All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Sorted by date Results 1001 - 1050 of 1623
It will be no small task for the 2019 Niwot cross country program to top the success of last season, especially with the names Layla Roebke, Ares Reading, and Maggie Smith gracing college rosters this year. But that’s the expectation of fourth-year head coach Kelly Christensen, and the results from the Cougars’ season debut at the VistaNation 2Mile Invitational lend credence to his claims. With top finishers in four of the six races at the exclusive meet, Niwot seems to have more than eno...
The Niwot Cougars volleyball team is faced with a challenge to start the season. After graduating an elite senior class last year, now is the time to write a new chapter in the program’s history. Fortunately for Niwot, a slew of fresh faces has brought new excitement to the program. Head coach Daisha Agho will lead the Cougars, who are comprised of seven underclassmen and just one senior on the varsity squad. “It’s definitely a huge gap, we got to fill some shoes for sure, but as far as the g...
A strong upper class will help the Niwot Cougars boys soccer team vie for a Northern League championship. Led by head coach Stephen Dimit, the Cougars have the leadership and work ethic to make 2019 exciting. Finding consistency was something the Cougars struggled with last year. A talented, but young team produced a 9-7-1 record, good enough for fourth in the Northern League. Fortunately for the Cougars, they’ll be returning their leading scorer from last year, junior Keegan Stobbe, as well a...
When head coach Jeremy Lanter took over Niwot’s football program, he began a mission to build great young men and to get students involved. Now in year three, he is doing just that. More students are coming out to play football and there is a buzz around the program. In Lanter’s mind, a successful season isn’t necessarily determined by wins and losses. These student-athletes aren’t playing for multi-million dollar contracts and Lanter’s perspective is often forgotten at the high school le...
Reaching the state tournament is a goal for any team, but especially for Niwot softball head coach Bobby Matthews and his Cougars. Coming up just one game short of making state last year will only fuel the fire in 2019. With a solid core of returning starters, their goal could soon become reality. With a small graduating class from last season, the Cougars will return all but two starters. This year’s returners will also have the experience and knowledge of how to compete for a postseason s...
There weren’t many Niwot names on the top half of the leaderboard after Northern League event #1 at the Olde Course on Aug. 8, but Ed Weaver didn’t expect there to be. With three inexperienced golfers in the varsity lineup, the fifth-year coach is working on a new strategy that probably won’t produce many tournament titles in 2019. “We are a young team, with basically no seniors, so we have the opportunity to develop some new players,” he said. “I want to try to get as many kids tournament...
The track and field and cross country scene in Niwot hasn’t been the same since R.E.A.L. Training Colorado opened its doors in 2007. Led by accomplished coaches Maurice Henriques and Kelly Christensen, the facility offers top level instruction for track and field and cross country athletes. Hard work is a top priority at R.E.A.L. and the athletes take this to heart. Bringing on runners that exemplify these traits is a top priority for Henriques. The success that his runners have had is no m...
Trevor Smith is no stranger to climbing mountains, literally. Born without a right hand, Smith has worked his way to become one of the best paraclimbers in the nation and he doesn’t plan on stopping there. At just 17 years old, he has already competed in the International Federation of Sports Climbing World Championships, twice. What’s even more impressive is that he picked up the sport just three years ago. “Last year was definitely a real eye opening experience for me,” said Smith, who pla...
American Legion Baseball has been a staple in Colorado for years. Due to the influx of club baseball teams, the storied organization is struggling to attract local players and schools to participate. Silver Creek High School head baseball coach Bradley Steward encourages his players to choose the legion route during the summer season. “It’s one of the last traditions of the way baseball used to be,” said Steward, who will be entering his second season leading the Raptors. “They’re just fighting the battle of these club teams popping up, and t...
Less than two months ago, the Boulder Collegians’ upcoming season was full of anticipation. Players from all across the country were arriving in Boulder, optimistic for what was ahead. But just like that, it was over. Over 40 games later, the boys of summer are headed home. The Collegians’ 2019 campaign was full of ups and downs, but one thing that remained the same was the loyalty of their fans. General Manager Matt Jensen said the season broke seven-year attendance records. Scott Car...
The future of Niwot baseball is bright with players on a talented 11-year-old squad hitting their stride. Head coach David Gaccetta led the Niwot Youth Sports Cougars to a 27-4 record and an impressive showing in the 12-year-old state tournament. For the past five years, Gaccetta has watched this team develop as ballplayers and as teammates. It all came into fruition this season. “It’s been really neat watching them (go) from learning how to just play catch with each other to some of the ama...
With just one year of high school swimming under her belt, Mary Codevilla has already put her name among the top swimmers in the nation. The Niwot freshman swam her way into the top 100 in the country in the 200-yard individual medley and 500-yard freestyle, becoming a National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) All-American. Codevilla, who won an individual championship at state last year, has undeniably excelled in her young career. Niwot girls swimming coach Sarah Stamp...
It’s been a whirlwind year for former Niwot pitcher Caleb Martinez, so when he was offered the chance to return to the friendly confines of Scott Carpenter Park and the Boulder Collegians for summer baseball, the right-hander didn’t have to think very hard about it. “I played for the younger BoCo team when I was 16, and that was really fun and a good level of competition to be at,” Martinez said after a recent appearance on the mound for the Collegians, Boulder’s collegiate league team feat...
The Niwot boys basketball team has had its share of disappointments over the past two seasons, but new head coach Clayton Wittrock is only looking ahead. "I met with the seniors on one of my first days in town, and the thing that we agreed upon is that there's a great group of seniors here, and we want them to go out on a positive note," the longtime Grand Junction varsity assistant said. "What they've shown me in just the short time we've had this summer is that with the right kind of...
The 2700 registered riders, 150 to 180 of whom are “riding with MS,” had a rest stop in Niwot’s Whistle Stop Park on Saturday, June 29, while riding from Arapahoe Community College in Westminster to Ft. Collins; by far, the most popular route. Left Hand Brewing is one of the sponsors. Many of the volunteers have been helping with this ride for 20 or more years. On a mission to end MS forever, most riders start their own fundraising so they can donate to research to fight the disease. Rider...
Niwot High principal Eric Rauschkolb wasn’t expecting to need a second replacement for Chase McBride, but putative hire Kevin Clark got an offer he couldn’t refuse. Earlier this month, the former Loveland High administrator announced that he will be assuming the role of full-time district athletic director for the Thompson Valley Schools, a move that allows him to stay in the town he and his family have called home for more than a decade. That left Rauschkolb with an empty spot on the 201...
BASEBALL David Bote, son of long-time Niwot baseball coach Bob Bote, has solidified his position with the Chicago Cubs this season. As a rookie with the Cubs in 2018, Bote was called up from AAA Iowa and sent back five time during the season. In the midst of the call-ups and demotions, Bote had his share of dramatic moments, culminating in a nationally-televised Sunday night ninth-inning, two-out, two-strike, pinch-hit grand slam home run to dead centerfield, allowing the Cubs to snatch a 4-3...
RUNNING Maddy Jalbert (Niwot) ran the San Francisco 50mi/50K Endurance race May 18. Jalbert, who now resides in Los Angeles, elected to run the longer 50-mile course. She was the first woman in and the fourth person overall out of 47 runners. The race has 9,890 feet of elevation gain and Jalbert finished in 9 hours and 36 minutes, battling rain as well as the elevation. TRIATHLON Colin Laughery (Niwot) finished 11th in the last Boulder Ironman on June 9, posting a time of 8:53:52 as a...
There were supposed to be 13 athletes on the Niwot High stage for signing day last month, but state cross-country champion Layla Roebke was having a hard time making up her mind. With competing offers from a diverse selection of NCAA Division I and Division II programs, the senior wasn’t quite ready to sit alongside her classmates and sign away the next four years of her life. “I really, really wanted to make sure that I went to a college that I would do well at and enjoy,” she said. Last week,...
The Niwot track & field team put on a show at this year’s Class 4A state championships, and now the Niwot runners have been showing off across the country. From the Music City Distance Carnival in Nashville to the Great Southwest Classic in Albuquerque, the Cougars have been going up against the nation’s best and often coming out on top. Music City Distance Carnival, Nashville Two weeks after she won a second straight state title in the 800-meter run, Niwot sophomore Taylor James posted a per...
Editor’s note: Part I of this story can be found here. A memorable year for Niwot athletics turned into a memorable Letter of Intent signing day on May 22, as 12 athletes crowded onto the auditorium stage to make an official commitment to competing at the next level. Caleb Churchill, West Point Gymnast Caleb Churchill didn’t have a conventional high school athletic career, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t impressive. In his senior year alone, Churchill took second All-Around in the Colorad...
A memorable year for Niwot athletics turned into a memorable Letter of Intent signing day on May 22, as 12 athletes crowded onto the auditorium stage to make an official commitment to competing at the next level. Half of the future collegians were from the school’s track and field program, which has been among the most successful in the state over that past two seasons. Ares Reading, Furman University Senior year was a memorable one for Niwot distance runner Ares Reading. In October, he f...
The 2019 season was full of remarkable moments for the Niwot girls golf team, so when the Cougars claimed the runner-up title at this year’s Class 4A championships at Pelican Lakes, Head Coach Ed Weaver wasn’t terribly surprised. “I felt good about the team all year,” a jubilant Weaver said after his team finished 21 strokes behind the defending champion Windsor Wizards at the snow-shortened state tournament on May 20. “I hate to say I didn’t think we could beat Windsor, but I didn’t thin...
The boys may have waited until the final event of the meet to claim their team title, but for the Niwot girls, the Class 4A track and field championship was theirs to lose from the start. Shortly before 9 a.m. on the opening morning of the three-day state meet at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood, Niwot junior Samrawit Dishon crossed the finish line of the girls 3200 meter race with a season-best time of 10 minutes, 53.76 seconds to claim second place overall and score the Cougars’ first eight p...
There wasn’t a triumphant photo finish in the Paralympic 100-meter dash at this year’s Colorado track and field championships, but that didn’t bother Niwot’s Michael ‘Misha’ Barrett. “I felt great,” the sophomore said afterwards. He finished in first with a time of 14.11 seconds, more than half a second faster than his time in the Boulder County Championships on April 20. “My coach taught me a lot this season. Before the race, the coach told me to go out there and win, and I went out there and w...
Erika Timbang probably has a new favorite Niwot track memory after her team’s win at the Class 4A state meet on May 18, but heading into the three-day event, the team-centered senior was hard-pressed to single one out. “Is it cheating if I say that I loved every moment of it? All the hard workouts and even when I threw up after practice. Even with the ups and downs, it’s been something I’ve been committed to staying passionate about. It’s one of my reasons to get up.” That passion and commitm...
All eyes in Jeffco Stadium were on Niwot junior Jack Kenkel as he and Durango's Aidan Fitzgerald raced neck-and-neck down the stretch in the final leg of the 4×400 meter relay, the last event of the Class 4A state track and field championships. Down by four points in the team standings, the Cougar relay team of Kenkel, Jensen Douillard, Milo Ostwald and Nolan Johan needed a fifth place or better finish to surpass Pueblo East and claim their first ever team title. The crowd held its collective br...
It was an historic day for coach Maurice Henriques and the Niwot track & field teams, as both the boys and girls captured team titles at the Class 4A state championships, held May 16-18 at Jeffco Stadium. The Niwot girls took the team lead early on day one and were never in much danger of losing it. Over the next three days, the Cougars nabbed three individual and two relay titles, and took second place in three more. In all, nine individuals and all five relay teams made it onto the podium for...
When Richelle Burnett first put her daughter Cielle in ski school at age three, she had an inkling that the athletic youngster would take to the winter sport. That proved prescient when, just five years later, Cielle started out-skiing both her and her husband. Now the rising Niwot freshman is coming off an exciting win in the Buddy Warner league championship (BLW) race, and looking forward to strapping on a pair of boards for the area high school team in Nederland next winter. “I like e...
The Silver Creek boys swim and dive team dominated at the Northern Conference championships, held May 11th at the Mountain View Aquatic Center in Loveland. Led by seniors Hayden Dickinson and Matthew Teta, the Raptors scored 892 points to claim their fifth straight team title and picked up three additional state qualifiers along the way....
Niwot track and field team is sending a robust contingent of athletes to this year’s Class 4A state championships, which open at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood on Thursday, May 16. On the boys side, Niwot will have competitors in all but a handful of events, including junior Cruz Culpepper, the top seed in the 800m run. The Cougars also have the top seeded boys 4x800 relay, and Nolan Johan nabbed a pair of top-five seeds in hurdles. In field events, junior Milo Ostwald made the cut in both long a...
Lu defends her Class 4A singles titles Niwot head coach Aimee Keronen was delighted with her team’s performance at the Class 4A tennis championships in Pueblo last weekend. Unfortunately, she wasn’t quite as delighted with the final team standings. “The girls played amazing,” Keronen said. “It was a great tournament, and I honestly don’t know how we didn’t win. We exceeded expectations in several lines and got three state championships. I had to redo the math quite a bit, because I just couldn...
With just a handful of seniors on their 40-man roster, the Silver Creek boys swim and dive team skews decidedly young in 2019, but that hasn’t stopped it from claiming the top spot in Class 4A’s regular season rankings. Nor did it stop the Raptors from dominating at last weekend’s Northern Conference championships, where they claimed a fifth straight team title after outscoring their nearest opponent by more than 200 points. Now longtime head coach Debbie Stewart is hoping that this youth...
The Niwot girls track team continued its march towards the 2019 Class 4A title with a dominating performance at this year’s Northern Conference Championships, held May 3-4 at Everly Montgomery Field. The Cougars finished in first or second in all but a handful of events to end the day with 247 points, nearly triple that of second-place finisher Thompson Valley (95.5). Sophomore Taylor James was once again Niwot’s top point scorer, with wins in the 400 (56.40 seconds) and 800-meter (2:13.78) rac...
The Niwot girls tennis team has been one of the most competitive programs in Colorado over the past few seasons, and right-hander Rachel Drake is a big part of the reason why. Now as the team prepares to defend its Class 4A state title, head coach Aimee Keronen is looking to her lone senior to help bolster the team’s mental preparedness. “She has been so fun, everybody just loves her, and her attitude is just great,” Keronen said of the veteran, who went 9-1 during her final regular seaso...
Ed Weaver and the Niwot girls golf team have checked off most of the items on their 2019 to-do list: Northern League champions (by 122 strokes), conference Player of the Year (Julia Solem), POY runner-up (Halie Ostrom), and conference Coach of the Year (Weaver). Now they can cross off the penultimate item: qualifying as a team for the upcoming Class 4A championships at Pelican Lakes. “I’m very proud of all the girls,” Weaver said after the Cougars took second overall at the Class 4A Regio...
Despite a few anxious moments, the Niwot girls tennis team punched their ticket back to Pueblo with a rousing win at this year’s Class 4A Region 5 tournament, held May 2-3 in Longmont. Led by sophomore Lucy Lu at No. 1 singles, the 2018 state champion Cougars captured individual titles in six of the seven lines to qualify for a full team berth at the upcoming state meet, which opens at Pueblo City Park on Thursday, May 9. Of course, going to the Class 4A championships is nothing new for the C...
Beginning in the fall of 2020, Colorado high school students will have more options for athletics, after the Colorado High School Activities Association sanctioned three new sports for the first time since 1998. At their annual meeting on April 24, CHSAA’s Legislative Council voted to approve boys volleyball, girls wrestling, and unified bowling, the first new sports since boys and girls lacrosse and girls field hockey were added 20 years ago. Niwot athletic director Chase McBride, who is a...
Terri Ward Longtime Niwot girls basketball coach Terri Ward was formally inducted into the Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Denver on April 23. Ward was selected for induction into the Hall’s 2018 class back in January, due to her decades-long advocacy on behalf of girls and women in high school athletics and involvement with Colorado Coaches of Girls Sports and Sportswomen of Colorado. She also has a coaching career spanning nearly 30-years, and r...
The wins have been few and far between for the youthful Niwot baseball team in 2019, but head coach Adam Strah said there have been definite signs of improvement down the stretch. Unfortunately, that wasn’t much in evidence in the Cougars’ 10-0 loss to Mountain View on April 27. The blowout capped off a hectic four-game stretch for the Cougars, who are still making up for early season weather postponements. The week started off on a promising note for the Cougars, with an 8-6 win over Ber...
The quadrennial summer Olympic Games brings millions of new athletes to gymnastics, and after the U.S. team’s dramatic finish in the 2008 Beijing games, one of those was then-elementary school student Erica Bortfeldt. Bortfeldt’s affinity for the sport has endured, and now, more than a decade later, the Niwot High senior competes for a club team based at Airborne Gymnastics in Longmont. On April 20, she captured the All-Around title in her division at the 2019 NCAA Youth Gymnastics Cha...
Niwot senior Nolan Johan was named Most Valuable Athlete for his outstanding individual performance at the 2019 Boulder County Track & Field Championships last weekend, but it was the first-ever BoCo team win for the Cougars that the hurdler was most eager to talk about in the aftermath. “I knew I had a really good day, so in the back of my head I knew maybe it was a possibility, but it wasn’t really my main focus,” he said of the MVA award, the first for a Niwot boy since 2013. “I was just re...
The Niwot track and field team turned in an historic performance at the Boulder County Championships (BoCo) meet last weekend, with the 10th straight title for the girls and the first-ever title for the Niwot boys. Niwot’s Taylor James and Nolan Johan were also crowned the meet’s Most Valuable Athletes for their high scoring individual performances....
The Niwot girls soccer team hasn’t had much to celebrate this season, so the Cougars’ 10-0 blowout over Greeley Central on April 18 was a much needed respite from this season’s dreary routine. “It was a good game to get the confidence back,” head coach Stephen Dimit said after the win, just their second in 2019. “The finishing was really good today. We actually finished some proper, nice goals today.” More than just “some.” In fact, six players scored on the day, and three had multiple goals, i...
The Niwot track and field team turned in an historic performance at the Boulder County Championships (BoCo) meet last weekend, and now head coach Maurice Henriques can cross a few more items off of the Cougars’ 2019 to-do list. “Our goal was to win this meet on both sides,” Henriques said at the 43rd annual event, held on April 20 at Everly-Montgomery Field. “And, it’s the first time in school’s history that’s happened and the first time for the boys to have a win at the Boulder County Champi...
Led by standouts Julia Solem and Halie Ostrom, the second-ranked Niwot girls golf team has been a top finisher in almost all of its league events so far this season, and now after a 12-stroke win at Centaurus on April 16, the Cougars are poised to win the Class 4A Northern League for the first time in years. “We had a good lead coming in, and I don’t think we gave up much ground, if any,” Niwot head coach Ed Weaver said following the round at Indian Peaks Golf Course in Lafayette. “I know th...
Niwot senior Laure Bourgin wasn’t sure what to expect when she took up golf a little over a year ago, but she wasn’t expecting to uncover a hidden talent. Now the senior is one of the rising stars on the emerging Niwot girls golf team and the sport she once thought of as “relatively interesting” has become a daily habit. “It’s time consuming, but unlike most sports, it’s—I don’t know—elegant, for lack of a better term. I just really like a sport where I can really hone a skill....Golf is on...
If the first half of the 2019 season is any indication, the undefeated Niwot girls tennis team will once again be a strong contender for the Class 4A state championship. But with some marquis challengers on the schedule heading into next month’s regional tournament, head coach Aimee Keronen knows her team will need to stay focused. “We’re right where we want to be right now,” she said after the Cougars’ shutout win over Greeley Central on April 4. “I think Cherry Creek will be a tough test...
South Korea native Jongwon “Jon” Lee came to the United States with his family five years ago, determined to soak up as much of the American experience as possible. Now a highly accomplished student and athlete at Niwot High, Lee’s schedule is almost always packed to the brim, and the busy senior wouldn’t have it any other way. “I want to try as many things as possible, which kind of put me in a situation where I’m having a hard time dealing with all the schedules I have,” he admitted. “Bu...
Boys volleyball is one of the fastest growing high school sports in America, and this spring it could be among the first new team sports to be sanctioned by the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) since 1999. On April 24, members of CHSAA’s Legislative Council will vote on whether to add boys volleyball, girls wrestling, and unified bowling to the list of “official” Colorado high school sports, which has been static since field hockey was sanctioned 20 years ago. So far, boys vol...
