Basketball

Gunbarrel resident Kevin Savory of Regis High School was named second team All Conference in the Continental League.  Savory, who averaged 15 points per game as captain of the team, has had interest from several small college programs, but is leaning toward attending his father’s alma mater, Creighton University in Omaha.  

NHS grad Danielle Olsen helped her Tulsa University team in its first ever win over nationally ranked Fresno State.  Olsen contributed a sacrifice bunt which eventually led to two runs in a scoreless game, eventually won by Tulsa, 4-1. Tulsa is now 44-13 for the season.

Baseball

Niwot High grad Mike Moat and the San Diego State Aztecs travel to Air Force Academy for a weekend series May 3-5.  Moat is 3-2 with a 4.93 ERA heading into the last week in April.  SCSU is ranked 25th in the nation by Baseball America.  

Another NHS grad, Virgil Chevalier, is leading the Binghamton Mets in hitting with a .317 average as of April 28.  Chevalier, who plays outfield this season, is second on the team with 11 runs scored, with one homer and six RBI’s.  

Niwot High clinched the top seed out of the Tri-Valley Conference after winning a share of the title with a 9-0 win over Berthoud.  Earlier in the week Niwot lost to Skyline 14-4 when scheduled starting pitcher Mike Zarlengo went down with a sprained ankle, an injury he picked up the day before playing basketball.  But Zarlengo came back a few days later to notch the shutout against Berthoud.  Mike Olsen continued his hot hitting with his sixth homer of the season, a three-run blast that put the game out of reach.  

Cory Green is seeing varsity action as a courtesy runner for the Cougars.  Green is reputed to have the best speed on the squad.  

Niwot is down to one senior, pitching and hitting ace Steve Lux, after two other seniors left the team.  But the younger players have stepped up to the plate, literally, in positioning Niwot for another run at state.  The daily papers have given Niwot sports plenty of coverage this season, but on the day Niwot clinched a share of the title, the Times-Call front page article bemoaned Skyline’s loss to Sterling and third place finish in the conference, while the NHS victory title clincher was relegated to a couple inches on the back page.  Go figure.  Niwot had beaten Berthoud 23-3 earlier in the season, scoring 21 runs in one inning after batting around three times.  

Lux made it official, signing a baseball letter of intent with Grand Canyon College in Phoenix, Arizona.  Grand Canyon produced Angels outfielder Tim Salmon and former major league outfielder Chad Curtis.  Lux has posted an ERA under 1.00 and two no-hitters for the Cougars heading into the playoffs, including a 3-0 victory over Sterling in which  he struck out 13 in seven innings.   

Fairview finished third in the Centennial League after a 7-6 loss to Mullen.  Gunbarrel’s Cody Montgomery did his part in the lineup with a 3 for 3 day, but it wasn’t enough.  Another Gunbarrel player, Erik Olsen, pitched a four-hit win over defending state champ Smoky Hill earlier in the week and wasn’t available for mound duty.  He did contribute a 1-4 day at the plate, however.  

Football

Former Niwot resident Scott Lockwood is back playing professional football after a six year layoff, this time under old Fairview High coach Sam Pagano in Italy.  Lockwood tore a hamstring early in the season due to the poor playing facilities in Europe, but has played through the injury as one of two American players on the team.  He plans to let the injury heal before the playoffs begin.  Lockwood played in the NFL with Detroit and New England after a stellar college career at USC.  

NHS grad Matt McChesney was back observing practice at CU and reported that he is on track to return to the program this fall. McChesney saw considerable playing time for the Buffs as a freshman and sophomore on the defensive line.  

Gunbarrel senior Jason Burianek was the leading receiver with 3 catches for 33 yards in CU’s first spring scrimmage.  Burianek is also the holder for CU’s kicker, and can pass when called upon.  

Swimming

The Niwot boys took sixth in the Boulder County Boys Swimming Championships.  Michael Lahey finished second in the 200 Freestyle, as did Bryce Peterson in the 200 IM. Gunbarrel resident Cameron Dye finished first in the 500 Freestyle for Fairview, while Peterson again finished second.  Dye also took second in the 100 Freestyle and was part of Fairview’s winning 400 Freestyle Relay.  

Soccer

Silver Creek’s Tiffany Rose scored three goals in the Raptors’ first ever win, which came at Ft. Morgan’s expense.  Rose also plays softball for Silver Creek.  

Niwot has taken on some tough non-league opponents this spring in preparation for the playoffs.  First the Cougars beat 5A Boulder High, 3-0, handing Boulder its first loss.  Kristen Boren, Linda VandeHey and Nicole Braman scored for Niwot, with assists by Kristin Moyer and Chelsea Tronick.  Niwot followed with a 1-0 win over previously undefeated Air Academy High, 1-0.  VandeHey got the goal with an assist from Tronick.  Earlier Niwot surprised everyone with a 8-0 victory over Alexander Dawson after suffering its only loss, a 1-0 defeat to Broomfield.

Senior goalie Mandy Munger was forced to miss several games due to an appendectomy. Freshman Jessica Steinberg stepped in to replace Munger, and played so well that when Munger returned, Munger split time in the field as well as in goal, picking up an assist in a win over Skyline.  VandeHey had three goals in that game, with freshman Kelly Creighton adding two more and Vanessa Paswaters adding another.  Kim Gearhardt, Holly Walker, Alyssa Woodbury, Boren and Tronick all contributed assists for the Cougars.      

Track

The Niwot girls took third while the boys finished fifth in the Boulder County Track and Field Championships.  The Cougar girls took first place in the 400 Relay with Robin Carpenter, Stacy Hancock, Kristy Ellis and Erica Galarza.  Hancock also took second in the Triple Jump and second in the Long Jump. Jenni Roueche also took second in the 400, as did Niwot’s 1600 Relay team.  On the boys side, Niwot took second in the 800 Relay and 400 Relay.  Jon Kasimir took second in the 300 Hurdles. 

Fairview’s Andre Liddle took second in the Shot Put while Matthew Nazarro finished second in the High Jump.  Karch Hickmann of Silver Creek came in second in the 800 to become the school’s highest finisher.  

Golf

Silver Creek doesn’t have a lot of victories in sports this year, competing with only freshmen and sophomores.  But two golfers have contributed to the St. Vrain United team, which finished second out of six in a Northern Conference Tournament at Twin Peaks.  Emily Martens of Silver Creek shot a 103 while Christa Seitz had a 111.  The team might have done even better if its No. 1 player hadn’t been out sick.  

Tennis

Niwot won the informal city crown with a victory over 5A Longmont after beating Skyline earlier.  No. 1 singles player Erica Santa has been hampered by injuries, forcing JV player Charlotte Fielder, a freshman, to step in against the ace of each opponent.  Fielder didn’t win against Longmont, but No. 2 singles player Erin Cable did, as well as all of the NHS doubles tandems.  Against Skyline, Niwot won every match except the No. 1 singles and No. 3 doubles as No. 3 singles player Sarah Zaslow prevailed over her opponent.  

Softball

The Niwot Thunder 14 & Under team placed third and the 12 & Under team placed second in the Loveland Sweetheart City Classic April 13-14.  The 14 & Under team followed with a first place trophy in Greeley April 27-28.