Left Hand Valley Courier - All Local, All The Time

One of the first gifts Carly Toothaker could remember receiving as a young child was a soccer ball, and after some time to reflect on her recently-completed high school career, that present can be...

Niwot High graduated senior Easten Leatherwood has just a few more weeks before he leaves for Durango to begin his college football career at Fort Lewis College. A 3A North Central 3 League...

Having never touched a pole in his life, Niwot senior Nicholas Stade needed just three weeks to learn the pole vault and place ninth in the Class 4A state track and field championships on May 22....

When Sydney Rothstein was six years old, her father started taking her to the late lamented Haystack Mountain golf course where, through a series of outrageous bets and parental indulgence, he didn't...

When the Niwot Cougar baseball team took the field for the first time March 12, senior Walt Van Riper was on the mound. Van Riper went four innings in the opening 10-9 loss to Skyline in a non-league...

If being a well-rounded student means engaging with a wide range of opportunities for learning and success at school, then the term applies to Niwot senior Mercer Stauch, whose list of high school...

Ashlee Wood didn't have much basketball experience when she joined Niwot's new unified basketball team-just what she'd picked up by playing with her brothers and dad in the driveway. But what the athl...

Outside of the Cougar cheer squad, you probably won't find a student with more unabashed school spirit than Niwot junior Ryan Gray. Whether it's cheering on the home team at a state tournament, or...

With five individual state championships and a Class 4A record to her name, there isn't much territory left for standout Mary Codevilla to conquer in high school swimming. But she still has lofty...

Niwot football's historic 2021 season will be remembered for many reasons, not least the dominating performance of senior Bryce Nemec, a difference-maker on both sides of the ball. Appearing in all...

The Niwot girls swim team has faced its share of challenges over the past few seasons, from lack of a home facility, to a coaching turnover, and, of course, the myriad complications due to the...

The 2021-22 Niwot girls basketball team is on the path to redemption after posting just two wins during the prior two seasons. Helping lead them there is senior captain Madison Tajchman, a...

On Nov. 13 at the Class 4A state championships, senior Morgan Daugherty played her final match in a Niwot volleyball uniform, ending a short but highly impactful career. In two seasons for the...

At 6-foot 3-inches and 225 pounds, Niwot senior guard/tackle Brad Bair is a force to be reckoned with on the football field, as opponents across the scrimmage line from him can no doubt attest. But...

During four seasons as a varsity winger for Niwot, Azael Marrufo has been the Cougars' most productive attacker, with 34 goals in 34 games, the most recent a game-winner against Regis Groff in the...

In September 2020, Niwot distance runner Eva Klingbeil was on the cusp of a breakout season when she suffered an injury that ended her racing year prematurely. For the first time since joining the...

With his varsity tennis season now behind him, Niwot senior Raaghav Agarwal is turning his attention to another type of head-to-head match. This year, he is taking on a key technical role for the...

Through Oct. 3, Jasmine Aldama has put on the Niwot softball uniform a whopping 83 times in her career. The versatile senior cleanup hitter has been a valuable asset for head coach Bobby Matthews....

During his first three seasons as a Niwot varsity golfer, talented left-hander Christopher Gunlikson was one of the league's strongest performers during the regular season, but struggled with...

Niwot senior Isaac Robinson describes himself as "a little bit of a perfectionist" when it comes to academics, a tendency that has paid off with a top GPA and a selection as a 2021 National Merit...

Whether she's gliding down the snowy slopes of Winter Park or mastering the balance beams, Olivia Sroka does so with ease. The multi-talented athlete has reached impressive heights in both skiing and...

Niwot's 26-20 win over Thornton in the final football game of the 2020 season wasn't just the team's sole victory of the year, it was also a breakout game for running back Thomas Carnagie, who ended t...

Playing NCAA Division I college volleyball has long been a dream for Niwot senior Zoe Gibbs and, after three impressive seasons as a varsity middle for the Cougars, one clearly within her reach....

The Niwot track and field program has produced its fair share of talented athletes, most notably Elise Cranny, who will be representing the U.S. in the 5000-meter Olympic race on Friday, July 30. But...

Like Goldilocks, it took recent Niwot graduate Halie Ostrom a few tries before she found the sport that checked all the right boxes. "I did gymnastics until fifth grade, and then I did swimming until...

In his final stretch at Niwot High, the dreaded senioritis has eluded pitcher/outfielder Micah Sheats on the baseball diamond. His two-way talent shined on May 22 when he pitched a six-inning shutout...

With 10 goals and 2 assists in five games, speedy senior Kiera Flanagan has led the Niwot girls soccer team to a 5-0 start to the 2021 season, and a 36-4 scoring advantage over its opponents. In...

When Joaquin Herrera enrolls at Adams State University in August, he will become the first student in his family to attend college, a goal that seemed out of reach when he entered high school. But...

Niwot High catcher Josh Strid was set to take on varsity catching duties for the Cougars in 2020, but the season was cancelled before it even started. Strid is one of nine seniors on the Cougar baseba...

Senior forward Ismael Dominguez didn't earn the nickname "Big Game Ish" by accident. His penchant for being in the right place at the right time has turned the tide for Niwot more than once, most rece...

Ever since joining the varsity squad as a freshman, Keegan Stobbe has energized Niwot soccer's attack with his speed and intensity, not to mention his scoring average of nearly two points per game....

There wasn't much drama in Niwot soccer's 6-0 rout of Roosevelt on April 5, but at least one play will always be memorable to Carter Kruse, a longtime varsity defender who suddenly found himself with...

As a varsity defender for Niwot soccer, Connor Grant is usually more concerned with keeping the ball out of the net than putting it in at the other end. But so far in 2021, the senior has been doing b...

Niwot's long-delayed 2021 volleyball season is off to an undefeated start, and senior Natasha Terekhova is one of the main reasons why. Now in her fourth year with the varsity, the athletic outside...

Reeves Moor has been passionate about basketball since the age of eight, but, for complicated reasons, he decided to take up tennis instead after moving from Chicago to Niwot before his sophomore...

It has been an adversity-filled but ultimately fruitful journey at Niwot for girls basketball senior Adeline Spencer. Through undergoing knee surgery during her sophomore year and now navigating a pan...

Niwot boys basketball has had its share of drama over the past four seasons, but one moment in an unremarkable C-team game two years ago has always stayed with senior Hayden Morford, starting forward...

Like all seniors in the class of 2021, Niwot girls basketball point guard Grace Wardle has been dealt a rough hand. The Cougars' season had already been cut down to 14 games and that number is even...

It would have been understandable if Josh Armas had skipped the 2021 Niwot wrestling season. After all, Boulder County COVID-19 rules chased away all but his most intrepid teammates, leaving him as...

The Class of 2020 may have lost prom and a conventional graduation to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Class of 2021 is on track to lose an entire academic year and, with it, most activities and...

At 6-feet, 5-inches, Niwot power forward Gage Gruidel may look like a natural-born basketball player, but due to a severe illness during infancy, he has had to work harder than most to achieve his...

Looking over the long list of Elizabeth Duncan's high school achievements, a few words leap to mind: varied, wide-ranging, unconventional, and, finally, impressive. From stints on the cheer and track...

There were plenty of amazing moments for the Niwot Cougars during their historic win at the 2020 state tennis championships, but one not-so-amazing moment for senior Xavier Moy and his No. 2 doubles...

Ashton Campie is passionate about the non-American version of "football," so when the 2020 high school boys soccer season was postponed until spring 2021, the otherwise idle midfielder decided to try...

For Niwot first-year coach Nikolas Blume, the 2020 football season will be memorable for many things, and not all of them pleasant. But one pleasant memory he will have is of senior Charlie Herring,...

For anybody who has followed Niwot football over the past few years, the name Ayden Bartko should ring a bell. Niwot's senior quarterback has just three games remaining in his high school career and...

Lucca Fulkerson didn't start her decorated cross country career at Niwot, but if everything goes according to plan, the speedy senior will be capping it off with the Cougars next month as they win...

Dulce means "sweet or mild" in Spanish, but the Niwot catcher by that name was a tough out on the softball diamond last week. After belting a game-tying double against Severance on Sept. 1, she explod...

There's almost nothing normal about the way Jesse Horn's senior year at Niwot High started, so he's grateful for the one thing in his daily routine that hasn't changed much in 2020-the boys golf seaso...

Captain Sam Keronen has one goal for his upcoming senior tennis season: win the elusive Class 4A state championship for Niwot. "I want to win it individually and I want to win as a team," he said. "I...