AURORA | As the spring prep sports season builds towards its ending crescendo, much happened over the past weekend in virtually every sport.
Sentinel Sports Editor Courtney Oakes has a brief breakdown of some of the key results and happening from Friday-Sunday:
SCHIMBERG WINS 5A BOYS SWIM TITLE IN BIG MEET FOR LOCAL
The boys swimming season came to an end Saturday at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center with the Class 5A swim finals, which came after prelims Friday. Regis Jesuit went into the meet hoping to win a third straight state title and 25th in program history, but the Raiders were unable to keep pace with Cherry Creek, which won six of the 12 events to win its first title since 2021. The Raiders’ top individual performer was junior Reid Magner, who finished as the state runner-up in the 200 yard individual medley and was touched out to finish third in the 500 freestyle (after he was No. 1 in prelims). Individually, Grandview junior Oliver Schimberg won a second straight state championship in the 100 backstroke as he recorded a time of 47.49 seconds, while the Wolves broke seven team records on their way to ninth place in the team standings. Smoky Hill — which got runner-up finishes from Daniel Yi and Ian Noffsinger — finished in sixth place, while Cherokee Trail (paced by Bronson Smothers, a two-event championship finalist) finished 11th. Overland got its three points from Chad Hamilton’s 18th-place finish in the 1-meter diving competition. As the icing on the cake of a big meet, Smoky Hill’s Yi was chosen as 5A Swimmer of the Year and Buffaloes’ coach Scott Cohen got the nod from his piers as 5A Swim Coach of the Year.
Full Class 5A state team scores plus championship and consolation finals results, here
GRANDVIEW ELIMINATED ON FINAL DAY OF BOYS VOLLEYBALL STATE TOURNAMENT; EAGLECREST & CHEROKEE TRAIL EXIT EARLIER
The Grandview boys volleyball team earned a spot in the postseason for the first time this season and ended up surviving all the way to the final day of the three-day state tournament that concluded Saturday at Overland High School. The Wolves earned a rousing reverse sweep of the Littleton Public Schools co-op team to win the Centennial League Challenge tournament, but suffered both of their losses in the double-elimination tournament to the same team. The first loss came in the opening match, while the last came in a match with a spot in the semifinals on the line. Eaglecrest — the 2023 state runner-up — bounced back from an opening round loss to win twice in playbacks, until it got stopped by Littleton Public Schools in five sets in an elimination match Friday night, which came after the Raptors lost in four sets to eventual state runner-up Fountain-Fort Carson in their opener. Cherokee Trail dropped two matches on the first day of the tournament, falling in four to Thornton and then five to Eaglecrest.
Full 2024 boys volleyball state tournament final results, here
LOCALS DENIED PLACES AT CLASS 5A GIRLS TENNIS INDIVIDUAL STATE
Four singles players and five doubles teams combined from Eaglecrest, Grandview and Regis Jesuit spent varying amount of time on the courts at City Park in Denver during the Class 5A girls tennis individual state tournament. None of the locals lasted until the final day Saturday — when the top four places were decided — as Regis Jesuit’s trio of sophomore No. 3 singles player Otylia Martino plus the No. 1 doubles team of seniors Lucy Filippini and Brenna Radebaugh and the No. 4 doubles team of senior Elise Holt and sophomore Helen Adams all lost in consolation semifinal matches (full story, here).
Full 2024 Class 5A girls tennis state individual tournament placing match results, here
REGIS JESUIT MAKES 5A BOYS LACROSSE QUARTERFINALS
Aurora’s three qualifiers for the Class 5A boys lacrosse playoffs have been cut from three to one, as only sixth-seeded Regis Jesuit made it through the second round played on Saturday. The Raiders got four goals from senior Dylan Kummer and three from freshman Austin Ryan to lead the way in a 9-4 defeat of No. 10 Rock Canyon at Lou Kellogg Stadium, which earned them a chance to face second-seeded Cherry Creek, who they lost to late in the regular season. Eighth-seeded Grandview came off a first round bye to face ninth-seeded Denver South, which left Stutler Bowl with a 21-12 victory that left the Wolves with a final record of 9-7.
Updated 2024 Class 5A boys lacrosse state playoff scoreboard & schedule, here
GRANDVIEW GIRLS SOCCER TEAM HEADED TO 5A QUARTERFINALS
The Grandview girls soccer team got goals from sophomores Isis Prestwood and Maya Sandler in a brief flurry late in the opening half of its Class 5A second round game against Arvada West at Legacy Stadium and it held up for a 2-0 victory. The 13th-seeded Wolves improved to 10-5-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will go against No. 3 Ralston Valley (14-2-1) at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the North Area Athletic Complex.
Updated 2024 Class 5A girls soccer state playoff scoreboard & schedule, here
CHEROKEE TRAIL FALLS SHORT VS. NO. 1 SEED IN 4A GIRLS LAX QUARTERFINALS
The Cherokee Trail girls lacrosse team made its deepest appearance ever in the postseason and played like it belonged there Saturday in a road loss to the defending Class 4A state champions. The eighth-seeded Cougars — coming off a double-digit win over Horizon in the second round — played top-seeded Mead to within two goals early in the regular season and the final margin was three in the rematch, as the Mavericks escaped with an 11-8 victory to advance to the semifinals. Cherokee Trail (which finished the season 12-5) outshot Mead for the game and got three goals from senior Kyla Bieker and two from junior Lorelei Gearity.
Updated 2024 Class 4A girls lacrosse state playoff scoreboard & schedule, here
REGIS JESUIT STOPPED IN 5A GIRLS LACROSSE QUARTERFINALS
The Regis Jesuit girls lacrosse team’s bid to make a second straight trip to the Class 5A state championship game ended Friday with a 10-4 road loss at Fairview in the quarterfinals. The sixth-seeded Raiders — who opened the postseason with a victory over Chatfield two days earlier — matched their season-low in goals with just four against the third-seeded Knights, who also defeated them in the regular season in overtime. Regis Jesuit finished the season 9-7.
Updated 2024 Class 5A girls lacrosse state playoff scoreboard & schedule, here
EAGLECREST BOYS WIN CENTENNIAL LEAGUE TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP
The Eaglecrest boys track team earned the Centennial League championship, as it accrued more points than Cherokee Trail when the meet ended Saturday at Legacy Stadium. The Raptors had just one individual title — from Peace Worah in the long jump — but used depth to earn 13 more points than the Cougars, who captured first in nine different events (which included 100 and 200 meter dash crowns for Peyton Sommers. Gabriella Cunningham swept the hurdles events in the girls competition for Grandview, which was the league runner-up to Cherry Creek. Third-place Eaglecrest had one champion in shot putter McKenna George, while fifth-place Cherokee Trail got wins in the long and triple jumps from Kaeli Powe.
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE CHALLENGE BASEBALL PLACES DECIDED
The baseball version of the Centennial League Challenge came to an end Saturday with placing games, which were headlined by Cherokee Trail’s 8-6 road loss at Cherry Creek that decided the league title. The Cougars scored five runs in the third inning — which included three RBI from Logan Reid and another from Jake Hernandez — but the Bruins scored five straight runs to take the lead and held off a late rally. Grandview (which had to play all but one of its games on the road because of wind damage to its field) got a monster game from Jax Pfister (who pitched a complete game and homered) in a 3-1 win over Eaglecrest to claim third. Smoky Hill downed Overland to finish in seventh place.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
