SPORTS

Fort Lupton likely headed for state tournament slot

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

AURORA -- It seems likely that Fort Lupton’s soccer team will advance to the postseason for a second straight time starting Oct. 27. FLHS was in 20th place in the state’s Ratings Performance Index late last week, and the top 32 teams advance.

The opponent and place of the fi rst-round game are less certain. The pairings were due Oct. 25, after press time. Last year, FLHS earned the 16th seed in a COVID-shortened fi eld and barely lost to top-seeded Colorado Academy in the fi rst round.

What is absolutely certain is that Fort Lupton did not win the Colorado League championship. Aurora Central saw to that by beating the Bluedevils 3-0 in Aurora Oct. 19. A year ago, the same two schools played for the league title in Fort Lupton, and the Bluedevils won.

The Trojans’ Ivan Dorado .took advantage of a defensive mistake and scored in the 12th minute. ACHS added two goals in a span of six minutes late in the second half. One came by way of a penalty kick.

“We battled, and we’re still breathing .. still walking and talking,” FLHS coach Kyle Reddy said. “We’re still going to make the state tournament. It would have been nice to get this one. It would have solidifi ed a higher seed for us.”

FLHS fi nished the regular season with a record of 12-3.

“Last year, we only had 10 games,” Reddy said. “I’m proud of these boys. Our destiny is in our hands. We have to take each game seriously, each training session seriously. It’s one and done, and we have to understand overlying consequences. We can’t drop another game like this.”

Reddy called the loss to Aurora Central “unfortunate.”

“But these boys will fi nd a way to bounce back,” Reddy said. “We controlled the majority of the game. We played together. We fed off each other. What went wrong for us was we beat ourselves. We could have beaten that team. At the end of the day, we beat ourselves.”

Reddy knows of a few things where the Bluedevils need some work ahead of the state tournament.

“Everybody’s head needs to be in the game before the game,” he said. “Even the day before the game. I like to say the day before the day before (the game) is the most important one -- hydration, nutrition taking care of your injuries. Come the day before, we know what we’re doing. The day of, we’re already there.”

Fort Lupton’s Isidro Fernandez heads the ball forward against the defensive e ort of Aurora Central’s Jean Nishirimbe.

PHOTOS BY STEVE SMITH

Fort Lupton’s Isidro Fernandez does the splits as Aurora Central’s Mark Ling has to fi gure out some other way to advance the ball.

Ponderosa brings an end to Frederick’s softball season

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

AURORA -- Try as Frederick High School’s softball team did, Ponderosa High School’s team had enough answers to pick up a 12-6 win over the Warriors in the fi rst round of the state 4A softball tournament at Aurora Sports Park Oct. 21.

FHS never led. The Warriors spotted the Mustangs a four-run lead after three innings, then cut the defi cit to a single run after Haley Howell’s home run and an Ali Davis RBI double. Ponderosa answered that with a two-run home run by Olivia Trombley in the last of the fourth.

FHS used an error off an infi eld grounder by Avery Salisbury two score two runs. Bella Hewitt added a scoring fl y ball, and the Warriors trailed the Mustangs 7-6 after 4 ½ innings.

Ponderosa Rachael Wassenaar countered with a two-run home run in the Mustangs’ half of the fi fth inning. Two errors and a passed ball helped Ponderosa score three more times in the bottom of the sixth,

“It seemed like they had an answer, and we didn’t make it diffi cult for them at times,” FHS coach Roger Dufour said. “They took advantage of it, and we just couldn’t get that lead.”

Mackenzie Sais had three hits for the Warriors. Hewitt and Ali Davis added two base hits. Trombley, who also was the winning pitcher, helped her own cause with two hits and three RBIs. Ellie Williams had a base hit and drove in a pair of runs.

“We gave them too much, too many outs, too many free bases, too many ‘60 feet at a time’ on pitches,” Dufour said. “I’m not blaming it on any one thing. You can’t give teams anything at this point. Everyone is good. It just wasn’t meant to be for us.”

FHS fi nished 18-9 this season.

“We competed,” Dufour said. “After being down, we scrapped back into it. We used our short game. Because we exited in the fi rst round, it’s good experience for the younger girls. That’s valuable for us.”

FHS loses seven to graduation.

“We’re looking forward to reloading next year. We’ll have to fi gure out a couple of positions, but I’m excited for the returning players next year,” Dufour said.

Fort Lupton’s Rylee Balcazar gets into second base and avoids Strasburg’s shortstop, Graecyn Graf, in the process during the fi rst round of the state 3A softball tournament at Aurora Sports Park Oct. 21. PHOTOS BY STEVE SMITH

Fort Lupton’s Reagan Mewbourne, far left, gets the hero’s welcome from teammate Rozzie Mendoza, second from left, Areliana Bravo (9) and Desiree Floyd (99) after Mewbourne’s fi rst-inning home run against Strasburg at the state 3A softball tournament Strasburg’s Madison Brewer puts a late tag on Fort Lupton’s Reagan Mewbourne during the fi rst round of the state 3A softball tournament at Aurora Sports Park Oct. 21.

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

AURORA -- Fort Lupton’s softball team made history at the state 3A tournament over the weekend.

The Bluedevils advanced to the quarterfi nal round for the fi rst time in school history. FLHS beat Strasburg 7-4 Oct. 21 at Aurora Sports Park.

There may have been another fi rst in that game, too. Second baseman Reagan Mewbourn hit a home run to start the scoring in the fi rst inning.

She hit it with her eyes closed “”a little bit.”

“Before I closed my eyes, it was down the middle,” she said. “No movement, nothing like that. It was a good tone-setter and proved we can do it. We just have to want to do it.”

Rylee Balcazar added a home run as well. Sammy Gonzales fi nished with three hits in four trips to the plate. Balcazar fi nished 2-for-3. Rozzie Mendoza was 3-for-4.

Autumn Stone and Tara Gustafson had three hits for the Indians. Graecyn Graf had a base hit and an RBI.

Fort Lupton committed four errors, and Strasburg used two of those miscues to make things interesting in the seventh inning. The Indians scored once and loaded the bases before Fort Lupton could retire a batter. Relief pitcher Taylor Fells worked her way out of the jam by not letting the last three Indians’ batters get a ball out of the infi eld.

“We’ve been putting in a lot of good work, and they’ve been buying our philosophy,” FLHS coach Albert Vasquez said. “They are executing. In years past, errors would demoralize us mentally. That’s the difference with this team. They never skipped a beat. They moved past it. We’ve been working on the mental aspect.”

“Winning is always what you want to do. But if you come out and show that you earned your spot here and didn’t win, you proved to yourself that you can do it,” Mewbourn said.

“The best thing I saw (against Strasburg) was the hitting,” Vasquez said. “We’ve been working extensively on that. There isn’t a pitcher here we aren’t prepared for.”

Eaton spotted FLHS two runs, then rallied for a 6-2 win in the quarterfi nal round. Mendoza had a base hit and Fort Lupton’s RBI. Fells had two of FLHS’ base hits.

The Bluedevils fi nished the season with their second straight league title, their fi rst regional title and a fi fth appearance in the state meet. The Bluedevils fi nished with a record of 18-9.

“It was much needed and welldeserved. I don’t remember a softball team making it past the fi rst round of state. We realized it’s just a game and that we have each others’ backs. We realized it’s win or go home,” Mewbourn said after the Strasburg win. “There was no getting down on somebody because they missed a ball or had a bad at-bat.”

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Fort Lupton High School Volleyball

Fort Lupton downed Arvada 25-15, 25-6, 25-16 in Arvada Oct. 18. Emiko Ohkawa had six kills to pace FLHS. Neveah Gonzales added fi ve, and Dani Aviles had four. Rylea Sarazen had seven aces for the Bluedevils. No stats were available for the Bulldogs.

FLHS made it successive wins by downing Aurora Central 25-5, 29-27, 25-13 in Fort Lupton Oct. 19. Gonzales had eight kills to lead FLHS’ offense. Aviles added fi ve, and Alissa Clark added four. Ohkawa, Gonzales and Ameriyah Jacobo served three aces. Cymone Chinn had three kills for the Trojans.

The winning streak ended Oct. 20 when Eagle Ridge downed Fort Lupton 25-17, 25-19, Janisa Shaffer had seven kills for the Bluedevils. Dani Aviles was next with four. Shaffer and Neveah Gonzales served up two aces.

No stats were available for the Warriors.

Cross country

GREELEY -- Kimberley Campbell placed 60th in the girls race at the class 3A Region 4 meet at Monfort Park Oct. 21. Her time was 24:52.3.

Blake Heyen placed 88th in the boys race, fashioning a time of 23:19.1. Jose Castaneda fi nished 92nd in a time of 24:39.5.

Football

Brush beat the Bluedevils 70-0 in Brush Oct. 21. FLHS quarterback Will Alvarado was 10-for-19 for 120 yards. Sergio Hernandez was the top rusher. He gained 33 yards on 12 carries. Anthony Blan-Mendenhall caught two passes for 47 yards.

SPORTS BRIEFS

State cross country

AURORA -- The state cross country meet is Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Norris Penrose Equestrian Events Center in Colorado Springs.

Here’s the schedule: 4A boys race 1:40 p.m. -- 4A girls race

Youth basketball

The city of Fort Lupton is

Frederick High School Volleyball

Thompson Valley ended Frederick’s seven-match winning streak by beating the Warriors 25-15, 25-13, 25-15 in Loveland Oct. 19. Chloe Duzenack led the Eagles with 10 kills. Tatum Sharp added eight, and Avery Gibbs chipped in with seven. No stats were available for the Warriors.

Soccer

Frederick closed out its season with a 2-0 loss at Thompson Valley Oct. 19. No stats were available for the Warriors, who fi nished with a 5-10 record.

Cross country

LYONS -- Frederick’s Chase Svela (11th place) and Mikenna Hoffman (fourth place) qualifi ed for the state 4A cross country meet Oct. 21.

The qualifying meet was at Lyons High School. Svela’s time was 17;09.5. Hoffman turned in a time of 20:20.7.

The other point-producers for the FHS boys team were Alexander Carrillo (21st, 17:49.8), Brandt Hartman (65th, 19:10.9), Garrett Colvin (74th,

searching for youth (third- through sixth-graders) for its basketball leagues for the winter season. Registration is $55 by Saturday, Dec. 4, and $75 by Saturday, Dec. 11.Games begin Jan. 15 and end with a doubleheader Saturday, Feb. 26.

Visit https://fortluptonco/. goc/416/Youth-Sports or call 303857-7100.

Boys golf

Frederick’s Jake Chesler was a fi rst-team, all-conference golfer in voting by CHSAANow.com, MaxPreps and ColoradoPreps.com.

Turkey Trot

Brighton’s annual Turkey Trot, the 37th annual version, starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, at the Brighton Recreation Center, 555 N. 11th Ave. It’s a qualifi er for the Bolder Boulder in the spring.

The early bird entry fee is $30 for adults, $20 for youths and $20 for seniors. Race-day fees increase $5. The fee includes a T-shirt, breakfast, awards, prizes and drawings.

In-person registration deadline is Thursday, Nov. 18. Call 303-6552200.

19:50.7) and Darren Reynolds (89th, 20:45.6).

The remaining girls team’s pointproducers were Mya Wilcox (60th, 24:03.4), Gracie Wilts (77th, 25:41.2), Alexis Torres (80th, 26:10.9) and Ashlyn Torres (89th, 27:07.2).

Frederick was ninth in the boys race and 10th in the girls race.

The state meet is Saturday, Oct. 30, at Norris Penrose Equestrian Events Center in Colorado Springs.

Football

Frederick bounced back and beat Thompson Valley 28-14 in Loveland Oct. 22. Quarterback Bryce Conover was 6-for-7 for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Parker Ayres (164 yards on 20 carries) and Cruz Zamudio (23 carries, 164 yards, 2 TDs) led the ground attack.

Lafai Purcell caught both of Conover’s touchdown passes and fi nished with 53 yards in receptions.

RE-8 to continue teacher union deductions

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The Weld Re-8 board of education approved a longstanding practice of taking union dues from members of the Fort Lupton Education Association.

The vote was 4-1. Cody LeBlanc cast the dissenting vote. His effort to table the matter indefi nitely died for lack of a second.

“I question why FLEA can’t collect its own dues,” LeBlanc said. “FLEA is not an organization of the district. They are our district partners.”

Before the vote, union member Matthew Wilcox, an art teacher at Twombly Elementary School, urged the board to agree. He cited a working trust between the union and the district.

“We hope your vote will continue that trust,” Wilcox told the board. “We hope you will allow this practice of dues deductions to continue uninterrupted.”

The district policy allows such deductions. It doesn’t allow for courtordered deductions, such as wage garnishments or court-ordered child support.

Library news

In other business, the board voted unanimously to amend a contract with the Fort Lupton School & Public Library.

Most of the change dealt with a $1.5 million renovation to bring the new home of the library up to grade. To do that, library Director Thomas Samblanet said the sellers were going to permit a geotechnical survey before the lot is fi lled. That also involves the creation of a $150,000 escrow fund “to hold the seller accountable,” Samblanet said.

“Will there be any additional fees to the library?” LeBlanc asked.

“No,” said Samblanet. “It’s not related to the amendment. But will any of the $1.5 million in renovations go toward portions of the library that the district will use?”

Samblanet said “no” to that as well.

“We are open to collaborative discussions,” he said. “But mill levy funding for us has to be used for the library specifi cally, not for school spaces.”

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Solution

© 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

TRIVIA

1. TELEVISION: What was the name of Jay’s dog in “Modern Family”? 2. MEASUREMENTS: How many pecks are in a bushel? 3. GEOGRAPHY: Which continent has regions in all four hemispheres of Earth -- north, south, east and west? 4. MUSIC: Which singer is known as the Queen of Disco? 5. U.S. STATES: Which state has the only royal palace in the United States?

6. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE:

How many federal holidays are recognized by the United States? 7. ASTRONOMY: How many moons does Mars have? 8. MOVIES: Which iconic movie has the tagline, “A man went looking for America, and he couldn’t fi nd it anywhere”? 9. FOOD & DRINK: Which minerals are found abundantly in dairy products? 10. COMICS: Which longrunning comic strip developed from a weekly panel titled “L’il Folks”?

Answers

1. Stella 2. Four 3. Africa 4. Donna Summer 5. Hawaii, Iolani Palace 6. 11 annually, with Juneteenth as the most recent addition, and 12 every four years, with Inauguration Day as the additional holiday in Washington, D.C. only. 7. Two, Phobos and Deimos 8. “Easy Rider” 9. Calcium, phosphorus and magnesium 10. “Peanuts” (c) 2021 King Features Synd., Inc.