Check out our recap of notable individual and team performances from the week in prep sports.

14ers

Brooklyn Kaiser, sr., Vista Ridge, flag football – Kaiser paced the Wolves on offense and defense in Arvada for Vista Ridge’s postseason contests.

Against Manual in the second round, Kaiser finished with a pair of rushing scores and an interception returned for a touchdown.

In their quarterfinals game against George Washington, Kaiser had two more scores and another interception.

Jake Morrison, sr., Lewis-Palmer, cross country – Morrison ran a sub-17 for the first time in nearly a month at the 4A Region 2 race last week.

His time of 16 minutes, 33.22 seconds marked Morrison’s best time since the Desert Twilight on Sept. 27 where the senior clocked in at 16:19.

Morrison also earned third place at the regional race, a 13-spot improvement from his 16th-place finish at last year’s regional race.

Landry Roberts, so., Cheyenne Mountain, girls’ volleyball – The sophomore had a pair of double-digit kills last week in two games for the Red-Tailed Hawks.

In a 3-1 win against Palmer Ridge, Roberts finished with a team-high 16 kills and had a hit percentage of .324, her fourth time this season hitting .300 or better.

Roberts also totaled four aces in the Red-Tailed Hawks’ two games which brought her total to 42 for the year.

Hector Herrera, sr., Cañon City, boys’ soccer – Herrera terrified the Terrors in a 7-1 win against Palmer.

The Tigers forward finished with a career-best six goals and 12 points against Palmer, which was one shy of what Herrera scored his entire junior year.

Herrera’s performance against the Terrors was his sixth multi-goal game of the season and his 23 total goals this season is second in 4A.

Meining Zhang, jr., Vanguard, girls’ volleyball – Following three consecutive games without reaching double-figure kills, Zhang notched 11 in a sweep of Florence last week.

The junior added six aces in the win, her highest total since Zhang finished with five against James Irwin on Oct. 8.

Benjamin Olds, fr., Palmer Ridge, cross country – Olds finished first among Bears runners at the 4A Region 2 meet and placed sixth overall at the event.

Olds was the lone freshman in the top 15 and was half a second away from cracking the top 5 at the regional race.

In seven races this season, Olds has six finishes in the top 10 and ran his third-best time of the year.

Brooklyn Blair, so., The Classical Academy, flag football – No one on the field could stop Blair in the Titans’ quarterfinals game Saturday.

Against Denver West, Blair had three interceptions — two in the first half — and two receiving touchdowns in the Titans’ 40-0 victory against the Cowgirls.

Blair also had multi-interception games in back-to-back contests near the end of the regular season for TCA.

Kobe Dooley, jr., Mesa Ridge, football – Since returning from injury, Dooley had his best performance of the season in a 37-12 win against Doherty.

Dooley finished with four catches for 96 yards and three touchdowns for the Grizzlies. As a sophomore, Dooley finished with four touchdown receptions in 10 games.

His 96 yards are his most in a game since Dooley finished with 119 in a 41-21 win over Falcon in 2023.

Jace Velasquez, sr., Colorado Springs Christian, football – Velasquez had six carries and six completed passes but displayed maximum efficiency with his touches for the Lions.

With those six carries, Velasquez rushed for 46 yards in the 51-0 win against Rye, but three of those touches went for touchdowns.

The senior quarterback also completed 6 of his 10 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown and has gone back-to-back games without throwing an interception.

Grace Suerdieck, sr., Falcon, cross country – The Falcons senior was the lone Falcon runner to place in the top 25 of the 4A Region 5 race.

Suerdieck clocked in at 20:29.44 for third place, her eighth top-10 finish of the season. Last year, Suerdieck finished fourth and ran a 20:55 at the event.

Zen Groves, sr., Coronado, football – Groves went ballistic in a 45-8 victory against the Sierra Stallions.

Groves set single-game career highs in catches (eight), receiving yards (177) and receiving touchdowns (three) to lead the Cougars’ pass catchers.

It was his first 100-yard receiving game since Groves opened the year with consecutive 100-yard performances.

Raegan McRae, so., Cheyenne Mountain, cross country – The Red-Tailed Hawks’ sophomore earned her best finish of the season during the 4A Region 5 race at Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo.

McRae finished in 19:50.05 and was the only girls runner to complete the race sub-20 minutes.

McRae’s first-place finish was the first time in her cross country career that she earned the top spot in a race.

Brooklyn Barnett, fr., Palmer, girls’ volleyball – Barnett had the first double-digit kill game of her career and it came in a timely fashion.

In a 3-2 win against Mesa Ridge, Barnett finished with 15 kills and added four aces in the match against the Grizzlies.

Her .361 hitting percentage was her second time over .300 in the past four games and Barnett’s fifth occasion this season.

Luke Marcus, sr., Fountain Valley, boys’ soccer – Marcus scored one-third of his goals for the season in one match.

In an 11-1 win against Banning Lewis, Marcus finished with seven goals and 14 points for the Danes.

Prior to the matchup with the Stallions, Marcus had two goals total in his previous two games and went three weeks without a multi-goal game.

Compelling contests

Football

Mitchell 45, Lincoln 0

For the first time in more than 1,800 days, the Mitchell Marauders have a victory on the gridiron.

The Marauders, which fielded a varsity team this season following a hiatus in 2023, earned a shutout victory against an opponent, their first since 2011 when they beat Coronado 20-0.

With the win, Mitchell improved to 2-6 this season. The Marauders’ first win of the year came via forfeit against Arvada.

Boys’ soccer

Lewis-Palmer 1, Palmer Ridge 0

The Rangers closed their season with back-to-back one-goal victories and notched the win with a goal in the second half against their rivals.

Czak Martinez’s final goal of his preps career came after a scoreless first half against the Bears and helped the Rangers improve to 6-8-1.

Martinez’s strike served as his fourth of the year and the ninth goal of his career.

Liberty 2, Vista Ridge 1

Zane Anderson and Jaxsen Zellner each scored in the victory for the Lancers in a 2-1 win against Vista Ridge in Liberty’s regular-season home finale.

The win gave the Lancers their 10th victory of the season and helped them reach double-digit wins in back-to-back years, the first time the Lancers have done so since 2018-2021 when they went four consecutive years with at least 10 wins.

Girls’ volleyball

Liberty 3, Vista Ridge 2

The Lancers’ hadn’t won a match since Aug. 29 when the Lancers improved to 1-1.

After winning the third set 35-33 against the Wolves in their matchup, the Lancers needed to stave off the Wolves in a fifth set and managed a 15-12 win to secure the victory.

Liberty’s five-set victory was its first since March 16, 2020, when the Lancers beat Pueblo West 3-2 in the season opener.

Trends to track

Brooke Gennerman on pace to double junior year kills total

Following a stellar year for the Rangers as a junior, Gennerman’s meteoric rise continues to pace Lewis-Palmer’s volleyball team.

The senior has 333 kills heading to the final weeks of the season. Gennerman needs 83 more to double her total from last season where she finished with 208.

On four occasions this year, Gennerman has tallied 20 or more kills and needs about 21 per game in the Rangers’ next four contests to double her total from last season.

Alexander Steger enters postseason as 3A’s top scorer

The Manitou Springs striker hasn’t cooled off since scoring 8 goals in a game against St. Mary’s in early September.

In 15 games this season, Steger has at least two goals in nine of those contests with six of those instances occurring in the past 45 days.

Steger’s 27 goals this season is a career high for the senior and four ahead of Ayden Casillas, who has 23 goals for Bayfield.

Field hockey teams go winless in playoff openers

Cheyenne Mountain, Palmer Ridge and Pine Creek all struggled in the field hockey postseason opener as each team lost in the first round.

All three move to the consolation bracket where they can still battle for third place in the tournament.

Pine Creek and Palmer Ridge face off on Oct. 31 while Cheyenne Mountain will face Poudre School District for a shot at the consolation semifinals, which start Nov. 5.