AURORA | A look back at significant individual and team performances at Vista PEAK Prep for the 2024 spring prep athletic season:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
VISTA PEAK PREP (SPRING 2024)
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: The boys volleyball team finished 12-0 against City League opponents to win the league championship and qualified for the regional postseason for the first time. Coach Jeffry Ransom’s Bison defeated Valor Christian, but lost to Fountain-Fort Carson in four sets with a spot in the state tournament on the line. Junior Tristan Rowley garnered City League Player of the Year honors and made the all-league first team along with seniors Benjamin Allred and Kaiyan Ivey. Seniors Jonathan Babers and Liam Jungheim were on the all-league second team, while honorable mention nods went to senior Matthew Allred and juniors Zachary Babers and Ein Bamba.
BASEBALL: Better offensively and defensively, the baseball team added five wins to its total from 2023. Coach Jake Rule’s Bison scored 42 more runs and gave up 22 fewer in a 16-6 campaign that was a significant move forward from an 11-10 campaign in 2023. Senior Brian Herrera along with sophomores Abel Salinas and Domenic Montoya made the All-City League first team. Senior Connor Angelini and junior Ezra Wise earned selection to the all-league second team, while senior Steven Reaux and sophomores Evan Kelly and Royce Lossman got honorable mention accolades.
GIRLS GOLF: Sophomore Sophia Capua had an outstanding season that ended in her second career trip to the 4A state tournament. Capua — who won a City League tournament and finished second in two others — shot rounds of 89 and 93 at The Olde Course in Loveland to finish in 26th place in a field of 84 qualifiers.
TRACK & FIELD: Coach Shane Ward’s Vista PEAK Prep boys track team finished as the City League runner-up (with help from senior Nathan Hunholz, the shot put champ) and scored three points at the 5A state meet. Those came from the seventh place finish of senior Marcel Evans Jr., juniors Dhanavan Rashad and Leyton Youmans, and sophomore Isaiah Watson in the 4×200 meter relay.
GIRLS TENNIS: The Bison won their last six dual matches to finish 6-6, but did not have any state qualifiers. Sophomore Francesca Johnson — a Class 4A state qualifier last season at No. 1 singles — placed third at the Region 2 tournament at Kent Denver to come up short of a return trip and put an end to a 12-3 season. Senior No. 2 singles player Alexa Cohen also placed third in her regional bracket, as did the No. 1 doubles team of sophomores Ava and Mady Eltzroth for coach Elizabeth Weiland’s Bison.
GIRLS SOCCER: The girls soccer team had a 3-9-2 final record (a shade below its 5-9-1 mark from 2023) and senior Kaylynn Stewart and sophomore Goretty Vazquez De Leon represented coach Paul Stewart’s program on the All-Class 5A City League first team. Stewart racked up 302 saves (the most of any keeper in Class 5A), while Vazquez De Leon tallied three goals and four assists. Seniors Makyla McGaughy and Ashley Sharp received all-league second team accolades, while senior Dakota Wells, junior Taylor Allen and Kylie McMullin were honorable mention.
NOTES: Vista PEAK Prep Athletic Director David Benedict was honored by the City League as its 5A Athletic Director of the Year.
