All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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The University of Colorado’s 17th class to be inducted into the CU Athletic Hall of Fame was announced in June and it features former Gunbarrel resident Dick Tharp, who was the school’s athletic director from 1996-2004. Interestingly, Tharp and his staff created the Athletic Hall of Fame early in his tenure as AD. Among his many accomplishments at CU, he hired former head football coach Gary Barnett in 1996, oversaw a $42.6 million expansion to Folsom Field and developed a long-term plan for the athletic department. “I'm honored by it, humbl...
Anne Booth and Autumn Rutherford were both major producers in nearly every facet of the game last year for Niwot High School softball. Now entering their junior seasons, expectations have only risen as the Cougars begin their quest for a second consecutive playoff appearance. Niwot's pair of junior stars combined for 13 home runs last season and were the only Cougars to hit over .500, plus Rutherford led the team in stolen bases and Booth won 12 games in the circle. CeCe Smith, Zoe Cameron,...
Reaching the 4A state championships for the first time since 2017 wasn't a fluke for last year's Niwot boys golf team - it was simply a product of a consistently competitive program. The Cougars brought one golfer from each grade level to the state tournament and finished seventh in class 4A. Although they'll now be without 2022 graduate Christopher Gunlikson, who placed sixth individually at state, the foundation remains sturdy for a successful fall season. "We've got a pretty good program," sa...
Although she's just entering her junior year, Julia Rudolph has been a valuable leader for Niwot High School track and field. Rudolph was named a team captain last season and then helped the Cougars win the 4x400-meter relay state title, as well as the state Class 4A team championship. Rudolph continued to beat the competition in early June at the Great Southwest Track and Field Classic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Competing for Niwot track head coach Maurice Henriques' REAL Training, she ran a...
Just as NFL rookies start reporting to training camp in mid-July all across the country, the young athletes of Niwot Youth Sports were recently treated to an opportunity to start prepping for the upcoming flag football season. While it doesn't seem like football weather, anyone who has played football growing up knows that the summer months are where workouts and practices increase in intensity. It's where the work is done and champions are created. So how do you start building champion...
This fall will look a little different for Niwot senior Ben Classen. After spending the past two years playing football, the Niwot High incoming senior has decided to shift his complete focus to track and field. Classen believes his best chance of securing an athletic scholarship will come through track, a sport that he excelled in last spring. His decision also factored in the elimination of any potential for injury he could have suffered playing football. Last season, Classen was named...
For Niwot's Skyler Messenger, All-Star Game week was more than just a break in the major league season when MLB All-Stars would perform on a national stage, and fans would get a chance to see the best players in the world. In addition to a Home Run Derby and a Futures Game, the week included the amateur draft, conducted over three days, with plenty of TV coverage, unlike days of old, when the draft could go as high as 70 rounds and was clouded in secrecy. As recently as 2019, the draft went 40...
A rarity in most sports, Rachel Noble was a four-year varsity player on the Niwot girls basketball team. The 2022 grad accumulated an impressive 80 career games played while scoring a total of 254 points in a Cougar uniform. She was also part of a tight-knit senior class that included Carly Toothaker, Jordyn Stewart, Maddi Tajchman and Grace Crall, who together helped Niwot (7-15) win its most games since the 2018-19 season. "I loved my senior season," Noble said. "It wasn't anything on the reco...
Niwot Youth Sports (NYS) is hosting a series of events to raise money for the Monarch Improvement Project. NYS, which was originally formed in 1972 as Gunbarrel Lefthand Valley Boys Baseball, Inc, is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing exceptional recreational and competitive sports experiences for kids ages 4 to 18 in the Niwot-Gunbarrel area. These programs, which include baseball, softball, basketball, flag football & soccer, provide children with the opportunity to participate i...
The third and final day of the Major League Baseball draft ended the suspense for Niwot High School grad Skyler Messinger when the Colorado Rockies selected him in the 19th round of the annual amateur draft. Messenger was draft pick number 566 overall after finishing his collegiate baseball career at the University of Texas. He played third base for Texas this season, posting a .364 batting average with 11 homers and 59 RBI. After a stellar career as a shortstop at Niwot High, Messenger was draf...
With the final games played this past week, a terrific Niwot Youth Sports recreational softball season has officially come to a close. NYS softball teams played league games and tournaments through the Indian Peaks Girls Softball Association (IPGSA), which has connected softball teams across the Northern Front Range for nearly 40 years. In all, NYS fielded 13 softball teams, comprised of over 170 players in divisions ranging from 8U to 18U, some of the highest participation numbers the program...
Staying active is a must for recent Niwot grad Grace Crall, and she accomplished this need well by playing both basketball and soccer during her successful high school career. In Crall's final basketball campaign with the Cougars, she led the team in three categories: rebounds (110), blocks (12) and assists (30). The senior took particular pride in her rebounding, which as a taller player, was a facet of the game that was drilled into her from an early age. "I think a lot of people don't want...
The Niwot High School football field is getting a facelift, and more. Work has been underway for a month on replacing the sod on the field with artificial turf, with plans to host the NHS Homecoming football game at the school this fall. Along with the turf replacement, a permanent fence is also being installed around the perimeter of the field. Some members of the community are not happy about the fence, which school officials claim is necessary to prevent vandalism to the field and to prevent...
Gracing the podium's peak is nothing new for 2014 Niwot alum Elise Cranny. Nearly one year removed from her first Olympics, she made national headlines once again on June 26 by taking first place in the 2022 USATF Outdoor Championships' 5000-meter with a time of 15 minutes, 49.15 seconds Cranny's win came courtesy of an impressive surge in the final 2000 meters. After crossing the 3000-meter mark well behind the leaders, and in ninth place - albeit still within one second of first - she made a m...
Years worth of hard work on and off the golf course paid off for local amateur golfer Kelsey Webster at the Colorado Women's Open at the beginning of June. Webster's history with the game of golf has had its fair share of ups and downs over that same time period, but her perseverance and positive attitude led her to a new victory recently. Webster, a Gunbarrel resident, grew up playing golf around the Boulder Country Club and attended Fairview High School where she played on the girl's golf...
One of the first gifts Carly Toothaker could remember receiving as a young child was a soccer ball, and after some time to reflect on her recently-completed high school career, that present can be considered an ember to a life encapsulated by sport. Toothaker's father became her first soccer coach, with her mother doing the same in basketball. The immense early guidance helped her become a multi-year varsity starter in both sports at Niwot High. In soccer, which she considers her primary sport,...
When Skye Messinger was drafted in the 22nd round by the Chicago Cubs coming out of Niwot High School in 2017, he had a difficult decision to make – take the bonus money they were offering, or accept a scholarship to play Division I baseball at the University of Kansas. Messinger opted for the college experience, turning down the Cubs' offer to go to KU, where he had a solid career, albeit one interrupted by Covid-19. He reasoned that if he were good enough, he would have a chance to play p...
Becoming a state championship-caliber track and field athlete is a calculated process. Even as the so-called "offseason" commences during the summer, Niwot's top talent remains focused on maximizing their abilities. Cougar head coach Maurice Henriques, fresh off leading Niwot's girls team to another state title, stays working with his athletes through his club program, REAL Training. The club includes athletes from across the state and in June alone, REAL has competed in two prominent meets:...
Three Niwot Youth Sports players practiced their swings early Saturday morning at Left Hand Valley Grange Park to beat the afternoon heat. Julianna, Wesley, and Burke Deens were there taking some batting practice with their dad and coach just in time for Father's Day. Julianna is a pitcher and first baseman on the Wildcats 10U softball team, and when asked about how the team's season was going she said, "Our team is doing really well, and our hitting has really improved so far." Her dad, Jeremy...
A Niwot Youth Sports week-long baseball camp was a casualty of Covid-19 for the past two years, but with restrictions lifted, the popular camp returned, as did former camp director Bob Bote. For years, dating back to the early 1980s, Bote conducted a baseball camp for players 5 to 13, using high school players as camp coaches. Bote, who served as the Niwot High School head coach from 1979 through 2006, won five state Class 4A state titles during his tenure, and his summer camps, often sponsored...
Not many high school baseball pitchers have suffered the setbacks Nick Yard has experienced during his prep career. The recent Niwot High graduate has undergone not one, but two Tommy John surgeries over the past three years. Following his freshman season in which he was second on the Cougars' varsity staff with 35 innings pitched, Yard braved his first Tommy John surgery in January of his sophomore year to repair his ulnar collateral ligament. He then fought back and pitched just one game his...
Niwot track and field athletes don't get much of an offseason. Only a few weeks removed from the state championships, the Cougars, competing for head coach Maurice Henriques' REAL Training club team, are staying sharp in June. Henriques' group of tracksters began the month by visiting Albuquerque, New Mexico, from June 2-4 to participate in the Great Southwest Track and Field Classic. Niwot juniors Kimora Northrup (girls) and Eric Walker (boys) each won their respective 400m hurdles events, and...
Having never touched a pole in his life, Niwot senior Nicholas Stade needed just three weeks to learn the pole vault and place ninth in the Class 4A state track and field championships on May 22. Stade said that after he was unable to qualify for state in the 110-meter hurdles, it was his head coach Maurice Henriques who challenged the team player to help Niwot gain an extra point or two. His vault of 12 feet, 9 inches was a pleasant result. "I really surprised myself with being able to do...
Niwot High took four golfers to the state Class 4A state championship at Tiara Rado Golf Course in Grand Junction May 31-June 1, and the results did not disappoint. "We had a great state tournament," Head Coach Ed Weaver said. "We finished fifth place overall, which I'm very happy with. After the first day, we were fifth, but sixth, seventh and eighth place teams were very close." The Cougars separated from the pack on day two, finishing 26 strokes ahead of sixth-place Cheyenne Mountain. Erie...
The Niwot High boys track team entered the state Class 4A meet as the defending state champion, and came close to a repeat, finishing in a tie for second with Cheyenne Mountain at 60 points each, just behind Longmont with 76. The Cougars were led by senior Zane Bergen, who won the 800m (1:52.07) by more than two seconds, and took second in the 1600m and fourth in the 3200m (9:08.60). Bergen, who will run for Stanford next year, was also a part of the winning 4 x 400 relay team. “He’s a great kid,” Head Coach Maurice Henriques said. “He definit...
If you were to walk into the athletic training room in Niwot High after the school day is over, you might see tennis balls flying through the air and an array of athletes practically climbing over each other as they do their exercises. Laughter would probably fill the air and someone probably would say, "Maja, you need a new training room." "I know," athletic trainer Maja Watne would say with a laugh and a sigh. "I try to make it fun...My favorite part of the day is when it's a little crazy,...
Niwot track and field coach Maurice Henriques celebrated a third straight Class 4A state championship with his girls, which for the first time included his daughter, freshman Eliana Henriques, who ran the first leg (100m) of the winning sprint medley relay(1:48.80). The Cougars scored a dominating 170 points. Mullen, which finished second, scored 61. Senior Eva Klingbeil led the way with victories in the 1600m (4:49.66) and 3200m (10:29.62), and also ran the anchor leg on the winning 4 X 800 relay. “She had great times,” Henriques said. “He...
Senior Anna Sallee led the Niwot girls tennis team to a fifth-place finish at the Class 4A state tournament in Pueblo May 12-14. Sallee took home the No. 2 singles state title with a hard-fought 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 win over Pine Creek senior Manoela Amantini Quintanilha. Sallee finished second in No. 2 singles in 2021. Sallee advanced easily through the first two rounds, 6-0, 6-0 victories over both opponents, from Thomas Jefferson and Windsor, respectively. Her semi-final victory came over Kent...
The Niwot Cougars traveled to Monument to take on the fourth-seeded Palmer Ridge girls soccer team in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. Niwot entered the playoffs as the 29th seed, with a record of 8-7, while Palmer Ridge was 13-2-1. The Cougars started the season with a non-league 1-0 loss to Palmer Ridge. After a non-league 1-0 win over Skyline, Niwot suffered a 4-game losing streak, but only one of the games, a 4-0 loss to Northridge, was a league contest. Northridge went 9-0 in the...
The Silver Creek Raptors, defending state champions from 2021, came close to defending their title, finishing second in Colorado's 2022 Class 4A State Swimming & Diving Championships. The Raptors, a combined Silver Creek and Niwot High School based team, scored 371.5 points, just behind Cheyenne Mountain's total of 402 points. The two-day competition took place Thursday, May 12th and Friday, May 13, with spectators crowding into Thornton's Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center to watch the young men...
Tennis Taylor Thulson (Niwot 2018) helped Carleton College to a return trip the NCAA Championships in women's tennis. Carleton College, located in Northfield, Minn., a Div. I program, qualified for the NCAA tournament for the eighth time, and the first time since 2019. Carleton (15-1) entered the MIAC Playoffs seeded No. 2, but defeated the top seeded and 37th-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College 5-1 in the conference finals. Carleton's only loss this season had come against Gustavus. Thulson, a...
A seventh-inning come-from-behind victory over Thompson Valley May 5 sparked the Niwot Cougar baseball team to follow up with an 11-1 mercy-rule win over Adams City May 7. In the Thursday game, two walks followed by two singles and a stolen base led to three quick runs for Thompson Valley. Senior starter Jack Brooker walked two more batters to load the bases with no outs, and a wild pitch led to a fourth run, but Brooker settled down to retire the next hitter on a ground ball to first baseman...
Getting ready for the state track & field championships which begin May 19 is nothing new for the Niwot Cougars, as both the boys and girls squads are defending Class 4A champions. “We probably have 30 to 40 athletes who have qualified for state,” Coach Maurice Henriques said. The Cougars are just coming off a Longs Peak Conference meet held at Longmont High School last weekend. The St. Vrain Invitational on Friday, May 13, will be the last tuneup for Niwot as the Cougars prepare to defend their titles. “We’re not quite sure of some of the rel...
North Carolina has been one of Niwot High grad Luke Kingsley's favorite teams since he was a little boy, according to his wife, Katie Spencer Kingsley, also a Niwot grad. As North Carolina made its way to an improbable Final Four appearance at the NCAA basketball championships in New Orleans, Luke got a call from a friend in North Carolina, who said, "I have a ticket for you, your wife and Brady...." As it turned out, the friend, Justin Cavenaugh, had met Luke at the Final Four in Phoenix in...
Niwot pitcher Jack Brooker made quick work of The Academy lineup in the first inning of a 10-8 Cougar win April 30. After retiring the leadoff hitter on a lazy fly ball to centerfielder Brock Rothstein, the next batter beat out a soft grounder in the infield. Brooker then picked the runner off first base with a quick move to first baseman Julian Lettow, who ran the runner toward second base where shortstop Jed Kilpatrick applied the tag. Brooker finished the inning by striking out the next batte...
They started by stirring things up in their physical education class at Niwot High School last fall. Freshmen Samantha Zacky and Anne Haley became partners in pickleball and every other sport they played in PE. They felt like they had a good connection and were successful as a team. But it was one particular badminton game that convinced them they had something special. "We defeated the teacher in badminton," Zacky said. "That's when we knew we were good together," Haley added. Neither girl had...
Hangge Fields at Monarch Park will host Opening Day ceremonies on Sunday, May 1st, for the Niwot Youth Sports baseball and softball seasons. Ball games will start earlier, but at 10 a.m., NYS officials will interrupt play to conduct an Opening Day ceremony, complete with a performance of the Star Spangled Banner by the Niwot Community Semi-Marching Free Grange Band, and a special guest appearance by Dinger, official mascot of the Colorado Rockies. Families who have made significant...
A double play sealed a come-from-behind victory for Niwot over Northridge April 19, with the Cougars posting a hard-fought 8-7 win. Niwot took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with a four-run rally to put the Cougars on top by a run. Northridge got the tying run to second base with no outs, but a heads-up play by first baseman Jack Brooker on a bunt retired the runner at third base as Brooker fired to third-baseman Spencer Olson who applied the tag for the first out. With a runner on...
Gale-force winds helped propel the Niwot Cougars to their first victory of the season April 7 with a 21-3 win over Berthoud. Coach Ken Rosales, in his first season at the helm, picked up his first victory after seven losses, several of the heart-wrenching variety (10-9, 1-0, and 6-5). But after a slow start in the first inning against Berthoud, which ended with the Cougars down 1-0, the bats came to life and Niwot, with the help of eight Berthoud errors, scored seven, six and eight runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings, respectively. Overall...
Veteran swimming coach Debbie Stewart is pleased with the early-season performance of her squad, which includes boys from Silver Creek and Niwot High schools, as well as a few other schools which don't have a team. And to top it off, Silver Creek has a brand new pool. "It's been beautiful," Stewart said. "Club teams are trying to get in," but St. Vrain Valley School District Athletic and Activities Director Chase McBride has kept it exclusively for use by district high school teams in the...
Weather has been winning the battle for the tennis courts this spring, but Niwot girls tennis is settling into the season with a 2-1 record and getting close to nailing down the lineup. The team returns three experienced players for the top three singles spots: Junior Alys Pop is #1, Senior Anna Sallee is #2 and Senior Georgia Lang is #3. All played on the team that took third in last year's Class 4A state championships. Four freshmen have landed a spot on the team. The top three doubles spots...
Thanks to a snowy start to March, the 2022 golf season was delayed until after spring break, but the Niwot girls seem to have made the most of their extra time to practice. In two events during the final week of the month, the Cougars posted two top-five finishes and, to coach Ed Weaver's delight, showed signs that the best is still yet to come. "It was a solid performance all around, from the senior to the new freshmen," he said after Niwot's fourth-place finish among the 17 teams at the PSD...
BASEBALL David Bote, son of longtime Niwot High baseball coach Bob Bote, was placed on the 60-day injured list by the Chicago Cubs on March 19 as he continues to recover from off-season shoulder surgery. Bote, an infielder, dislocated his left shoulder while reaching back to touch second base after a slide sent him past the base on May 30, 2021. He missed almost two months of the season, but returned on July 25, only to go back on the injured list with a sprained ankle August 28. He is expected...
It took a little longer than expected, but Niwot will officially welcome boys volleyball as a varsity sport in the 2022-23 school year. The anticipated offering will mark the lone boys volleyball program in the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD). Following a successful eight-week pilot club season in the spring of 2019 and the subsequent sanctioning of boys volleyball into the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA), Niwot was intending to launch a varsity program in 2020....
After a three-year absence, one of the most competitive bicycle races in Colorado is returning to Boulder County next month. Modeled after one of the world's oldest single-day cycling competitions, the Boulder Roubaix will test up to 1,000 riders on a partially-paved 18.7-mile course that winds through the bucolic hills of Niwot, Longmont, and Hygiene. "Typically we go every other year, but we weren't interested in helping to spread the virus in any way shape or form, so it was an obvious...
When Sydney Rothstein was six years old, her father started taking her to the late lamented Haystack Mountain golf course where, through a series of outrageous bets and parental indulgence, he didn't just teach his daughter how to play the game, but made her fall in love with it. More than a decade later, Rothstein has turned that love for golf into a successful high school career at Niwot High that has included two state tournament appearances, and a lot of fun with friends along the way. But...
High school soccer in March is not known for its great weather or its top-notch play, and Niwot's home debut on March 16 against Skyline was a case in point-at least in the first half. Fortunately for those in the Cougars half of the stands, the home team was able to overcome the sluggish start, and eventually came away with a hard-fought 1-0 victory. Afterwards, third year head coach Jenna Machado explained that the youthful team has yet to find its identity, but the new dynamics are starting...
