Prep notebook: Vail Christian girls tennis continues winning ways
Drever, distance runners shine at weekend track meets and Saints boys volleyball host home opener
Ben Roof/Courtesy photo
Vail Christian girls tennis dominated a pair of tennis matches Saturday, sweeping all three singles and all four doubles against Delta and North Fork to improve to 5-0 on the season.
The No. 1 doubles team of of Juliet Studness and Anna Baker and No. 3 singles player Jessie Allen didn’t even drop a single game, cruising to straight set 6-0, 6-0 victories in both matches. The Saints continue their season at Steamboat Springs on March 31.
Soccer notes: Vail Christian and Eagle Valley fall; Battle Mountain defeats Summit
Avery Murray scored twice and Eadlin Hoff and Hailey Severson each added a goal to lead Front Range Christian over Vail Christian in girls soccer on Monday in Littleton. The Saints are 1-2 and are set to open league play at Grand Valley on Thursday.
On Saturday, Eagle Valley dropped a home contest against Steamboat Springs, 4-0. The Sailors scored three second-half goals en route to improving to 2-3. The Devils (1-3-1), will try to get back into the win column Thursday at home against Summit (0-3).
Battle Mountain went into the half with a 2-1 lead against Summit in an I-70 rivalry matchup in Edwards on Monday, but the Huskies poured in three second-half goals to take a 5-3 win and improve to 4-0 on the year.
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Thea Armistead, Molly Reeder and Daila Ledezma each scored a goal and Monica Duran scored twice. Fiona Lloyd had two assists in the win. Battle Mountain is at home on Thursday against Evergreen (2-1).
Track notes: Drever shines in Chandler, Arizona Invitational
Jake Drever ripped up the track at the Chandler Rotary Invitational in Chandler, Arizona, over the weekend, rewriting the Eagle Valley sea-level performance book in the process. On Friday’s 3200-meter run, Drever, who opened his season last week with a school-record 9 minute, 40 second solo win in Rifle, blazed to third overall in a deep, elite southwest-based field, coming home in a time of 9:16.29. University of Arizona commit Andrew Gibby (9:14.75) and Cheyenne Mountain’s Brogan Collins (9:14.14) finished in the top two spots.
“I have no doubt Jake’s name will cover the Eagle Valley High School track record board before the end of the season,” said Devils cross-country coach Melinda Brandt, who complimented Drever for his dedication and progression over the last four years.
“He is such a competitor. He is doing all the little things right. He is hungry to show off all of his hard work from the off-season.”
Track distance coach Myriah Blair said because his time was from out-state, it won’t count as a school record. On Saturday, Drever came back to run 4:22.77 in the 1600, nine seconds ahead of the current 1600-meter in-state school record is held by Gage Neilsen 4:31.44.
“I think Jake is going to break this record in the near future,” Blair stated.
Battle Mountain’s distance runners also impressed on Saturday, as well, albeit in a bit harsher conditions. The Huskies finished seventh and 13th in the girls and boys teams scores, respectively out of 27 4A and 5A schools at the Broomfield Invitational. Porter Middaugh (9:35.72) and Will Brunner (9:40.40) went 1-2 in a cold and windy 3200 and Milaina Almonte (11:40) and Lindsey Whitton (12:10.87) came in third and eighth in the girls eight-lap race.
Rob Parish/Courtesy photo
“The group did fantastic despite the long day, and very cold and windy conditions. This was rough stuff for a track meet,” said head coach Rob Parish, who pointed to other impressive performances across the board as well. Presley Smith took second overall in the 400-meter dash and Tyler Heimerl was third in the high jump (4 feet, 9 inches) and 10th in the long jump (14-10).
Battle Mountain’s pole vaulters produced a pair of top-10 finishes as well, with Stella Jackson (7-06) coming eighth for the girls and Quinn Thuon (9-00) placing ninth for the boys. Cooper Skidmore also placed ninth in the discuss (124-02).
Aside from Drever, the rest of the Devils squad also competed in Broomfield. Allie Braun’s 4-09 fifth-place in the heigh jump was the top-placing performance on the girls side and freshman Dylan Blair’s 11th in the 3200-meter (10:14.27) was the best finish for the boys.
Boys volleyball notes: Vail Christian battles Lake County
Vail Christian’s boys volleyball team defeated Lake County 3-1 Tuesday night in its home opener. The Saints, who went 3-7 in their first year of boys volleyball last season, lost their first match of the year 25-16, 25-18, 25-21 on Friday to Gateway. With the win over the Panthers, Vail Christian improves to 1-1. The Saints travel to Aurora West College Prep Academy next Monday.
Baseball notes: Eagle Valley falls to Grand Junction
Grand Junction used an eight-run second inning to pull away from Eagle Valley Tuesday night and defeat the Devils 14-4. Elias Pena went 2-for-4 from the plate, but Eagle Valley managed just four hits in the loss. The Tigers had 14 hits, scoring three in the bottom of the fifth to close out the game by 10.
Eagle Valley falls to 2-3 on the year and will look ahead to a Friday-Saturday double header against Battle Mountain.
