26 Highlands Ranch Herald
LOCAL
January 4, 2018J
SPORTS
First-year challenges are nothing new for hockey coach
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The ThunderRidge poms team competes at the State Spirit Championships, which were held Dec. 8-9 at the Denver Coliseum. ThunderRidge claimed the Class 5A crown. PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVE SHELPUK
ThunderRidge, Valor win titles at state spirit competition Grizzlies, Eagles take the 5A and 4A crowns BY JIM BENTON JBENTON@COLORDOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
It takes endurance, technical skills and consistency to deliver a championship poms routine. That’s why ThunderRidge poms coach Ashley Harhigh was so confident. ThunderRidge, led by senior captains Annabel Hiben and Maddie White, won the Classs 5A poms title at the State Spirit Championships, which were held Dec. 8-9 at the Denver Coliseum. The Grizzlies, with a score of 94.2333, finished ahead of runner-up Grandview at 93.4833.
“It is a very athletic competition,” Harhigh said. “Judges definitely look for synchronization, how well the dancers are together as a unit, technical ability, creativity and quality. “Consistency is something definitely in the heart of our sport and especially the repetition of it. You do it over and over for months. I will say this was the most consistent team I’ve ever coached. Yes, there may be days on or off but I never once coached this season when I didn’t feel my team was capable of executing their routines to the best of their ability.” Meanwhile, Valor Christian won a tiebreaker to capture the Eagles’ second straight Class 4A cheer championship. Valor had a higher cheer score of 44.8 to Thompson Valley’s 44.7 to give the Eagles the title. “Winning a state championship is such an honor and huge blessing,” Valor cheerleading coach Kallyn SEE TITLES, P27
Valor Christian athletes pose with the trophy after winning their second straight Class 4A cheer championship.
COURTESY PHOTO
any years ago, I wrote a paper about the value of experience. This is another tale about lessons than can be learned from experience. Chaparral has a first-year hockey team competing in the Colorado High School Hockey Association’s Pinnacle Conference and has a coach in Ryan Finnefrock who knows what it is like to be included in an infant program. Finnefrock played hockey for Ralston Valley when the OVERTIME program was getting started and now is in charge of launching the program for Chaparral. “I played for Ralston Valley from 2006-10,” said Finnefrock. “I was part of the four straight Final Four runs and two losses in the state championship games. I was a Jim Benton freshman when it first started. “I learned a lot from John McKibbon, my head coach in high school. Even today through the process of getting a team started I call him for advice. He’s been a great help.” Finnefrock played hockey at St. John’s University. He is now a social studies teacher at Chaparral and the hockey coach for the first-year program which draws players from the Parker schools of Chaparral, Legend and Ponderosa. “You have to have a lot of tools in place,” said Finnefrock. “Our athletic director, Rob Johnson, did a good job of supporting us in the beginning and we had a lot of interest and support from parents, and then the three coaches out here helping me out (Chuck Jones, Mike Koutecky and Tim Walsh) have seen these players since they were 5 years old. “These kids play for Parker and get a chance to wear a uniform that supports their community. They all played for Arapahoe (youth) growing up and we were happy to get it going.” Chaparral was ranked in the top 10 early in the season but entered the holiday break with a 4-3-0 overall record and a 3-3-0 mark in the Pinnacle Conference. “We have a lot of work to do, but the potential is limitless for this team,” said Finnefrock. “If we buy into what we are preaching you’ll see some things come February that will surprise a lot of teams. We have the get a lot of guys to buy in right now. “We have great senior leadership. John Fulton and Alex Walsh are two kids that grew up playing with each other. They are the right guys to lead this team. They know we have a lot of work to do. They know there are going to be some bumps in the road for a beginning-year team. When we get people to buy in, it’s going to be special.” Fulton, a senior who attends Ponderosa, played last season for Castle View and was the 2017 Colorado Community Media South Metro Player of the Year. In seven games so far this season, Tyler Johnson leads the Wolverines in scoring with 14 points on 10 goals and four assists. Fulton has 13 points with six goals and seven assists. SEE BENTON, P27