Colorado Preps Magazine Volume 1 Edition 4
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FREE COPY PROMOTING HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS ON THE EASTERN PLAINS COLORADOPREPS.COM NOVEMBER 2018 MAGAZINE A Look Back at yuma & kit carson state volleyball titles recaps of 6-man, 8-man, 1A, and 2a state championship games The history of the lamar holiday basketball tournament 2 COLORADOPREPS.COM NOVEMBER 2018 | COLORADO PREPS COLORADO PREPS | NOVEMBER 2018 COLORADOPREPS.COM 3 COLORADO PREPS MAGAZINE Walsh Eagles Volleyball: table of contents 502 Gayle Street Layout/Design Fort Morgan, CO 80701 William Brandt (970) 542-0862 brandt@kiowacountyindependent. Southeast Power Team of the Month com Volume 1 By KEVIN SHAFFER devastating for us but the adversity Seniors for the team who helped Edition 4 Writers Following a rough season on and off make us stronger”. lead the Eagles to their first state 3 Walsh Eagles Volleyball: Southeast November 27, 2018 Betsy Barnett the court in 2017, the Walsh Eagles In pre-season practices during tournament in almost two decades John Contreras rebounded to earn a state tourna- August, Powers sensed a new at- include Jace Sharpe, Dakota Cook, Colorado Preps Magazine is pub- Dan Mohrmann ment bid in 2018 and for that effort, titude with the team. “They were Tyree Jones and Fritzler. Power Team of the Month lished monthly and presented free Kevin Shaffer we’ve named them the Southeast ready for a new beginning and were to the public through distribution at Kerry Sherman Power Team of the Month for No- looking for a bright future” she said. Leaving Disappointment behind schools and businesses across East- Steven Vetter vember. The Eagles improved from “This team worked very hard and SEASON STAT LEADERS 4 ern Colorado Brock Laue seven wins in 2017 to 20 this season were hungry to win plus we stayed and qualified for the state event for healthy”. KILLS Publisher Photography the first time since 2000. The difference on the court was Shiann Fritzler 199 7 A Whole new challenge Kevin Shaffer Dustin Price (cover design) “Last season our team had ma- almost immediate as the Eagles Tyree Jones 138 [email protected] John Contreras jor setbacks”, said Head Coach Au- jumped out to a 10-0 record and MyKenzie Penick 124 10 “mama sue” snyder brings small Jennifer Elliott bree Powers. “Our high school girls a top ten billing in the statewide Editor Fleming Schools basketball coach Lance Turner was polls. It was at this time that Pow- Jaci Sharpe 77 Betsy Barnett Brush Schools killed in a car accident on Septem- ers thought her team had a chance Photo credit: Dustin Price D’Neil Doyle 76 school volleyball to a level of barnett@kiowacountyindependent Teresa O’Dwyer ber 11th and then the day after the to reach the state tournament, but Photograghy. Dan Mohrman funeral, one of our starting setters, not for anything that had happened excellence Chris Idler Shiann Fritzler tore her ACL for the on the court. me and asked if we could have two- ACES second time. Those two events were “Our senior leaders approached a-day practices”, she noted. “We Dakota Cook 54 16 Sedgwick County Makes it Four in a were unbeaten at the time and these Shiann Fritzler 40 girls were asking to practice more. TeAnna Sharpe 32 That told me the girls were ready to Row in 8-Man do whatever it takes to achieve their Jaci Sharpe 30 goal of a state title”. Tyree Jones 29 Following the 10-0 start, the Ea- D’Neil Doyle 16 20 Limon Lands the 1A State Football gles then went 1-2 at the McClave tournament but recovered to win Crown their final six matches of the regu- DIGS lar season. Post-season play was Shiann Fritzler 329 difficult as Walsh placed second at Jaci Sharpe 327 the district tournament and then fell 24 Out with a Bang Tyree Jones 280 short against top ranked Kit Carson at regionals. That made for a tense D’Neil Doyle 278 27 All State Selections weekend as the Eagles had to wait Dakota Cook 236 until the following Monday to learn TeAnna Sharpe 218 they had earned a wildcard bid and 28 LAMAR HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT rich in would be making the trip to Denver for the state tournament. ASSISTS tradition The Eagles played well at the state Dakota Cook 324 tournament but lost matches to both Shiann Fritzler 245 Fleming (3-1) and Haxtun (3-0). 32 back page heroes “The state tournament was a great experience for us”, said Pow- ALL STATE SELECTIONS ers. “I expect this team is the start of Honorable something great for Walsh volleyball Shiann Fritzler Mention and that future teams will continue Cody Robinson 1st Team to strive for the goal of a state title for our community”. 4 COLORADOPREPS.COM NOVEMBER 2018 | COLORADO PREPS COLORADO PREPS | NOVEMBER 2018 COLORADOPREPS.COM 5 bring a reminder of that goal to ev- at the semifinal game this year than ery match. the final,” Noble said. “Maybe that “Our whole team was sticking to- helped us play a little looser in the gether and the back of shirts said, final.” Leaving Disappointment Behind ‘feel the magic,’” Blach said. “We It took just three sets for the In- Leaving Disappointment Behind wanted to feel the magic of winning dians to beat Denver Christian and the state championship and we kept claim the 2A championship. It was a reminding ourselves of that.” mixed feeling of happiness and relief Once play began at state, Blach stemming from an unfavorable re- and her fellow seniors Cody Robin- sult from the last two years. son and Taylor Hansen set a strong In hindsight, it’s easy to say that tone offensively. They trio combined for 33 kills in the opening match against Holly. SEASON STAT LEADERs Overall, things were going ac- cording to plan. Perhaps the biggest KILLS factor in the way Yuma was playing Chasey Blach 416 was their belief that was their tour- Cody Robinson 323 nament to lose. Taylor Hansen 196 “We were pretty confident,” No- ble said. “We talked about that. We Elle Roth 95 know that if we can do the things the site that had been so friendly had to be confident and we had to Ema Richardson 91 we’ve done all year and that we’re three years earlier, but not so friend- go into it knowing we could do it. worked so hard for as a team and a ly for the last two. We also know that we also have to group, it’ll come around and we’ll be The Indians weren’t going to let go out and play to earn it. We were ACES good.” the disappointment of the last two confident all the way to the semifinal Taylor Hansen 68 After a trip to the Alliance Tour- years play into their approach. They match and that’s where the nerves Cody Robinson 41 nament in Nebraska, Yuma cruised entered the Denver Coliseum with a kind of kicked in.” Elle Roth 37 through regionals and returned to clear goal in mind and made sure to The Indians took the first two sets, but they were anything but easy. The Chasey Blach 30 25-22, 25-21 wins showed that they Ema Richardson 23 were in for a heck of a fight. That Reagan Nolin 22 was confirmed in the third set when Meeker came away with a 25-11 win, making a statement that they DIGS too had championship aspirations. Cody Robinson 412 “Meeker’s just a whole different Chasey Blach 293 team than us,” Blach said. “They Elle Roth 249 After Falling Short Two Years in a Row, Yuma Volleyball is Finally Back on Top of 2A were the No. 2 seed so it was in- tense. They worked hard and we Reagan Nolin 212 were taken aback by how hard they Tania Morales 153 wanted it. But that’s a given, it’s a state tournament and anything can By DAN MOHRMANN the Denver Coliseum to win its sec- just makes you work a little harder mission and claim another state ti- happen. We shouldn’t have lost that ASSISTS Photos by DUSTIN PRICE ond title in four years. That cham- and do things correctly. We started tle, the Indians were stressing that third set but we did.” Reagan Nolin 952 Finding appreciation in something pionship helped wipe away the diffi- working as hard as we could every the focus had to be what was hap- Noble explained that some ‘what Ema Richardson 51 tends to be easier when the person culty of coming up short in the two single day.” pening on the court. They certain- if’ thoughts started going through Chasey Blach 51 in pursuit of that thing knows the previous title matches. Those two The results of that work started ly had a goal in mind but once play their head. What if after this entire feeling of not getting it. losses certainly ignited a fire that showing right away. The Indians won began, that idea got pushed out of season they don’t even make it to Elle Roth 34 After winning a Class 2A state powered this year’s team in its title their first eight matches of the year, their minds and the only focus they the championship match? Taylor Hansen 32 championship in 2015, the Yuma In- run. dropping just two sets in that span. had was on the next point in their The thought was scary and in the dians had come up short in the next “It’s a lot of motivation,” senior They suffered their first loss – and current match.