AURORA | A look back at the key games, tournaments and happenings in Aurora prep sports from Aug. 20-26, 2024:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
THE WEEK PAST IN AURORA PREP SPORTS, 8.20-8.26.24
MONDAY, AUG. 26: Amara Herrera allowed just one hit over six innings and struck out seven as the Vista PEAK Prep softball team earned a 12-0 win at Overland. Herrera also tripled and scored twice, while Nayely Duran and Nia Mathis (who had two RBI) each had two of the Bison’s nine hits. Kourtnie Batcho had the lone hit for the Trailblazers. …Kendalyn Craven and Elsa Pedersen each hit home runs for the Regis Jesuit softball team, but the Raiders couldn’t overcome six errors in a 15-10 loss to Cherry Creek at Village Green Park. Craven drove in three runs and Pedersen joined Jill Samaras with two RBI and Alex Tavlarides had three hits for the Raiders. …Boys golfers from Cherokee Trail, Eaglecrest, Grandview, Regis Jesuit and Smoky Hill took part in the Bruin Invitational at Overland Park G.C., which featured a total of 25 teams. Cherokee Trail’s top team finished in fifth place, one stroke ahead of Grandview to lead local teams, while there were a trio of area players in the top 10 individual as Eaglecrest’s Gregory White and Cherokee Trail’s Dalton Sisneros (who both shot 2-under-par 70) tied for fifth, while Grandview’s Andrew Sinar shot even-par to tie for 10th.
SATURDAY, AUG. 24: Briahna Gallegos hit a tie-breaking home run in the fifth inning and then pitched a scoreless inning to pick up a save in the Eaglecrest softball team’s 14-4 win over Legacy. Zaya Elliott allowed four runs in five innings and also drove in two runs for the Raptors, who exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kaitlyn Hendrian, Chessa Reid and Callie Johnson joined Elliott with two hits apice and Jordyn Stilley had three RBI. …Brooklyn Heil finished 4-for-7 with 4 RBI for the Grandview softball team, which split two games at the FAN Tournament in Fort Collins. The Wolves defeated Arapahoe 6-3 with the win going to Kamaya Soniea-Harris, who also drove in a run, as did Sasha Kennedy plus Maddie and Monroe Donaldson, while they lost 10-8 to Papillion La Vista South from Nebraska. …The Grandview girls flag football team got two touchdowns from Tierra Goodgain and interceptions from Ivy Daniel and Brooke Sullivan in the final minutes of a 25-14 win over Rock Canyon at Legacy Stadium. …The Smoky Hill field hockey team dropped a 2-0 contest to Cherry Creek at Stutler Bowl.
FRIDAY, AUG. 23: The Grandview girls volleyball team took the opening set in a showdown with Mountain Vista, but the visiting Golden Eagles rallied for a 23-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-16 victory over the host Wolves. …Elliott Kaganar scored twice and Bryan Ramirez and Alexis Rojas also found the back of the net for the Smoky Hill boys soccer team, which topped Hinkley 4-2 in a heated contest between Aurora programs that was rescheduled from the previous day. Chris Leon had a first-half goal for the Thunder. …The Aurora Central boys soccer team opened the new season with a 1-0 home victory over Grand Junction. …The Cherokee Trail and Grandview softball teams both split two games at the FAN Tournament in Fort Collins, as the Cougars topped Grand Junction 13-5 and fell to Windsor 7-6, while the Wolves edged Fort Collins 7-6 and lost a 10-1 contest to Northside (Georgia), …Eaglecrest’s Tom Moore Invitational boys tennis tournament took place at multiple sites and half of the field was from the Aurora area. Grandview had the tournament champions at Nos. 2 and 3 singles in Kahaan and Krish Wani, respectively, and finished second to Denver East by a single point in the team title chase. Fourth-place Cherokee Trail had the Nos. 2 and 4 doubles champions. Host Eaglecrest finished sixth and Rangeview eighth. …The Regis Jesuit boys cross country team competed in the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede on the course where the state meet will be contested and finished eight out of 19 teams i the championship race. Braeden Focht crossed the finish line at the Norris Penrose Event Center in a time of 15 minutes, 36.90 seconds, which put hiim fourth among 184 individuals in the field. The Raiders’ next-highest finish came from Caleb Aex, who ran 16:54.40 to place 35th. The Smoky Hill boys finished 10th in the large school race, while the Buffs were 16th on the girls side.The small school boys race included Lotus School For Excellence, which was 14th as a team, but had the fifth-place individual finisher in Biruk Begashaw (18:14.60).
THURSDAY, AUG. 22: The Cherokee Trail girls volleyball team opened the season in style with a gritty 25-27, 25-19, 25-20, 21-25, 16-14 road victory at Ralston Valley. …The Grandview girls volleyball team traveled to Ponderosa and came away with a 25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 25-22 win to start the campaign. …The Regis Jesuit girls volleyball team rode a strong service game to a 25-22, 25-12, 25-16 season-opening victory at Eaglecrest. …The Hinkley girls volleyball team got off to a winning start with a 25-18, 25-22, 25-20 defeat of Aurora West College Prep. …Maddie Kilmer registered 11 kills, 13 digs and 14 assists and Anika Davison added 12 kills and 13 digs for the Rangeview girls volleyball team in a 18-25, 18-25, 25-16, 27-25, 15-11 loss to Douglas County. …Alex Kedzierski scored the lone goal of the game late in the second half as the Grandview boys soccer team outlasted Lewis-Palmer 1-0. Abner Valdelemar Jiminez had to make only two saves for the shutout. …The Cherokee Trail boys soccer team opened the season with a 4-1 home win over ThunderRidge that saw Aiden Petty, Caleb Burgess and Vincent Tchoumba notch goals. …The Vista PEAK Prep boys soccer team got goals from Azael Macias, Cristian Rosas and Garrett Summey to overcome Eaglecrest 3-1 in a local matchup at Stutler Bowl. Jareth Almaraz Muro, Angelo Flores and Damian Rios added assists for the Bison, while Adam Keresemo had the Raptors’ score in the opening half. …The Gateway boys soccer team played the first high school game at the newly-refurbished Aurora Public Schools Stadium, but fell to Westminster 3-0. …The Overland softball team rode a strong outing on the mound and at the plate for Michaela Halton to a 12-7 win over Rangeview. Halton had three hits and drove in four runs, while she allowed five hits over five innings, while Kourtnie Batcho drove in a run and scored three times for the Trailblazers. Devyn Davenport had a home run and joined Anabelle Velasco and Shannon Henry with two hits, while Mackenzie Moyer had two RBI for the Raiders. …The Smoky Hill field hockey team faced Mountain Vista in a rematch of a play-in contest last season and dropped a 2-0 contest at Stutler Bowl.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 21: Kendalyn Craven, Jill Samaras and Elsa Pedersen had three hits apiece and Alexis Colvin drove in two runs, but six errors plagued the Regis Jesuit softball team in a 13-3 six-inning home loss to Arapahoe. …The Regis Jesuit girls flag football team had a low-scoring season opener, but followed that up with a 41-7 road win over Highlands Ranch. Naala Barnes threw for 168 yards and four touchdowns, while Alexiah Toval had a passing touchdown and was among six players to catch scores as the Raiders improved to 2-0. …The Cherokee Trail girls flag football team dropped its opener 36-0 to Chaparral in a game that was halted at halftime by lightning in the area. …No. 2 singles player Trevor O’Shea and the No. 4 doubles team of Kyle Jansen and Emmanuel Opoku were victorious in straight set matches for the Overland boys tennis team in a 5-2 dual loss to visiting Riverdale Ridge. …Cole Dossey of the Gateway boys golf team posted a six-stroke victory in a Colorado League minor played at Legacy Ridge G.C. Dossey shot a plus-40 112 to finish atop a field of eight players, while Aurora Central’s Titus Morris (134) edged Gateway’s Malaki Yurich (136) by two shots for fourth. … Vista PEAK Prep’s Casey Nesbitt shot a plus-19 91 to take 17th and lead the way among locals in the City League boys golf tournament played at Overland Park G.C. Preston Siefert shot 97 to take 22nd for the Bison, who were sixth as a team, while eighth-place Rangeview was led by Gabriel Naranjo (102) in 26th place.
TUESDAY, AUG. 20: The Eaglecrest softball team broke open a close game with eight runs in the top of the seventh inning of a 13-4 season-opening win at Chaparral. Kaitlyn Hendrian homered and joined Sybella Trevino with four RBI for the Raptors to back Briahna Gallegos, who scattered nine hits in a complete game victory. …The Grandview softball team scored two runs or more in five of its six at-bats in a 13-3 season-opening home win over Highlands Ranch. Leah Graves struck out nine and allowed five hits and three runs, but got plenty of backing from an offense that say Macy Hemstreet, Maddie Heirich and Sasha Kennedy have two hits apiece. Madison Jaramillo homered and drove in three runs, while Peyton Rasmussen joined Heinrich with two RBI for the Wolves. …The Vista PEAK Prep softball team tallied 12 runs in the third inning to top Skyview 16-1 in contest shortened to three innings. Nayely Duran went 3-for-3 and scored twice, while Bella Renzi drove in four runs and Jaya Gray plated three for the Bison in support of Lauren Reed, who scattered three hits over three innings on the mound. …The Regis Jesuit boys golf team finished in a three-way tie for second place in the third Continental League tournament of the season, which was played at Meadow Hills G.C. The Raiders didn’t play with their full lineup with an out of state trip upcoming, but shot the same score of 225 as Castle View and Heritage, which put the squads five strokes behind ThunderRidge. Roland Thornton shot a plus-3 to tie for sixth and Owen Casey’s 75 tied him for eighth for Regis Jesuit.
