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Playoffs continue for Devils, Huskies and Saints

Chris Freud
KRISTIN ANDERSON |

Happy postseason to all in the world of high school sports, and we’re already off to a great start.

Congratulations to Battle Mountain soccer and lacrosse for advancing with authority on Wednesday. Congratulations to Eagle Valley baseball for nabbing a wild-card spot. The Devils are going to Durango for a 10 a.m. start in District 6 on Saturday. Battle Mountain lax hosts archrival Aspen today at 4:30 in Round 2, while Huskies soccer welcomes Valor Christian on Saturday on 3 p.m. (Yes, folks, those times are now official.)

And, we’ve got the league meet for our three track and field teams down in Grand Junction.



Let’s take a twirl around, shall we?

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Track and field

Here’s what the state outlook looks like now:

Class 4A

Boys

400 — 18. Dominic Patterson, EV, 50.66

800 — 3. Dominic Patterson, EV, 1:54.77

1,600 — 18. Gino Giovagnoli, EV, 4:32.78

110 hurdles — 5. Riley Rowles, EV, 14.98

300 hurdles — 14. Riley Rowles, EV, 41.12

800 relay — 12. Eagle Valley, 1:31.45

1,600 relay — 13. Eagle Valley, 3:28.59

3,200 relay — 1. Eagle Valley, 7:59.47

Long jump — 6. Riley Rowles, EV, 22-0.5

Triple jump — 16. Riley Rowles, EV, 42-11.5

Discus — 17. David Casas, BM, 141-1

Girls

100 — 12. Megan Asmussen, EV. 12.75

400 — 6. Carly Volkmer, EV, 57.87

800 — 7. Val Constien, BM, 2:16.48; 12. Roxy Trotter, EV, 2:19.09

1,600 — 5. Val Constien, BM, 5:12.51

100 hurdles — 8. Charise Crabb, EV, 16.01

300 hurdles — 11. Isabelle Calabrese, BM, 47.54; 12. Sofia Calabrese, BM, 47.56

400 relay — 11. Eagle Valley, 50.54

800 relay — 11. Eagle Valley, 1:46.22

1,600 relay — 5. Battle Mountain, 4:04.14; 9. Eagle Valley, 4:06.08

3,200 relay — 6. Eagle Valley, 9:51.44; 9. Battle Mountain, 9:56.33

Medley — 7. Eagle Valley, 1:50.75

High jump — T3, Sofia Calabrese, BM, 5-4; 9. McKenzie Sisson, EV, 5-2

Triple jump — 3. Michelle Carbajal, EV, 36-3.5; 18. Tesha Olson, BM, 34-3.75

Discus — 15. Jessica Cuomo, BM, 112

Pole vault — 5. Isabelle Calabrese, BM, 10-7; 10. Kate Pittel, BM, 9-7

Class 1A

Note: Top nine qualify in running events; top 12 in field events

Boys

100 — 6. Cole Caynoski, VC, 11.74

200 — 2. Cole Caynoski, VC, 23.06

400 — 2. Cole Caynoski, VC, 51.23

800 — 3. Ethan Pence, VC, 2:05.60

1,600 — 3. Ethan Pence, VC, 4:48.67

3,200 — 3. Ethan Pence, VC, 10:48.75

400 relay — 4. Vail Christian, 47.12

800 relay — 1. Vail Christian, 1:36.35

1,600 relay — 1. Vail Christian, 3:38.01

Discus — 6. Branden Currey, VC, 123-4.25

Pole vault — 1. Nick Boyne, VC, 12-1; 2. Cooper Daniels, VC, 12

Girls

100 — 6. Taylor Alexander, VC, 13.36

200 — 8. Taylor Alexander, VC, 28.15

400 relay — 1. Vail Christian, 52.81

800 relay — 3. Vail Christian, 1:55.03

High jump — T2. Celia Smith, VC, 5-2

Pole vault — 1. Taylor Alexander, VC, 11-7.5; 2. Celia Smith, VC, 10-6

• The major issue at 4A is how the Huskies and Devils approach the league meet — go for the league title or state times? Eagle Valley, for example, has a great luxury with its 3,200-meter relay team. That squad is in. Eighteen teams from around the state are not going to surpass the Devils by running sub-8 minute times this weekend.

With that in mind, does Jeff Shroll break up Nathan Maddox, Gino Giovagnoli, Luis Chavez and Dominic Patterson? Coach Shroll can load the open 800 and pick up major points there — Giovagnoli’s definitely running this race because he’s just on the outside of the state 18. Do you move any of these four to the mile or the 400?

At Battle Mountain, what does Rob Parish do with Val Constien? Her state spots in the 800 and the 1,600 are safe. Does she go in the triple jump, where she has qualified for state in past years, and/or put her in other open running events for league points?

This is what both teams have been calculating with all their athletes all week. We’ll see it unfold during the next two days.

• Not surprisingly, Vail Christian has made a quiet, yet effective assault on the 1A standings. The decision for the Saints is who runs in what events in state? Looking at people like Cole Caynoski, Ethan Pence and Taylor Alexander, they can only compete in four events in a meet. Remember that all three are qualified in fewer than four individual events, but are also on relays. Decisions, decisions.

OK, we know Alexander and Celia Smith will vault. Does Caynoski drop one of the sprints, perhaps the 100? After all, the Saints boys have two No. 1 relay teams.

Do look for Alexander to move up in the sprints this weekend. She’s barely run all year because of a hamstring injury.

Baseball

Surprise.

Eagle Valley thought it was done after getting swept by Palisade last weekend, but got new life, thanks to wild-card points.

I find this team maddening, and that’s OK. The Giants are maddening, and I think we’ve established that I’m pretty fond of that team. You guys need to put together a game, by which I mean, “Catch the ball. Throw the ball. Catch the ball.” (Again, I yell this at the Giants.)

The Devils have averaged three-plus errors per game. Guys, you’re turning a seven-inning game into an eight-inning one for your pitchers. You can’t do that. Play a crisp game and anything’s possible.

Lacrosse

• First off, how the world has changed just in the time I’ve been here at the Vail Daily. In ye olden days, when Air Academy and Battle Mountain would get together, Huskies coach Jerry Nichols might call a coach he knew in Air Academy’s conference and get a little bit of a scouting report. That’s about it.

Now, everything’s on the Internet, including game film, and it was fascinating to watch the resulting chess match. Kudos to the Huskies for adjusting accordingly.

• Will Aspen and or Battle Mountain show a new look today or do they stick with what got them here? Either way, I like the team that settles in, managing the emotions. (Read: Stay out of the box, boys.)

• Bad news on the girls lacrosse front: Mullen beat Aspen, 15-5. The girls’ version of the Mountain Conference will get only one postseason spot next year.

Soccer

Battle Mountain’s win against Denver South was a solid start. No. 4-seeded teams should beat the heck out No. 29. The games begin on Saturday with Valor Christian. You’ve waited for a year for this one, ladies.

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.


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