All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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Although the Rocky Mountain slopes are within reach, there are surprisingly few young athletes in the Front Range who ski competitively. Why? Skiing can't exactly be learned in a backyard or driveway; effort and time are required to fully appreciate the thrill of gliding down Colorado's infamous powder. But for those who've gone the extra mile, the payoff can be fruitful. Since joining the Boulder Nordic Junior Racing Team in seventh grade, Sophie Spalding has been glued to the slopes and has be...
The Niwot Community Association (NCA) has a full calendar of events for 2023 which are all open to the public. One event in particular, the annual Niwot Clean-up Day on May 20, is free for members and is a great reason to join the NCA. Roll-off dumpsters will again be set up in the Niwot High School parking lot so that members of the community can drive through to unload a variety of materials which might otherwise end up in a landfill. That includes yard waste, branches, and much more. Staff...
"Twins," The philosopher Hippocrates once conjectured, "are like one another for the following reasons. First, the places are alike in which they grow; then they were secreted together; then they grow by the same nourishment, and at birth they reach together the light of day." Arts Student of the Week, Niwot High School freshman Gwen Ashack, might agree with Hippocrates, but only up to a point. "I have one brother," Ashack said. "I'm a twin. He doesn't enjoy art as much as I do, but we both...
Dear Left Hand Valley Courier, I am writing in comment on Wandering Jellyfish's Drag Queen Story time, as published in the article "Drag Queen Story Time Comes to Niwot" by Biff Warren. Niwot has long been politically dormant. Due to its lack of mayor and place within the greater Boulder County area, this small country town of just over 4,000 people has managed to keep itself civil and strong in face of growing political division, and besides the odd Trump flag or Biden bumper sticker, this is how it was. Niwot is also the site of Niwot High...
Books provide the reader with an incredible number of benefits, including a sense of connectedness with community and an escape from a potentially difficult everyday life. However, not everyone has the same access to books that many of us take for granted. Local prisons suffer from a "horrendous lack of books," explained Lily Sykes, a junior at Niwot High School. Sykes is spearheading the project, "Books Behind Bars," a book drive with the goal of providing much needed books to prisons. "I...
Every year at Niwot High School, members of all parts of the school come together to create a musical. This year, the show is Beauty and the Beast. It was especially designed to be aimed towards kids this year, explained Ms. Amanda Foust, one of the teachers in charge of the production. Members of the cast are "on tour" at elementary schools where they perform a few songs in full costumes so younger children can experience the show. But the show's not only great for the kids. "I feel like...
The end of a season can bring about many emotions, but it was all smiles on Feb. 25 as the Niwot High School unified basketball team wrapped its final pair of games. Junior Natalie Carrillo was one of 11 NHS students with intellectual disabilities who hooped it up this winter, and she was simply grateful for the experience. "It's like a family," Carrillo said following Niwot's season finale, a 72-70 loss to Mead High School in a tournament hosted by Skyline High School. "Everyone's sweet and...
The bigger picture doesn't go unseen by Niwot High School senior Veer Gandhakwala. In an age where demands on students only seem to be increasing, Gandhakwala has dedicated countless hours of his time toward helping Niwot students with disabilities through the school's unified sports teams. Over the past two years, he has volunteered as a "partner" for unified basketball and bowling, two programs that offer athletic opportunities for special needs students. As a student-athlete himself in both...
The pandemic inspired many people to pick up new hobbies, and it inspired others to further develop their passions into something greater. For Niwot senior Dakota Allison and junior Jasper Allison, the pandemic focused them on their musical training and they decided to form a band: Voltage 85. "Jasper and I have been doing music our whole lives," Dakota said. "We started off in 2020, just us jamming with another guitarist and it took off from there." The Allison siblings first received training...
Mimi Archibold, this week's Arts Student of the Week, was motivated to become an actress by watching her sisters, and she had many to choose from. Archibold has eight older siblings. "When I was really young," Archibold said, "I watched two of my older siblings perform in plays with a small theatre company and later I watched my sister, Mary, star in half the plays she did at Niwot. I'd say she's probably been my biggest motivator when it came to acting." Every time she listens to a new musical...
Niwot High School boys basketball wrapped up the season with games on the road against the Fort Morgan Mustangs and at home against the Northridge Grizzlies Feb. 14 and Feb. 16, respectively. Niwot was competitive but lost both games, 68-61 to the Mustangs, and 57-48 to the Grizzlies, ending the season on a 10-game losing streak. The Cougars finished ninth of 10 teams in league with a record of 3-15 in Longs Peak league games, and an overall record of 5-17, winning two more games than last...
Niwot High School's varsity girls basketball team picked up its fourth win of the season at Fort Morgan High School (52-35) before dropping the final game of the season at home to Greeley's Northridge High School (60-20). Coach Jon Hill called the Fort Morgan victory "a good win for us. We started really slow and could tell Ft. Morgan was giving us everything they had." "Rose (Pacheco) got in foul trouble early making it really difficult to get an offense going," Hill said. Fortunately the...
After falling just short the past two years, Jamieson Legh finally got over the hump of winning an individual state championship in her final run. The fourth-year Niwot High School swimmer finished runner-up in the 100-meter butterfly as both a sophomore and junior, plus she took second in the 100 backstroke last year and placed third the season prior. But given one last opportunity as a senior, Legh took advantage and won both events by a combined 6.73 seconds at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic...
2/23/23 Dear Left Hand Valley Courier, I am writing in comment on Wandering Jellyfish's Drag Queen Story time, as published in the article "Drag Queen Story Time Comes to Niwot" by Biff Warren. Niwot has long been politically dormant. Due to its lack of mayor and place within the greater Boulder County area, this small country town of just over 4,000 people has managed to keep itself civil and strong in face of growing political division, and besides the odd Trump flag or Biden bumper sticker, this is how it was. Niwot is also the site of...
Although she has experimented with many artistic mediums, including painting, drawing with graphite and pen and ink, ceramics, and multimedia sculptures, Niwot High School senior Hannah Geiling most enjoys working with Prismacolor pencils. "I enjoy the slow nature of the medium that calls for lots of layering and blending," Geiling said. "And overall, just really getting to play with color theory." Geiling takes influence from artists in pop culture, especially musical artists such as Melanie...
In the penultimate week of the Niwot High School boys basketball season, Niwot battled both the Frederick High School Golden Eagles on Tuesday, Feb. 7 and the Mountain View High School Mountain Lions on Thursday, Feb. 9. Niwot lost both games, 70-48 and 61-50 respectively. Now, 5-15 on the season, the Cougars have two more games left, trying to end the season on a higher note. Against the Golden Eagles, Niwot started strong, down only 17-13 at the end of the first quarter. Things quickly fell ou...
Despite the support of a large home crowd that came out Feb. 9 for the Niwot High School varsity girls basketball game, and the team's flashes of moxie and grit, Niwot coach Jon Hill's young varsity squad succumbed to a disciplined Mountain View High School team that jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and never trailed. The Mountain Lions' balanced attack had three double-digit scorers and used a smothering, pressure defense, challenging the Cougars in the backcourt by posting 20 steals and making...
Niwot High School wrestlers came up short of qualifying for the state tournament, but three wrestlers placed at the regional tournament. "We had two sixth-place finishes and one fifth-place," head coach Bobby Matthews said after the Feb. 11 tournament. "It didn't live up to my expectations," Matthews said, "but I saw growth throughout the season, and it finished pretty well." Youth and inexperience as well as injuries haunted the Cougars this season, with only one senior on the squad. The lone...
Overall, head coach Ella Thramann would consider her first year leading the Niwot High School girls swim program a success. The Cougars wrapped up their season at the Class 4A state championships on Feb. 9, and led by senior Jamieson Legh, took fourth as a team at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton. “I'm very happy with how it ended,” Thramann said. “They all just swim amazingly. Jamieson had first in the 100 butterfly and 100 back, so that was cool to watch her get that first place in those.” After finishing runner-up at state in...
Niwot Youth Sports (NYS) basketball is in full swing, with 200 youth participants this winter competing in the Rocky Mountain Youth Basketball league. NYS is fielding 15 teams this winter and teams have played four weekends of action thus far. There are two more weekends of regular season play followed by an end of season tournament Feb. 27 through March 4. NYS teams play against local talent from Rocky Mountain Youth Sports Upward League and Carbon Valley Recreation Center. In addition to...
The Niwot Community Association (NCA) held its monthly board meeting Feb. 1 in the Mountain View Fire Rescue Niwot Station conference room and the first topic was trees. Board member Pat Murphy raised her concern about the loss of old trees in Niwot and arranged for Josh Morin, founder of We Love Trees, Inc., to present information to the NCA. Morin explained how humans relate to the ecosystem and have established trees in this area, many of which are aging. He described some initiatives that mi...
Jordyn Ballard has come a long way since interning with the Left Hand Valley Courier during her senior year at Silver Creek High School eight years ago. Following a memorable three-plus year run working in the athletics communications department at West Texas A&M University, Ballard accepted the position of Associate Director of Athletic Communications at Kansas State University in December. She moved to Manhattan, Kansas, in January and is currently preparing for the Wildcats' upcoming spring...
Everything is coming together at the best time possible for Izzy Fay, the lone diver on the Niwot girls swim and dive team. In Niwot's final meet before the state championships, Fay ran away with a first-place finish at the Longs Peak League Championships on Feb. 4. Her score of 450.85 was about 85 points higher than the next-closest diver. "This is probably my best meet so far, to be honest," Fay said soon after her final dive at the Mountain View Aquatics Center in Loveland. "But my season is...
Showing great poise and determination, Niwot High School's young varsity girls basketball squad picked up its third win of the season on Feb. 2 with a hard-fought 41-31 victory over cross-town rival Skyline High School. The Cougars suffered two lop-sided losses in their other two games last week, losing to Severance High School, 75-13, and to Thompson Valley High School, 60-14. With similar records coming into Thursday's Skyline game, both teams were well-matched. The Niwot Community...
Inkberry Books is more than a place to find current and classic reading material. Owners Gene Hayworth and Keith Waters often include art displays by local artists, and February will feature the art of Niwot High School student ReyLynn Killinger. Killinger specializes in beautifully drafted, intricate graphite portraits. Art has been a part of her life for many years, and was naturally drawn to it as a child. She remembers going to her mom's Paint and Sip Studio gatherings, where Killinger fell...
"Ever since I was in elementary school," Najla Onofre Valles admits, "I've been wanting to use a guitar and learn how to play it. I just thought it would be something really fun to do." Valles, who was selected by NHS' Orchestra Director Keynes Chen as Arts Student of the Week, developed an interest in mariachi while she was still a student at Sunset Middle School. When the school started a mariachi class, Valles immediately signed up. "I thought it would be cool to be in a mariachi class," she...
Close to 200 speech and debate competitors gathered on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 27 and 28, for the CHSAA 3A Speech and Debate State Tournament. Fourteen events were slated to take place over the span of the event, with a champion named in each event and an overall school champion taking an ultimate prize. Schools from as far away as Steamboat Springs and the state's other mountain regions competed against local teams. Niwot's team, coached by Niwot High School alumnus Evan Clark, competed with...
Over the holiday season, Niwot High School was represented by senior Paris Stephens at the London New Year's Day Parade. She performed with Varsity Spirit All-Americans in an exclusive performance at Piccadilly Square. Stephens has cheered for Niwot High School for the past four years. Beginning in 1987, the London New Year's Day Parade has attracted over 10,000 participants from the USA, UK, Europe and beyond, delighting a street audience of over 500,000 and a TV audience, which reaches more...
The Niwot High School Cougars outscored crosstown rival Silver Creek High School 58-51 in a high-scoring, co-ed Unified Basketball game. Coaches Dawn Zwisler and Amy Holle led a fired-up group of athletes and partners to an exciting win Thursday, Jan. 26, at Niwot High School. A large, revved up crowd awaiting the boys varsity game vs Riverdale Ridge High School, nearly filled the bleachers as the Unified team from Niwot got out of the gate quickly, blazing an 8-2 opening tear. Throughout the...
It hasn’t been an easy season for the young Niwot High School boys wrestling team. Wins have been tough to assemble and with a limited number of opportunities remaining, head coach Bobby Matthews wants his Cougars to continue “pushing forward.” As regionals loom (Feb. 10-11), staying focused becomes even more important with state championship spots up for grabs. Sophomore Ryder Evans and juniors Eric Falcon and Gavin Burrage, a trio of bright spots for the Cougars, are faced with the challenge of being at their best in February. Momentum is ke...
The Niwot High School boys basketball team had two matchups this week, facing off against the Roosevelt Roughriders and the Riverdale Ridge Ravens, as the Cougars' game against the Battle Mountain Huskies was canceled on Saturday. The Cougars went 0-2 for the week, losing 59-50 against the Roughriders, and 78-72 to the Ravens. The Cougars are now 5-10 on the year. Niwot's first game of the week came on Tuesday when the Cougars took on the Roughriders in a back-and-forth thriller. The game...
Looking back at her nearly-complete Niwot High School girls swim career, the relationships Rowan Lavigne has built come to the senior's mind almost immediately. "Since freshman year, I've made my best friends on the team," Lavigne said. "I'm (grateful to) have my last season with them and everybody." Lavigne has grown particularly close with a pair of fellow seniors who've joined her at the state championships the past three seasons, Julianna Strope and Stephanie Mow. Four years ago as freshmen...
Some of the best middle school choir students in the area came to Niwot High School last week for a district-wide honor choir concert. Despite the start of a mid-winter snowstorm, more than 100 students filled the stage, performing eight songs for an auditorium filled with parents and friends. Students represented 13 schools, with choir teachers from each school taking the stage as the concert began to thank students, their parents and Niwot High School as a host. The evening consisted of three...
A young group of mostly sophomore Niwot High School girls picked up just their second basketball win of the season in Tuesday's home matchup with visiting Fort Morgan High School. The convincing 53-23 score against the winless Mustangs had to have provided a boost of confidence going into Saturday's matchup with Northridge High School in Greeley. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to overcome a strong Northridge onslaught, with the Cougars on the short end of the 55-37 final score. With just two...
The first two years of Eric Falcon's Niwot High School wrestling career didn't go according to plan. Beset by the COVID-19 pandemic and a leg injury, he was unable to dedicate his complete focus to the sport until his junior season. Success began to follow and now as a senior, the 165-pound Falcon has cemented himself as one of Niwot's top wrestlers. Two of his best meets this season resulted in second-place finishes at the Wheat Ridge Invitational on Dec. 10, and at the Alameda Wrestling...
The Niwot High School boys basketball team played three games this week, taking on the Mountain View Mountain Lions on Tuesday, the Fort Morgan Mustangs on Thursday, and the Northridge Grizzlies on Saturday. Niwot lost their Tuesday and Saturday games but won their Thursday game in a last-second thriller. The first of the matchups was a 56-43 loss to Mountain View where Niwot's early struggles got the best of them. Getting outscored 17-6 in the first quarter, the game fell out of reach early,...
First-year coach Ella Thramann was pleased with the performance of her swimmers and diver Jan. 21 at the District Swimming and Diving Meet at Mountain View High School, but disappointed with a second-place finish. The Cougars took second to cross-town rival Silver Creek, which took top honors among the six schools competing, outsourcing the Cougars 645 to 580. Thramann said the Cougars didn't realize how deep the Silver Creek team was. "I think they have 47 girls to our 35," she said. Thramann...
Hundreds of Boulder County residents, and some from beyond, gathered at the Boulder County Fairgrounds Jan. 10 to honor retiring Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle. The assembly featured so many speakers that the 2-hour event ran out of time. Newly elected Sheriff Curtis Johnson, known as "C.J." to many of the law enforcement officers in attendance, spoke about the culture of integrity created by his predecessor. New undersheriff Carey Weinheimer also appeared on stage, and both officers spoke of...
Gene Parker was in his late thirties when he and his wife Denise bought a spanking new home in Gunbarrel's Heatherwood subdivision. The year was 1967, and most of Heatherwood was still a twinkle in its developers' eyes. A short walk from the Parkers' new home were a couple of acres of open space with a clear view of the mountains. The site was designated as a future park, but as time passed, the future never seemed to arrive. "The actual space was designated for a park, but it was never...
It was only this past summer I debated pursuing a career in journalism. Two weeks later I got invited to a journalism conference in Washington, D.C., and next thing you know, I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I am 16 years old and a junior at Niwot High School. I play hockey in the fall as a goaltender, and I play rugby in the spring as a scrum half. Outside of school, sports, and friendships, there is journalism. I've been taking photos for over 2 years now, but I've been...
The Niwot High School boy's basketball team had two matchups this week, one against the Thompson Valley Eagles, and the other against the Frederick Golden Eagles. The first of the two games was against Thompson Valley on Tuesday, where Niwot failed to generate offense, losing 68-52. The second game landed on Thursday where Niwot struggled to get past Fredrick, losing 80-55. In the matchup between Niwot and Thompson Valley, the Cougars started off cold, giving up a 13-point run at the beginning of the game, resulting in Niwot being down 23-11...
Three meets in a busy week kicked off earlier this month at the Mountain Vista Invitational Jan. 7 where the Niwot High School swim and dive team placed 11th in a field of 23 teams. Highlights included Rowan Lavigne's ninth-place finish in the 100 freestyle, seventh in the 100 breaststroke, and 10th in the 200 freestyle relay with teammates Stephanie Mow, Catherine Knight and junior Reese Lavigne. First-year coach Ella Thramann was pleased with the team's performance, especially since only half...
While Niwot High School girls basketball's first win of 2022-23 was inarguably a team effort, few Cougars were as critical to the victory as Molly Slupik. A junior starting forward, Slupik had dominant runs in multiple aspects of her game, all contributing to a 42-39 win at Skyline High School on Jan. 14. Her physicality on the boards, particularly on the offensive side, stood out the most for head coach Jon Hill. "I told her she's got to get on the offense glass," Hill said. "She worked her...
The Niwot girls basketball team is winless no more. Following an 0-9 start to the Niwot High School girls basketball season, head coach Jon Hill's Cougars rallied late in the game to beat the Skyline Falcons on Jan. 14, marking the program's first victory since last February. The celebration that ensued following the 42-39 win was special for a team that had maintained both its confidence and work ethic throughout a difficult stretch. "We've been doing a lot of the right things and the results...
Niwot High School Athletic Director Joe Brown announced that girls soccer coach Jenna Machado has resigned due to the time demands of a growing family. With informal workouts beginning, Brown did not have to look far to find an interim coach to take over the program. Niwot High boys soccer coach Stephen Dimit agreed to step in and serve as head coach for the 2023 season. Dimit is no stranger to NHS girls soccer, having served as head coach for the girls program in 2017, 2018 and 2019. When...
The Niwot Community Association (NCA) held its monthly board meeting Jan. 4 in the Mountain View Fire Rescue Niwot Station conference room. The board approved the budget proposed for 2023. Costs have increased for many of the NCA's events and activities, but there are no plans to increase the annual membership fee. It was reported that membership in the NCA has increased to 364 members. The board followed up on the presentation made to the board last month about a possible affordable housing...
VOLLEYBALL Morgan Daugherty (Niwot) played in 21 of 27 matches for South Dakota School of Mines as a freshman this season. Daugherty, an opposite hitter, recorded 110 kills for Mines, to go along with 20 blocks, including four solo blocks. She added 26 digs on the season. One of her best efforts came at Black Hills State during a 5-set victory Sept. 6. Daugherty recorded 12 kills in 29 attempts for a .310 hitting percentage. CROSS COUNTRY Samree Dishon (Niwot) helped New Mexico to a...
Niwot High School's wrestling coach, Bobby Matthews, opened the Gary Daum Classic wrestling tournament with a brief tribute to the late NHS wrestling coach, then asked the crowd to join him in a moment of silence in honor of the memory of Daum's daughter Lindsay and his granddaughter Meadow who died tragically last summer. Following the national anthem, the tournament began with 15 schools competing at Niwot High School, including schools as small as Lyons High School and as large as Boulder...
Now in her eighth year as Niwot High School girls' gymnastics coach, Marisa Purcell and her assistant coach, Maddi York, took a young squad to the 4A gymnastics state championships in Thornton where they finished third, but only seven tenths of a point from second place. After graduating six seniors in the spring of 2022, this team of mostly freshmen and sophomores had to first learn to be a team in a sport that traditionally emphasizes individual performances prior to entering high school. As...
