Out In Leftfield
BY BRUCE WARREN
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NIWOT YOUTH SPORTS
NYS baseball and softball programs are winding down, with the older leagues heading into the tournament phase in July. Coming up next is the NYS Flag Football program for boys and girls ages 5-12, now in its second season. NYSA board member Mike Veeder is the NYS director of the program, which is affiliated with NFL Youth Flag Football.
NYS teams will play an 8-game schedule against Boulder, Erie, Lafayette, and Mead teams. Training for all coaches is provided through NFL Flag Football and the NYS training system. Practices are held once or twice a week on NYS grassed fields, with games held on Saturday mornings or Friday nights.
All players receive an NFL reversible team identified color jersey, flags and a mouth guard. NYS performs background checks through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation on all coaches and adults who are in contact with players.
Registration is $90 until July 22, and $105 thereafter through Aug. 12. Age divisions are 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12. Registration is conducted online at www.niwotyouthsports.org.
BASEBALL
Ryan Strufing (Niwot) got all but the last out of the game for the Long Beach State Dirtbags in a 5-1 win over 12th-ranked Cal State Fullerton May 26. Strufing struck out six and gave up just one run in eight and two-thirds innings.
Strufing was named Honorable Mention All-Big West Conference as a starting pitcher, posting a 7-3 record with a 2.99 ERA. He walked 31 batters in 90 plus innings while striking out 52. He allowed 74 hits and his .226 batting average against was second lowest among the Dirtbags’ starting pitchers.
Strufing decided against playing summer baseball to give his arm a break. He is back in the Niwot area for the summer.
RADIO
Andrew Fogoros (Niwot) and Matt McChesney (Niwot) are teaming up for sports talk radio during the early morning drive time. Fogoros and McChesney host the program on Mile High Sports radio, 1510 AM and 93.7 FM from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. weekday mornings. The pair were classmates at NHS in the class of 2000. Fogoros is on the radio primarily for his baseball knowledge, while former NFL player McChesney is known for his football insights.
TRACK
Elise Cranny (Niwot) ran the mile in 5:02.65 at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals June 15. Cranny finished sixth overall, less than five seconds behind the winner.
Austin Ebbers (Niwot) won the 800M Run in the Young Men’s division at the Fort Collins Track Club meet June 9. Ebbers finished third in the 400M Dash. Lorne Jenkins (Niwot) finished seventh in the 400M Dash for Intermediate Boys. On the girls side, Paige Ebbers (Niwot) finished 15th in the 400M Dash for Intermediate Girls. All three ran for the Real Training squad.
Several Cougar athletes traveled to the Great Southwest Meet in New Mexico May 31. Deyja Enriquez led the local contingent of girls with a third-place finish in the 800M Run. Kelsey Traxinger was close behind with a fifth-place finish in the same event, while Sara Bishop came in 20th. Traxinger, Bishop and Enriquez competed in all of the Heptathlon events, finishing 23rd, 25th and 26th overall in the event.
Dana Maydew finished 13th in the girls 400M Dash. On the boys side, Dillon Manzanares took fifth in the 100M Dash. Austin Ebbers competed in the boys Decathlon, finishing 18th overall.
RUNNING
Nick Kadlec of Niwot was the top finisher in the Bolder Boulder among racers listing a Niwot address, coming in 18th overall in the citizen’s race with a time of 34:00.31. Kadlec was fourth in his M19 age division. Scott Pearson of Niwot was next at 159th overall, and seventh in the M23 division. Ted Benning took third among Niwot runners, and third in his M52 division. Chris McDonald took fourth-place local honors and finished seventh in the M43 division overall.
Maddy Jalbert, who graduated from Niwot High in the spring, was the top female runner from Niwot. Her time of 41:58.75 was fifth among all Niwot runners, and fourth in her F17 division. Jalbert will run for Western Washington University in the fall. Kristi Anderson, running in the F48 division, was sixth among all Niwot runners, and was also the top runner in her division, posting a time of 42:10.98.
Rounding out the top 10 Niwot runners were Jeffrey Thramann (M47), Damon Clark (M51), Tom Yulsman (M56) and David Flannery (M29). Thramann and Clark were 11th in their divisions, while Yulsman was third and Flannery was 37th.
Other familiar names included former Lake Valley resident Colin Laughery of Boulder, who finished seventh in the M29 division. Familiar Niwot names of athletes or parents of athletes included Tre Vertuca, Connor Mulshine, Elijah Noterman, Chris Edwards, Joel Maguire, Dana Maydew, Bill Hake, Julia Vaiser, Callie Hensen and Caroline Joyce.
Fourteen-year-old Ryan Uhland beat his father, Jeff Uhland, by five seconds. Molly Dulin beat her younger sister, Katherine Dulin, by less than 2 seconds. Steve Flannery was only six minutes faster than his wife, Robin Flannery. Maddy Jalbert outran her mother, Vicky Dorvee, by only 10 minutes. Dorvee was seventh in her F52 division.
Lars Soderholm of Niwot finished ninth in his M68 division. Sophie Spalding of Niwot was second in her F07 division. Alison Steele finished second in the F32 division and 40th among all women.
NINJA
Paul Kasemir (Niwot) is one of two Longmont residents to earn a spot in the National finals of G4’s American Ninja Warrior. Kasemir and Brian Arnold will compete in an extreme obstacle course for a chance to win $500,000. Kasemir won the Midsouth regional qualifier, which sent 15 contestants to the national finals course in Las Vegas. The show originated in Japan as Ninja Warrior, and Kasemir has already competed in the Japanese version twice.
Although the final U.S. competition has been completed, Kasemir and Arnold cannot talk about it until after it airs on G4 July 8.
