Athletics

LAKEWOOD — Kara Harris, Rome Villani, Avery Freedman and Kya Cooper are the current Mount Rushmore of Green Mountain girls lacrosse.

Harris, Villani, Freedman and Cooper are putting up historic offensive numbers for the Rams. All four have gone over the 50-goal mark this season for Green Mountain, who is seeded No. 2 for the Class 4A state tournament.

GOLDEN — School is out for summer for Golden’s senior baseball players with Thursday being the last day of classes, but that doesn’t mean the focus has left the field.

“Summer is my least focused right now,” Golden senior pitcher Taden Svendsen said. “I am really focused on trying to get our goal which is a state championship. We have been so close that last few years. This is a good year to do it.”

LAKEWOOD — Didn’t look like it would be a good scoring night for Dakota Ridge junior Kaylie Sheehan on Wednesday at Lakewood Memorial Field.

Sheehan had a couple of really good scoring chances in the first half of the Class 4A girls soccer state tournament opener against Skyline, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

LAKEWOOD — It might be a drastic understatement from Green Mountain’s girls soccer coach Bari Abuhadema that he has a ‘solid’ defense this season.

The No. 2-seeded Rams has allowed just one goal over their last 10 games. Green Mountain showed off its stingy defense in the opening round of the Class 4A state tournament Wednesday night with a 5-0 shutout victory over No. 31 Eagle Valley.

LAKEWOOD — On a rainy day across Colorado, it was only appropriate that Columbine senior Gracie Waters scored the game-winning goal Tuesday night at Lakewood Memorial Field.

Waters scored in the 9th minute of overtime in the opening round of the Class 5A girls soccer stadium tournament to give No. 12-seed Columbine a 2-1 victory over No. 21 Cherokee Trail.

DENVER — D’Evelyn’s boys volleyball team dominated the Class 4A Region 2 tournament Saturday.

The Jaguars swept to 3-0 victories over DSST: Conservatory Green and KIPP Denver Collegiate to punch D’Evelyn’s ticket to the 8-team 4A state tournament next week.

DENVER — Dakota Ridge’s 0-7 start to the baseball season is a distant memory.

The Eagles (9-10, 4-1 in Class 4A/3A Jeffco League) has nearly reached the .500 record mark after its 11-1 road victory against D’Evelyn on Thursday. 

EVERGREEN — Evergreen’s soccer program accomplished something Tuesday night that escaped the Cougars last season.

Evergreen’s 7-0 victory against rival Conifer at Evergreen High School clinched the Class 4A Jeffco League title in the Cougars’ conference finale. 

ARVADA — Ralston Valley boys lacrosse program added some hardware to the school’s trophy case Monday night.

The Mustangs clinched the Class 5A League #2 title with a dominating 15-4 victory over Columbine. It’s the first boys lacrosse conference title in the program’s history.

LITTLETON — Dakota Ridge senior Mitchell Lee knew he might have just one pitch to deliver the game-winning, walk-off hit Saturday at Dakota Ridge High School.

Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning against Green Mountain, junior Matt Larmore was hit-by-pitch to lead off the inning. Lee stepped up to the plate and attacked the first pitch he saw from Green Mountain senior Demetreus Padilla. 

LAKEWOOD — Dakota Ridge boys lacrosse’s current 3-year run can officially be called a dynasty. 

The Eagles achieved one of their top priorities this season on Friday night at Trailblazer Stadium. Dakota Ridge defeated Green Mountain 16-5 to officially wrap up the Class 4A Foothills League title for the third straight year.

LAKEWOOD — One goal is all it took Thursday night for Ralston Valley girls soccer to repeat as Class 5A Jeffco League champions.

Senior Holly Engelking got her head on a corner kick from junior Mia Alfaro in the 57th minute against Columbine at Lakewood Memorial Field. With a ton of traffic deep in the goal box, the ball just crossed the goal line to give Ralston Valley a 1-0 lead.

LAKEWOOD — It’s been a long time coming.

Alameda International hadn’t won a baseball league title since the Pirates captured back-to-back Jeffco 6 League championships in 2001 and 2002. The drought officially ended Wednesday with a 13-3 home victory against Fort Lupton.

LAKEWOOD — A second half of domination Wednesday night put Dakota Ridge boys lacrosse on the doorstep of a third straight Class 4A Foothills League title.

The Eagles (11-2, 3-0 in league) led conference rival Golden 5-3 at halftime and then pulled away in the second half at Trailblazer Stadium. Dakota Ridge eventually took a 12-5 victory, leaving the Eagles as the lone undefeated team in league play.

GOLDEN — The quest for a 5-peat officially started Tuesday on Golden High School’s baseball field.

The Demons are attempting to win the program’s fifth consecutive Class 4A/3A Jeffco League title. Senior pitcher Sawyer Brinkman got Golden off on the right foot in the conference opener Tuesday throwing a perfect game in a 10-0 (5-inning) victory against Standley Lake.

GOLDEN — Ralston Valley junior Addison Hines is in position to capture the girls golf Class 5A Jeffco League individual medalist title.

Hines is atop the leaderboard with a 35.13 9-hole scoring average through the first four of six Jeffco League tournaments. The junior shot a 1-under-par, 70 Monday at The Club at Rolling Hills in Golden to keep the overall medalist lead with two conference tournaments remaining.

ARVADA — Four goals in the final 10 minutes was unexpected Monday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

“That was insane,” Ralston Valley coach Kamee Morwood said of the final 10 minutes of the Class 5A Jeffco League game between Arvada-area rivals Ralston Valley and Arvada West. “That’s soccer. You can never stop. You can never anticipate the ending to any game.” 

LAKEWOOD — Liv Troy has provided a boost to Ralston Valley’s girls lacrosse program.

The former attacker on University of Connecticut women’s lacrosse team from 2017 to 2021 was hired as the Mustangs’ head coach just before the start of this season. 

LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain senior Demetreus Padilla was the right batter at the right time Tuesday afternoon.

With the game-winning run at second base in senior Levi Behm, Padilla ripped his fourth hit of the game with a walk-off RBI double to give the Rams a dramatic 4-3 win over Evergreen.

ARVADA — Columbine girls soccer got its scoring from a bit of an unlikely source Monday at the North Area Athletic Complex.

Freshman defender Kendyl Dirschl scored her first two goals of her young high school career to give the Rebels a 2-1 victory over Arvada West.

ARVADA — Bear Creek held on to get its biggest victory of the baseball season so far on Saturday at Ralston Valley High School’s Nate Jurney Field.

The Bears ended their 3-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over Ralston Valley. Senior Jamin Patterson picked up the victory on the mound and junior Brandon Adams-Anders got the save recording the final two outs to prevent the Mustangs from completing a late-inning comeback attempt.

ARVADA — To be the champs you normally have to beat the champs.

Ralston Valley’s boys lacrosse team did just that Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex. The Mustangs took a 9-5 victory over the 3-time defending Class 5A League #2 champions — Poudre School District.

LITTLETON — Arvada West sophomore Cooper Vais was about as effective and efficient as a starting pitcher can be on opening day of Class 5A Jeffco League play. 

Vais tossed five shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out 13 batters  Thursday at Chatfield Senior High School. A-West cruised to a 9-2 victory over the Chargers in the conference opener.

GOLDEN — A 13-run bottom of the fourth inning was able to mask a few physical and mental errors on the baseball diamond for Golden on Wednesday.

The Demons were in a relatively close game with Thomas Jefferson at Golden High School. The Spartans got an RBI double by Max Feierstein in the top of the fourth inning to cut the Demons’ lead to 5-3. 

LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain senior Alyssa Hamilton is making a strong case to be the Class 4A/3A Jeffco League girls soccer MVP this season.

Hamilton — signed to play at the University of Idaho — added to her already impressive resume with a pair of second-half goals Tuesday night at Lakewood Memorial Field. It was all Green Mountain needed in a 2-0 victory against Dakota Ridge. 

LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain senior Kara Harris won’t have to worry about playing a home lacrosse game in a driving spring snowstorm next year.

“I am so excited to get out of the snow,” said Harris, who has signed to continue her lacrosse career at Arizona State University next school year. 

LAKEWOOD — Dakota Ridge’s boys lacrosse team are the kings of South Jeffco for the first time under coach Dak Riecke.

“When Heckel (Dakota Ridge athletic director Matt Heckel) hired me six years ago he said to me, ‘I want you to win The Block’,” Riecke said. “We finally did it after six years. It’s really cool.”

ARVADA — You got a little bit of everything when Cherokee Trail and Arvada West squared off on the baseball diamond Tuesday.

A little pregame hailstorm, both starting pitchers having no-hitters through four innings, Cherokee Trail scoring three runs with no hits in the top of the fourth inning, along with A-West scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the near 3-hour marathon.

ARVADA — Ralston Valley’s girls soccer team has been able to adjust to the early graduation of Raleigh Greason.

Greason graduated a semester early from Ralston Valley High School so she could get a jump-start on her college career at Texas Tech University. Greason had a historic junior season in 2024 with 36 goals and 10 assists during the Mustangs run to the Class 5A state semifinals. 

ARVADA — Arvada West’s girls soccer team got everyone involved Monday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

The Wildcats took a dominating 10-0 non-league victory over Westminster to start the week. A-West had seven different goal scorers.

LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain finished strong on the baseball field Saturday at Bear Creek High School.

The Rams scored three runs on six hits in their final two innings at the plate, pulling out a 3-2 victory against Bear Creek. Green Mountain took the win after trailing for the majority of the game.

LAKEWOOD — Staying undefeated wasn’t as easy as Dakota Ridge’s boys lacrosse team thought it was going to be Friday night at Trailblazer Stadium.

The Eagles (5-0 record) trailed Lakewood 12-11 in the non-league, all-Jeffco match-up with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Dakota Ridge used a 4-0 run in the final minutes to hold off the young Tigers.

LITTLETON — Dakota Ridge baseball is winless no more.

The Eagles ended a 7-game losing streak Thursday with a dramatic 4-3 home victory against area-rival Columbine. 

LAKEWOOD — The 3-pointers were raining down at the Gold Crown Field House on Tuesday night.

In the 8th annual boys Jeffco High School Senior Basketball Game nobody was turning down open shots from long distance. A combined 31 3-pointers were made in the senior all-star game put on by the Gold Crown Foundation.

LAKEWOOD — Arvada West senior Avery Harrison wasted no time shaking off the rust on the basketball court Tuesday night.

Despite her high school season ending nearly three weeks ago in a Sweet 16 playoff loss, Harrison poured in eight points in the first quarter of the 2025 Jeffco High School Senior girls basketball game at the Gold Crown Field House. 

DENVER — Green Mountain’s boys basketball team is heading to the Final 4 for the first time in over 30 years.

It could have been called the ‘Cinderella Great 8 Game’ between No. 25-seeded Sand Creek and No. 16-seeded Green Mountain, the Rams overcame a huge early deficit to grind out a 43-40 victory in the Class 5A state quarterfinal game Friday, March 7, at the Denver Coliseum.

DENVER — Green Mountain put an end to Roosevelt’s recent domination of the Class 5A girls basketball state tournament Friday morning.

The Rams took a wire-to-wire 46-42 win over the 2-time defending state champions in the first of eight Great 8 state quarterfinal games Friday, March 7, at the Denver Coliseum. 

LITTLETON — For the third straight season Dakota Ridge’s boys basketball program is heading to the Denver Coliseum.

The No. 3-seeded Eagles defeated No. 14 Palmer 72-51 on Tuesday night at Dakota Ridge High School to advance to the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state tournament. Two-time 5A/4A Jeffco League MVP — Dakota Ridge senior Ethan Berninger — led the way with a team-high 24 points.

LAKEWOOD — Defense is going to determine how far Green Mountain advances in the Class 5A girls basketball state tournament.

“If we are trying to win the whole thing and be one of those elite teams you have to defend at an elite level,” Green Mountain coach Matteo Busnardo said after the Rams’ 66-24 round of 32 home victory over Sierra on Saturday night. “Defense wins you championships. Defense wins you games. That is what we are going to keep following.”

LITTLETON — Columbine’s girls basketball team had its dancing shoes ready to go Saturday afternoon.

The Rebels got out to a quick start in the round of 32 state playoff game with a 13-0 run to begin against No. 20-seeded Monarch. No. 13-seeded Columbine eventually rolled to a 76-58 victory to advance to the Sweet 16 next week.

LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain boys basketball might just be hitting its stride at just the right time.

The No. 16-seeded Rams advanced to the Sweet 16 of the Class 5A state tournament Friday night with a 71-62 home victory over No. 17 Frederick. Green Mountain (15-9 record) will now face top-seeded Lutheran (21-3) on Tuesday, March 4.

ARVADA — Ralston Valley closed out its boys basketball regular season in style Saturday night.

The Mustangs’ 67-47 road victory against rival Arvada West gave Ralston Valley the distinction of Class 6A Jeffco League champions.

ARVADA — For the first time in over a decade Arvada West’s girls basketball team has hit the 20-win mark, but the Wildcats aren’t done yet.

“It feels amazing, but we still have work to do,” A-West senior Sara Walker said after the Wildcats’ regular-season finale win Saturday night. “Our goal is to get to the Coliseum (state quarterfinals). These next two (playoff) games are going to be big.”

GOLDEN — Like a gator lurking in muddy water waiting to strike, Standley Lake’s boys basketball team has quietly racked up an impressive regular season.

The Gators claimed their 7th straight victory Wednesday night with a wire-to-wire road victory over Golden.

DENVER — Pomona keeps on piling up the Class 5A boys wrestling team trophies. 

The Panthers won their seventh straight team title Saturday night at Ball Arena to close out the 3-day state tournament. Pomona is just one short of tying Ponderosa’s record of eight straight team titles set between 2003-2010. 

LITTLETON — It was a night to remember at Dakota Ridge High School.

On Senior Night and the Eagles’ final regular-season boys basketball game at home, Dakota Ridge (16-6 record, 8-0 in Class 5A/4A Jeffco League) officially clinched the conference title for the third straight year with a 85-59 home victory against Wheat Ridge on Thursday night.

LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain girls basketball was able to check the box Tuesday night on the No. 1 goal this season.

The Rams’ dominating 72-20 home victory over Conifer officially clinched the Class 5A/4A Jeffco League title.

LITTLETON — Tanner Braketa hit a milestone Saturday that few high school basketball players reach.

The Ralston Valley senior eclipsed the 1,500-point mark for his career during an 80-57 road victory for the Mustangs (19-0, 9-0 in Class 6A Jeffco League) at Chatfield.

DENVER — Green Mountain junior Kantyn Pearson drained probably her most significant 3-pointer of her high school career Friday night.

Facing possible overtime on the road against D’Evelyn, Pearson threw in a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to give Green Mountain a dramatic 46-43 road victory.

ARVADA — Arvada West used an 8-0 run in the final 2 minutes Tuesday night to edge Columbine in Class 6A Jeffco League girls basketball action.

Columbine junior Jordyn Washington’s 3-point play the hard way with 2:28 left in the fourth quarter tied things up at 33-33. However, the Wildcats scored the final eight points to claim a 41-33 victory.

LAKEWOOD — Dakota Ridge’s student section broke out in chats of ‘MVP, MVP …’ on Monday night at Green Mountain High School.

While the Eagles do have last year’s Class 5A/4A Jeffco League MVP in senior Ethan Berninger, it was Nathan Esau who was defintely the Eagles’ MVP in the huge conference game. Esau scored a game-high 29 points as Dakota Ridge took a 56-46 road victory against Green Mountain.

LAKEWOOD — It’s safe to say that Simon Lunsford is showing no ill effects after suffering a broken right fibula, torn ligaments and a displaced right ankle on Nov. 22. 

The Green Mountain senior and 3-sport athlete (football, basketball and baseball) had the injury in the state quarterfinal football game playing quarterback for the Rams just over two months ago.

ARVADA — In front of a packed Ralston Valley High School gym, cross-town rival Arvada West had its way Saturday afternoon.

A-West (14-2, 5-1 in Class 6A Jeffco League) never trailed in the girls basketball conference game. The Wildcats took sole possession of second place in 6A Jeffco with a 56-35 road victory against Ralston Valley (10-7, 3-3).

LAKEWOOD — Chasing down records and setting new milestones is something Pomona’s wrestling program has gotten accustom to. 

The Panthers set a record Friday night capturing their 10th straight Class 5A Jeffco League title, breaking Pomona’s own run of nine straight set from 2005 to 2013. 

LITTLETON — History was made on the wrestling mats Thursday night.

The first girls wrestling Jeffco League Championship Tournament to determine the league champion was held at Columbine High School. Nine Jeffco teams — Arvada West, Chatfield, Columbine, Conifer, Evergreen, Jefferson, Littleton, Pomona and Standley Lake — competed with a total of 74 wrestlers filling the 14 different weight classes.

WESTMINSTER — Dakota Ridge’s boys basketball team showed Wednesday night why the Eagles are the favorite to win the Class 5A/4A Jeffco League title for a third straight season.

DENVER — If the non-league record for D’Evelyn’s girls basketball team is any indication, the Jaguars are ready for Class 5A/4A/3A Jeffco League play to begin.

D’Evelyn improved its record to 12-0 Tuesday night with a 58-32 home victory against Northglenn (4-5 record).

LAKEWOOD — It’s coming up on nine years since Mackenzie Forrest finished up her prep basketball career at Lakewood High School.

Forrest was a standout guard for the Tigers’ girls basketball team from 2012 to 2016. She still remains the all-time leading scorer with 1,420 points. Forrest tragically died after a car accident in March 2016, a few months before she would have graduated from Lakewood High School.