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All Local, All The Time
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Niwot High School girls softball team ended a spectacular season with a heartbreaking first-round playoff loss to the D'Evelyn Jr./Sr. High Jaguars, who were seeded No. 3 in the state. Niwot entered the weekend seeded No. 14. "I am so proud of the work that the players put in this season," said head coach Bobby Matthews. "They left it all on the field and they should not hang their heads at all. This game is tough, and sometimes the best team doesn't always win." The Cougars scored first on a ho...
The Niwot High School girls gymnastics team has been looking for a lift to propel it into the 4A regional and state championship meets. The boost came this past week as the Cougars notched their highest team score of the season, a 178.1 tally, in the final Front Range League meet of the season at Mountain Range High School. "I think we're sitting really well. We obviously had a great League meet," Coach Marisa Purcell said. "But we started off a little rough on the beam. So, it definitely took...
The Niwot High School boy's soccer regular season has ended with Niwot winning their final game of the year, 9-0 against the Riverdale Ridge High School Ravens (2-13). Niwot is finishing the regular season with a 10-3-2 (7-2 league) record that ranks them as the third-best team in the Longs Peak League, securing a playoff spot for the upcoming state playoff tournament. Niwot dominated against Riverdale Ridge, putting up nine goals while getting a shutout. Noah Beltran led the team in points,...
Niwot High School football has fallen into a bit of a slump as they fell to the Mead High School Mavericks this past Thursday, Oct. 19, in another close game. Niwot stayed competitive with Mead but struggled to convert in the red zone, leading to the loss. Niwot is now 3-5 on the year, with two more games left on their schedule. The Cougars started the game on offense, but quickly fizzled out, punting after three plays. Mead returned the punt into Niwot's red zone where Niwot quickly forced a...
For six seniors, Tuesday's volleyball game was about something beyond the court. After spending hours in the high school gym for practices and games, the seniors celebrated all they have accomplished while being a part of Niwot volleyball. Though the season isn't yet completed and the Cougars are now starting postseason, the underclassmen carried forward the tradition of decorating the gym for the veteran players. The Niwot High gym was decked out in pink for the victory against Riverdale Ridge...
All the hard work . . . all the long hours . . . all the miles of traveling . . . all of it is behind the Niwot Cougars’ cross country teams. Now, there’s nothing left for the runners to do but lace up their shoes and run for their ultimate goal . . . a 4A state championship trophy. Seven boys and seven girls from Niwot will don the green and silver and represent one of the country’s (not county’s) elite programs Saturday as they attempt to cap a nearly perfect 2023 racing season at the 4A State Championship Meet at Norris Penrose Event Center...
The Niwot High volleyball team likely doesn't come back to beat Frederick without senior Julia Dadey. After dropping the match's first two sets, Niwot's back row, which included Dadey, was the spark that got the Cougars going en route to reverse-sweeping (20-25, 17-25, 25-15, 25-16, 15-8) the Golden Eagles on Oct. 10. "There were four or five (plays) that Julia Dadey got on her horse and ran from sideline to sideline picking up balls," Niiwot head coach Tony Engel said following the match....
The Niwot Cougars girls softball team is moving on to CHSAA state tournament play in Aurora as part of the Sweet 16. The Cougars prevailed in two of the three games at regionals this past weekend. Both winning games were against the Golden Demons, a team ranked second in the 4A Jeffco League and 23rd in Class 4A standings. That compares to Niwot's third-place Longs Peak League standings and 18th overall ranking statewide. It is the first time the team reached the CHSAA second week of play since...
While the Niwot High boys tennis team didn't bring home any hardware, two of its lines did come close at the Class 4A boys tennis individual tournament. No. 3 singles player Charlie Kirtland, a sophomore, and the Cougars' No. 1 doubles team of senior Kyle Davidson and junior Sebastian Moy both reached the semifinals on Oct. 13. before bowing out. Following their losses, each line won in the playback tournament semifinals but fell in the third-place match. Three of Niwot's other five lines also...
The Niwot High School soccer season is ending dominantly as the Cougars have just one game left on their schedule. Niwot won both games last week, beating the Frederick Golden Eagles Tuesday, Oct. 10, 1-0, and the Fort Morgan Mustangs 3-0 on Thursday, Oct. 12. Niwot's goaltenders combined for a shutout week allowing zero goals while the offense put up numbers. Niwot's game against Frederick High School was close until Niwot closed the game out in the second half, with Miles Verbeck scoring the...
With the varsity teams making their final preparations for the state cross country championship season, the spotlight shone on Niwot High School's junior varsity runners on Wednesday, Oct. 11, at the Hawk JV Championships. Once again, the girls' and boys' teams showed there are plenty of reasons to expect other runners from Colorado to be chasing the Cougars for years to come. Led by three freshmen, the Class 4A Niwot girls took the first three places over the Adams County Regional Park course...
The Niwot High School football team played the George Washington High School Patriots Thursday, Oct. 12, losing in a close, one-point game that ended in heartbreak. Niwot lost 34-33, dropping the team to a 3-4 record. The Cougars had a staggering 393 yards on the ground, more than the Patriots' 288 total yards for the game but were plagued by their five turnovers. Niwot started the game on offense, but on the first play of the drive, quarterback Chad Volf's pass was intercepted. Niwot's defense...
Before Tuesday's game against Frederick High School, the Cougars had eight sweeps in the book and were on a four-game win streak. But the Cougars didn't play like themselves against the Golden Eagles. The lineup uncharacteristically found themselves on the wrong side of a 2-0 score after two sets, and things weren't looking positive. By true grit and determination, the Cougars had an underdog win 3-2 (20-25, 17-25, 25-15, 25-16, 15-8) after taking the final three sets. The problem didn't lie...
Last Tuesday, in front of a crowd of parents, students and other onlookers, the Niwot High School girls softball team played the final game of the regular season, coming away with a dramatic win. The Cougars run-ruled the Roosevelt High School Rough Riders by a score of 11-1, a victory that was all the more satisfying because it was against a team that they endured a heartbreaking, 1-0 loss against earlier in the season. Head Coach Bobby Matthews said, "I am very impressed with how the team has...
Go ahead and take some time off. You’ve earned it. But don’t expect the rest of your team to stop running while you do -- they won’t. With several of their top runners, including Addison Ritzenhein and Rocco Culpepper, taking well-deserved breaks after impressive individual and team efforts the previous week at the Desert Twilight Festival in Arizona, the Niwot boys and girls cross country teams traveled to the Western Slope on Thursday, Oct. 5, and continued their dominance with team victories at the Warrior Lincoln Park Classic in Grand...
After one day of the 2023 4A Boys State Golf Tournament, Niwot's Emmett Shell was flying high on the leaderboard. The senior overcame some challenging weather and the difficulty of The Bridges Golf & Country Club in Montrose to notch a 1-over par 72, just two shots off the lead. If not for a missed, three-foot par putt on his 13th hole of the day and an out of bounds drive on his closing hole, Shell may have found himself in truly rarified air. "Emmett may have had the best day of his high...
Four-year varsity player Jett Feiner is wrapping up his Niwot High School boys soccer career on an impressive scoring surge. Through Oct. 8, the senior owns a career-high six goals to go along with five assists. Half of Feiner's six scores came via his first high school hat trick in a 9-1 blowout of Severance on Sept. 26. Besides being more aggressive in shooting the ball, Feiner shared that nothing major has changed regarding his role on the field. "I try to do everything while I'm out there,"...
With the final push toward the end of the season, Niwot High School's volleyball team had to make some unexpected lineup changes. But this would not be the first time the group had shuffled positions. Going into the season, some players wanted to take a shot at a new place on the court. "Well, you know, actually, we've got a couple kids that have decided that they want to try some different positions," Head Coach Tony Engel said. "So Brooke Caquelin and Eloise VanSelus, who's a sophomore as...
Niwot High School boys soccer is dominating opponents as the team closes in on the playoffs. The Cougars played two games this past week, facing off against Thompson Valley High School and Mountain View High School. Niwot won both games, beating Thompson Valley 3-0 on Tuesday and achieving a dominant 10-0 victory over Mountain View on Thursday. Niwot is now 7-3-1 on the season with just three games left. Niwot's win on Tuesday against the Thompson Valley Eagles was crucial as they were coming...
All seven of Niwot's lines took care of business at the Class 4A Region 5 boys tennis individual tournament held Oct. 4-5. Playing host to teams from Dawson, Longmont, Frederick, Mountain View and Riverdale Ridge high schools, the Cougars took first in all three singles matches as well as all of the four doubles matches. Each of those seven Niwot teams is now set to compete at the 4A individual state tournament, which is set for Oct. 12-14 at Pueblo City Park. Niwot senior LiChen Liao qualified...
The Niwot High School football team is currently split on the year with a 3-3 record after a 42-14 loss against the Frederick Golden Eagles. Niwot was competitive in the first half of the game, and only down by seven points at the half with a score of 21-14 in favor of Frederick. The Cougars struggled in the second half, however, as their defense stopped making big plays, and their offense began to lose momentum. Niwot started the game on defense where they were quick to make a stop. On the...
The Niwot girls softball team faced some challenges after coming off of a strong homecoming week of play. Two days after an exciting win against the Severance High School Silver Knights, the Cougars traveled north on Sept. 25 to play the same team a second time in an away game that was a make up for a rainout earlier in the season. The emotional and challenging game saw the Cougars fall behind early before rallying back to tie the score in the top of the 7th inning. Neither team was able to...
Kyle Davidson is enjoying a successful final chapter of his Niwot High boys tennis career with his partner Sebastian Moy. The Cougars senior won six of his last seven regular season No. 1 doubles matches, according to MaxPreps, and continued that momentum with a dominant 6-1, 6-0, match victory in the first round of the Class 4A team state championships on Sept. 27. Despite feeling under the weather, Davidson still had enough strength to help Niwot advance past George Washington High School. "I...
As Niwot High School golf Coach Ed Weaver prepared his two 4A state tournament qualifiers, Emmett Shell and Drew Stapp, to step into the limelight for their biggest event of the season on Oct. 2 and 3 in Montrose, he was also gazing optimistically into the future following his underclassmen’s dominant showing at last week’s Niwot JV (Junior Varsity) Invitational. The Cougars were stingy hosts at the Twin Peaks Golf Course, grabbing the top two team finishes and five of the top six individual rounds in the event, which featured 128 golfers on 34...
The Niwot High School cross country team showed Friday evening, Sept. 29, that Colorado isn’t the only state where the Cougars’ dominance will be felt in 2023. Coach Kelly Christiansen led his team into the Arizona desert, and the Cougars ran away with both the boys’ and girls’ coveted Sweepstakes titles in the Desert Twilight Cross Country Festival in Mesa, AZ. The event, one of the premier invitationals in the country, included 248 teams and nearly 6,000 athletes from five states. Thirty-one different races were held during the evening...
The Niwot High School girls volleyball team went back to its usual routine after last week's match against the most competitive team in the conference. The Cougars swept Northridge High School (25-9, 25-11, 25-20) and Fort Morgan High School (25-12, 25-16, 25-10) after a tough loss to Thompson Valley High School last week. Such success was of little surprise to head coach Tony Engel, who was confident in the Cougars' serving abilities and discipline. On Thursday's game against Fort Morgan, the...
For the second straight season, Niwot High School was eliminated in the Class 4A boys tennis state tournament quarterfinals. This year, it was No. 2 seed Colorado Academy that delivered a 6-1 defeat of the No. 7 Cougars on Friday, Sept. 30. Niwot's lone victory came courtesy of sophomore Oskar Hansen at No. 2 singles. In the No. 1 singles match, Niwot senior LiChen Liao, who forfeited his first-round match two days prior due to a sprained ankle, lost in a third-set tiebreaker. Each of the...
Niwot High School football lost for just the second time this season, as the Thompson Valley High School Eagles overtook the Cougars 44-14 Sept. 29. Niwot is now 3-2 on the year at the season's midpoint, still with good odds of competing for a playoff berth. Niwot started the game on defense as Thompson Valley was able to return the opening kickoff over 90 yards for a touchdown. The Eagles kept their momentum going with a two-point conversion that gave them an 8-0 lead. The Cougars struggled to...
Niwot High School boys soccer split their games this week, crushing Severance in a 9-1 victory while falling just short of Skyline in a 2-1 loss. Niwot is now 5-3-1 on the year. The Cougars have a +11 goal differential this season, as they have dominated in their easier games and played close against top-ranked teams. Niwot’s victory against Severance was a dominant one. Niwot knocked down four goals in the first half, with most coming back-to-back in the earlier minutes. Severance was able to g...
The capabilities of the Niwot Cougar girls softball team were on full display during homecoming week. The week's schedule kicked off with a win against the Northridge High School team that Niwot hadn't prevailed against since the 2021 season. Their matchup with Northridge earlier in the season resulted in a hard fought 5-4 loss but last Tuesday, the Cougars prevailed 8-4. Seniors Autumn Rutherford and Anne Booth continued to show their strength at the plate, going 4-4 and 3-4, respectively. The...
Niwot High School's volleyball team is proof statistics and records do not tell the complete story. Before Wednesday night's game on Sept. 20, Niwot had a split record. Facing Severance High School with three wins and three losses, a victory would be a nice way to start fresh. And with a 3-0 sweep of the Silver Knights, the Cougars did just that. Walking in with a record that tied Severance High's record at the time, the numbers would suggest a close match. But when broken down, head coach Tony...
One rough day is all it takes to destroy a golfer's state championship hopes. Emmett Shell learned that lesson last year when he missed the state cut at regionals despite qualifying the prior season. Now another year wiser, the Niwot High School golfer wasn't about to squander another opportunity to compete at the state tournament. Playing cautiously, Shell shot a 2-over-par 74 at the 4A Region 3 meet on Sept. 21 to finish sixth individually, well within the state cut. "This was meaningful in...
Don't blame the Niwot High School Cougars for wanting more from their performance in last week's 4A Region 3 golf tournament at Greeley's Boomerang Links Golf Course. But compared with their results from a year ago, the Cougars can take pride in qualifying two players for next week's 4A State Tournament. Coming off a disappointing showing a year ago at the regional event, senior Emmett Shell earned his way back into the state competition after his one-year hiatus. Shell cruised to a two-over...
In any sport, a bye week can be a curse or a blessing. If momentum is running high, a bye can be a buzz killer. But on the other hand, a week without competition can be a blessing when long weeks of practice and competition have taken a physical and mental toll. For the Niwot High School gymnastics team, this week's bye may be the blessing Coach Marisa Purcell and her team need. After hosting their final home meet of the season on Wednesday evening, Sept. 20, in an event that saw their top...
The Niwot High School baseball program has been around for 50 years, and it's been 25 years since the Cougars began a run of five state Class 4A titles in eight years. Saturday, Sept. 23, as part of Niwot High's homecoming week, former players and coaches gathered at the baseball field for a barbeque hosted by NHS Baseball Coach Ken Rosales, and Niwot Baseball, Inc. Approximately 45 alumni, current and former coaches, spouses and fans gathered to see the newly refurbished infield, and take some...
Niwot High School football came out of a bye week with a 29-15 victory against the Eagle Valley Devils for their homecoming game, only the second varsity football game played on the Cougars' home field. Niwot took the lead on the first play of the game, and never looked back as they posted their third win of the season, giving the Cougars a 3-1 record heading into the middle of the season. Niwot started the game off with a bang, scoring on a 90-yard kickoff return by Eric Dillion, giving Niwot...
Niwot High School boys soccer was able to bounce back from a tough week with a win at home against the Roosevelt High School Rough Riders this past Tuesday, Sept. 19. The Cougars dominated in their win as they easily got past Roosevelt with a 3-0 victory. Niwot had more trouble on Thursday, Sept. 21, as they fell to the Northridge High School Grizzlies, 2-1 at Northridge. Niwot is now 4-2-2 on the year, an impressive start given their strength of schedule. Niwot's Tuesday match with Roosevelt wa...
Coach Aimee Hites was happy with the way her Niwot boys tennis squad finished out the regular season, and even happier with the Cougars' No. 7 seed for the state playoffs. "I really like our seed," Hites said. "I'm happy to be on the other side of Kent Denver," which is the No. 1 seed in Class 4A. In the final week of the regular season, the Cougars lost to Kent Denver, 5-2, with Niwot wins coming from LiChen Liao at No. 1 singles and Charlie Kirtland at No. 3 singles. Niwot followed with...
It wouldn't be a stretch to describe Manan Gangwar as an eternal optimist. Despite taking some lumps early in his Niwot High School boys tennis career, the senior has remained positive throughout it all and even values those difficult times. "When you lose a lot, it helps you gain a new perspective, which is why losing is really important," Gangwar said. "You just know what to do better next time." Gangwar is now giving out lumps far more than he's taking them. Through Sept. 17, his varsity matc...
The Niwot High School girls softball team bounced back with two blowout wins, not letting a single defeat in last weekend's tournament throw them off course. Cougar pitching continued to get stronger through both games, the team's bats were also out in force, and both games ended in mercy-rule victories. "It was a good week for the team," said Coach Bobby Matthews. "Getting two run-rule victories was great. The way the team played Monday against cross-town rival Silver Creek in an 11-0 win was...
Not much went right for the Niwot Cougars a year ago at the Region 4 golf tournament. This time around, Coach Ed Weaver is hoping things take a different turn Thursday, Sept. 21 at Boomerang Links Golf Course in Greeley. The Cougars enter this year’s tournament ranked third in the region behind Windsor High School and Longs Peak League nemesis Riverdale Ridge High School and are looking to qualify a full contingent of golfers to the 4A state tournament on Oct. 2-3. But to ensure that, the Cougars will most likely need to find a way to do s...
GIRLS XC Look out Colorado, Niwot’s Addison Ritzenhein is a runaway freight train with no slowing down in sight. The sophomore picked up speed on the final downhill stretch and steamed through the finish line Saturday at the St. Vrain Cross Country Invitational, leaving all competitors far behind while crushing the girls’ course record along the way. In her second race of the season, Ritzenhein picked up her second victory, this time by a whopping 30 seconds over teammate and second-place finisher Olivia Alessandrini, who added the silver med...
Coming off a sweep of the top five places in the all-around competition at a three-team meet this past week in Thornton, the Niwot High School girls gymnastics team appears ready to test the deeper waters of 4A state competition -- especially considering that two of their top gymnasts were less than 100% and did not finish among that top tier. Once again behind the stellar performance of junior Maeve Flentie, the Cougars continued their meet-to-meet improvement, finishing with 175.40 points, their highest team total in their three early season...
The Niwot High School boys soccer team finally lost its undefeated record, tying Centaurus High School 0-0 before losing 3-1 to rival Silver Creek High School. The Cougars are now 3-1-2 on the season with their Thursday loss against Silver Creek being their first loss of the season. Both Centaurus (#1) and Silver Creek (#4) were top teams in the league and ranked in the CHSAA top 10, so Niwot playing close with them is a good sign for the season. Niwot's first game last week was on Tuesday where...
Twenty-five years ago, the Niwot High School baseball program won its first state title, winning the Class 4A championship game with a mercy-rule 5-inning 14-0 victory over Broomfield. A celebration of that first state title as well as the 50-year program is scheduled for Saturday Sept. 23 at 12 noon at the NHS baseball field as part of Homecoming Week. Senior Eric Larson led off the 1998 championship game with a homerun, and sophomore Mike Moat pitched a shutout. That marked the first of five s...
Very few high school student-athletes take their work more seriously than Niwot volleyball senior Lizzy Kaus. Prior to the season, Cougars head coach Tony Engel described the work ethic of his middle blocker, saying she "comes to work with a hard hat on every day," and locks in on getting better. An improved Kaus finally got to reap the benefit of her efforts on Sept. 5 when she helped Niwot to a season-opening sweep of Silver Creek High School. The third-year varsity player contributed four...
Last week's Niwot High softball squad started with a hard-fought loss that served as a warmup for a successful tournament the following Friday and Saturday in Loveland. Ultimately, the team ended the week with a 5-3 record, a 20th-place ranking in Colorado Class 4A and a fifth-place spot solidly in the middle of rankings of the Longs Peak League. Tuesday's game against the Roosevelt High School Roughriders presented a challenge that the Cougars battled through from the first inning, when Cougar...
By most standards, Niwot Boys Tennis is off to a strong start, but when you are used to competing at the top levels of the sport, sometimes it’s hard to keep it in perspective. The Niwot Cougars are off to a 4-2 start, and 4-0 in league play. “It’s been a little rough,” according to Head Coach Aimee Hites, who was speaking of recent losses to Colorado Academy and Cheyenne Mountain. The Cougars lost both matches by a score of 4-3, to two of Colorado’s top prep tennis programs at any level. “We were up 3-0 against Cheyenne Mountain,” Hites said,...
Golf balls were flying this past week for the Niwot High School Cougars as 16 players teed it up in four different events. The varsity team took to the links last Tuesday at Ute Creek Golf Course in the Longs Peak League’s Skyline tournament, coming up one stroke shy of nemesis Riverdale Ridge High School for the victory. The Cougars’ JV representatives at the Skyline JV event ran away with a 25-stroke victory over second-place Severance High School in that nine-hole tournament. And, across town at Twin Peaks Golf Course, two Niwot foursomes te...
The results of last Wednesday's RE-1J District Cross Country Meet may have looked like opening the floodgates, but Niwot head coach Kelly Christensen described the outcome as more of a controlled release. The Cougars, who had seen their top runners held out of competition in the first weeks of the season, were on full display on their home course and the visual effect was a green wave. Both the girls and the boys teams easily ran to victory with the girls capturing the top 13 individual places...
