Out in Leftfield

TRACK

Lauren Sharpe (Niwot) and Rachel Sharpe (Niwot) competed for the University of Colorado at the Tom Benich Invite in Greeley April 2. Lauren took 14th in the 100M Hurdles with a time of 16.29, while Rachel was right behind, finishing 15th with a time of 16.56. In the 400M event, Rachel took 12th with a time of 26.21, while Lauren finished 15th with a time of 26.81. In their best event of the day, the Sharpe sisters placed ninth (Rachel) and tenth (Lauren) in the Long Jump, with leaps of 5.15M and 5.10M, respectively. A week later, Rachel finished 14th (26.23) and Lauren finished 17th (26.96) in the 200M at the CU Invitational. Rachel also took 13th (16.49) in the 100M Hurdles, while Lauren finished 17th (17.54) in the same event.

BASEBALL

David Bote, son of former NHS baseball coach Bob Bote, made an appearance with the Chicago Cubs in a major league exhibition game this spring. Bote, an infielder, was inserted into the game as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning of a March 13 game against Oakland that ended in a 3-3 tie. Bote was assigned to the Cubs Class A affiliate in Myrtle Beach, where he went 2-4 with two doubles and two RBI’s in his first game.

Connor Messinger (Niwot) was having a fine season for Nebraska-Kearney before going down with a hand injury in a 12-10 win over Wayne State March 16. Messinger doubled, driving in a run, and later scored in his last at bat before being replaced at first base by NHS grad Pate Katechis, who moved in from right field. Messinger had surgery March 18 on his right hand March 22. Tanner Kirkpatrick, another NHS grad, gained his first start behind the plate in a 16-3 loss to Washburn. Kirkpatrick had two hits in three at bats. Messinger, a senior, was hitting .348 with one homer, 14 RBI’s and 20 runs scored when he was injured. Katechis is batting .286, and is tied for the team lead with seven homers to go with a team-high 35 RBI’s. Kirkpatrick is hitting .545, going 6-11 at the plate in eight games.

Greg Reynolds (Silver Creek) is hitting .324 on the season for Colorado Mesa University with 14 runs scored and eight RBI’s. He had six hits in 15 at bats with three RBI’s in a 4-game series against Adams State April 1-3. Reynolds has started 22 games and played in 30 of the team’s 32 games.

SOFTBALL

Nickie Blue (Niwot) won her 13th game pitching the University of South Carolina April 8 to a 14-0 win over Arkansas. Blue also picked up her 14th win the next day with two innings of shutout relief in a 7-5 win over Arkansas, before taking the loss, her eighth, on April 10 to the same team, 10-5.

Shelby Keil (Silver Creek) is hitting .259 for the University of South Dakota this season. Keil, the starting shortstop, is third on the team in batting average, and tied for the team lead in doubles with 10. She led South Dakota to a 10-9 victory over IUPUI April 9 with three hits, including two doubles, scoring twice and driving in two more runs.

Haille Weber (Silver Creek) is hitting .537 in 46 games for Western Nebraska Community College, second highest on the team. Weber, a freshman outfielder, leads the team with 77 runs scored, 11 triples and 87 RBI’s. Her 14 homeruns are second on the squad. Teammate Cassie Jones (Silver Creek), another freshman outfielder, is hitting .278 in 22 games, with 11 runs scored and three RBI’s.

McKenna Kostelecky (Silver Creek) is hitting .357 for Dickinson State on the season, with two homeruns and 17 RBI’s in 23 games. Kostelecky, a first baseman, went 3-3 with three RBI’s in a 12-3 win over Presentation April 3.

Ashley Beavers (Silver Creek) has seen action in 34 games for Fort Hays State this season, primarily as a pinch runner. Beavers has scored eight runs on the season while starting two games.

HOCKEY

Defenseman Michael Sdao of Niwot was traded by the Ottawa Senators to the Buffalo Sabres Feb. 27 in a 7-player transaction. Sdao was traded along with Alex Guptill, Eric O’Dell and Cole Schneider, in exchange for forwards Jason Akeson and Phil Varoneand defenseman Jerome Leduc. All of the players involved in the deal played in the American Hockey League, with Sdao and his teammates going from the Binghamton Senators to the Rochester Americans. At the time of the trade, Sdao had two assists and a plus-4 rating in 17 games for Binghamton this season. He posted two assists in his first game for Rochester, a 7-3 win over the Springfield Falcons March 4. On March 13, Sdao picked up an assist against his former team in a 6-1 loss to Binghamton. He added another assist in a 5-1 win over Syracuse April 2.

Senior Jon Sdao of Niwot ended his season with four goals and two assists as a forward for Colby College, playing all 25 games of the season. Sdao scored his fourth goal in a 2-1 loss to Amherst Feb. 6. Colby earned the seventh seed in the NESCAC tournament, but lost in the first round, 3-1, Feb. 27, to finish with a 9-11-5 record.

Matias Cleland (Niwot) finished the season with five goals and 22 assists for the University of New Hampshire. His assist total was third-best on the team. Cleland scored his fifth goal of the season in a 3-2 loss to Merrimack March 4 after picking up two assists a day earlier in a 3-1 win over Merrimack. New Hampshire finished with a record of 11-20-6.

GOLF

Cole Nygren (Dawson) of Niwot has the second lowest average score for Cal Poly Men’s Golf this season, shooting an average score of 73. Nygren has finished in the top 20 three times this year, and in the top 10 twice. Nygren tied for third with a 141 at the UGIO Santa Barbara Intercollegiate Tournament April 11, helping Cal Poly to the team title. He finished tied for 20th at the 13-team Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational April 2-3, with a one-over 214, which was the top performance for Cal Poly.

TENNIS

Harrison Lang (Niwot) is 8-6 on the season for Creighton University in 3-singles play. Lang and his partners are 5-5 in 3-doubles contests. Lang won 6-3, 6-4 over his Marquette University singles opponent April 1 before losing two hard-fought matches to Xavier and Iowa opponents, each of which went three sets.

TRACK

Valarie Allman (Silver Creek) won both the women’s discus and hammer throw for Stanford in a dual meet win over California April 9. Allman’s discus throw of 56.13M was more then five meters longer than her closest competitor, while her hammer throw of 57.63M outdistanced her teammate by over one meter. Allman finished second in the discus and sixth in the hammer throw at the Stanford Invite a week earlier. Her best performance outdoors this spring in the discus was a second-place throw of 58.09M (190 feet, 7 inches) at the Hornet Invitational March 19. Her best weight throw indoors this year was 19.11M (62 feet, 8.5 inches) on Feb. 26 at the MPSF Championships, good for fifth place.

Elise Cranny (Niwot) won the indoor mile for Stanford University at the Iowa State Classic Feb. 13 with a time of 4:38.44. She finished eighth in the 3,000M indoors at the MPSF Championships Feb. 27. Cranny also ran the first leg of the distance medley relay indoors at the NCAA Championships March 11, helping Stanford to a third-place finish in the event.

Dana Maydew (Niwot) turned in her best time of the season for Clemson at the Tiger Track Classic April 8-9, running the 800M in 2:14.55. Maydew finished 28th overall out of 63 runners in the event. She also helped Clemson to a 10th-place finish in the 4x400M Relay at the same meet.

Lorne Jenkins (Niwot) finished ninth in the 100M for Campbell College with a time of 11.11 at the UNCW Seahawk Invitational March 12. Jenkins, a junior, also finished second in the triple jump at the UNF Spring Break Invitational March 25-26, and 13th in the long jump with a season-best jump of 7.00M (22 feet, 11.75 inches) at the Florida Relays March 31-April 2.