Freeman keeps shining on tennis court

Castle View grad gets two awards at Iowa college

BY ALEX K.W. SCHULTZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

More than 700 miles away from her native Castle Rock, Katelyn Freeman is still shining on the tennis court.

e 2022 Castle View graduate, a two-year varsity player on the Sabercats girls team, is now playing tennis at Central College in Pella, Iowa, where she recently received the team’s Bogaard Most Improved Performer Award and was a corecipient of the Hardest Worker Award.

At Castle View, Freeman received the Sabercat Award as both a junior and senior. e Sabercat Award is voted on by the team and given to the player who “represents dedication, competition, sportsmanship and leadership.” Freeman was also recognized for her grades in the classroom in her last two years at Castle View.

“It meant a lot to be recognized, especially because I don’t have as much experience as a lot of the other players,” the 18-year-old Freeman, one of only four freshmen in Central’s lineup, said of the two awards she hauled in. “I didn’t play a ton of ranked matches this year; I did a lot of exhibition matches. Even though I’m not in the top 3, it’s cool that I can be recognized at any level.”

On receiving the Most Improved Performer Award, Freeman said she noticed a “huge improvement” in her game, even from the start of the fall season in August to the end of the season just two months later. Freeman continued to re ne her game during the spring season, which ran from early March to late April.

She credited the rise in her game to the drills that head coach Ryun Ferrell has the team do on a regular basis and Central’s overall team culture.

“ ose things helped improve both my consistency and condence as a player,” Freeman said.

“ ey helped me not just from a physical standpoint but also from a mental standpoint.”

After hearing what her days are like at the small, private college in western Iowa, it’s no wonder one of the two Hardest Worker Awards was bestowed upon Freeman.

She said a typical day for her consists of waking up and going to at least three classes, working at the school’s athletics complex, going to tennis practice, having dinner with her teammates in the dining hall, going back to her dorm to spend time with her non-tennis friends and doing homework, then “going to sleep and doing it all again the next day.”

“I do enjoy the busy schedule. Always having something to do gives me a sense of motivation and direction,” Freeman said. “ e energy I get from going to classes translates to work mode and then to practice mode. Staying busy throughout the day helps keep my energy up and helps me do what I need to do.”

Knowing how to navigate a full schedule like the one she has now will certainly come in handy when the time comes for her to take on the professional world.

Freeman, who is studying economics at Central, said she wants to go into the investing eld — she loves all things hedge funds, stocks and portfolios.

Of course, Freeman isn’t ready to tackle Wall Street just yet. She still has three years of classes and homework and team dinners and tennis matches to tackle at Central.

And if the teenager continues to work hard and builds on the improvements she’s already made to her game, who knows how much more hardware she can add to her shelf while she’s in the Hawkeye State?

“I de nitely want to work on taking my game to the next level next year. I’d like to go from an exhibition player to maybe the lower end of the starting lineup,” Freeman said.

“Now that I know what I’m doing, I’d also like to take on more of a leadership role and show incoming freshmen that I made it through my freshman year and they can make it through theirs, too.”

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Tabor Opera House

The Tabor Opera House in Leadville was awarded $250,000 toward ongoing rehabilitation work. It will fund rehabilitation of the street entrance and problems on the western side of the building.

Miners Alley

Mark the calendar: Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, 1224 Washington Ave., Golden, presents “Avenue Q” Aug. 11-Sept. 17. Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. 303-9353044, minersalley.com.

Valkarie Gallery

Michelle Lamb and Claudia Roulier present a joint exhibit from June 28-July 23 at Valkarie Gallery,

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445 S. Saulsbury St., Lakewood, “Visions from Nature.” Opening reception July 1: 5-8:30 p.m. First Friday, July 7, 4-8:30 p.m. See valkariefineart.com or 720-2207587.

ROX Arts Gallery

ROX Arts Gallery at Aspen Grove, 7301 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton, is moving to Unit 222, next to See’s Candies. Opening July 1. with a reception July 14 or 15 (or maybe both.) Look for banners created at ROX Arts by kids on light posts at Aspen Grove. See roxartsgallery. com or 720-724-5730.

Curtis Center

The 19th annual Mile High International Pastel Exhibition continues at Curtis Center for the Arts through July 1. Open Mondays through Saturdays. Free admission. See greenwoodvillage.com/curtis or 303-797-1779.

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Help Wanted

Visa Technology & Operations LLC

Has openings for: Network Support Engineer, IaaS (multiple openings) (REF60486K) in Highlands Ranch, CO. Job duties include: Plan, design, document, implement, and support network connections for commercial customers. Support WAN connections and determine circuit capacity requirements for the Visa Commercial client networks.

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USD.; Sr. Cybersecurity Engineer (multiple openings) (REF60945H) in Highlands Ranch, Colorado to: Design, implement, and optimize Web, API and Mobile backend applications across Visa. Engage in the initial requirements definition, including analysis of threats and risks and alignment with Visa security, Engineering, IT and Architecture standards. The estimated salary range for a new hire into this position is $139,984.00 USD to $190,400.00

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USD. Positions report to the Visa Highlands Ranch, Colorado office and may allow for partial telecommuting. Salaries may vary depending on jobrelated factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, positions may be eligible for an annual bonus and equity. Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position is eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), Employee Stock Purchase Program, FSH/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time off and Wellness Programs.”

Qualified applicants should apply by emailing resume to careersus@visa. com. Must reference job code.

Help Wanted

Director, Product - Asset Management and Fulfillment (NBCUniversal Media, LLC; Centennial, CO). Manage Asset Management & Fulfillment Chain product org comprised of Mgrs, Product Mgrs, & Product Specialists spanning a diverse product portfolio. Position is fully remote & may be performed from anywhere in U.S. Salary range is $220,000/ yr - $290,000/yr., depending on qualifications. Send resume to: Elsbeth Velasco-Fulgencio at elsbeth. velasco@ nbcuni.com, & indicate you are applying for Director, Product –Asset Management and Fulfillment (CAC23LN) opening. NBCU is an EOE.

SRE Engineer (FT; Multiple Openings)

Job Location: Centennial, CO

Requirements: MS or equiv. in CE, Commun. Eng., EE, etc. + 2 yrs. exp. or BS + 5 yrs. exp. req’d. Exp. w/ UCaaS, VoIP, Python, AWS, GCP, Hashicorp Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Bash, Powershell, Linux, Jenkins, GitLab & CI/CD req’d.

Salary: $121K - $135K/yr

Mail Resume: RingCentral, Inc.

Attn: HR Dept. 20 Davis Drive Belmont, CA 94002

System Site Reliability Engineer (FT; Multiple Openings)

Job Location: Centennial, CO

Requirements: BS or equiv. in EE, IT, etc. +3 yrs. exp. req’d. Exp. w/ UCaaS, Python, Bash, Linux OS, Jenkins, GitLab, CI/CD & VoIP req’d.

Salary: $115K/yr

Mail Resume: RingCentral, Inc.

Attn: HR Dept. 20 Davis Drive Belmont, CA 94002

Help Wanted

Visa U.S.A. Inc., a Visa Inc. company, currently needs a Sr. Manager (multiple openings) (REF60897V) in Highlands Ranch, CO. Job duties include: Design and develop browser-based middle tier and front –end applications for the prepaid suite of products using Visual Studio.NET. Work with senior application development staff and assist with the design and development of complex SQL queries and stored procedures, performing unit and integration testing on newly developed components and assisting with troubleshooting and resolving incidents during the software development lifecycle. Position reports to Visa Highlands Ranch, CO office and may allow for partial telecommuting. The estimated salary range for a new hire into this position is $139,984.00 USD to $191,400.00 USD per year. Salary may vary depending on jobrelated factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this position may be eligible for an annual bonus and equity. Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position is eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), Employee Stock Purchase Program, FSH/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time off and Wellness Programs. Qualified applicants should apply by emailing resume to careersus@ visa.com. Must reference job code: REF60897V.