lamar ledger spring sports 2012

8
1 LAMAR LEDGER SPRING SPORTS, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012 P LAMARLEDGER.COM P . Spring sports preview Lamar’s Branson Jennings ,a senior, returns as the starting catcher for the second straight year for the Savages baseball team. John Contreras The Lamar Ledger LAMAR BASEBALL Savages return nucleus on diamond By Reporter The Lamar Ledger With the loss of only two starters from last year’s team, veteran Lamar High School baseball coach Dave Fas- siotto has some high expectations for this year’s season. Lamar is coming off a 17-7 record last year. The Savages rode a 12-game winning streak into the Class 3A state tournament held in Greeley, Colo. Lamar won its first game of the dou- ble-elimination state tournament with a 6-3 victory over Bennett before losing to Eaton, 9-0, and to Hotchkiss, 5-1. This season, the Savages are off a 6-2 start and ranked No. 8 in the Class 3A state ranking by the Denver Post. The Savages won their first five games against Alamosa (25-3), Flor- ence (10-3), Weld Central (8-4), Pueblo Central (10-6) and Pueblo Centennial (28-3) before losing to defending Class 2A state champion Rye (10-9). Lamar opened Tri-Peaks League East Division play against the rival La Junta Tigers on Friday, March 30 at Merchant’s Park. The Savages won the first game, 9-3, before losing the second game in gut- wrenching fashion, 2-1. The loss was the first league setback for Lamar in 29 games. Despite the loss to La Junta, Coach Fassiotto hopes his team learns from it and keeps their focus on hopefully big- ger things to come. “We return guys who have seen a lot of action and bring back a lot of experi- ence,” he said. “The nice thing is that we have depth. We have guys that we can move around who are pretty versatile players.” Lamar pitching staff will feature Thomas Fierro, a senior right hander; Jordan Sena, a senior left hander; Isiah Marti- nez, a senior right hander; Casey Fassiotto, a junior right hander; Kelby Fassiotto, a junior right hander; and Jor- dan Jara, a sophomore right hander. “Pitching is going to be one of assets,” said Fassiotto. “I think we’re pretty deep with our pitching than we were last year. We’ve got four guys who can start at any- time.” Senior Branson Jennings returns for his second season as the starting catcher and his experience will be a valuable asset to how the pitching staff performs this season. “Branson is our anchor and it’s nice to have a veteran behind the plate,” See Lamar Baseball, pg. 2 LAMAR BASEBALL SCHEDULE VARSITY Tues., Apr. 10 — at St. Mary’s, 11:45 Sat., Apr. 14 — at Dolores Huerta, 1:00 Tues., Apr. 17 — DOLORES HUERTA, 4:00 Fri., Apr. 20 — TRINIDAD, 4:00 Sat., Apr. 28 — at Ellicott, 11:00 Sat., May 5 — Cross-divisional playoff, 1:00 Sat., May 12 — District tournament (higher seed), 10:00 May 18-19 — State tournament, Greeley May 25-26 — State tournament, Greeley Junior Kelby Fassiotto returns as one of several players who can play different positions on the field for the Lamar Savages baseball team. John Contreras The Lamar Ledger LAMAR TRACK Lamar has mix of youth, experience By John Contreras The Lamar Ledger The Lamar High School track teams start the season with another large turn- out. Lamar head coach Austin Wertz wel- comed a total of 70 athletes for this year’s teams including 23 female ath- letes and 47 male athletes. With a mix of youth and experience, Wertz said it’s too early to see how things will shape up. “It takes about two or three meets to really see what events the kids fit in,” said Wertz. The Lamar girls and boys teams got the season off to a great start as they swept the team titles in their own Lamar Invitational on March 24 and the Bur- lington Invitational on March 31. Hopefully it is a preview of what may unfold for the rest of the season. “We’ve had some very good perform- ances from both our girls and boys and they’ve did a fantastic job,” said Lamar head coach Austin Wertz. “So far, I’ve been pleased.” The Lady Savages ran away with the team title in the 2012 Lamar Invitational held on a near perfect day at Savage Sta- dium. Wertz said at the beginning of the season that he felt the relays were going to be the strength of the girls team. His prediction has held true to form so far. Lamar won the 400, 800, 1,600, and 800 medley relays in the Lamar meet and won the 40, 800, and 1,600 at Bur- lington. The 400 relay is comprised of Sydney Crist, sr.; Mykinthia Ebron, jr.; Ashley Snyder, soph.; and Chelsea Vallejos, soph. The 800 relay includes senior Ga- brielle Hammer, sr.; Jordan Schwartz, jr.; Regina Westhoff, soph. and Vallejos. Running the 1,600 relay have been Crist; Taylor Wertz, soph.; Payton Kee, fr.; and Vallejos. The 800 sprint medley includes Ham- mer, Schwartz, Lauren Tinnes, soph., and Vallejos. In the sprint events, freshman Ashley Snyder has been a pleasant surprise in the 100 and 200 dash. In the Lamar meet, she won the 100 and finished sec- ond in the 200. In Burlington, she swept See Lamar Track, pg. 2 Chelsea Vallejos, a sophomore, is a member of four relay teams looking to enjoy success for the Lady Savages track team this season. John Contreras The Lamar Ledger LAMAR TRACK SCHEDULE Sat., Apr. 7 — at Limon, 8:00 Tues., Apr. 10 — at Yuma, 9:00 Fri., Apr. 20 — at La Junta, 11:00 Sat., Apr. 28 — at Straburg, 9:00 Sat. April 28 — at Springfield (JV), 9:00 Tues., May 1 — at Garden City, 1:00 Thurs., May 3 — at Swink, TBA Sat., May 12 — Tri-Peaks League meet, La Junta, 10:30 May 17-19 — State meet, Lakwood The Lamar Ledger

Upload: lamar-ledger

Post on 27-Oct-2014

271 views

Category:

Documents


6 download

DESCRIPTION

A preview of this year's spring sports

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Lamar Ledger Spring Sports 2012

1LAMAR LEDGER SPRING SPORTS, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012 LAMARLEDGER.COM ...

Springsportspreview

Lamar’s Branson Jennings , asenior, returns as the startingcatcher for the second straight yearfor the Savages baseball team.

John Contreras The Lamar Ledger

LAMAR BASEBALL

Savages return nucleus on diamondBy ReporterThe Lamar Ledger

With the loss of only two startersfrom last year’s team, veteran LamarHigh School baseball coach Dave Fas-siotto has some high expectations forthis year’s season.

Lamar is coming off a 17-7 recordlast year. The Savages rode a 12-gamewinning streak into the Class 3A statetournament held in Greeley, Colo.

Lamar won its first game of the dou-ble-elimination state tournament with a6-3 victory over Bennett before losingto Eaton, 9-0, and to Hotchkiss, 5-1.

This season, the Savages are off a 6-2start and ranked No. 8 in the Class 3Astate ranking by the Denver Post.

The Savages won their first fivegames against Alamosa (25-3), Flor-ence (10-3), Weld Central (8-4), PuebloCentral (10-6) and Pueblo Centennial(28-3) before losing to defending Class2A state champion Rye (10-9).

Lamar opened Tri-Peaks LeagueEast Division play against the rival LaJunta Tigers on Friday, March 30 atMerchant’s Park.

The Savages won the first game, 9-3,before losing the second game in gut-wrenching fashion, 2-1. The loss wasthe first league setback for Lamar in 29

games.Despite the loss to La Junta, Coach

Fassiotto hopes his team learns from itand keeps their focus on hopefully big-ger things to come.

“We return guys who have seen a lotof action and bring back a lot of experi-ence,” he said. “The nice thing is that

we have depth.We have guysthat we can movearound who arepretty versatileplayers.”

Lamar pitchingstaff will featureThomas Fierro, asenior right hander;Jordan Sena, a seniorleft hander; Isiah Marti-nez, a senior right hander;Casey Fassiotto, a juniorright hander; Kelby Fassiotto,a junior right hander; and Jor-dan Jara, a sophomore righthander.

“Pitching is going to be one ofassets,” said Fassiotto. “I thinkwe’re pretty deep with our pitchingthan we were last year. We’ve gotfour guys who can start at any-time.”

Senior Branson Jennings returnsfor his second season as the startingcatcher and his experience will be avaluable asset to how the pitching staffperforms this season.

“Branson is our anchor and it’s niceto have a veteran behind the plate,”

See Lamar Baseball, pg. 2

LAMARBASEBALLSCHEDULEVARSITY

Tues., Apr. 10 — at St. Mary’s, 11:45Sat., Apr. 14 — at Dolores Huerta,

1:00Tues., Apr. 17 — DOLORES HUERTA,

4:00Fri., Apr. 20 — TRINIDAD, 4:00Sat., Apr. 28 — at Ellicott, 11:00Sat., May 5 — Cross-divisional

playoff, 1:00Sat., May 12 — District tournament

(higher seed), 10:00May 18-19 — State tournament,

GreeleyMay 25-26 — State tournament,

Greeley

Junior KelbyFassiotto returnsas one of severalplayers who canplay differentpositions on thefield for the LamarSavages baseballteam.

John Contreras The

Lamar Ledger

LAMAR TRACK

Lamar has mix of youth, experienceBy John ContrerasThe Lamar Ledger

The Lamar High School track teamsstart the season with another large turn-out.

Lamar head coach Austin Wertz wel-comed a total of 70 athletes for thisyear’s teams including 23 female ath-letes and 47 male athletes.

With a mix of youth and experience,Wertz said it’s too early to see howthings will shape up.

“It takes about two or three meets toreally see what events the kids fit in,”said Wertz.

The Lamar girls and boys teams gotthe season off to a great start as theyswept the team titles in their own LamarInvitational on March 24 and the Bur-lington Invitational on March 31.

Hopefully it is a preview of what mayunfold for the rest of the season.

“We’ve had some very good perform-ances from both our girls and boys andthey’ve did a fantastic job,” said Lamar

head coach Austin Wertz. “So far, I’vebeen pleased.”

The Lady Savages ran away with theteam title in the 2012 Lamar Invitationalheld on a near perfect day at Savage Sta-dium.

Wertz said at the beginning of theseason that he felt the relays weregoing to be the strength of the girls

team.His prediction has held true to form

so far.Lamar won the 400, 800, 1,600, and

800 medley relays in the Lamar meetand won the 40, 800, and 1,600 at Bur-lington.

The 400 relay is comprised of SydneyCrist, sr.; Mykinthia Ebron, jr.; AshleySnyder, soph.; and Chelsea Vallejos,soph.

The 800 relay includes senior Ga-brielle Hammer, sr.; Jordan Schwartz,jr.; Regina Westhoff, soph. and Vallejos.

Running the 1,600 relay have beenCrist; Taylor Wertz, soph.; Payton Kee,fr.; and Vallejos.

The 800 sprint medley includes Ham-mer, Schwartz, Lauren Tinnes, soph.,and Vallejos.

In the sprint events, freshman AshleySnyder has been a pleasant surprise inthe 100 and 200 dash. In the Lamarmeet, she won the 100 and finished sec-ond in the 200. In Burlington, she swept

See Lamar Track, pg. 2

ChelseaVallejos, a

sophomore, isa member of

four relayteams looking

to enjoysuccess for the

Lady Savagestrack team this

season.

John ContrerasThe Lamar Ledger

LAMAR TRACKSCHEDULESat., Apr. 7 — at Limon, 8:00

Tues., Apr. 10 — at Yuma, 9:00Fri., Apr. 20 — at La Junta, 11:00Sat., Apr. 28 — at Straburg, 9:00Sat. April 28 — at Springfield (JV),

9:00Tues., May 1 — at Garden City, 1:00Thurs., May 3 — at Swink, TBASat., May 12 — Tri-Peaks League

meet, La Junta, 10:30May 17-19 — State meet, Lakwood

The Lamar Ledger

Page 2: Lamar Ledger Spring Sports 2012

2 LAMAR LEDGER SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012 LAMARLEDGER.COM...

LAMARLamar Track from page 1LAMAR GIRLS SOCCER

Lady Savages have24 out for teamBy John ContrerasThe Lamar Ledger

Lamar girls soccer coach JoeHarbert welcomed 24 playersout for this year’s team.

The roster will include fiveseniors, five juniors, ninesophomores, and five fresh-men.

The seniors include ShelbyAguilera, Amy Aumus, RatnaMalkan, Daniella Villasenor,and Alyssa Loveland.

Juniors on the team includeCheyenne Figueroa, BridgetLopez, Lucy Madric, LauraRueda, and Kayla Saldana.

Sophomores are Geni Var-gas-Soto, Marta Atencia, Me-lissa Bastain, Theresa Butler,Shaile Taylor, Cierra Medina,Sabrina Montoya-Sandoval,Wendy Galan (from Gra-nada), and Micah Salcedo.

Freshmen players includeMireya Aguirre, GabrielaGonzalez, Emily Pritchett,Peighton Martin (fromMcClave) and Malea Orozco.

Playing midfielders will beAguilera, Villasenor, Figue-roa, and Vargas-Soto.

Defenders include Ausmus,Aguirre, Pritchett, and Mar-tin.

Playing forwards are Mal-kan, Lopez, and Madrid.

Goal keepers are Orozcoand Loveland, and Rueda.

Lamar is playing its secondyear at the varsity level andit’s been a tough start for theLady Savages.

The team is 0-6 but Harberthopes his team can turn itaround looking at the secondhalf of the season.

“We’ve played a prettytough schedule so far andhaven’t won a match,” saidHarbert. “But this team isworking hard and has a goodattitude. Our record is notgood, but the girls are a joy tobe around.”

John Contreras The Lamar Ledger

Lamar’s Hector Morales , a senior, will lead the Savages in the shot put this season.

both events.

Audrey Parker will lead La-mar in the 100 hurdles andLauren Tinnes in the 300 hur-dles.

In the throwing events,sophomore Allison Sena andCrist will lead the way in theshot put while Summer Eber-hardt and Sena will lead theway in the discus.

Payton Kee will carry theLady Savages in the 1,600 runand senior Susie Lira in the800 run and the 3,200 run.

In the jumping events, sen-ior Gabrielle Hammer will becompeting in the high jump;sophomore Sarah Blain in thelong jump and triple jump; andsophomore Regina Westhoffin the triple jump.

The Lady Savges also hadsix individual place second in-cluding Snyder in the 200

dash; Audrey Parker, sr., inthe 100 hurdles; Tinnes in the300 hurdles; Crist in the shotput; Summer Eberhart, soph.,in the discus; and Hammer inthe high jump.

For the Lamar boys,sophomore Josh Davis, juniorAnthony LaTour seniors No-lan Anderson and Davis Hag-gard and freshman Rey Lirawill lead the way in the dis-tance events.

Senior Anthony Holdrenand junior Dakota Jara willpace the Savages in the 110and 300 hurdles.

Freshman Justevin Coberly,sophomore Horacio Maldona-do, and senior Erik Niesch-burg will carry Lamar in thesprint events.

In the throwing events La-mar will be led by seniorsTony Herrera, Hector Mo-

rales, and Julian Carrillo andjunior Chris Hicks.

In the jumping events willbe junior Josh Aguilera in thehigh jump; junior DevanteKemp in the long jump; Cober-ly in the long jump and triplejump; and freshman Hector Al-varado in the long jump.

In the relay events, Holdren,senior Erik Nieschburg; soph-omore Uriel Vasquez, andsophomore Horacio Maldona-do have comprised the 400 re-lay.

Running the 800 relay havebeen Nieschburg, Aguilera,Vasquez, and Maldonado.

The 1,600 relay includes An-derson, Binder, Holdren, andVasquez and the 3,200 relayconsists of Anderson, seniorPhilip Binder, senior DavisHaggard, and junior DaltonBray.

John Contreras The Lamar Ledger

Mireya Aguirre is a freshman seeing varsity playing time of theLamar girls soccer team.

LAMAR GIRLSSOCCER SCHEDULE

Sat., Apr. 7 — Lamar vs. Salida at Dolores Huerta, 11:00Mon, Apr. 9 — RYE, 4:00Wed., Apr. 11 — at Colorado Springs School, 4:15Sat., Apr. 14 — at James Irwin, 11:00Mon., Apr. 16 — COLORADO SPRINGS SCHOOL, 4:15Thurs., Apr. 19 — at Trinidad, 4:00Tues., Apr. 24 — FOUNTAIN VALLEY, 4:00Thurs., Apr. 26 — at Rye, 4:30Sat., May 5 — VANGUARD, 12:00Wed., May 9 — State tournamentWed., May 12 — State tournamentWed., May 17 — State tournamentWed., May 19 — State tournamentWed., May 22 — State tournament

GOMcCLAVE

CARDINALS!Lamar Baseball from page 1said the Lamar skipper.

In the infield, Martinez re-turns at shortstop when notpitching and junior JaminTate is back at third base.

Filling the position at firstbase will be junior Kelby Fas-siotto and Jordan Jara at sec-ond base.

The outfield returns intactand will feature senior TylorJara in left field; junior KodiakRatzlaff in center field; andjunior Casey Fassiotto returnsin right field.

“Our infield and outfieldwill be solid, but we’ve got tokeep working to improvethrough the season,” said Fas-siotto.

Reserves for Lamar will be

sophomores Payden Brene-man, Zach Ramsey, and GabeSalazar and freshmen BrentCrampton and Jake Specht.

Fassiotto feels his team willbe the front runner to repeat

as the East Division champi-ons, but he said anyone canget beat on any given day.

That was proved against LaJunta.

“The nice thing is that wehave depth. We have guysthat we can move aroundwho are pretty versatileplayers.”

Dave FassiottoLamar High School baseball coach

Good LuckGood Luckthis yearthis year

Lamar Savages!Lamar Savages!

109 SOUTHMAINLAMAR, CO 81052(719) 336-7911

TUES-SAT 5:30-12:30PM

Have a GreatSeasonLamar

Savages!

CALLUSFIRST

MYWHOLESALEPRODUCTS

ServiceSpecializing in All Your Tire Needs

320605 Speculator Circle Lamar, CO 81052Cell (719) 688-8265 (719) 336-0403

All Brands – New – Mobile Service

ACETire

GO LAMARSAVAGES!

Good Luckand

have aGreat Season.

1005 E. HWY 50Lamar, CO 81052

(719) 336-2236 Phone(719) 336-3523 Fax

GOLAMARSAVAGES

ValleyNational Bank

204 South 4th St.Lamar, Co.

719 -336-4381105 S. 4th Street • Lamar

www.thetirestore.com719.336.9075 • Fax

719.336.9077

Have a GreatSeason

LAMAR SAVAGESand run the

competition over!

Page 3: Lamar Ledger Spring Sports 2012

3LAMAR LEDGER SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012 LAMARLEDGER.COM ...

HOLLYHOLLY TRACK HOLLY BASEBALL

Wildcats under new coachBy John ContrerasThe Lamar Ledger

With the retirement of long-time head coach Bruce Roup,the Holly High School base-ball team will be under theguidance of new coach CaseyHines.

Hines isn’t new to the pro-gram after serving as a volun-teer assistant in 2010 and asthe assistant coach in 2011.

He brings vast experienceand knowledge of the game tothe Holly program.

Hines played four years onthe varsity for the La JuntaHigh School Tigers as an out-fielder, infielder (shortstop),and pitcher.

He then played for twoyears at Otero Jr. College andfrom there went on to play oneyear as an infielder at North-western Oklahoma State Uni-versity.

Hines went on to play twoyears in the Colorado Semi-Pro Baseball League as an in-fielder.

“It feels good to finally bethe head coach of a baseballteam,” he said. “I’m excited.”

With a new athletic complexunder construction on the Hol-ly School grounds, the teamwill play their home games inGranada this season.

The team also has beenpracticing on a field on thewest end of Holly which is notregulation.

“It’s been a little stressfulnot having a regulation field topractice on,” said Hines. “Butwe’re making it work.” Hinesinherits a team that lost somekey players to graduation.

“We had a lot of seniors onthe team last year and most ofthem were dominant playersin our league,” he said. “Now,we’re just trying to find somenew players to fill positions.”

Hines will be looking at anentire new pitching staff aswell as filling spots at secondbase, shortstop, and severalpositions in the outfield.

Holly has 18 candidates outfor this year’s team includingfive seniors, four juniors, foursophomores, and five fresh-man.

The pitching staff for theWildcats will include threeseniors: Stetson Rushton, Fa-bian Rodriquez, and TannerBarth. Hines will also look tojuniors Alex Rodriquez and Jo-seph Parker; sophomore Ed-die Rodriquez; and freshmen

Colby Salisbury and OscarCalderon to seed duty on themound.

“We’ve got a lot to work todo with our pitching,” saidHines. “We don’t have a domi-nant arm like we did last yearin All-State pitcher RichardHernandez. But we’ve got kidswho can throw 30 or 40 pitch-es and just need to see whocan throw strikes.”

Junior Sy Donaldson and Jo-seph Parker will handle thecatching duties behind homeplate

The infield will be solid be-hind Tanner Barth at firstbase; Eddie Rodriquez at sec-ond base; Alex Rodriquez atthird base; and sophomore Ja-son Barth at shortstop.

Also seeing work in the in-field will be sophomore DrewThompson as well as BaileyKennedy, Oscar Calderon,Haydden Humburg, and Ma-son Pierce, all freshmen.

“I think our infield is goingto be pretty good,” said Hines.“Obviously, I’m going to havea lot of passion with the in-field. If we can make the rou-tine plays, that leads to spec-tacular plays.”

Hines will have a number ofplayers to choose from in theoutfield.

Freshman Colby Salisburyhas been tabbed as the starterin left field. Rotating in centerfield will be seniors Fabian Ro-driquez and Stetson Rushtonand sophomore ChristianOrozco in center field. Playingin right field will be junior Por-ter Salisbury. Seniors JesusSanez and Billy Dennis addsome depth in the outfield.

Asked about the offense,Hines said, “We don’t have alot power, but what we’ve gotis speed and guys who canmake contact. If we can putthe ball in play and put pres-sure on the defense, I thinkwe’ll be okay.”

Serving as assistant coacheswill be Neil Thompson andBenny Kennedy.

Holly will compete in Class1A District 3 with Baca Coun-ty, Granada, Eads, Springfield,Cheyenne Wells, and Manza-nola.

The top two teams advanc-ing out of the District 3 tourna-ment will qualify to an eight-team regional/semifinal tour-nament on Saturday, May 12in Denver. The state champi-onship game is set for May 19in Denver.

John Contreras The Lamar Ledger

Sophomores Manuel Tarango and Ashlyn Hess return as twoof the top performers for the Holly track teams.

Wildcats makingstrides in trackBy John ContrerasThe Lamar Ledger

Under the guidance of headcoach Catherine Hodgson, theHolly High School girls andboys track team has madesome strides.

The Wildcats qualified a to-tal of eight athletes to the inau-gural Class 1A state meet ayear ago and brought hometheir fair share of state hard-ware.

Manuel Tarango madesome noise as a sophomore inthe distance races.

He finished second in the1,600 run to senior Tyler Bare-la of Sierra Grande. Barela rana time of 4:50.66 and Tarango’stime was 4:52.22.

In the 3,200 run, MicahTate, a junior from Pikes Peak,won the state championshipwith a time of 10:36.06, whileTarango ran a time of 10:47.47.

Another state placer return-ing will be sophomore AshlynHess, who placed seventh inthe 3,200 run as a freshman.

Holly’s 400 meter relay teamalso placed fourth at the statemeet last year and returns twomembers of that team in sen-ior Kenzi Tefertiller and Hess.

Hodgson, who heads intoher fourth year as the headcoach, has seven girls and 18boys out for this year’s team.

She said some of the topgirls returning will include Te-fertiller, Hess, sophomoresSheridan Rushton and LaceyDarnell, and freshman HannahKalma.

Tefertiller will compete inthe long jump, shot put, discusand relays.

Hess will run the 3,200 runas well as competing in thejumping events and relays.

Rushton will compete in the800 run, triple jump, highjump, and relays.

Darnell will compete in thethrowing events as well ascompeting in relays.

Kalma will compete in the800 run, triple jump, and re-lays.

Besides Tarango, the Hollyboys team returns two stateplacers in senior Robert Dar-nell and sophomore Jason Bar-th.

Darnell was ninth in the

3,200 run and Barth finishedeighth in the 100 dash.

Tarango, Darnell, and Barthwill also run in relays.

Other contenders for theWildcats will be senior StetsonRushton (800 run, triple jump,and relays) and sophomoreDrew Thompson (100 dashand relays).

John Contreras The Lamar Ledger

Holly senior Stetson Rushton will be one of the pitchers takingto the mound for the Wildcats this season.

HOLLY BASEBALL SCHEDULETues., Mar. 27 — at Granada, 3:00Tues., Apr. 3 — at Baca County, 3:00Tues., Apr. 10 — Baca County at Granada, 3:00Fri., Apr. 13 — at Eads, 3:00Mon., Apr. 16 — at Cheyenne Wells, 3:00Thurs., Apr. 19 — County Line Rivals at Wiley, 3:00Tues., Apr. 24 — at Springfield, 3:00Fri., Apr. 27 — at Manzanola, 3:00Tues., May 1 — District first-round, 4:00Fri., May 4 — District semifinals, 10:00Sat., May 12 — Regionals, Denver, TBASat., May 19 — State championship, TBA

GO

HollyWildcats!

VMS The Ole Country Store

Good Luckand

have aGreat Season.

1005 E. HWY 50Lamar, CO 81052

(719) 336-2236 Phone(719) 336-3523 Fax

ServiceSpecializing in All Your Tire Needs

320605 Speculator Circle Lamar, CO 81052Cell (719) 688-8265 (719) 336-0403

All Brands – New – Mobile Service

ACETire

GO HOLLYWILDCATS!

GO HOLLYWILDCATS!

Good LuckHOLLYHOLLY

WILDCATSWILDCATS

Have aGreat Season

Good LuckGood Luckthis yearthis year

Holly Wildcats!Holly Wildcats!

109 SOUTHMAINLAMAR, CO 81052(719) 336-7911

TUES-SAT 5:30-12:30PM

105 S. 4th Street • Lamarwww.thetirestore.com719.336.9075 • Fax

719.336.9077

Have a GreatSeason

HOLLY WILDCATSand run the

competition over!

Have a GreatSeason

HollyWildcats!

CALLUSFIRST

MYWHOLESALEPRODUCTS

HOLLYTRACKSCHEDULESat., Apr. 7 — at Limon, 9:00

Thurs., Apr. 12 — at Rolla,Ks., 2:00

Sat., Apr. 14 — atLonghorn Invitational,Springfield, 10:00

Tues., Apr. 17 — atJohnson, Ks., 2:00

Sat., Apr. 28 — atSpringfield Invitational, 10:00

Thurs., May 3 — atCheyenne Wells, 10:00

Sat., May 5 — at Class 1AUnofficial State Meet, Limon,9:00

Fri., May 11 — Tri-LeagueMeet, Lamar, 10:00

May 17-19 — Class 1Astate meet, Denver JeffersonCounty Stadium

Page 4: Lamar Ledger Spring Sports 2012

4 LAMAR LEDGER SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012 LAMARLEDGER.COM...

GRANADAGRANADA BASEBALL GRANADA TRACK

Bobcats returnsolid nucleus

New coach takesover programBy John ContrerasThe Lamar Ledger

A new but familiar face willtake over as the new headcoach of the Granada HighSchool girls and boys trackteams.

Junior Gonzales welcomeda good number of athletes outfor the season.

“I have 27 kids with boysand girls combined,” he said.“We’re looking at just improv-ing from last year. With thenew 1A classification adoptedlast year, that gives the kids alittle bit more inspiration anddesire to come out for trackand compete.”

“Right now, we’re just try-ing to get everyone in com-petitive shape,” he said. “Asthe season progresses I lookfor improvement. With thenew method of qualifying forthe state meet, every meetcounts. Our kids know thatand hopefully that gives themmore motivation.”

On the girls side, Gonzalessaid that junior Abby Hopperin the shot put and sopho-more Kirby Vanderpool in thehurdles came close to qualify-ing for the state meet a yearago.

“Abby and Kirby were bor-derline of tinkering of goingto state. So I feel good aboutthose two,” said Gonzales.“We have some other youn-ger girls that I feel are goingto get better just becausethey are bigger and strongerthan last year.”

The Granada girls teamwill include:

Carrie Morrow, sr. — 100dash, 200 dash.

Maria Medrano, sr. — shotput, discus.

Kyreth Tirado, sr. — shotput, discus.

Amanda Salgado, sr. —long jump, 400 dash.

Abby Hopper, jr. — shot put,discus.

Veronica Jimenez, jr. — 100and 300 hurdles.

Kristna Alm, jr. — 200dash, high jump.

Yeleva Khabirova, jr. — longdistance, discus.

Darcy Widener, soph. —800 run, relays

Tallie Harmon, soph. — 100dash, 200 dash, relays.

Kirby Vanderpool, soph. —100 and 300 hurdles, relays.

Cassandra Quintana, soph.— shot put, discus.

Brittany Gonzales, fr. —

shot put, discus, relays.Felecia Andrade, fr. — triple

jump, 400 dash.Miriam Sanchez, fr. — triple

jump, 100 dash.Laura Morales, fr. — long

jump, 100 dash, relays.Carolina Rodriquez — shot

put, discus.On the boys side, Gonzales

said, “Antonio Huerta is goingto be one of the captains ofour team and hopefully we’llsee some good things fromhim. Kolby Palmer was anotherone that was borderline fromgoing to state in the 300hurdles. I think that’s going tobe his motivation this season.His brother Koy was anoutstanding athlete in juniorhigh. But when you take thatstep into high school it’s awhole different world. BradyRink, our only senior, has a lot

of work to do in the shot putand discus, but he’s got achance.”

The Granada boys team:Brady Rink, sr. — shot put,

discus.Antonio Huerta, jr. — 110

and 300 hurdles, relays.Kolby Palmer, jr. — 110 and

300 hurdles, relay.Sam Rink, jr. — shot put,

discus.Fabian Tovar, jr. — 800 run,

1,600 run.Brynden Burns, jr. — 800

run, relays.Zxavier Martinez, soph. —

200 dash, long jump, relays.Alex Varrela, fr. — 100

dash, 200 dash.Koy Palmer, fr. — 110 and

300 hurdles, relays.Josh Austin, fr. — 400

dash, 800 run, relays.

By John ContrerasThe Lamar Ledger

With the loss of only two sen-ior starters, the Granada HighSchool baseball team returns anucleus of players for the 2012season.

Veteran head coach ManuelGonzales has 14 players out in-cluding seven returning start-ers.

“We return seven startersand I’m excited about the sea-son,” said Gonzales.

The biggest question con-cerning the Bobcats will be whowill emerge as the ace of thepitching staff.

Coach Gonzales will becounting on juniors Saul Perez,Dillon Bohlander, Bryan Gon-zales, Kolby Palmer, and fresh-man Cruz Vega to shoulder theload on the mound.

“We’ve got some veteranpitchers and they threw lastyear for us besides Cruz,” Gon-zales said. “I expect them to bebetter this year and really feelwe will have one of the betterpitching staffs in our league.Saul is our top pitcher right nowand has had the most control inpractice. ”

Behind the plate, the Bobcatswill be solid with the likes ofPerez, Gonzales, and freshmanKoy Palmer.

The infield returns intact andshould be tough. Senior BradyRink returns at first base andwill be flanked by juniors Tan-ner Grasmick and Derek Smith,who will share duty at secondbase.

Playing shortstop when notpitching will be Gonzales or Per-ez. Rotating at third base will besenior Tony Esquibel and jun-iors Sam Rink and Dillon Boh-lander.

The outfield will be patrolledby some outstanding athletes injuniors Brynden Burns and Fa-bian Tovar in left field. Whennot ptiching Kolby Palmer willbe in center field and share dutythere with his brother Koy, afreshman. Cruz Vega will playin right field and share timewith junior Chase Holdren.

“Defensively, we’ve got nineguys who can field the ball,”said Gonzales. “But we need toget better at the plate.”

Granada will compete inClass 1A District 3 against BacaCounty, Eads, Springfield,

Cheyenne Wells, Holly, andManzanola.

“I think our district will bewide open,” said Gonzales.

The top two teams advancing

out of the District 3 tournamentwill qualify to an eight-teamregional/semifinal tournamenton May 12 in Denver. The statechampionship game is set forMay 19 in Denver.

John Contreras The Lamar Ledger

Antonio Huerta and Abby Hopper are two returnees looking tomake some noise for the Granada track teams this season.

John Contreras The Lamar Ledger

Junior Saul Perez, who pitches, catches, and plays shortstop, willbe a vital cog in the success of the Granada baseball team thisseason.

Have a GreatSeason

GRANADABOBCATS!

CALLUSFIRST

MYWHOLESALEPRODUCTS

Fast, Reliable

719-336-90668 Forest Street - Lamar

INTERNETSERVICE

We wish all our areateams the best of

luck this year.

ServiceSpecializing in All Your Tire Needs

320605 Speculator Circle Lamar, CO 81052Cell (719) 688-8265 (719) 336-0403

All Brands – New – Mobile Service

ACETire

GOGRANADABOBCATS!

Good Luckand

have aGreat Season.

1005 E. HWY 50Lamar, CO 81052

(719) 336-2236 Phone(719) 336-3523 Fax

Good LuckGood Luckthis yearthis year

Granada Bobcats!Granada Bobcats!

109 SOUTHMAINLAMAR, CO 81052(719) 336-7911

TUES-SAT 5:30-12:30PM

GOGRANADABOBCATS!

105 S. 4th Street • Lamarwww.thetirestore.com719.336.9075 • Fax

719.336.9077

Have a GreatSeason

GRANADA BOBCATSand run the

competition over!

GRANADA TRACKSCHEDULE

Sat., Apr. 7 — at Limon, 9:00Sat., Apr. 14 — at Longhorn Invitational, Springfield, 10:00Sat., Apr. 28 — at Springfield Invitational, 10:00Thurs., May 3 — at Cheyenne Wells, 10:00Sat., May 5 — at Class 1A Unofficial State Meet, Limon, 9:00Fri., May 11 — Tri-League Meet, Lamar, 10:00May 17-19 — Class 1A state meet, Denver Jefferson County

Stadium

GRANADA BASEBALLSCHEDULETues., Apr. 3 — EADS, 3:00Thurs., Apr. 5 — County Line Rivals at Wiley, 3:00Tues., Apr. 10 — at Stratton, 3:00Fri., Apr. 13 — WALSH, 3:00Tues., Apr. 17 — at Swink, 3:00Fri., Apr. 20 — at Springfield, 3:00Tues., Apr. 24 — MANZANOLA,

3:00Fri., Apr. 27 — CHEYENNE WELLS, 3:00Tues., May 1 — District first-round, 4:00Fri., May 4 — District semifinals, 10:00Sat., May 12 — Regionals, Denver, TBASat., May 19 — State championship, TBA

Page 5: Lamar Ledger Spring Sports 2012

5LAMAR LEDGER SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012 LAMARLEDGER.COM ...

WILEY/McCLAVECOUNTY LINE RIVALS BASEBALL

Wiley, McClave join forces

Photos by John Contreras The Lamar Ledger

Alex Mulins will be one of the pitchers for the new County Line Rivals team which will becomprised of players from Wiley and McClave High Schools.

Kody Wallace will play third base and pitcher for the new County Line Rivals team which will becomprised of players from Wiley and McClave High Schools.

By Dick PeecherThe Lamar Ledger

There is a new team in town— well, at least the area. TheCounty Line Rivals, a combina-tion of Wiley and McClavebaseball players will be playingClass 2A baseball this season.

A rare combination of super-intendents make up the coach-ing staff, as Wiley superinten-dent Dave Eastin is the headcoach, and McClave’s TerryWeber the assistant.

“We have 26 kids out, and we

hope that this will be a muchmore competitive situation forus. We split everything; oneweek we practice at McClave,and the next week we practiceat Wiley. I think that our kidsare excited about this opportu-nity; they have been nothingbut positive so far,” said Eastin.

Eastin is giving players theopportunity to play a variety ofpositions.

Senior Alex Mullins, fresh-man Taylor Geisinger, juniorKody Wallace, sophomore Ken-ny Delamaestra, and sopho-more Tyler Forgue will all seeaction on the hill for the team.

Geisinger and junior CodyCanfield will do some of thecatching.

Infielders include Delamaes-tra (shortstop), Wallace (thirdbase), sophomore Kolby Bru-bacher (first base), Mullins,freshman Keaton Buxton (sec-ond base), and Geisinger.

Outfielders will include Wall-ace, Forgue, Canfield (centerfield), junior Hayden Stegman(left field); and junior Zach Za-mora (right field).

Seniors Allen Stroebel andChase Morris will be role play-ers for the Rivals.

“This is exciting for me. We

have good competition every-day in practice. Combining thetwo schools is going to make usbetter and more competitive,”said Eastin. “I think the futureis bright for us. Kids are resil-ient, and I think they are adapt-ing well to this situation. I thinkit is a very good situation forboth schools. We will play nineor ten JV games; another thingthat will be better for our kids.“

County Line will compete inClass 2A District 6 with thelikes of Las Animas, CrowleyCounty, Fowler, Rocky Ford,and Swink.

BACA COUNTY Have a GreatSeasonMcClave

Cardinals!

CALLUSFIRST

MYWHOLESALEPRODUCTS

BACA COUNTY BASEBALL

Baca County returns six startersBy Dick PeecherThe Lamar Ledger

Baca County co-head coachesCurtis Schroeder and RonnyTate have worked togethersince 2006 and it has been asuccessful union of coaches.

The Baca County Bomberswent undefeated in District 3play posting an 8-0 record.

In the District 3 tournamentheld in Las Animas, the Bomb-ers advanced to the champion-ship game where they fell toHolly, 8-4.

Baca County saw its seasoncome to a disappointing endwhen the Bombers fell toeventual two-time state cham-pion Stratton, 4-3, in nine in-nings in the Class 1A regionaltournament in Denver.

Baca County was leadingthe game against Strattonheading into the seventh in-ning and the Bombers will usethat defeat as inspiration forthis season.

The Bombers, ranked No. 3in the preseason by the Den-ver Post, return six startersand all of their pitching stafffrom a year ago.

Jaxon Meardon returns be-

hind the plate, while All-Statehonorable-mention selectionsWeston Meardon and OliverArana return on the hill as thetop pitchers from last year.

Derek Schroeder returns atsecond base, while Meardonand Arana will share shortstopduties when they aren’t pitch-ing. Outfielders MichaelBrooks and Chase Mundell re-turn as well.

With 21 kids out, BacaCounty will have a good num-ber to pick from in looking toreplace big hitters Chris Cookand Austin Schroeder.

“We have a couple of kidswho came back out for base-ball this year in Jon Englandand Terrell Stafford,” said Ron-ny Tate. “They have played be-

fore but concentrated on tracka year ago, so it is nice havingthem back out here.“

Freshman Darren Cook,Chris’ younger brother, couldprovide help on the mound forthe Bombers, as well as in theinfield.

“It will be interesting to seehow everyone fits in,” Tatesaid. “Our defense should besolid, both on the mound andin the field. If our bats can go,we will be pretty good I think.We lost some power hitters,but we have good hitters re-turning. And we have five kidsthat can throw pretty well, so Iam encouraged about that. It’sgoing to be a tough league, sowe have to be ready for everygame.“

Need to know thewho, what, when,where & why?

Check us out on the web:www.lamarledger.com

Good Luckand

have aGreat Season.

1005 E. HWY 50Lamar, CO 81052

(719) 336-2236 Phone(719) 336-3523 Fax

Good LuckGood Luckthis yearthis year

McClave Cardinals!McClave Cardinals!

109 SOUTHMAINLAMAR, CO 81052(719) 336-7911

TUES-SAT 5:30-12:30PM

105 S. 4th Street • Lamarwww.thetirestore.com719.336.9075 • Fax

719.336.9077

Have a GreatSeason

McCLAVE CARDINALSand run the

competition over!

Have a GreatSeason

WileyPanthers!

CALLUSFIRST

MYWHOLESALEPRODUCTS

Good Luckand

have aGreat Season.

1005 E. HWY 50Lamar, CO 81052

(719) 336-2236 Phone(719) 336-3523 Fax

BACA COUNTYBASEBALL SCHEDULE

Tues., Apr. 3 — HOLLY, 3:00Thurs., Apr. 5 — at Elkhart, Ks., 3:00Tues., Apr. 10 — Holly at Granada, 3:00Fri., Apr. 13 — at Granada, 3:00Mon., Apr. 16 — MOSCOW, Ks., 3:00Thurs., Apr. 19 — CHEYENNE WELLS, 3:00Tues., Apr. 24 — at

Eads, 3:00Tues., May 1 — District first-round, 4:00Fri., May 4 — District semifinals, 10:00Sat., May 12 — Regionals, Denver, TBASat., May 19 — State championship, TBA

COUNTY LINE RIVALSBASEBALL SCHEDULE

(McClave/Wiley)Thurs., Apr. 5 — GRANADA at Wiley, 3:00Sat., Apr. 7 — at Fowler, 10:00Tues., Apr. 10 — CHEYENNE WELLS at McClave, 3:00Fri., Apr. 13 — at Manzanola, 3:00Mon., Apr. 16 — at Springfield, 3:00Thurs., Apr. 19 — HOLLY at Wiley, 3:00Sat., Apr. 21 — at Rocky

Ford, 10:00Mon., Apr. 23 — at Lamar JV, 4:00Thurs., Apr. 26 — EADS at McClave, 3:00Tues., May 1 — District first-round, 4:00Fri., May 4 — District semifinals, 10:00Sat., May 12 — Regionals, Denver, TBASat., May 19 — State championship, TBA

Page 6: Lamar Ledger Spring Sports 2012

6 LAMAR LEDGER SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012 LAMARLEDGER.COM...

WILEY/McCLAVEMcCLAVE TRACK WILEY TRACK

John Contreras The Lamar Ledger

Senior Tate Mauser returns as a state placer in the shot put and discus for the McClave boys trackteam.

Cardinals hopeto make noise John Contreras The Lamar Ledger

Teri Johnsen will play a role in relay events for the Wiley girls track team.

By Dick PeecherThe Lamar Ledger

Coach DJ Weidrich, in histhird year as head track coachat McClave, welcomed 23 ath-letes out for track this season.They are divided evenly with12 boys and 11 girls.

The boys’ team made somenoise at the recent Lamar Invi-tational, finishing eighth in the24-team field.

The Cardinals return twoboys who placed at state ayear ago in senior Tate Maus-er and junior Dillan Kelley.

Mauser has missed most ofhis senior year with a severeknee injury he suffered in thefirst game of the football sea-son.

“He has been rehabbing forquite some time,” said Wei-drich. “We don’t know aboutthe discus because of the spin-ning, but I am happy for himthat he is able to compete thisspring. We think he has agreat chance of doing some-thing at state.”

Mauser was third in theshot put in the first Class 1Astate meet a year ago. He alsoplaced eighth in the discus.

Mauser finished second inthe shot put in the Lamar meetwith a throw of 47-feet, a per-sonal best for Mauser. He al-ready broke his own school re-cord in that event.

Kelley was just out of therunning for a medal in thestate meet last year. He fin-ished ninth in the 300 hurdles.He was fourth at Lamar, run-ning the second best 1A timethere. He was also third in the200 dash at Lamar.

Making a lot of noise in La-mar was Gabe Longworth. Hewas second in the 200 dash,eighth in the 100 dash, andseventh in the 400 dash, quitea day for a freshman.

Weidrich’s son, Ashur,could be a consistent pointearner in the 1,600 run.

“We are looking at a lot ofoptions right now,” said theMcClave coach. “We couldhave a couple of decent relays,possibly the 800 or 1600, if wechose, but that is what is goodabout the early season. Fresh-man T.J. Trujillo looks good inthe quarter (400). We will justhave to see.”

The girls, who failed toscore at Lamar, will be led bysenior Melissa Navarrette.

She didn’t compete in La-mar, as she was playing in anAll-State senior basketballgame.

Navarrette was seventh inthe long jump a year ago at thestate meet and ninth in the 200dash.

“She will be our leader,”said Weidrich.

Though she failed to placein the top eight, transfer stu-dent Breanna Semonds brokethe school record in the 1,600run in Lamar and hopes to dothe same in the 3,200 run.

Weidrich also is happy withfreshmen Jordan Isom and Au-brey Nidey. Isom will competein the long jump and thesprints, while Nidey will runthe 400 dash and 800 run.

Lack of numbersnot discouragingBy Dick PeecherThe Lamar Ledger

Having only nine membersout for track hasn’t discour-aged Wiley track head coachDean Thompson at all!

“What we lack in numbers,we more than make up for inour kids’ willingness to workand have a good work ethic,”said Thompson.

With six girls out, includingfour that went to state a yearago, Thompson will havesome good leadership on hissquad.

Thompson will sorely misshis top returning male athletefrom a year ago in junior Mat-thew Aguilera.

Aguilera placed in bothhurdles events at state a yearago, including a fifth place fin-ish in the 300 hurdles. He hadknee surgery this winter afterhurting the knee at the begin-ning of basketball season.

The Wiley girls had allthree of their sprint relaysplace at state a year ago, in-cluding a third place finish inthe 800 medley relay.

They were disqualified inthat event at the recent LamarInvitational, but plan to run itagain as the season pro-gresses.

The 400 relay team of Bai-ley Dodson, Teri Johnsen,Maggie Schneider, and KimStates took fourth at Lamar.

“We have high hopes forour relays. We think we coulddo well in all three of thoseagain,” said Thompson.

States, a state placer lastyear in the 100 and 200, willrun the sprints as well, whileJohnsen could run the open200 and 400.

Jordan Sniff will run thehurdles, some relays, and thetriple jump.

A sophomore, Kirsten Gar-ner, will compete in some ofthe longer distances for theLady Panthers.

Maggie Schneider, 10th atstate a year ago in the triplejump, finished second at therecent Lamar Invitational witha 32-foot effort. She could runthe open 400 as well.

Dodson, just a sophomore,finished third in the 100 hur-dles at Lamar, running a17.78.

“We were pretty excitedabout that,” stated Thomp-son.

Three strong, the Panthersboys team will be led by theiroutstanding athlete KodyWallace. Wallace, a junior,will compete in the highjump, the shorter sprints, andthe 400, where he took fifth atthe Lamar meet.

Other boys running for Wi-ley will be a pair of distancerunners in juniors EricMarquez and Keno Durado.

“I have good kids who arewilling to work hard,” Thomp-son added. “We are going tohave some fun this year, workhard, and do the best wecan.“

Good LuckGood Luckthis yearthis year

Wiley Panthers!Wiley Panthers!

109 SOUTHMAINLAMAR, CO 81052(719) 336-7911

TUES-SAT 5:30-12:30PM

GOLAMAR

SAVAGES!

GOWILEY

PANTHERS!

ServiceSpecializing in All Your Tire Needs

320605 Speculator Circle Lamar, CO 81052Cell (719) 688-8265 (719) 336-0403

All Brands – New – Mobile Service

ACETire

GOWILEY

PANTHERS!

105 S. 4th Street • Lamarwww.thetirestore.com719.336.9075 • Fax

719.336.9077

Have a GreatSeason

WILEY PANTHERSand run the

competition over!

ServiceSpecializing in All Your Tire Needs

320605 Speculator Circle Lamar, CO 81052Cell (719) 688-8265 (719) 336-0403

All Brands – New – Mobile Service

ACETire

GO McCLAVECARDINALS!

McCLAVE TRACK SCHEDULESat., Apr. 14 — at Longhorn Invitational, Springfield, 10:00Wed., Apr. 18 — Hi-Plains Invitational, McClaveFr., Apr. 20 — at La Junta Relays, 1:00Sat., Apr. 28 — at Springfield Invitational, 10:00Thurs., May 3 — at Cheyenne Wells, 10:00Sat., May 5 — at Class 1A Unofficial State Meet, Limon, 9:00Fri., May 11 — Tri-League Meet, Lamar, 10:00May 17-19 — Class 1A state meet, Denver Jefferson County

Stadium

WILEYTRACKSCHEDULE

Sat., Apr. 7 — at Limon,9:00

Sat., Apr. 14 — atLonghorn Invitational,Springfield, 10:00

Sat., Apr. 28 — atSpringfield Invitational,10:00

Thurs., May 3 — atCheyenne Wells, 10:00

Sat., May 5 — at Class 1AUnofficial State Meet,Limon, 9:00

Fri., May 11 — Tri-LeagueMeet, Lamar, 10:00

May 17-19 — Class 1Astate meet, Denver JeffersonCounty Stadium

Page 7: Lamar Ledger Spring Sports 2012

7LAMAR LEDGER SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012 LAMARLEDGER.COM ...

EADSEADS TRACK

Weirich returns as defendingstate champion in shot put, discusBy By Dick PeecherThe Lamar Ledger

The Eads High School trackprogram is off to a great startthis season.

The girls team, with 10members, finished fifth at therecent Lamar Invitational, andthe two-man boys team scored31 points to finish seventh inthe 24-team field.

Eads, though they couldcompete in Class 1A, has cho-sen to compete at the Class 2Alevel for the past two years.

Eads head coach StephanieBohlander will again be assist-ed by Trey Eder and the up-beat Bohlander was excitedabout her team’s performanceat Lamar.

“We just have a group of ter-rific athletes that have begunthe track season well,” saidBohlander.

The Eads girls had threefirst place finishes at Lamar,including Nicole Smith in thediscus, Dena Hallman in the800 run, and the 3,200 relayteam of Hallman, sister BekahHallman, Marissa Dixon, andEmilee Weirich.

Dixon took a sixth for Eadsin the 1,600 at Lamar, whileWeirich was eighth.

Nash and Smith were thirdand fourth in the shot put.

The 1,600 relay team of the

two Hallman sisters, Weirich,and freshman Dorian Ray tookthird in that event.

Bekah Hallman was eighthin the high jump, as Eadsplaced in a variety of events.

Other girls for Eads includefreshman Eboni Nash, whothrows the shot and discus,and Hailey Ray, anotherthrower.

“We have to have throwoffseach week to determine whois going to compete for us.Our third and fourth throwerswould be tops on a lot of otherteams,” explained Bohlander.“But that is a great problem tohave. We have the best throw-ing coach around in Trey(Eder), and I am very lucky tohave him. Nicole has placedall three years at state in theshot and discus, and sheknows this is her final shot.“

The Eads boys team fea-

tures Daniel Weirich, the de-fending Class 2A state champi-on in both the shot and discus.

Weirich, a junior, won theshot put by 10 feet and the dis-cus by 18 feet in thoroughlydominating the competition inthe Lamar Inivtational.

“Daniel has traveled to fouror five indoor meets this win-ter,” Bohlander said. “It is hispassion. The kid just lives inthe weight room. He is just un-believeable!“

A newcomer is Adam Sim-merman who moved to Eadsat the end of the basketballseason. He finished second inthe 800 run at Lamar and wassixth in the 1,600 run.

“It was the first mile that hehas ever run,” said Bohlander.“This young man is just a real-ly good athlete. He movedfrom Castle Rock and is just asophomore. We are so fortu-nate to have him.“

EADS TRACK SCHEDULESat., Apr. 7 — at Limon, 9:00Sat., Apr. 14 — at Longhorn Invitational, Springfield, 10:00Wed., Apr. 18 — at McClave, 9:00Sat., Apr. 21 — at Akron, 8:00Sat., Apr. 28 — at Springfield Invitational, 10:00Thurs., May 3 — at Cheyenne Wells, 10:00Sat., May 5 — at Class 1A Unofficial State Meet, Limon, 9:00Fri., May 11 — Tri-League Meet, Lamar, 10:00May 17-19 — Class 1A state meet, Denver Jefferson County

Stadium

Marty Miller Courtesy photo

Daniel Werich of Eads returns as the defending Class 2A state champion in the shot put anddiscus.

EADS BASEBALL

Eagles show promise on the fieldEADS BASEBALL SCHEDULE

Tues., Apr. 3 — at Granada, 3:00Thurs., Apr. 5 — CHEYENNE WELLS, 3:00Tues., Apr. 10 — SPRINGFIELD, 3:00Fri., Apr. 13 — HOLLY, 3:00Tues., Apr. 17 — at Las Animas JV, Fort Lyon, 4:00Thurs., Apr. 19 — MANZANOLA, 3:00Tues., Apr. 24 — SOUTH

BACA, 3:00Thurs., Apr. 26 — County Line Rivals, McClave, 3:00Tues., May 1 — District first-round, 4:00Fri., May 4 — District semifinals, 10:00Sat., May 12 — Regionals, Denver, TBASat., May 19 — State championship, TBA

By Dick PeecherThe Lamar Ledger

A top program in Class 1Astate baseball since it began,Eads will field a quality base-ball team again this spring.Eads captured the first two ini-tial state championships inbaseball in 2007 and 2008.

The Eagles struggled lastyear but look to get back tothe playoffs this season.

Without a senior on theteam, Eads, still young, will besolid for the next severalyears.

Veteran coach Billy Koehlerreturns eight starters from ayear ago, so he will have a so-lid nucleus to build from.

More importantly, he re-turns all his pitching staff aswell. All-state honorable-men-tion left hander Cory Millerwill return as the top arm, buthe will have ample supportfrom right handers Kyle Crow,Blaine Winder, and Justin Le-nox. Freshman Tyler Rousecould be in the mix as well.

Lenox will provide a big tar-get behind the plate for theEagles, as the 6-2,235-pounder returns as thestarting catcher.

Most of the infield returnsas well and will include firstbaseman Logan Smith, secondbaseman Brison Crow, short-stop Blaine Winder, and thirdbaseman Logan Crawford.Abby McDowell, the lone play-er from Kit Carson this year,will see action at first base aswell.

Center fielder Jose Ramos,perhaps the top hitter on theteam this year, will lead theway in the outfield, along withKyle Crow. Rouse will play avariety of positions for the Ea-gles, as he has played everyposition early in the season,except first base and catcher.

“We are sort of sufferingthrough an offensive outagehere early in the season,” said

Koehler. “We just aren’t hit-ting the ball very well, but Ithink that will come around.”

The Eagles played two-timedefending state championStratton tough the last week ofMarch, and Koehler was up-beat about that.

“We lost 3-0, but two of theruns were unearned,” he ex-plained. “Kyle Crow threwvery well against them. Hepitched five strong inningsand only allowed a singleearned run. We had multiplerunners on but we justcouldn’t get anyone home. Westill need to iron out a fewthings, but we are gettingthere.“

Eads will compete in Class

1A District 3 against BacaCounty, Granada, Springfield,Cheyenne Wells, Holly, andManzanola.

The top two teams advanc-ing out of the District 3 tourna-ment will qualify to an eight-team regional/semifinal tour-nament on Saturday, May 12in Denver. The state champi-onship game is set for May 19in Denver.

Marty Miller Courtesy photo

Junior southpaw Cory Miller returns as one of the top pitchersfor the Eads baseball team this season.

105 S. 4th Street • Lamarwww.thetirestore.com719.336.9075 • Fax

719.336.9077

Have a GreatSeason

EADS EAGLESand run the

competition over!

Have a GreatSeason

EadsEagles!

CALLUSFIRST

MYWHOLESALEPRODUCTS

Good LuckGood Luckthis yearthis year

Eads Eagles!Eads Eagles!

109 SOUTHMAINLAMAR, CO 81052(719) 336-7911

TUES-SAT 5:30-12:30PM

GO EADSEAGLES!

ServiceSpecializing in All Your Tire Needs

320605 Speculator Circle Lamar, CO 81052Cell (719) 688-8265 (719) 336-0403

All Brands – New – Mobile Service

ACETire

GO EADSEAGLES!

Good Luckand

have aGreat Season.

1005 E. HWY 50Lamar, CO 81052

(719) 336-2236 Phone(719) 336-3523 Fax

Page 8: Lamar Ledger Spring Sports 2012

8 LAMAR LEDGER SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012 LAMARLEDGER.COM...

SPRINGFIELD/WALSHWALSH TRACK SPRINGFIELD BASEBALL

Walsh boyslook for repeat

Longhorns have new lookBy Dick PeecherThe Lamar Ledger

It will be a whole new lookfor the Springfield baseballteam this year.

With 16 players out and newcoach, Greg Cash on board,the Longhorns hope to playtough in the Class 1A District3 field.

Cash only has four boyswho have played high schoolbaseball before. Those includesenior Brady Humphrey, astarter a year ago. JordanCash also started a year agofor the Longhorns at thirdbase but will move to catcherthis year. Brett Shettron andLevi Leaf were on the team ayear ago and will provide

some necessary experiencefor the Longhorns.

Humphrey and Shettron willdo a lot of the pitching, alongwith freshman Ross Dunlap.Senior Colton Serber, a trans-fer from South Baca, will dosome of the pitching as well.Because he didn’t play base-ball a year ago, Serber is eligi-ble immediately for the Long-horns.

Cash is excited about thefive freshmen he has out forbaseball.

“This is a good group ofyoung kids that we have out,”he said.

Cash is also expecting bigthings from Adrienne Mondra-gon. A starter in both volley-ball and basketball for thegirls. Mondragon will be the

starting shortstop.“This is my 16th year at

Springfield,” said Cash. “But itis my first year coaching here.

I think this is going to be alearning year for all of us, butour goal is to definitely get outof districts this year.“

By Dick PeecherThe Lamar Ledger

Defending state champions— has a nice ring to it,doesn’t it?

The Walsh boys won thefirst ever Class 1A statechampionship in track lastyear, and coach Tom Mear-don feels like his boys teamhas the numbers to make agreat showing again this sea-son.

The Eagles graduated twostandouts in Landry Cogburnand Laken Alley, who wonfive state gold medals be-tween them. Cogburn wonthe 200 meter dash andswept the 110 and 300 hur-dles, while Alley won the 100meter dash. Both ran legs onthe state winning 1,600 meterrelay.

Despite the loss of Cog-burn and Alley, Meardonfeels like his team will havesome outstanding depth intheir chase for a second statechampionship.

“Our relays will be evenmore important this yearsince we don’t have as muchindividual talent as we did ayear ago,” he said. “We willbe relying even more on ourdepth than we did a yearago.“

Walsh returns a number ofstate placers from a year ago.

Weston Meardon wasninth in the triple jump andplaced third in the 1,600 runand was fourth in the 3,200run.

His brother Jaxon placedfourth in the high jump andwas seventh in the 1,600 runand 10th in the 3,200 run.

Jonathan England tookfourth in the 400 meter dashand was sixth in the 100 me-ter dash.

Ethan Sharpe placed sev-enth for the Eagles in the dis-cus, and Chase Mundell fin-ished 12th in the 800 run.

Terrell Stafford also placedseventh in both the longjump and triple jump in lastyear’s state meet.Walsh alsoplaced in all four relays ayear ago.

The Eagles return Englandand Stafford from last year’swinning 1,600 relay.

England and Mundell re-turn as members of the 800relay that placed second atstate.

The 3,200 relay team that

place fourth returns intactand will include Cristian Alva-rez, Mundell, and the Mear-don brothers.

The Walsh coach is alsoexcited about having ChazHebberd out this year, throw-ing the shot and discus, TylerSharpe in the sprints, and“three or four” freshmen whocould help down the road.

“I think if everyone doeswhat they are supposed to doand some of our youngerkids come along and developwe will have a real shot at de-fending that championship,”Meardon said. “We have 15boys out with 10 of themplaying baseball too, so wehave a lot of dedication dur-ing the spring sports. Wehave an awful lot of workahead of us, but I am excitedabout it.“

The Walsh girls will be ledby sophomore Heidi Cog-burn, who finished second inthe state in the long jump,sixth in the 300 hurdles,ninth in the 100 hurdles, andwas ninth in the 400 meterdash.

In the long jump, Cogburnwas beaten for a state cham-pionship by one inch. SeniorLarissa Conger of Merinowon the event with a leap of15-8 while Cogburn went15-7.

Meardon is also excitedabout Andy Wray and a cou-ple of good freshman girlsout for track this year.

SPRINGFIELD TRACK

Longhorns want to take next stepBy John ContrerasThe Lamar Ledger

One of the only schools withdual head coaches in track isSpringfield, and with 24 boysout this spring it is easy to seewhy.

State runner-up a year ago toBaca County rival Walsh, theLonghorns want to take that fi-nal step this season.

“I was really happy with 24out this year. Some of the boysdecided to concentrate on trackthis season rather than playboth sports (baseball andtrack), but that was theirchoice,” said venerable headcoach Rick Hartley.

The Longhorns return five in-dividuals who placed at the first-ever Class 1A state meet a yearago, as well as four dominatingrelay teams.

Springfield won three of thefour relays at state a year ago,and was second in the fourth.They were in the top three in allfour in the Lamar meet, includ-ing a win in the 1,600 relay.That group included senior Jus-tin Westphal, junior Chase Kin-ard, sophomore Johnny Reed,and freshman Justin Self.

The Longhorns were withoutone of their leading runnersfrom a year ago in Bric Koehn.Koehn is recovering from kneesurgery he suffered in basket-ball and is rehabbing now on anelliptical machine. Hartley ishopeful he will be back in a cou-ple of weeks.

Other athletes contributing

will be senior Dillon Rose, whofinished second in the 100 dashat Lamar. Westphal was fourthin the 400 dash, while newcom-er Dallas Reynolds will give theLonghorns a threat in theweights, something they havenever had before.

Hartley is also excited aboutthe nine freshmen he has out.Three of them are already help-ing with relays and some of thesprints.

The girls team this year willbe coached by Mike Jaco.

They have 15 out with 11freshmen in the mix and no sen-iors.

Leading the way for Spring-field will be junior Kiri Ricker.The talented Ricker was third inthe in the triple jump at state ayear ago. She also ran on someof the relays that placed at state.The Lady Longhorns finishedseventh in the Lamar Invitation-al.

Jaco will have a couple ofgood hurdlers in Bre Stafford,third at Lamar in the 100 hur-dles, and freshman KallysaMcGeary, sixth in the 300 hur-dles.

Junior Kaylean Orlowski willbe a thrower and could scorefor them.

Jaco is really pumped abouthis freshmen class. Along withMcGeary, Madison Burdick,Brianna Hendicks, and WhitneyWestphal will all be consistentpoint winners. Springfieldplaced in all five relays at La-mar, including a third place fin-ish in the 800 medley.

SPRINGFIELD TRACKSCHEDULE

Sat., Apr. 7 — at Limon, 9:00Thurs., Apr. 12 — at Rolla, Ks., 2:00Sat., Apr. 14 — LONGHORN INVITATIONAL, 10:00Tues., Apr. 17 — at Stanton County, 2:00Sat., Apr. 28 — SPRINGFIELD INVITATIONAL, 10:00Thurs., May 3 — at Cheyenne Wells, 10:00Sat., May 5 — at Class 1A Unofficial State Meet, Limon, 9:00Fri., May 11 — Tri-League Meet, Lamar, 10:00May 17-19 — Class 1A state meet, Denver Jefferson County

Stadium

Good Luckand

have aGreat Season.

1005 E. HWY 50Lamar, CO 81052

(719) 336-2236 Phone(719) 336-3523 Fax

Good Luckand

have aGreat Season.

1005 E. HWY 50Lamar, CO 81052

(719) 336-2236 Phone(719) 336-3523 Fax

105 S. 4th Street • Lamarwww.thetirestore.com719.336.9075 • Fax

719.336.9077

Have a GreatSeason

SPRINGFIELDLONGHORNSand run the

competition over!

Good LuckGood Luckthis yearthis year

Springfield Longhorns

109 SOUTHMAINLAMAR, CO 81052(719) 336-7911

TUES-SAT 5:30-12:30PM

GO WALSHEAGLES!

Good LuckGood Luckthis yearthis year

Walsh Eagles!Walsh Eagles!

109 SOUTHMAINLAMAR, CO 81052(719) 336-7911

TUES-SAT 5:30-12:30PM

ServiceSpecializing in All Your Tire Needs

320605 Speculator Circle Lamar, CO 81052Cell (719) 688-8265 (719) 336-0403

All Brands – New – Mobile Service

ACETire

GOSPRINGFIELDLONGHORNS!

ServiceSpecializing in All Your Tire Needs

320605 Speculator Circle Lamar, CO 81052Cell (719) 688-8265 (719) 336-0403

All Brands – New – Mobile Service

ACETire

GO WALSHEAGLES!

GOSPRINGFIELDLONGHORNS

Have a GreatSeasonWalsh

Eagles!

CALLUSFIRST

MYWHOLESALEPRODUCTS

105 S. 4th Street • Lamarwww.thetirestore.com719.336.9075 • Fax

719.336.9077

Have a GreatSeason

WALSH EAGLESand run the

competition over!

Have a GreatSeason

SpringfieldLonghorns!

CALLUSFIRST

MYWHOLESALEPRODUCTS

SPRINGFIELD BASEBALLSCHEDULEThurs., Apr. 5 — at Manzanola, 4:00

Tues., Apr. 10 — at Eads, 3:00Fri., Apr. 13 — CHEYENNE WELLS, 3:00Mon., Apr. 16 — WILEY-McCLAVE, 3:00Fri., Apr. 20 — GRANADA, 3:00Tues., Apr. 24 — HOLLY, 3:00Fri., Apr. 27 — at Baca County, 3:00Tues., May 1 — District first-round, 4:00Fri., May 4 — District semifinals, 10:00Sat., May 12 — Regionals, Denver, TBASat., May 19 — State championship, TBA

WALSHTRACKSCHEDULE

Sat., Apr. 7 — at Limon,9:00

Sat., Apr. 14 — atLonghorn Invitational,Springfield, 10:00

Sat., Apr. 28 — atSpringfield Invitational,10:00

Thurs., May 3 — atCheyenne Wells, 10:00

Sat., May 5 — at Class1A Unofficial State Meet,Limon, 9:00

Fri., May 11 — Tri-LeagueMeet, Lamar, 10:00

May 17-19 — Class 1Astate meet, Denver JeffersonCounty Stadium