Athletics Recap

Boys Basketball

Holy Family lost three of its first four games but as they always tend to do, coach Pete Villecco’s team regrouped and reeled off four consecutive wins, including at then No. 1 Longmont and against another ranked foe in Erie. After two heartbreaking losses the boys once again responded with four wins to close the season including a 67-58 victory at Mead - the eventual Class 4A champs.

Holy Family would earn the No. 12 seed in the 32-team Class 4A state bracket. After a first round win at home against Grand Junction, the Tigers were eliminated after a 71-45 loss in a rematch with Mead. Jackson Ward earned All-Conference honors from the NCAC as a first team player. Blake Hammond and Eric Quintana were honorable mention selections.

Girls Basketball

One year after the pandemic shut the high school season down on the eve of the state title game against Mullen, the Tigers entered the shortened schedule with high expectations. After dropping the season opener, coach Ron Rossi’s team went on a 13-game winning streak that propelled them to the NCAC crown and the No. 1 overall seed in the Class 4A state tournament. The Tigers rolled through their first three playoff games to advance to their third straight Final Four. In a rematch of the title game that never was, Mullen proved to be too much in a 75-50 defeat. There was no shortage of post season awards for the Tigers either. Alyssa Wells was named the BoCoPreps Player of the Year and was joined by Tyler Whitlock on the first team. Cecelia Aanerud, Daniella Hren and Dylan Sanders were all honorable mention. Wells also received first team All-State honors from CHSAA and Whitlock was an honorable mention.

Wrestling

Holy Family coach Jason Pedigo’s group had some experience in junior state qualifier Matt McCarthy and a core of freshman – notably Brayden Bach – that were thrown into the mix. The Tigers won six of their 18 duals during the regular season and then were sent to Bennett High School for the regional tournament. Seniors Logan Erickson and Benito Hernandez along with Bach were able to punch their ticket to the state tournament. Erickson and Bach did so after losing their first matches of the day and then fought their way back through the consolation round. Bach was the lone Holy Family wrestler to land on the podium at state, finishing sixth at 106 pounds. Both Erickson and Hernandez went 0-2.

Swimming & Diving

One year after a top 15 state finish in their inaugural season, the Tigers made the leap to the top five in 2021. The Tigers swam just five dual meets and went 3-1-1 before heading to their league meet. The Tigers finished fourth at the league meet and Freshman diver Mary Kate Cavanaugh was the lone league champ.

At state, each of the three Tigers relay teams made the finals and the 200 medley team of Abigail Philipsen, Olivia Zuhoski, Cate Chapman and Ivy Wood finished sixth. Philipsen, Zuhoski, Chapman and Summer Norwell finished seventh in the 400 free relay.

The premier individual event for the Tigers was the 100 backstroke, where they had two of the top four qualifying times – Philipsen and Chapman. Philipsen, who also finished fifth in the 200 individual medley, finished third overall and Chapman tied for fourth. Cavanaugh, who had the best diving score entering the state meet, finished in second. Cheer

Unlike previous years, the cheer season was greatly abbreviated. There were no league meets and the cheer team was limited in their participation at sporting events. They were able to cheer at football games and just two basketball games all season. There was a state cheer tournament in Colorado Springs where Holy Family competed in the 5A/4A Gameday division against some of the largest schools in the state and needed to finish in the top eight of the preliminaries of 33 schools to make it back to the finals. They scored 78.50 with zero deductions and finished 14th. Boys Soccer

Holy Family got out of the gates quickly, rolling to a 6-1 start. With a playoff bid firmly in their grasp, the Tigers had things slip away from them in the final games of the regular season. Against Greeley West, the Tigers outshot the Spartans 18-1 on frame, but lost 1-0. The newly formatted playoffs allowed just the top two from each league and one wild card into the 16 team field – the Tigers saw their hopes fade away in the final game of the season to Silver Creek, losing 2-1 in overtime. It was a tough end to a season that saw the Tigers outscore their opponents 28-14 and suffer all four of their losses by just one goal. The Tigers were led by BoCoPreps and NCAC first teamer Jackson Ward and All NCAC first teamers Garrett Havens and Dylan McIntosh. Kiernan Opp was an honorable mention.

Volleyball

The Tigers and new head coach Jenna Gallas rolled through the regular season with an 8-3 record, with notable wins over 5A Legacy, Erie and Thompson Valley. They earned the No. 17 overall seed into the regional tournament and took care of business in their opening match against Weld Central to set up a winner take all match against Cheyenne Mountain for a state berth. The Tigers dropped their final match of the season in three sets to finish 9-4.

In a season that lasted just five weeks, the Tigers managed to show off their talent and were represented on the NCAC All-Conference team by junior outside hitter Anna Hodell and junior libero Madison Forss. Freshman Allie Ward and junior Makenna Bertsch were honorable mention selections.