All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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The Niwot girls basketball team hasn't been to the Class 4A postseason tournament since 2013, but longtime head coach Terri Ward thinks 2019-20 will be the season the team's playoff drought ends. With an influx of talented newcomers, plus a host of hard-working returners, the recent CHSAA Hall of Fame inductee said she expects the Cougars to be in the mix for the Northern League title for the first time in years. "I am very optimistic about our chances this season....I like the group, I like the...
The students of Flagstaff Academy showed that a little Respect can go a long way, after collecting more than 1,000 pairs of new and gently used shoes for Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based charitable organization that distributes shoes and clothing to those in need around the world. Spearheaded by the charter school's National Junior Honor Society, the shoe drive took place during October, when the school was focusing on Respect as a part of their ongoing Dragon PRIDE core virtues initiative....
It was another crowded National Letter of Intent signing ceremony at Niwot, as seven athletes made official commitments to collegiate programs on Nov. 13. Lexi Crow, Black Hills State University Lexi Crow's collegiate soccer ambitions may be taking her away from Colorado, but the picturesque campus of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D. will be like home away from home, according to the Cougar midfielder. "There's going to be mountains there, and open spaces, and it's green, so it's...
Niwot gymnast Mia Curry started preparing months in advance for the 2019 Class 4A state all-around competition, but she wasn't prepared for the flood of emotions after hearing that all of her hard work had paid off. "I'm just...super happy," the stunned sophomore said moments after the announcement of her first-place finish in the individual all-around at this year's gymnastics championships, held at Thornton High School on Nov. 8. "I'm just so happy and proud of my entire team, and myself, and...
Though many local businesses have reported lower earnings in 2019, year-to-date sales tax collections in the Niwot Local Improvement District are outpacing 2018 by nearly seven percent. To help explain the apparent contradiction and other district tax conundrums, the advisory committee invited LuAnn Pyatt of the Colorado Department of Revenue and Dave Thayer of Boulder County Financial Services to their monthly meeting on Nov. 5 for a discussion of how sales taxes are collected and distributed....
It may have lacked the life-and-death drama of Captain Ahab's pursuit of Moby Dick across the ocean, but Mia Curry's quest to add a Tsukahara vault to her routine and qualify for the state all-around competition may have been as single-minded. Luckily, the affable 10th-grader also escaped Ahab's watery fate, and instead earned a trip to the top of the Class 4A gymnastics podium. "Last year, I only did three events at state, and I wanted to come out here doing all-around, but I didn't want to do...
The Niwot boys soccer team found themselves on the wrong side of a quick start and some fortuitous bounces against Golden on Nov. 5, and the resulting 3-0 loss brought an unhappy end to the Cougars' playoff run that started so optimistically just three days before. "We just needed to weather that first storm," head coach Steve Dimit said afterwards. "We've been doing a pretty good job of that all season, but this was one we did not weather." The Demons outworked Niwot's defense for their first...
A surefooted performance on the balance beam lifted the youthful Niwot gymnastics team to first place at the Class 4A Region 3 championships, and now the Cougars are heading into the upcoming state meet with a renewed sense of "positivity," according to head coach Marisa Purcell. "We've done a lot more individual varsity practices this year, to help them build confidence in each other and learn to lean on one another, and for them to come together and have expectations in each other," the...
Emotions were high on Niwot's bench after its shutout win over No.18 seed Regis Groff in the first round of the Class 4A soccer playoffs, and now head coach Stephen Dimit hopes to use that energy to carry his team through a deep postseason run. "The relief came when we qualified, and now we're excited to be moving on," he said following the No. 15 Cougars' rousing 2-0 victory over the Fusion at Everly-Montgomery Field on Nov. 2. "I feel pretty good. We can play with anybody." His team's...
Joelle McDonald wasn't expecting a life-changing experience when she joined the Niwot girls cross country team as a freshman, but after helping the Cougars win their second straight team title at the Class 4A state championships on Oct. 26, the senior paid homage to the transformative power of running. "It started as 'running is what I do for fun'," she said, recalling her four seasons with the program. "Then it became 'running is what I do,' and now it's 'running is what I am,' because it's...
The Colorado state cross country meet has produced some amazing athletic achievements over the years, but few top Niwot's in the 2019 Class 4A championships, held Oct. 26 at the Norris-Penrose Center in Colorado Springs. Led by individual winners Samrawit Dishon and Cruz Culpepper, the Cougars emerged from a highly competitive field to capture both team titles and complete the first four-title sweep for a single school since 1995 (an honor Niwot shared with Lyons on the day). Afterwards,...
Niwot senior Samrawit Dishon was holding on to a slim lead heading into the toughest stretch of the state cross country race when she got a boost from an unexpected source-her closest competitors. "It was kind of cool to have them both there like that," Dishon said of Eagle Valley sisters Joslin and Samantha Blair, who trailed the front-runner by just a few meters. "They were hyping each other up and talking to each other, and I thought, 'This is great. I know they're not talking to me, but I'm...
There were plenty of emotions to go around after the Niwot boys' inspiring win at the 2019 Class 4A state cross country championships on Oct. 26, but one in particular seemed predominant among coaches, parents, and athletes alike, according to fourth-year head coach Kelly Christensen. "A huge relief is probably the best way to describe it," he said after the Cougars beat out 19 other teams to claim the top spot at the state race for the first time in school history. "It's validation for them....
It's 6 p.m. on a Friday night in late October, and the unseasonably warm afternoon is quickly giving way to an autumnal chill as the sun slips behind Longs Peak to the west. At Everly Montgomery Field in Longmont, Niwot High Game Manager Sue Prahl grips her handheld radio as she scans the grounds, looking for the game's officials, or "black and whites," as she calls them, due to their striped uniforms. There's still an hour to go before kickoff in the upcoming football game between Niwot and...
On Oct. 24, the Niwot volleyball team closed out Northern League play for 2019 with a three-set loss to the Longmont Trojans (11-25, 22-25, 17-25) in a match head coach Daisha Agho called "frustrating." "I'm disappointed that we weren't able to come out with the usual fire we usually have, and the excitement we usually have. They played scared tonight, and I'm not sure why...they were very uncharacteristic tonight and not at all like my Cougars." Niwot struggled on both offense and defense...
The informal committee preparing a report on the feasibility of incorporating Niwot is set to release its findings in the coming weeks, according to Mary Coonce, co-owner of Porchfront Homes and member of the study group, along with local residents and business owners Tony Santelli, Cotton Burden, Robert Discipio, Ron Bernal, Lane Landrith, and Anne Postle. “The committee is very close to finalizing the data,” Coonce wrote in an email response to questions about the status of the study. “We want to be certain our data is solid prior to relea...
Denver Broncos team nutritionist Bryan Snyder, RD is giving a presentation on athlete diet and fitness in the large gym at Niwot High School (8989 Niwot Rd) on Tuesday, Nov. 5 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. A former basketball player at CU-Colorado Springs, Snyder has been the Broncos full-time Director of Nutrition for more than a decade. He is a registered dietitian with Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), as well as a member of the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association (CPSDA). His...
In late 2017, Gunbarrel resident Kristin Bjornsen was at an impasse. Following a "spectacular loss" in her lawsuit against Boulder County over violations of Colorado's sunshine laws, the full-time mother-of-two was torn on whether to proceed with a costly and time-consuming appeal or whether to leave the legal battle for government transparency to more seasoned professionals. "On the one hand I felt like the issues were clear, and I felt like I had clarity if I could just clear away the muddle...
There wasn't much mystery about the team winner of the Class 4A Region 3 girls cross country race, after Niwot's top five runners crossed the finish line at Denver's City Park a good 30 seconds ahead of any other competitors. That resulted in a rare perfect score of 15 for the Cougars, which head coach Kelly Christensen feels is a good way to close out the 2019 regular season. "A perfect score is a perfect score, no matter where you get it or who you get it against or whatever the conditions,"...
Dealing with a quirky teammate is an unwelcome annoyance for most high school athletes, but Niwot sophomore Bella Steiner isn't like most high school athletes. For the talented equestrian, managing her temperamental partner isn't just an enormous challenge, it's also enormously gratifying. "It's so technical, and a lot of people don't know that," Steiner said of her unconventional high school sport. "Everything affects the horse, and creating a bond with your horse is the most important part of...
The Niwot boys soccer team extended its win streak to eight with a 4-0 victory over the visiting Northridge Grizzlies (5-8-1) on Oct. 17. With the win, the Cougars improved to 10-4 on the season, and moved into a position to compete for the Northern League title, a prospect that seemed implausible just a month ago when the team was 2-4. "We just had to iron some things out and work on some teamwork," head coach Steve Dimit said after the shutout, the Cougars' sixth of the year. "We weren't...
Brigadoon Glen residents Martin and Kim Magill want to set the record straight about what they term "the commercialization in our backyard." "We're not harassers," Martin Magill said. "Nothing could be further from the truth." For more than a dozen years, the pair have lived on Haystack Golf Course's eastern edge, and argue that the increase in noise and traffic from weddings at the 53-year old Niwot landmark have threatened to destroy "the peace and quiet of this beautiful area we live in."...
Due to the early bout of winter on Oct. 10, the Class 4A Region 5 boys tennis tournament may not have started as expected, but it did end that way-with Niwot claiming another regional title on Oct. 11. With wins in six of the seven championship matches, the Cougars will advance as a No. 1 seed to the Class 4A state tournament, which opens at Pueblo's City Park on Oct. 17. Afterwards, head coach Miikka Keronen said he feels the Cougars are "in a good place," both mentally and physically, and he...
The Niwot softball team is headed back to the playoffs after a thrilling 2019 season that saw dramatic wins and heartbreaking losses, often in the same week. It also featured plenty of Niwot offense, as the team averaged more than 10 runs per game and recorded the highest batting average (.386) in the Northern League. Driving that offense for the Cougars was lead-off hitter Nikki Sims, who took her production to a new level during the regular season, with career-highs in average (.521), on base...
Niwot golfer Christopher Gunlikson finished in 45th overall at the 2019 Class 4A State Championships, held Oct. 7-8 at the Bridges Golf Course in Montrose. The sophomore carded an 86 (+15) on opening day, but followed up with an 81 (+10) on day two for final score of 167 (+25). Though he was well out of title contention, coach Ed Weaver was pleased with Gunlikson's improvement over the two-day tournament, and believes his top golfer came away with some hard won experience that will help him...
Niwot softball wrapped up its dramatic 2019 regular season with a tough extra-innings loss to Northridge on Oct. 9. The Cougars gave up three runs in the seventh inning to tie the game at 9-9, then surrendered six more in the eighth to fall 15-9. Senior catcher Reagan Wills recorded her 100th-career RBI in the losing effort, while Nikki Sims went 3-for-5 and scored three runs. Niwot finished the year with a 12-11 record and landed at 27th in the Class 4A RPI rankings, which was good for a 2019...
Public speaking comes naturally to Cougars football announcer Joe Bartko, who seemed destined for a life behind the microphone even from a young age. Now he is using those talents to give back to the communities that meant so much to him as a student at Niwot High School. “I have a hobby that I get paid for,” the former Cougar percussionist said before a recent home game at Everly Montgomery field. Bartko is also the public address announcer for the Colorado State University marching band. “I...
On Friday Oct. 5, a cadre of tweenage ninjas-in-training jumped, swung, and climbed their way through a colorful obstacle course that tested the strength and agility of even the most seasoned trainees. In the process, they raised more than $15,000 for the Sunset Middle Parent Advisory Committee, which will go towards upgrades in the school's interior, and a new sound system for the cafeteria. The obstacle course was a new twist to Sunset's annual Fall Crawl fundraiser, and both parents and...
The Cougars had a devil of a time hanging onto the football in their wrenching 18-14 loss to Eagle Valley, and not even a heavenly performance by senior Jarrett Noterman was enough to save the team from doom. Afterwards, head coach Jeremy Lanter forgave the team its misdeeds, but beseeched his players to go forth and fumble no more. "We're just not quite where we want to be yet," he said of the Cougars' six turnovers, their highest total in two years. "It's about finishing and focusing on those...
Volleyball fans were treated to a free emotional roller coaster ride during Niwot's gripping match against arch-rival Longmont on Oct. 1. After staging an improbable comeback over the Trojans to take the first set 27-25, Niwot held on for a win in the second, (25-23), and seemed to have momentum heading into the third. But their hopes of an easy victory plunged when Longmont staged their own improbable comeback, and rolled to easy victories in the next three sets (21-25, 17-25, 10-15). "It...
The Niwot boys soccer team extended their winning streak to four with a 3-0 victory over Thompson Valley on Oct. 3. Junior Aidan Martin scored while most of the crowd was still finding their seats, and then senior Jared Osteen struck twice in the second half to deliver the Cougars’ second Northern League win of the week. “That’s some real good stuff,” Niwot head coach Stephen Dimit said, after noting that his team also has a four-game shutout streak. On Oct. 1, they beat Mountain View 3-0 in...
It's been a whirlwind fall for second-year drum major Cole Toothaker and the Cougar marching band, but a scary moment over the summer almost had the talented musician and natural leader watching it all from the sidelines. "I was on a rafting trip in Idaho, and I did a backflip on the beach-I have a gymnastics background and do flips a lot," he recalled. "But I landed on an incline, and put my hands down to break my fall, and ended up breaking both of my wrists, which was a little inconvenient."...
Two Niwot attractions sustained minor damage last week, after being tagged by vandals using spray paint and chalk. Sometime between September 24 and 26, graffitists defaced two landscape elements in Niwot's Community Corner Sculpture Park with the decidedly upbeat messages "Love is Real" and "Belivers" [sic], printed in chalk or grease paint. During the same time frame, Wise Buys co-owner Tim Wise discovered orange spray paint marks on the caboose and other structures in Whistle Stop Park. It...
Just one day after leading a large contingent to the Global Climate Strike in Denver on Sept. 20, local environmental coalition The Lookout Alliance co-hosted the Colorado Climate Crisis Teach-In, an event aimed at empowering individuals of all ages to work for climate solutions. Heading up their panel on youth activism was Niwot junior Maya Beauvineau, who is working both in her school and in her community to bring "youth voices" to the fight against what she calls "the greatest threat that we...
Niwot boys golf coach Ed Weaver knew he had to act after his number one golfer, Christopher Gunlikson, lost six strokes on three holes during the Class 4A Region 3 tournament at Coyote Creek golf course on Sept. 26. The normally even-keeled sophomore went from +2 after five holes to +8 after the eighth, putting him in danger of falling out of contention for a berth to the state championships on Oct. 7. So Weaver stepped-in and gave his top player some unexpected advice. "After number eight, I...
Niwot forward Keegan Stobbe has been a dynamo for the Cougars' offense in 2019, but it wasn't until the 56th minute of their non-conference match against Erie on Sept. 26 that the speedy junior finally got the shot that he's been waiting nearly half the season for. "I was just chilling on the 18, basically, and I gave Mason [Wright] a little look," Stobbe said of the sequence that resulted in his first goal of 2019. "He saw me and placed the ball in. It was a weird ball, but I got my head on...
Scoring goals isn't Andy Worrell's specialty, but the Cougars' defender knows a good opportunity when he sees it. Luckily for the Cougars, the 6'-6" senior was uniquely positioned to take advantage of one against Littleton on Sept. 24. "Carter [Kruse] played me a great ball across and I knew they couldn't rise up as high as me, so I just went up and tried to make a play," Worrell said of the heads-up play that broke a 0-0 tie in the second half. "It came off my shoulder more than my head, but...
Niwot cross country has emerged as one of the top programs in Colorado, and now it can claim its spot among the best teams in the southwestern U.S., after an impressive performance at the Nike Desert Twilight Festival in Casa Grande, Ariz. on Sept. 27. Paced by senior Samrawit Dishon, the Cougars finished first overall in the elite girls 5000M race, with 80 team points. Dishon posted a personal best time of 17 minutes 8.02 seconds to capture third place, followed by junior Taylor James...
Senior Calista Law may not have had the most hits or RBIs in Niwot’s thrilling 19-17 win over the Northridge Grizzlies on Sept. 18, but for head coach Bobby Matthews, the fourth-year varsity infielder was the day’s most impressive performer by far. “The poor kid was so sick,” he said. “She was throwing up between innings, and she was on base all the time, so she would run from home to first base, and then have to go to the trash can. But she was great for us.” The ailing Law reached base three...
On Saturday, Sept. 28, Niwot's Left Hand Watershed Center is partnering with three other local watershed groups for Front Range Watershed Days, a day-long event to celebrate our area waterways and learn more about the efforts to restore and protect their health. "Watershed Days is really just to inspire people to connect to their watersheds and understand what the term is and that it's a resource that they should care about," LHWC Executive Director Jessie Olson said. Joining her group as co-hos...
Niwot softball has hit a bit of a rough patch since going 7-4 to start the season, but head coach Bobby Matthews was sanguine after his team's messy 7-2 loss to rival Longmont on Sept. 21. With 10 games still to go in the 2019 season, he said his eager team should be able to "clean things up" heading into the final push for the post-season. "We're not as good as we could be, but we've shown glimpses of that," he said. "We've fought and battled through some games, and done some things really...
The health benefits of halotherapy were first observed nearly 200 years ago, but you had to be a Polish salt miner to get them. These days, all it takes to get your salty fix is a quick trip to North Boulder for a visit to Salt of the Earth spa, a "holistic relaxation and rejuvenation center" that promises relief for a variety of common ailments and illnesses. "We get a lot of clients with allergies, sinus problems, and asthma," Salt of the Earth owner Pamela Martyna said. She opened her...
You don't have to look back very far to find the last Niwot football game that ended with a running clock, but it's been at least a decade since the Cougars were the team ahead by more than 40 points. That's just one of the milestones head coach Jeremy Lanter and his players are celebrating after Niwot's 52-0 drubbing of Fort Lupton in front of a raucous homecoming crowd on Sept. 13. "It feels good to be on this side of it," Lanter said after his team's dominating performance against the Blue...
Niwot generated more than 300 yards of offense against Greeley Central in week two, but football games are often won or lost over much shorter distances. Unfortunately, the Cougars had to contemplate that painful lesson on a long bus ride home after falling 17-14 to the Wildcats thanks to some untimely miscues. “Football is an interesting game in the sense that the little inches that you need are all over the field,” Niwot head coach Jeremy Lanter said after the narrow loss. “There were times wh...
Niwot running back Liam Flanagan made a splash in the Cougars’ season opener against George Washington, rushing for a career-best 210 yards and three touchdowns. And that game was no fluke. In 2018, he rushed for more than 100 yards three times, and was indisputably Niwot’s offensive leader. While Flanagan is quick to give credit for his productivity to the offensive line and his coaches, it turns out that he also has some specialized training in his background that has paid off in une...
The Niwot boys tennis team went 21-0 over its first three matches of 2019, but it was the narrow 4-3 victory over Class 5A powerhouse Fairview that head coach Miikka Keronen called his “favorite” of the still young season. “These are the kinds of matches we need,” Keronen said after the tense Sept. 5 bout with the Knights, who finished third at last year’s 5A state championships. “If you want to win the state title, you have to play this caliber of teams. ... People think winning 7-0 is good...
Niwot LID advisory committee held its monthly meeting on Sept. 4. Treasurer’s Report Treasurer Bruce Rabeler presented the LID’s latest revenue report from Boulder County, which showed that the district has collected $92,571 in revenues through June 2019, up 3% from the same period in 2018 ($89,844). However, the growth was concentrated in just a few sectors, most notably retail, where revenues were up nearly 7% (to $36,131 from $33,842). Revenues were down for the Accommodation/Food Ser...
The Niwot gymnastics program isn’t exactly starting from scratch this season, but after graduation and other pursuits lured away much of last year’s varsity roster, fourth-year head coach Marisa Purcell knew that picking up where the team left off after winning the 2018 state title was an unlikely scenario. Instead, she is looking forward to molding a new generation of Niwot gymnasts into state champions, even if she has to be patient in the meantime. “It’s very exciting to have a new team an...
Dia Kline has known since age four that she experiences the world differently than most people do, but it wasn’t until her mid-30s that the Niwot writer and comedian had a formal diagnosis for her lifelong inability to smell—a condition so rare that even a veteran otolaryngologist didn’t believe what he was seeing. “He looked at me like I was a unicorn or the chupacabra—like some magical, mythical being that is sitting in his office,” she recalled. “He told me ‘I’ve done this for 35 years, and I...
What a difference a year makes. In 2018, the Niwot offense couldn't get much going against the George Washington Patriots and limped home after a 36-0 shutout that saw less than 150 yards combined rushing and passing. In 2019, against the same team with largely the same players, the Cougars racked up more than 300 yards and scored four rushing touchdowns in their best offensive performance of the past three years. So what changed in the last twelve months? According to just about everyone in...
