14ners

Stats and information prior to Tuesday’s contests

This article has been updated to show Thomas MacLaren won Division 3 of the Liberty Bell Invitational and that Braddock Hewitt attends Thomas MacLaren.

DJ Gerber, Vanguard, sr., boys soccer – When Gerber scores goals, they come in bunches and Sand Creek learned that last week.

Gerber netted a career-high four goals in a 7-1 victory over the Scorpions last Tuesday to help the Coursers get their fourth win of the year. The Vanguard striker has eight goals this season and, for the third time in his career, earned a hat trick.

Sebastian Steger, Manitou Springs, jr., boys soccer – In the season opener Sept. 2, Steger ceded one goal to Alamosa in an 11-1 victory. Otherwise, sans a 4-1 loss to Pagosa Springs, the Mustangs’ keeper has been perfect.

Steger finished with 11 saves against Thomas MacLaren to help the Mustangs win 2-0 and earn Manitou Springs’ third consecutive shutout. After four matches, Steger has 24 saves.

Persephone Phinney, Banning Lewis, sr., girls volleyball – A career night for the Stallion helped Banning Lewis earn its fifth win of the young season.

Phinney ended the contest against the Panthers with 15 kills for the Stallions and helped her team stave off a Woodland Park comeback in a 3-1 (19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 27-25) victory last week.

The senior’s outburst marked her first time this season reaching double-figure kills and the second time in her career.

Alexa Queen, Fountain-Fort Carson, sr., girls cross-country – Last year’s track and field girls Peak Performer led the pack in the 5K at the Trojans’ home meet Saturday.

Queen clocked in at 19 minutes, 55 seconds to finish first at the Trojan XC Invitational. The victory and sub-20-minute finish were firsts for Queen in her career.

Kailani Shideler, Pine Creek, so., softball – The Eagles posted 21 hits in a 20-1 win against Doherty and Shideler accounted for nearly one-quarter of those.

Shideler finished 4-for-4 hitting with four RBIs, a double, triple and the first home run of her career in the Eagles’ win over the Spartans. Last year as a freshman, Shideler had just one game where she batted .750 or better. In seven games played this season, Shideler already has three.

Leeona Fambro, Banning Lewis, fr., girls cross country – Fambro’s teammates might say she is “one of them ones.” Her coaches would likely remain a bit more formal and call her a terrific runner. The Stallions freshman finished third in the girls Division 3 category at the Liberty Bell Invitational on Saturday at 19:39.10.

The Stallions placed second as a team with 93 points – six behind St. Mary’s Academy – and in Fambro’s second career run, she set another personal record after winning the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede at 19:46.10.

Joshua Curtiss, Coronado, sr., boys tennis – The Cougars’ No. 3 singles player has scorched his competition and made swift work of his opponent last week in a dual.

Curtiss beat Discovery Canyon’s Matthew Frost 6-1, 6-1 to improve to 11-3 and has won seven of his last eight. During the Pueblo County Invitational on Sept. 5, Curtiss finished 4-1 including two 6-0, 6-0 sweeps.

Joseph Hatton, Fountain-Fort Carson, sr., boys cross country – The Trojans dominated at their home meet as they also earned the top individual spot on the girls’ side and Hatton cruised past his competition on the boys’ end.

Hatton won the race in 16:20 and earned his second, first-place finish of the season. The senior also won the Widefield Cross Country Invitational on Aug. 29.

Collin Wolf, Coronado, sr., football – Wolf’s final line resembled video game numbers in the Cougars’ game against Cheyenne Mountain.

The senior wide receiver hauled in eight passes for 178 yards and four touchdowns in a 61-54 loss to the Red-Tailed Hawks. Wolf has seen exceptional growth from his junior year where he finished with seven receptions for 44 yards and one touchdown in 10 games.

In just three games this year, Wolf has 18 catches for 377 yards and seven touchdowns. In the loss to the Hawks, Wolf also had 11 tackles including three for loss.

Braddock Hewitt, Thomas MacLaren, so., boys cross country – Hewitt went nearly one month between races for the Highlanders and still managed the best finish of his career.

The Highlanders won the Division 3 category at the Liberty Bell Invitational on Saturday with 83 points and Hewitt led that charge. He placed fourth out of 209 runners in 16:23.80. Hewitt crushed his previous mark of 17:19.50 by nearly one minute.

Nathan Ohl, Air Academy, fr., boys tennis – The Kadets’ No. 2 singles player earned a three-set (6-2, 3-6, 10-7) victory against Palmer Ridge’s Victor Struski on Sept. 9 and followed with a 6-3, 6-0 win against George Washington’s Sam Elkenberry on Saturday.

The win against Elkenberry improved Ohl’s record to 6-2 and five of his six victories have come in straight sets.

Easton Haley, Lewis-Palmer, sr., boys tennis – The Rangers’ No. 1 singles player is hot this season.

Haley improved to 5-1 after a 6-2, 6-0 victory last week against Discovery Canyon’s Caleb Davis. Four of Haley’s matches ended in 6-0 sweeps and, save the loss to Palmer Ridge’s Alexander Schloosky, the Rangers senior hasn’t ceded more than two games in his five wins.

Cole Rueschhoff, Cheyenne Mountain, jr., football – The Red-Tailed Hawks allowed 54 points to Coronado in a victory on Friday, but the Cougars could have tacked on a few more if not for Rueschhoff’s efforts.

Rueschhoff finished with eight tackles, two for loss, and added a sack for an 8-yard loss against the Cougars. The Red-Tailed Hawks also forced three fumbles and Rueschhoff recovered two.

Jackson Smetana, The Classical Academy, sr., football – The Titans quarterback finished with one of his best performances of the season for the No. 2-ranked team in the Colorado High School Activities Association 2A poll.

Smetana completed 15-of-28 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-7 victory in the Titans’ home opener against Elizabeth. Smetana also had a QB rating of 109.4, which was his third time this year with a rating of at least 104.

Exciting finishes

Flag football

Doherty 19, The Classical Academy 18 (3OT)

Both teams scored six points in regulation and needed three overtimes to determine a winner and for the Spartans to hand the Titans their first loss of the season.

Doherty scored six in the first quarter and TCA followed with a touchdown in the third to knot the contest. After neither squad scored in the first overtime, both the Titans and Spartans scored a touchdown in the second overtime.

The Spartans, after converting the point-after-touchdown of the game in the third overtime, held the Titans to six to earn the victory.

Boys soccer

Doherty 1, Discovery Canyon 0

After losing their first one-goal game of the season, the Spartans have earned consecutive 1-0 wins thanks to the boot of Michael Perry.

The Spartan forward received a pass from Kaleb Brandon and placed the ball into the back of the net in the first half. Doherty’s defense paved the way the remainder of the game.

For the Thunder, after a 2-0 start, they dropped their fourth in a row and three of those losses came in one-goal matches. Rampart, Harrison and Doherty each beat Discovery Canyon by one, dropping the Thunder to 0-3 in one-goal games.

Girls volleyball

Rampart 3, Lewis-Palmer 2

The Rangers nearly swept the Rams last week, but Rampart’s clutch performance staved off defeat and paved the way to a statement win.

Rampart won 18-25, 20-25, 25-14, 26-24, 15-12 and had four players stack notable numbers. Anaya Wright ended with a game-high 20 kills; Gabrielle Weissgarber had six of the Rams’ eight blocks; Gabriella Melecio earned 31 of Rampart’s 83 digs; and Marcella Chiriboga tallied 36 assists.

The Rams improved to 8-1 and extended their winning streak to eight.

If you haven’t heard…

Cheyenne Mountain football improves to 3-0 after slugfest against Coronado

Sam Hawker’s role as the Red-Tailed Hawks’ Swiss Army Knife not only has Cheyenne Mountain at 3-0 for the second consecutive year, but it pushed his team past a high-octane Cougar team.

On offense: Hawker completed just three passes, but two went for touchdowns to Issac Sisneros and Caden Vinson. Hawker carried the ball 19 times for 185 yards and three touchdowns. Overall, the Red-Tailed Hawks compiled 581 total yards on offense.

On defense: The senior forced two fumbles, recovered another and had four tackles including one for a loss.

On special teams: Hawker went 8 for 8 on extra points and is 14 for 15 in three games.

Palmer Ridge softball defeats four-time defending state champs with late surge

The Bears’ spectacular season continues but Palmer Ridge needed a comeback to knock off 3A powerhouse Lutheran.

Palmer Ridge trailed 7-1 heading to the fifth inning when Corinna Arellano’s grand slam cut the Lions’ lead to 7-5. Arellano tied it in the bottom of the sixth with a two-RBI shot to right field that sent Kayleigh Garcia and Savanah Martinez home.

The Bears tacked on three more runs in the inning after hits from Tehani Lum-Perreira and Macy Smith pushed two across the plate and Martinez scored on a wild pitch. Lutheran had not lost a league game since Sept. 27, 2023, a 9-8 loss to Discovery Canyon.

Cheyenne Mountain softball beats Air Academy 10-9, hands Kadets their first loss

The Kadets, No. 6 in 4A’s recent CHSAA polls, fell behind 9-5, tied it at 9-9 in the top of the seventh inning Monday and watched the Red-Tailed Hawks, 4A’s No. 7-ranked team, nullify the comeback.

Cheyenne Mountain freshman Katelyn Scism’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh paved the way for Michaela Ewen to score to make it 10-9.

The Red-Tailed Hawks have beaten the Kadets four times in a row with three of those coming by one run.

Last week’s football results

Thursday

Vista Ridge 29, Denver South 20

Discovery Canyon 21, Rampart 10

Friday

Liberty 28, Denver East 24

Pueblo Centennial 20, Sierra 6

Farmington (N.M.) 21, Falcon 17

Flatirons Academy 24, Peyton 6

Air Academy 42, Widefield 0

The Classical Academy 27, Elizabeth7

Fountain-Fort Carson 48, Overland 7

Calhan 42, Crowley County 28

Palmer Ridge 61, Lewis-Palmer 15

Cheyenne Mountain 61, Coronado 54

Banning Lewis 22, Sterling 21

Cañon City 42, Summit 8

Hanover 42, Miami-Yoder 6

Pueblo County 54, Harrison 14

Pine Creek 42, Loveland 0

Doherty 24, Palmer 7

Dakota Ridge 27, Mesa Ridge 0

Colorado Springs Christian 41, Woodland Park 8

The Pinnacle 45, Mitchell 0

Saturday

Ellicott 36, Platte Canyon 12