All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Sorted by date Results 1501 - 1550 of 1792
The Niwot Cougars cross country teams kicked-off their 2017 season Aug. 25 at the Vista Nation XC 2-Mile Invitational in Highlands Ranch. Both Niwot varsity teams finished fourth on the day, with the girls just five points out of second place. Overall, Niwot head coach Kelly Christensen was cheered by the results, although he acknowledged the boys’ performance was “a little flat,” mostly due to a recent spate of illness and minor injuries. “Comparing it to last year, we’re light years ahead of...
The Niwot softball team hit a tough stretch in their schedule, and now find themselves upside down in the win/loss column. After a 17-1 blowout loss to conference powerhouse Mountain View at home on Aug. 29, the Cougars dropped four straight games at the Erie Festival of Champions on Sep. 1 & 2. With another quick succession of tough conference opponents on tap next week (Silver Creek, Longmont, Northridge), it could be awhile before the Cougars can climb out of this hole. 8/29 — Mountain V...
The Niwot Cougars cross country teams kicked-off their 2017 season Aug. 25 at the Vista Nation XC 2-Mile Invitational in Highlands Ranch. The small, highly competitive meet attracted many of the state’s top teams and runners, including meet host and Class 5A powerhouse Mountain Vista, as well as perennial 4A favorite Palmer Ridge. Both Niwot varsity teams finished fourth on the day, with the girls just five points out of second place. Overall, Niwot head coach Kelly Christensen was cheered by t...
The Niwot boys golf team was back in familiar territory last week, with two league tournaments at local venues. On Aug. 22, Cougars head coach Ed Weaver played host to a 9-team field for Northern League #4 at Longmont’s Twin Peaks Golf Course. Thanks to an unexpectedly uneven round from Niwot number-one Jack Hoover, the home team finished 50 strokes off the lead to come in fifth overall. Hoover shot +12 on the front nine, with a triple-bogey on the seventh, followed by consecutive d...
In three seasons with Niwot softball, there isn’t a position that senior Jaila Johnson hasn’t played. Though a native of the infield, she has taken her turns in the outfield, done a stint as relief pitcher, and was even pressed into starting catcher duty as a sophomore. After this week, the Western Nebraska-bound senior can add one more position to her resume: starting pitcher. Johnson was a bit rusty in her return trip to the mound in the Cougars’ season opener on Aug. 22, but was able to ge...
It’s hard to describe the past decade of Niwot football without using the word tumultuous. After two classification changes, three head coaching changes, and an abysmal win-loss record, the program’s successes have been few and far between. Last spring, longtime Berthoud defensive coordinator Jeremy Lanter was tasked with rehabilitating the Niwot program, a challenge the first year head coach has taken to heart. As the 2017 season looms, Lanter has a roster full of exciting young players and...
The Niwot boys soccer team cleared the first hurdle on its path to the post season with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Skyview Wolverines in their season debut Aug. 24. Niwot was aggressive on the attack out of the gate, and kept the ball in the Skyview third for most of the first half. The front three generated several scoring chances for the Cougars, and finally got on the board when junior forward Manual Tapia punched in a centering pass from senior wing Andres Montealegre in the 20th...
New Niwot volleyball coach Daisha Agho admits she has lofty expectations for senior Mackenzie Fidelak in 2017. And why shouldn’t she? The powerful 6’4” middle hitter has become one of the area’s most exciting players, with more than enough skills to lead the Cougars to their second consecutive regional title. But to get the Cougars into the deeper rounds of the Class 4A tournament, Agho will be relying on her captain for more than just her athletic ability. “I am looking for her to assume a...
Niwot gymnastics head coach Marisa Purcell believes she has all of the pieces in place for another serious run at this year’s Class 4A state title. With three proven all-around performers and a crop of talented newcomers, the Cougars should once again be in the mix come state competition in November. But as the coach of a very diverse group of perfectionist athletes, Purcell knows the road back to state championship glory depends on more than just individual talent and hard work. Leading the c...
The Niwot boys golf team completed the Greeley swing of their season last week, playing four tournaments in five days in and around Colorado’s twelfth most populous city, coming away with three top-ten finishes. “I don’t want to say it was a grueling week,” said Cougar head coach Ed Weaver of his team’s early-season trek up north. “But there was a lot of golf.” The team kicked off the week with back-to-back tournaments at Highland Hills golf course on Aug. 14 & 15. At the Greeley West Invitati...
Niwot head softball coach Bobby Matthews didn’t use the term “rebuilding,” but after losing seven varsity players to graduation or transfer, the seventh-year head coach knows his team faces an uphill battle in the loaded Northern League this season. “We’re very young, and we’re very inexperienced,” he admitted. With just two seniors, two juniors and only 14 players total, Matthews will be looking to an exciting but still unproven sophomore class in the fight for post-season tournament sl...
The Niwot boys tennis program lost seven of its varsity players from 2016, but head coach Miikka Keronen sees no reason why that should keep the Cougars from making another state title run in 2017. “We don’t accept being mediocre,” said Keronen, who had to replace two of his three top singles players and four of his doubles players. “It might take six days a week instead of five days a week, but we’ll figure out how to do it with the kids we have.” That has been Keronen’s philosophy in...
Niwot head cross country coach Kelly Christensen said he is out of the prediction business after his team’s dispiriting finish at last year’s Class 4A state championship meet. “I don’t want to say where I think they’ll be, because last year I said that and we had kind of a meltdown at state,” said the second year head coach. “So I’m just going to keep them healthy and keep them rolling.” But even if he won’t say so explicitly, it’s clear that Christensen believes Niwot has the potential for a s...
Golf isn’t just a hobby for this week’s Left Hand Valley Courier Student-Athlete of the Week. It’s a way of life. Since taking up the sport four years ago, Niwot junior Andrew Elliott has come to value the intangible benefits of golf, such as increased self-discipline and self-awareness. “I like golf because your performance is your own responsibility,” said the second-year varsity player. “It’s taught me to rely on myself.” Elliott joined the Niwot golf team as a sophomore last year, and playe...
FOOTBALL Alex Oelsner (Niwot) is a freshman slotback at Northwestern this fall. Oelsner, who played tight end and linebacker primarily in high school, was second team All-State as a senior. Trey Fleming (Silver Creek) is a senior wide receiver for Black Hills State this fall. Fleming caught 18 passes last year for 289 yards and one touchdown. He has also served as a kicker for Black Hills State, making six of 11 attempts last year, including one from 43 yards out. Former long-time Niwot High...
It’s only a mild exaggeration to say that not much got past the defense of the 2016 Niwot boys soccer team. Led by keeper Mario Munoz, the Cougars allowed just 17 goals in 16 games, the second lowest total in the Northern League and eighth lowest in Class 4A. On the other side of the ball it was a different story. The Cougars managed just 31 goals, and their inability to convert on scoring chances turned a potentially special season into merely a good one. Five of their seven losses last season...
Niwot golfer Jack Hoover is the Left Hand Valley Courier Student-Athlete of the Week. Hoover, the Cougars’ number-one player this season, led Niwot to a top-ten finish at the Greeley West Spartan Invitational on Aug. 14. With an eagle on the par-5 fourth hole, the junior carded a 78 (+7), and ended the day tied for sixth place overall. In Niwot’s season-opening tournament in Loveland Aug. 10, he was +4 through eight holes when play was stopped due to severe weather. Niwot head coach Ed Weaver sa...
The Colorado weather claimed an early victory in the 2017-2018 high school athletic season when heavy rain and lightning forced suspension of play in the Niwot boys golf team’s season-opening tournament at the Olde Course in Loveland on Aug 10. Niwot number one Jack Hoover was +4 through eight holes when play was stopped, with a birdie and two pars, but also five bogeys. Junior Andrew Elliott, Niwot’s number two golfer, started his round with three-straight double-bogeys, but parred two of his...
Don’t look now, but Niwot is becoming a hotbed of world-class youth cycling talent. While Niwot Elementary students Collin Blatchley and Reid Porter were getting ready for the BMX World Championships in South Carolina, Niwot High student Kenny Lang was racing through the rural Canadian countryside in the Tour de l’Abitibi, an international junior road cycling race held each summer in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec. “It was crazy,” said the senior of the seven-stage race held Jul...
The good news for Niwot head golf coach Ed Weaver is that his 2017 boys team will feature two 2016 state tournament qualifiers in the top two spots and a sophomore with a year of high school golf under his belt at number three. The not-so-good news for Weaver is that after that, the Cougars will be “challenged with depth and experience,” according to Weaver. “I’ll have two juniors and some sophomores,” said Weaver, who admitted he’s not entirely certain how many players will be on his final r...
Cool weather greeted 2,151 participants in Boulder’s half-Ironman Triathlon on August 5. The event began at Boulder Reservoir with the swim leg of the event, with athletes then riding north to the edge of Longmont before returning to the Rez for the running portion of the event, which looped north around the Rez and Coot Lake before finishing back at the Rez. Traffic in and around Niwot and Gunbarrel was delayed for several hours as roads were limited to one lane. Colin Laughery, a Niwot High g...
Eric Hejl (pronounced “Hail”) has been named the new Niwot High School boys basketball coach, replacing Preston Hardy, who resigned in June for family reasons, including a new baby on the way and club team coaching responsibilities. Hejl, a varsity assistant under Hardy last year and the freshman coach two years ago, will assume the reigns on a one-year interim basis, according to Athletic Director Chase McBride. Hejl works at Lake Valley Golf Course as a PGA apprentice and assistant pro when he is not coaching basketball. He grew up in Ran...
Sorry, Niwot Elementary second graders. It’s going to be hard to top Collin Blatchley’s “What I Did Over Summer Vacation” story this year. On July 26th, the seven-year-old Niwot resident beat out 68 competitors from around the world to finish eighth overall in his age group at the 2017 UCI BMX World Championships in Rock Hill, S.C. For the next year, Collin will preside as “World #8”, and ride with a special number plate on his bike during races. “It was an awesome experience,” said Rob Blatch...
Niwot head baseball coach Adam Strah had modest expectations for his Legion team this summer. With all but a few of his varsity players lost to graduation or club teams, he knew his mostly untested squad would struggle against more seasoned teams, so he didn’t expect to see much success by the conventional metrics. In the bargain, though, he would get a team much better prepared to run the Northern League gauntlet next spring. Unfortunately for Cougar fans, Strah’s prediction was largely bor...
Friends and fans of Niwot football are invited to kick off the Jeremy Lanter Era at the 4th Annual Cougar Classic Golf Tournament on Friday, Aug. 4 at Saddleback Golf Club in Firestone. Hosted by the non-profit Niwot Touchdown Club, the 18-hole scramble tournament is in need of players, sponsors and volunteers. Tournament entries are $475 per foursome or $125 per individual, and all players receive an 18-hole round, riding cart, two complimentary (non-alcoholic) beverages, a buffet lunch, and a...
Registration for Niwot Youth Sports fall flag football season is now underway according to NYS Football Director Pat Longseth. The league is looking for boys and girls ages five to 12 who are interested in developing their football skills in a no-pad, non-contact environment. The $99 registration fee includes an NFL reversible, team identified color jersey, flags and mouth guard. Players can register at niwotyouthsports.org. Returning participants will see some changes to the program. Under Long...
More than 50 years ago, Boulder businessman Bauldie Moschetti recruited a team of elite college baseball players to come to Colorado and join his new summer team, the Boulder Collegians. Hoping to compete with prominent collegiate clubs on the East Coast, Moschetti and the Collegians set up shop at Scott Carpenter Park in Boulder and proceeded to make some local history. Between 1964 and 1980, the Collegians won the National Baseball Congress (NBC) Championships four times, twice in the 60s and...
Niwot’s Legion B baseball team has had to overcome a lack of varsity experience as players battle against other local teams’ experienced lineups. One of the reasons is that the top returning battery for NHS, pitcher Caleb Martinez and catcher Colton Goldfarb, have spent the summer playing for the BoCo 19U team, consisting of players from a variety of local high schools. Martinez, who finished last season as the Cougars’ top hurler, and Goldfarb, who caught virtually every game for last season’s high school varsity, helped the BoCo team to a vic...
From the outside looking in, roller derby seems to have much in common with professional wrestling — cartoonish characters, cartoonish outfits, and cartoonish violence. That comparison may have been apt in the past, when television shows such as RollerJam and RollerGames featured scripted plots and inane stunts, but today’s players bristle at the comparison. While the sport admittedly has its theatrical side, there’s nothing staged about the competition in contemporary roller derby. The playe...
For Niwot student and history buff Stephanie Reitzig, Colorado Governor Ralph L. Carr is exactly the type of historical figure that deserves to be rescued from obscurity. As an outspoken critic of the internment of Japanese-Americans following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Carr’s commitment to civil rights and racial equality earned him enmity from fellow governors, voters, and the press, and is widely thought to have cost him a promising career in politics. This principled position in the f...
Charles Dickens had something headier in mind when he made his “best of times, worst of times” formulation, but it just so happens to also be a pretty good tagline for Niwot’s doubleheader last weekend against Boulder. In game one, senior Dylan Ferrero turned in the Cougars’ most commanding pitching performance so far this summer, going the full seven innings, while allowing just three hits. They got some timely hitting, exhibited patience at the plate, and held on to a slim lead until the bot...
BASEBALL Former Niwot High teacher and baseball coach Bob Bote has been hired to coach Standley Lake High School next season. Bote, who coached at Niwot from 1978-2006, was the head coach for five Class 4A state championship teams – 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2005. Bote’s overall record at Niwot was 459-123. He served as an assistant coach at Erie after leaving Niwot, then served as an assistant coach to his son, head coach Danny Bote, at Faith Christian, where they won a state title in 201...
Niwot summer baseball coach Adam Strah had to dig a little deeper to find the silver lining in his team’s latest slump. Fresh off the team’s sixth straight loss, a 14-1 thrashing in their last game of a weekend tournament, Strah admitted that the Cougars need help in a number of areas. But he also sees where the high-level competition, both in quality and quantity, is paying off for his young players. “As they’re involved in more situations, there’s a lot of learning of the small details o...
In her three years as a varsity athlete, lacrosse goalie Morgan Pittser had at least one thing most other Niwot athletes didn’t -- a commute. Though girls lacrosse is the fastest growing high school sport in Colorado, there are still no teams in the St. Vrain Valley School District, so Pittser, who’s played lacrosse since grade school, had to join the team at Centaurus High in Lafayette. Late last month, Pittser capped her remarkable career with the Warriors with a CHSAA All-State Honorable Men...
Jake Sims graduated from Niwot High School last month with a 3.71 GPA, and was a multi-sport athlete for the Cougars, but he had to overcome a serious ankle injury after his junior year to return to action for his senior season. “I fractured my fibula in two places sliding into second base in summer baseball,” Sims said. He also tore ligaments and dislocated the ankle, which got caught up with the second baseman as he went over the base. “It wasn’t fully healed until last January, but he resumed...
The Boulder Valley Girls Softball Association (BVGSA), along with the Boulder Valley School District and the Foothills Kiwanis Club of Boulder honored long-time coach and volunteer Pete Sprenkle by re-naming the ballfield at Horizons K-8 School in Boulder in his honor. In a ceremony June 13, the field formerly known as Burke Field, located at 4365 Sioux Drive in Boulder, was dedicated as Pete Sprenkle Field. Sprenkle said, “I thank the BVSD for this honor and I also thank the many parents, p...
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Niwot’s summer Legion B baseball team, which is sponsored by Niwot Baseball, Inc.. With just three wins and six losses through the first nine games of the season, including an 18-4 drubbing by Northern League foe Thompson Valley last Thursday, the Cougars have seemed overmatched at times this summer. Luckily, that hasn’t diminished new Niwot High head coach Adam Strah’s essentially positive outlook for the Cougars. With many seniors lost to graduat...
Kailee Stobbe, a standout forward for the Niwot girls soccer team, is the LHVC Student-Athlete of the Week. Earlier this month, Stobbe was named second team All-State for 2017 by the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA). While grateful for the honor, the co-captain was more concerned about her teammates also getting their rightful acclaim. “It was super-cool to see my name on the list, but I looked for my younger girls first,” she said about her reaction to the All-State team ann...
Shayla Amaya-Sidoti has been a cheerleader since she was five years old, and it paid off in a national championship at age 15 with Ignite, a competitive co-ed cheerleading program based out of Lafayette. “I was so excited,” Amaya-Sidoti said. “It was unbelievable that we won.” The 28-member squad traveled first to Minneapolis last December, winning the regional competition in the age division and a $25,000 “full pay” award to go to the national championships, known as the Summit, in Orlando, FL...
Niwot track stars Mary Gillett and Alexis Carroll traveled to Greensboro, North Carolina last weekend to complete in the New Balance Nationals Outdoor (NBNO), a prestigious invitation-only meet featuring top competitors from around the country. Unfortunately, neither left with results they were probably hoping for. Gillett finished 28th out of 31 in the 400 meter dash, with a time of 57.01 seconds, nearly two seconds slower than her state championship time of 55.12, and more than four seconds...
Skyler Messenger, known simply as “Skye” to his friends, is the Student-Athlete of the Week. Messinger concluded a stellar high school baseball career by being named the Northern Conference position Player of the Year this season. Messinger led the team and the conference in most offensive categories, and played outstanding defense at shortstop. He was also named Second Team Class 4A All-State by CHSAA, even though Niwot missed the playoffs. As a freshman, Messinger played in the state cha...
SOFTBALL Nicki Blue (Niwot) finished her season with a 10-12 win-loss mark for South Carolina, which ended the season with a 34-25 record. Blue was the losing pitcher in a 9-0 loss to fourth-ranked Arizona, allowing six runs in 5.2 innings, as Arizona scored four times in the sixth inning when the South Carolina leftfielder lost a ball in the sun for a run-scoring double. South Carolina was ranked number 24 at the time and lost in the Regional final. Blue tied for fifth all-time in South...
Gunbarrel resident and Niwot High grad Colin Laughery spent nine hours last Sunday doing what he loves - swimming, biking and running. And he’s a pro at it. For his efforts, he earned an eighth-place finish and $1750 in prize money for his performance in the Ironman Boulder June 11. Weeks after suffering an injury in a training crash that Laughery first thought would keep him out of the race, he rebounded to post a top-10 finish, coming in with a total time of 8:58.45. “It’s my highest finis...
Though the official start of the 2017-18 high school football season is another two months away, Niwot’s new head football coach Jeremy Lanter has had his team hard at work for weeks. In May, Lanter held 90-minute practices on Thursday nights for current players and students interested in joining the team. Less than a week after school ended, those Cougars upperclassmen welcomed 45 incoming freshmen to a three-day clinic aimed at acquainting the newcomers with Niwot football culture. During t...
In a school where academic demands often crowd out other interests, Yingying Chen was an anomaly. A top student, Chen earned a 4.525 GPA in Niwot’s grueling IB program, for which she was named the Class of 2017 Salutatorian. She took five Advanced Placement (AP) tests in her time at Niwot, and graduated with a perfect transcript. She was also a member of the school’s state championship robotics team, as well as a concert master in the orchestra during her sophomore year. But for all of her sch...
Long-time varsity assistant Adam Strah has been named the new head baseball coach at Niwot, replacing Craig McBride, who resigned following the 2017 season. Strah, who has been with the team for the past six seasons, will also join Niwot High School’s faculty as physical education/health teacher. The promotion marks Strah’s return to the head coaching ranks. Before coming to Niwot, he held the top spot at Rampart High in Colorado Springs, where he amassed a career record of 73-30-1, inc...
Niwot wrestling star Tommy Stager has amassed an impressive collection of titles over the past several months; state champion; first team all-state; Eagle Scout. And now the future Air Force Falcon can add one more: MaxPreps High School Athlete of the Year. For the 2016-2017 school year, MaxPreps partnered with the U.S. Marine Corps to recognize one male and one female high school athlete who represent “those outstanding qualities that make not just great athletes, but more importantly fine citi...
Niwot junior Mary Gillett wrapped up her breakout junior track season by leading her team to second place at the Class 4A state championships held May 20-21. Gillett captured two individual state titles during the weekend, in the 200-and 400-meter races, both with personal best times. She also took second in the long jump and 100-meter dash, accounting for 36 of Niwot’s 83 team points. Gillett blew away most of her 4A competition during the regular season, as she led her team to six meet t...
Jenna McCaffrey When Niwot senior distance runner Jenna McCaffrey started weighing her post-high school options last year, Arizona was the furthest place from her mind. “I was never really looking into going to school in Arizona, because it’s so hot there,” she said. Instead, the four-year member of both the cross country and track teams at Niwot looked into options closer to home, including Colorado School of Mines and CSU. Then a former running coach suggested she take a look at North...
It’s no secret that the Niwot girls track team had its sights set on another state title this year. After a dispiriting third-place finish in 2016 following three successive state championships, this year’s squad buckled down, putting in months of grueling workouts, determined to regain the team’s customary place on top of the championship podium. As they cruised through the 2017 regular season, capturing one meet title after another with machine-like precision, the slip-ups that doomed their...
