12th in the conference.

“To give you an idea of how hard it was, the number one player in the league with a 68 average shot a 79 and barely made it to state,” Phillips said.  Niwot’s top player, senior Tyler Winslow, came in with a 74.8 average, having never shot above 77 on the season.  Winslow shot an 82 at Regionals and missed qualifying.  “On the 17th hole, which is a par three, he took an eight with no penalty shots.  He bogied the last hole and that was it.”

Sean Guderian, who finished 11th in conference with an average of 77, shot a 90 to finish well out of a qualifying score.  The Cougars’ number four player, senior Connor Phillips, shot an 80 and missed qualifying for state by one stroke.  “On the second to last hole, he hit a tree and it ricocheted all the way across the fairway and out of bounds,” Coach Phillips said in describing his son’s misfortune. Connor Phillips entered the Regional with an average of 85.

As a team the Cougars finished tied for fourth out of 16 teams, six strokes off of making state as a team. In league play, Niwot finished fourth in its division.  Coach Phillips plans to step down after this season, having been recently promoted to branch manager at the Wells Fargo Advisory office in Longmont, which will lead to more demands on his time.

NHS Gymnastics

Niwot picked up its second dual win of the season over Ft. Collins, 172.4 to 170.5.  “The girls really stepped up,” Coach Mallory Lang said.  “One of our top girls, Debi Johnson, was out sick.” Ariel Mosier, a Niwot High student, moved up from the JV squad and had the top score on the Floor Exercise.  Tyne Curran was also “amazing” on the Floor Exercise, according to Lang.

“Jeanine Vela did well on everything,” Lang said. Vela won the Vault and finished second in the All Around.  Nikki Longstreth also performed well, taking second in the Uneven Bars and second in the Balance Beam. Both attend Frederick High School.

“Allie Koldeway did really well on the bars, the vault and the floor,” Lang said.  Lisa Folven took fourth in the All Around. Kayla Overfield and Rachel Hillen also placed for the Cougars.  Lauren Carpenter was out with a stress fracture.

NHS Volleyball

Coach Chris Koerner isn’t discouraged after a 1-5 start to the season.  “We’re just that close,” Koerner said.  “We seem to lose in the fifth game by a little bit.”  The Cougars started strong in their last two games, winning the first games in each case.

In a 3-2 loss to Greeley Central, the Cougars came back to win the fourth game after losing the second and third, but faltered in the fifth game.  “Sometimes we’re a little polite,” Koerner said. “We’ve got to be a little meaner. The good news is we’re in every game.

Koerner has used his entire varsity roster most nights. Tara Buck, Maggie Webster, Katie Meek and Amanda Rutherford had particularly good nights against Greeley Central.  “Tara is killing the ball,” Koerner said.  “I always have one player who can play anywhere, and that’s Julia Teta.”  Teta plays outside, right-side and middle for the Cougars. Kelsey Coxon is the Defensive Specialist for Niwot, and had a busy night digging the ball off the floor.   Other varsity players include Becca Chavez and Amy Lee, who have also played well.

NHS Boys Tennis

“The Cougars took down 5A Fairview in a hard fought scrimmage, winning all three singles matches and two of four doubles matches,” NHS tennis parent Scott Jones reports.   Niwot lost its first two matches of the season against last year’s 5A 3rd-place-state-finishing Fairview Knights.

The Niwot High boys’ varsity tennis team beat Mountain View Sept. 23 at home, winning every match, 6-0, 6-0.  “It was a clean sweep and possibly the first time ever that the Niwot team did not drop a single game,” according to Scott Jones.   In addition, a few “golden sets” were achieved where not a single point was lost in a six-game set. The No. 3 doubles team of Jesse Jones and Scott Rutherford had one of the golden sets, dropping only one point in the two sets. Chris Gang at No. 3 singles also had a golden set in one of his 6-0 matches.

The Cougars suffered their first loss of the season to Steamboat Springs, 3-4.  Steamboat is a very good team, according to Jones, but Niwot was missing three of its top players, Harrison Lang at No. 1 singles, Connor Mulshine at No. 1 doubles, and Matt Londa at No. 2 doubles. Mulshine and Londa were away on college visits. Michael Ogez stepped up to play No. 1 singles in Lang’s absence, but was hampered by a foot injury.  Chris Gang moved up to No. 2 singles and won his match, 6-0, 6-3, while Cecil MacGregor moved up from Varsity II to play No. 3 singles, losing 6-0, 6-1.  Alex Jones moved up to play No. 1 doubles with Adam Gang, winning 6-4, 6-1.  Jesse Jones and Scott Rutherford moved up from No. 3 to No. 2 doubles, losing a tough match, 7-6 (4), 7-5.  Trevor Jones and Michael Lau moved up from No. 4 doubles to No. 3 doubles, losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, while Drew Pasma and Michael DeMatteo moved up from Varsity II to fill in at No. 4 doubles, and came away with a win, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

NHS Football

The Cougars suffered another tough loss to Greeley West after leading in the fourth quarter.  “We’re improving all the time,” Coach Ron Tesone said.  “They were much bigger, but we’re showing a lot of character.”

Considering that Niwot outgained Skyline in a loss to the Falcons, Niwot could be 3-1 rather than 1-3.

Tesone cited Ryan Schuler and Dillon Manzanares as two athletes who are playing well.  Schuler leads the team in tackles from his safety position and also plays receiver.  “He’s played exceptionally everywhere,” Tesone said.  “He has a couple of blocked kicks including one against Greeley West that Eric Bengston returned for a touchdown.”

Manzanares, a tailback, has over 500 yards rushing in the first four games.

Tesone also singled out lineman Landon Nolting.  “He’s been great on both sides of the ball.  The offensive line in general has been very good.  We’re very close to 1000 yards rushing as a team.”  Others who have played well include lineman Richard Burton, offensive lineman Nate Shipley, center Akil Bhagat, tackle Roy Turner and tight end Tanner Smith.  Smith also handles kickoffs and punting duties, and sees action at defensive end.

“Xandon Sigafoos has played well for us at fullback and linebacker,” Tesone said. “Nick Stager has been good on both sides of the ball and had 15 tackles against Greeley West.”

Seniors Chad Pasma at safety and Marcus Lively at linebacker are starting to come around, according to Tesone.  “Mitch Eutsler was back for the Skyline game and has been a great asset to the team with his attitude as well as in the defensive backfield.”

Sophomore quarterback Nate Merriman has suffered a little bit of growing pains, according to Tesone.  “The game moves very fast, but he’s been moving us down the field.”  Another sophomore, Jake Sarosi, has started every game at linebacker. “He’s improving every time he’s on the field,” Tesone said.

Others who have stepped up for the Cougars include underclassmen Wyatt Wood, Oscar Lopez, Marcus Montoya and Tommy Dyer.  Dyer has been injured, as have been Nate Edwards and Rick Faulkner.  Edwards hopes to come back but Faulkner is likely done for the season after tearing his ACL. 
“We’re not as talented as some of the teams we face,” Tesone said, “but we play with pride and toughness.  These guys just like playing together.”