Though it had its streak of state championship game appearances snapped, the Regis Jesuit field hockey team still had the most talent among Aurora’s three programs, which appears on the 2023 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Field Hockey Team.
In the top group picked by the Sentinel, in conjunction with balloting of local coaches, the Raiders — who were upset by Denver East in overtime in the state quarterfinals — had standouts at every level of the field.
Though longtime coach Spencer Wagner has taken pride in the development of a program at Regis Jesuit that features a balance of talent and significant program depth — which allows for continued success as new groups arrived after graduation to keep the bar high.
Despite that depth, the Raiders cleared had some players that rose to the top during a season in which they finished with a 10-4-2 record, with every loss or tie coming against a team that made the semifinals (two losses to state champion Colorado Academy, a loss and tie with Denver East, a loss to Cherry Creek and tie with Saint Mary’s Academy).
In a season in which goals were scarce around Aurora, senior forward Sydney Cornell finished far and away as the local leader with 11, a total that ranked her seventh in Colorado. The Colorado High School Activities Association All-State first team pick also notched an assist to her point total at 23, which ranked her No. 8 in the state. The Raiders had another weapon up top in junior Jane Rumpf — a standout basketball player at the school who made a big impact with her arrived.
With size, power and instincts, Rumpf became a weapon and scored five goals to tie for second on the team, while she added two assists to finish with 12 points.
Regis Jesuit had standouts in the midfield as well in seniors Torri Loftus and Emilia Calamari. Loftus, who was one of the team’s co-captains, earned CHSAA All-State second team accolades after she tied for second on the team with five goals scored and added six assists for a total of 16 points that ranked only behind Cornell.
Calamari racked up seven assists — a total that put her in a tie for seventh-most among any player in Colorado — and helped keep the ball moving in transition.
Defensively, Regis Jesuit yielded just eight goals in 16 games with a group led by seniors Kate Thompson and Mary Clare Watts. Neither played in the team’s quarterfinal loss as they attended a senior retreat put on by the school and their absence of both CHSAA All-State honorable mention performers made a difference.
Thompson’s speed was valuable in chasing plays down and she was adept at taking the ball away from opposing players, which she also finished with a goal and an assist. Another of her key roles was starting Regis Jesuit’s short corner plays. Watts — a standout tennis player who played for the Class 5A No. 1 doubles state championship last spring — also was strong stopping the ball and she was a key in transition.
Smoky Hill’s growth as a program under coach Lisa Griffiths continued, as the Buffaloes — a collective of players from multiple Cherry Creek School District schools — doubled their win total from the previous season and went 6-9-1 overall.
It also made it to a play-in game for a state tournament spot for a second time and even got to host, though Mountain Vista pulled off a mild upset to advance.
The Buffaloes scored more goals (13 to 10 in 2022) and allowed fewer (44 to 54 in 2022).
Playing a pivotal role were juniors Elyse Bailey and Darian Smith.
Though neither contributed tremendously in terms of statistics, they were the engines that drove the Smoky Hill attack. Smith was recognized on the CHSAA All-State second team for her play in the midfield, where her speed and tenacity were assets, as was her ability to transition the ball up the field.
Bailey missed a portion of the season due to a concussion and her absence affected the way the Buffaloes played. She was a playmaker in many ways and both of her goals came in wins, including a penalty stroke against Grandview that proved to be the winning goal. Bailey also often made the call on the field as to which short corner play the team would run in each situation and she often triggered the ball in.
Smoky Hill faced some difficult offenses, so the work of senior goalie Meghan Bird kept the scores down in the majority of the games, with the exception of contests with state champion Colorado Academy and Kent Denver. Bird made double-digit saves in seven games and ranked fourth in the state with 135 for the season. She had a shutout against the Poudre School District and nearly had one against Grandview until a goal in the closing minute.
Grandview opened the season with a tie with Cheyenne Mountain and coach Alex Smith’s team was unable to break through in the win column for the rest of the season.
The Wolves did allow fewer goals than they had the previous season and part of that was due to a veteran defensive presence, which included senior Caroline Ryan. Ryan — a talented golfer — was in the thick of things in front of the goal and she performed to a level that netted her a spot on the All-State honorable mention list.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 AURORA SENTINEL ALL-AURORA FIELD HOCKEY TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Forward — Elyse Bailey, jr., Smoky Hill; Sydney Cornell, sr., Regis Jesuit; Jane Rumpf, jr., Regis Jesuit; Midfield — Emilia Calamari, sr., Regis Jesuit; Torri Loftus, sr., Regis Jesuit; Darian Smith, jr., Smoky Hill; Defense — Caroline Ryan, sr., Grandview; Kate Thompson, sr., Regis Jesuit; Mary Clare Watts, sr., Regis Jesuit; Goalie — Meghan Bird, sr., Smoky Hill
HONORABLE MENTION
Alyson Ambrosio, soph., Smoky Hill; Emma Cary, jr., Grandview; Claire Crowley, sr., Regis Jesuit; Bryton DeHaven, sr., Grandview; Valerie De Leeuw, jr., Regis Jesuit; Kyra Durham, sr., Smoky Hill; Bebe Ghiselli, sr., Regis Jesuit; Julia Kaiser, jr., Smoky Hill; Katie Keating, sr., Smoky Hill; Molly Keating, sr., Smoky Hill; Skylar Krebs, sr., Grandview; Avery May, sr., Grandview; Gladys Mellinger, sr., Grandview; Bristol Whitehead, soph., Smoky Hill; Henley Whitehead, jr., Smoky Hill; Paige Yeates, jr., Smoky Hill
