All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Sorted by date Results 1701 - 1750 of 1792
After suffering a couple losses due an abundance of errors, the Niwot Cougar softball team came back strong this past week with multiple wins. Since the team’s losses against Longmont and Silver Creek, it won three games against Northridge, Thompson Valley and Greeley Central, some of them blowout victories. On Monday, Sept. 12 the Cougars faced off against Northridge and left with a 14-1 win. Many Niwot players contributed to the offense with at least two runs, but freshman Reagan Wills led the team with three runs scored. Willis and M...
The Cougars gymnastics team won its second meet in a row and performed well at its first invitational, although it didn’t end in a win for Niwot. On Tuesday, Sept. 6 the Cougars went up against Loveland and came away with a win, 174.3 to 133.125. Head Coach Marisa Purcell said the girls progressed in their routines for the meet and competing at Niwot helped boost the team’s confidence. “I think we had some improvement on bars,” Purcell said of the meet, “cleaning up the routine a little bit. And it’s always exciting at home. You have home f... Full story
Don’t look now, but the Niwot boys tennis team is on a hot streak. Since its 6-1 opening win against Thompson Valley, the Cougars have bested their opponents in five consecutive matches, and hold the top spot in 4A Northern League standings going into the second half of the season. But longtime Coach Miikka Keronen isn’t getting too excited – yet. “I felt like we would be pretty tough this year,” he said matter-of-factly. “So, we’ll see how it goes.” So far, it is all going according to pl...
The Niwot Cougars battled Longmont in a high-scoring affair, but came out on the short end of a 20-16 score September 8, largely because of 10 errors in the field. Niwot is now 3-6 on the season and 2-3 in the Northern League. Grace Ladd led the offense with four hits in five at bats, including a home run. Ladd scored two runs and had five RBI’s. Alexis Law had three hits including a double and scored five runs, while Reagan Wills had two hits, scoring three runs and posting three RBI’s. Lad... Full story
The Niwot boys golf team wrapped up its regular season on Sept. 8 at Northern League tournament #7, held at Ute Creek Golf Course in Longmont. Senior Max Keusel (+6) finished sixth overall, leading the Cougars to a tie for third place in team scoring. Sophomore Andrew Elliot (+11) finished in a tie for 14th place, while senior Jake Butler (+12) tied sophomore teammate Jack Hoover for 17th. The Ute Creek tournament marked the end of a busy two weeks for the Cougar golf team. On August 23rd,... Full story
The Niwot Cougars boys soccer team beat the Skyline Falcons at a home conference game on Tuesday, September 6 in double overtime with a final score of 3-2. Niwot’s scoring came from junior Jason Rodriguez, who scored two goals, and junior Dylan Campbell, who had one goal. “Every game we’ve had this season has been a close game,” Head Coach Stephen Dimit said. “It seems like every game is just coming down to the wire. But it’s good for the guys to help prepare better for later.” Although seni...
For Niwot Coach Dylan Hollingsworth and his son, sophomore running back Jeremy Hollingsworth, returning to the Colorado mountains was enjoyable, right up until game time, when it was all business. “We saw a lot of people, a lot of smiling faces,” Coach Hollingsworth said as the Cougars travelled to Frisco to face his former team, Summit County. “Once it was game time, we went to work.” The Cougars came away with a hard-fought 17-14 victory, making the bus ride home a happy one. Hollingsworth coached Summit County for several years before coming...
On September 10, the Niwot Cougars cross country teams traveled to Lyons to compete in the 17th annual St. Vrain Cross Country Invitational. More than 25 high schools fielded runners for the 5A/4A races, including 2015 5A boys champions Mountain Vista, and 2015 4A girls champions Air Academy. In the 5A/4A boys race, Niwot placed 10th overall, with 338 team points. The Cougars were led by junior Kenny Lang, who placed 29th, with a time of 16 minutes and 59 seconds. Junior Ethan Steiner placed 51s... Full story
On Thursday, September 1 the Niwot boys soccer team faced off against Holy Family High School in Broomfield, and came away with a hard-fought 1-0 vicotry. The only goal of the game came from junior Nicholas Grant, while junior Jason Rodriguez had one assist and took three shots. Although it was a low scoring game, Niwot players had shots at scoring, including seniors Alex Arnold, who took one shot, and Brian Oates, who took two shots at the net. Sophomore Mario Munoz tended the goal for Niwot, making eight saves throughout the 60-minute game.... Full story
The Niwot Cougars cross country teams kicked-off their 2016 season on August 26th 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 defending boys 5A state champions Mountain Vista, and 4A state runners-up Palmer Ridge. “We wanted to see where we were at [against the top teams],” Coach Kelly Christensen explained. “We kind of expected this result, but we feel like it was...
Niwot softball opened the season on August 23 with an impressive win against the Greeley Central Wildcats. The Cougars scored 20 runs on 15 hits in the three-inning contest, while senior pitcher Grace Ladd retired all nine batters she faced. Ladd, who did not pitch in 2015 due to injury, was named the player of the game. The final score was Niwot 20, Greeley Central 0. The Cougars were back in action on August 25 at home against Centaurus. For the second game in a row, Niwot trounced its opponen... Full story
Niwot’s gymnastics team is working hard in the gym again and starts another season after winning its first Class 4A state title in 15 years. This year Marisa Purcell is leading the team as its head coach after co-coaching with Mallorie Farrow last year. A new assistant coach, Maddi York, is joining Purcell in coaching the girls. After coming off a big win last season, Purcell didn’t want the girls to have a big head and tries to help them stay humble but also know what they can achieve. “My...
Longtime fans of the Niwot Cougars football team might have felt a strange sense of déjà vu during Thursday night’s season opener against the Adams City Eagles. The last time these two teams met, during the opening weekend of the 2011 season, the result was eerily similar. The Cougars, relying on a strong running game, scored multiple rushing touchdowns en route to a convincing 34-14 victory. But fans hope that’s where the 2011 parallels end. That victory was later forfeited due to an ineli... Full story
Mikka Keronen’s 13th season as Niwot’s head boys tennis coach began with a decisive 6-1 victory over regional rival Thompson Valley. For Coach Keronen, this victory was significant for two reasons. “It gave me a good understanding of where we are with our top eleven,” he said. It also meant that the team had cleared the first obstacle on its path to the Class 4A state championship. “Expectations are high [this year],” Keronen explained, “But expectations are always high. Niwot is always gunnin... Full story
The Cougars boys soccer team started off its season strong, with a new head coach and a fairly new team of varsity players. Head Coach Stephen Dimit was most recently coaching at Vista Ridge High School in Colorado Springs for the past five years, before coming to Niwot this fall. Dimit, who also taught at his former high school, is now teaching English at Niwot High School as well. “So far everything’s worked out really great,” Dimit said of his new position. “It’s been a smooth transitio...
The first thing you notice about Niwot’s varsity volleyball team is its towering height. “This is a tall group of girls,” chuckles Head Coach Preston Brown. At least four players stand taller than 6’0”, making the Cougars among the tallest teams in the league. But it’s not just the team’s outsized stature that’s driving the 4th year coach’s elevated expectations. “This team is experienced,” Brown explained. “We have mental toughness, and there’s not a lot of drama.” With five starters from las...
The Niwot Cougars football team kicked-off their 2016 campaign on Thursday night with a 34-14 victory over the Adams City Eagles at Everly-Montgomery Field in Longmont. It was the Cougar's first season opening win since 2013. It was a bittersweet night for the Cougars, who lost teammate David Louwers in a plane crash last June. Before the game, Head Coach Dylan Hollingsworth led the crowd in a moment of silence to honor his “passion for life and his love of football.” Members of the Louwers fam...
By most measures, 2015 was an atypical year for Niwot High School's cross country program. Despite some strong individual performances, both the boys and girls teams finished well out of championship contention at last year’s 4A State meet. But for new head coach Kelly Christensen, last year’s results don’t mean much. “There are a lot of talented runners on this team,” said Christensen, “A top three to five finish at state this year is very achievable.” Christensen is certainly no stranger to t...
The Cougar softball team is working on strengthening a brand new team as it heads into its first games of the season. Last season, the Cougars ended with a 12-9 record and although they didn’t compete for a title in the state tournament, they had a strong team of heavy hitters. Head Coach Bobby Matthews is returning to build another strong team after many girls graduated last year. “We graduated quite a few girls last season,” Matthews said. “So we definitely had some serious holes to fill....
The Niwot boys golf team opened its 2016 season with a strong showing at the Northern League’s first official match, which was held August 11 at the 72-par Olde Course in Loveland. Led by senior Jake Butler, the Cougars took fourth place in the nine-team tournament, just three strokes behind surprise third-place finisher Northridge. Last year’s top teams, Silver Creek and Thompson Valley, finished first and second respectively, picking up just where they left off in 2015. Butler, a senior who... Full story
The Left Hand Valley Courier is excited to introduce Jocelyn Rowley as our new sports reporter. Jocelyn replaces Thorn Compton, who left for a position as sports editor of the Rawlins Daily Times. Jocelyn has worked in Niwot for the past four years, and currently lives in Mead with her husband, two teenage children and a neurotic golden retriever. Her son will be a junior at Mead High this upcoming school year, while her daughter will be a freshman at Niwot High. “I love the unique character o...
SWIMMING Roman Tagliola, grandson of Gunbarrel residents Paul and Mary Tagliola, took first place in the state finals in Grand Junction in the 10U swimming competition in the 200M Freestyle July 28. Tagliola, who swims for the Flatiron Athletic Club team in the summer, moves on to the Western Zone AG Championships in Salt Lake City Aug. 10-13. TRIATHLON Niwot High grad Brie Kingsley Chambers finished 53rd in the women’s 35-39 division at the Boulder Ironman Triathlon Aug. 7. The bike race portion of the event wound through Gunbarrel. B...
There won’t be a lot of familiar faces on the Cougars boys golf team this season, but Head Coach Ed Weaver, is taking it all in stride. “We lost six players to graduation… We are clearly in a rebuilding mode,” he mused. Weaver, entering his second season as Niwot’s coach, will be juggling both youth and inexperience on this year’s squad. Five brand new players will be playing on the team this season, including three freshmen, making Niwot among the youngest teams in the Northern League. Neverthe... Full story
Niwot’s Tommy Stager made a strong finish to his 2015-2016 wrestling campaign, narrowly missing All American status. Since the school year ended in May, the Niwot High School senior has competed for Team Vision Quest Colorado in the NHSCA National Folkstyle Duals in Virginia Beach, and the AAU National “Disney” Duals in Orlando. Stager was 6-1 in Virginia Beach and 11-3 in Orlando. He was one of two Colorado wrestlers to win a medal (bronze) in the AAU Duals. Stager then focused his atten... Full story
BASEBALL For Niwot Youth Sports’ (NYS) Director of Recreational Baseball Tim Rudden, the 2016 season was “just a lot of fun.” “We had great support from the parents and sponsors, and we got lucky with the weather,” Rudden said. The NYS baseball program, which has been continuously active since the late 1960s, wrapped up its 2016 season mid-July. The program, which fields both competitive and recreational teams, is composed of the T-Ball/Coach Pitch league for players ages four to eight, an...
Niwot Legion D entered the Colorado American Legion Baseball State Tournament as the eighth seed in the eight-team, double elimination tournament. Though Legion D is composed of 12 teams, only eight qualified to compete in the tournament. With its first game against Fairview, the tournament’s number one seed, Niwot was pressured to perform from the start. Though the team ended the bottom of the fourth with a 6-4 lead, Niwot suffered a punishing fifth inning. After several misplayed balls and one...
Thursday, July 21, to Sunday, July 24, Niwot Legion B competed in the 2016 Colorado American Legion Baseball State Tournament at Arvada High School. The tournament used a 12-team, double elimination format. Niwot faced the Brighton Bulldogs in its first game of the tournament on Thursday, July 21. Brighton ended the season with a 12-8 record in league games, while Niwot finished 15-7 during the regular season. After jumping ahead courtesy of a Niwot error in the second inning that led to three...
FOOTBALL Former Niwot High Football Coach Ron Tesone has been hired to teach and coach at Central of Grand Junction this fall. Tesone will teach business classes and serve as an assistant football coach. He spent many years teaching and coaching at Niwot before moving to Silver Creek for the past few years. Tesone also served as an assistant football coach at Boulder High. Former Niwot High Football Coach Paul “Tiny” Koehler is back for another season as an assistant coach at Fort Lewis College. Koehler will coach running backs. TRACK Ryan Tes... Full story
The Niwot High School football team is holding its third annual Cougar Classic Golf Tournament on Monday, August 8. Head Coach Dylan Hollingsworth said all the proceeds from the event go toward the football team. Right now, equipment is the team’s biggest issue and Hollingsworth is “trying to get everything in shape.” “We use that money for all sorts of things,” Hollingsworth said of the fundraiser. “We had to replace a significant amount of equipment in the last year. I always tell people that...
Asked about Niwot Legion B’s season after a full week of league games, Coach Craig McBride responded optimistically. “Since last Thursday, when we lost a pair to Brighton Khaos, we have won four out of five [games],” McBride said. “We are playing at a pretty high level right now, with all phases of the game showing improvement.” Not only has Niwot developed as a team, but improvements among individual players are evident as well. “Every member of our team has had considerable improvement... Full story
Niwot Legion B baseball played nine games in the first nine days of July, and with only a handful of games left in the season, the Cougars have a record of 16-15. On July 1, Niwot lost a home game to Cherokee Trail 18-5. Though Niwot got an early start by scoring two runs in the first inning, Cherokee Trail soon jumped ahead after racking up twelve runs in the third inning. Colton Goldfarb helped Niwot score three of its five runs with his 2-3 performance, singling in the third inning and... Full story
Niwot Legion D baseball is wrapping up its summer season, with only an end-of-season Legion Tournament remaining. The Niwot team, coached by Doug Kenkel, Tom Kleespies and Larry Stokes, has a record of 5-7-0 going in to the tournament. The Legion D team prepares incoming Niwot freshman for playing baseball at the high school level, giving the players and coaches a head start as they move toward the spring season. On Wendesday, July 6, Niwot Legion D faced off against Fairview, losing both games. Earlier in the season, Niwot played teams such... Full story
TRACK Elise Cranny (Niwot), a junior at Stanford University, ran in the 1500 Meters at the 2016 Olympic Track and Field Team Trials, in Eugene, OR, July 7-8. The top three runners in each event qualified for the Team USA for the Rio Olympics. Cranny made the semi-finals, but fell short of making the finals of the event. She was back in Colorado after finishing second in the 1500 Meters at the NCAA finals, missing first place by .004 seconds with a time of 4:09.54. It was the closest finish in th...
Competing on their home field, the Niwot Legion B baseball team earned a 12-2 win against Poudre on Tuesday, June 28. Niwot was already off to a good start at the bottom of the second inning with a 4-0 lead, but it was the fifth inning that secured their win. Niwot scored in the fifth on several fielder’s choices, passed balls, and errors, as well as two RBI singles by Colton Goldfarb and Jake Sims. On the mound, Quinn Williamson proved to be a valuable asset to the team. Poudre only managed two hits off of Williamson, with one earned run, w...
After suffering several losses at a tournament in Omaha earlier in June, Niwot Legion B baseball came back to win four of its past five games. The 4A team beat Fairview, a 5A team, twice on Tuesday, June 21. In the first game, each team temporarily held the lead several times until the fifth inning when Niwot racked up six runs to Fairview’s one. The score ended with Niwot winning 10-5. The second game against Fairview ended with Niwot narrowly winning 14-13. The Cougars were down 10-5 at the b...
Jake Butler, an upcoming senior at Niwot High School and a three-year member of the NHS Boys Golf Team, has been busy on the junior golf circuit this summer. Butler tied for fifth place at the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Tournament held at Twin Peaks Golf Course June 8th. The following week he placed third in the Boys 15-19 division at the Idaho Challenge in Nampa, ID, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Junior Golf Tour, with identical scores of 78 on both days for a total of 156. His...
This summer’s Niwot Legion B baseball season is back in swing under the direction of Niwot High School’s head baseball coach, Craig McBride. Last week, the team competed in a tournament in Omaha, Nebraska from Thursday, June 16 to Saturday, June 18. Despite an initial 5-2 win against the host team Omaha Central, Niwot fell to the Missouri Fighting Elks 13-1 in its second game, beginning a string of losses that continued throughout the tournament. Of the Fighting Elks, McBride said, “They had som...
Fifteen-year-old Julianna Foy has won another medal to add to her collection. The sophomore at Niwot High School, who started skating at four with her hockey-loving Dad, has been skating competitively for not even two full years. While skating in her earlier years as a “beginner,” the same kind of competition that led to her recent success was not available to her. The medals and trophy she is pictured with are all first, second or third place wins, except for one, a fourth place. Foy pro...
Niwot junior Skye Messinger was a unanimous choice for Northern League All-Conference after hitting .493 and playing superb defense at shortstop. Messinger was also voted by players and coaches as the Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Senior Ford Ladd, who will continue his baseball career at NYU, was Honorable Mention All-Conference, and was voted Pitcher of the Year by his teammates and coaches. Senior outfielder Jake Sims also received Honorable Mention...
Zach Parris of Niwot had the best local time in the Bolder Boulder 10K on May 30, 2016, crossing the finish line at 37:04.08, which was 180th overall, and seventh in his M32 age group division. Parris, who describes himself as Theological Cartographer at Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Colorado Boulder on his Facebook page, is a fan of Niwot Market’s Friday night dinners. Mikhail Ivanov was next among Niwot runners at 38:02.78 and also seventh in his M37 division; while Paul Ambrose was third at 38:12.31, which was 11th in the M31...
Former Heatherwood resident Katy Blakemore finished fifth in the women’s pro competition at the Boulder Ironman 70.3 June 11. Blakemore, a teacher in Denver, got out to a strong start in the swimming leg of the triathlon, with the third-best time. The bike portion of the race was not quite as strong as she was seventh among pro women, but her run time was fifth among all women, helping her to a strong finish. Her total time of 4:21:58 put her 43rd overall. Niwot High grad Colin Laughery of B... Full story
Reilly Herbst of Niwot recently participated in the USA Hockey Rocky Mountain District Player Development Camp in Salt Lake City May 4 to May 8, which included on-ice skill evaluation and games. The District Camp is part of USA Hockey’s player development process where they identify national team caliber players from across the country. Each of the twelve districts across the United States that make up USA Hockey conduct the player development camps every spring and have a specific allotment o...
Niwot High School Athletic Director Chase McBride announced that Kelly Christensen has been hired to coach the boys and girls cross country squads at Niwot next fall. Christensen will replace Tim Flamer, who resigned earlier this spring. “Kelly comes to Niwot most recently from Palmer Ridge High School, where he coached his cross country team to a state championship in 2014 and a state runner-up in 2015,” McBride said. “Coach Christensen was also the head Boys Track Coach at Palmer Ridge were he...
Harrison Lang just finished his junior year at Creighton University in Nebraska and plays on the tennis team, but just a few years ago he was playing tennis at Niwot High School. Recently, Lang was named to the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-District VII Men’s At-Large First Team. Lang is the first CoSIDA Academic All-District selection in men’s tennis since 2006-07, and Lang said Creighton has a lot to offer its students. “Creighton has a lot of good...
Matthew Toles, who will be a senior at Niwot High School next fall, has qualified to participate in the U.S. Rowing Youth National Championships June 10 - 12 in New Jersey. Toles is one of three members of the Colorado Junior Crew who will compete at Mercer Lake Marina near Princeton University. This is the first time in team history that Colorado Junior Crew has qualified boats to row in the US Rowing Youth National Championships. Toles and his partner, Zander Maitland of Fairview High School...
The Niwot Cougar boys head golf coach Ed Weaver, is running a half marathon to raise money for the golf team. Weaver said this came about because a friend of his, who has run many half marathons, held him to an offer Weaver had made last year that he would run a half marathon with him. “Back in 2013, one of my best friends from high school, “Big Al,” made a commitment to walk a half marathon (13.1 miles) in every state of the U.S.,” Weaver explained. “When I heard this, I offered (half serious / half joking), ‘tell me when you come to Colorado...
Approaching the 18th hole on the final day of the State Tournament, Niwot High School’s Claire McPeak just needed to finish with a four-stroke par to finish five strokes under her first day score of 86. What McPeak didn’t expect was for the ever changing Colorado weather to take an abrupt turn, from a beautiful sunny day in Pueblo to a sudden rain storm mixed with quarter-inch hail. “Personally I don’t mind golfing in the rain, but it was the hail that got to me,” McPeak said after finishing with a five-stroke bogey on the final hole and recor... Full story
The Fairview High School girls golf team took three girls to the 5A State Championship, two of whom are from Gunbarrel. Senior Maddy McCambridge and sophomore Kelsey Webster, who live in Gunbarrel, competed at state along with freshman teammate Sophie Nelsen. The two-day tournament was held at Common Ground Golf Course in Aurora, on Monday, May 23 and Tuesday, May 24. At the first day of the tournament, McCambridge finished with a score of 80, Webster came in with a score of 90, and Nelsen...
On Tuesday, May 24, eight Niwot High School seniors signed to continue their sports careers at various colleges across the country. The Courier talked with them to find out more about where they’re going and their journey to get there. Walker Bounds Walker Bounds will be playing basketball at Lake Forest College in the fall. Before signing with Lake Forest, Bounds was considering Millikin University, Carthage College and Elmhurst College. He was looking for a smaller school, and after c...
Although the Colorado high school wrestling season ended two months ago, Niwot junior Tommy Stager is continuing to add to his impressive resume. On Saturday, May 14, Stager won the Colorado USA Wrestling Junior National Team Qualifying Tournaments in both Freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling at 138 pounds. This qualified him to represent Colorado in the USA Wrestling National Duals in Tulsa, OK in June, as well as the USA Wrestling National Championships in Fargo, ND in July. On May 21, Stager... Full story
