Ten moments to remember from the Colorado 2018-19 boys high school sports year

With the baseball season now pushed back a week, the calendar had turned to June before trophies were handed out in Class 5A, 4A and 3A last Saturday. That means that the prep sports calendar ran through 11 months, dating back to last August when the fall sports season got underway.

• Fossil Ridge wins first golf championship in school history
Backed by a strong second-day performance from senior Dillon Stewart, the Fossil Ridge (Fort Collins) boys golf team held off Lakewood by five strokes to win the Class 5A team title, the first in the school's history. Stewart, who shot a two-day score of 4-under-par-138, won the individual title for the SaberCats. After shooting an opening-round score of 72, Stewart shot a 66 on the second day.
Fossil Ridge was tied for second in the team standings headed into the final day, but shot 221 as a team to finish at 450 for the tournament. The Tigers were second at 455.

• Valor Christian's Cole Sprout dominates from long distances
Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch) junior Cole Sprout book-ended the 2018-19 prep sports season with dominating performances.
Sprout closed out his fall by winning a second consecutive cross country title, this one coming in Class 5A. Sprout, who won the 4A title in 2017, finished the course in Colorado Springs with a time of 15 minutes, 16 seconds. That was some 24 seconds better than Connor Ohlson of Dakota Ridge (Littleton).
In the spring, Sprout set an all-classification record in track and field with a time of 8:57.15 at the Dakota Ridge Invitational in April. He then closed out his junior season by winning the 1600 and 3200 at the 5A state track meet in Lakewood, helping the Eagles to their first team title.

• Fairview quarterback Aidan Atkinson rewrites record books
Had it not been for a thumb injury sustained in the regular-season finale, there is no telling what Aidan Atkinson might have accomplished last fall. As it was, the Fairview junior quarterback – who was selected the state's Gatorade Player of the Year – still made history.
Atkinson set the single-season passing mark for touchdowns with 55, and set 11-man single-game records for passing yards and TD passes. In a Sept. 27 victory over Legacy (Broomfield), Atkinson threw for 687 yards and tossed nine touchdowns.
He finished just shy of 4,000 yards passing on the season. The junior has verbally committed to Northwestern.

• Arapahoe secures first soccer championship in more than two decades
The last time the Arapahoe boys soccer team found itself playing for a state championship, the year was 1997. The Warriors defeated Columbine 4-3 on that day.
Arapahoe finally made its way back to the championship last fall, defeating Grandview (Aurora) 2-1 for the program's sixth overall title. The Warriors were the No. 8 overall seed, but upset top-seeded Fairview in the quarterfinals before defeating Broomfield in a shootout in the semis. That set up an all-Centennial League final against No. 2 Grandview, with Arapahoe scoring the winning goal in the second half to win the title.

• Limon, the state's football title-town, brings home another trophy
It had been 13 years since Limon closed out the football season with a championship. But last fall, the program with the most football titles in state history finally brought back another one. The Badgers captured the 1A state title with a 13-7 victory against Strasburg. It was Limon's 17th state championship and the first since 2005.
Limon ran the table on the 2018 season, going 13-0.
The Badgers weren't the only team to add to its impressive trophy case. Valor Christian claimed its eighth overall title after defeating Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) in the 5A title game. Loveland (4A) and La Junta (2A) each earned championship No. 7; for the Indians, it was the program's first title since 2003.

• Trio of wrestlers make history with four consecutive state titles

Cohl Schultz, Ponderosa

File photo by Richard Posada

While there has been a run of four-time state champions at Pepsi Center in recent years, there hadn't been multiple four-timers crowned on the same night in 14 years.
So the final day of the state tournament last February was history in the making as three individuals joined the four-time club. Pueblo County's Brendon Garcia (113 pounds in 4A), Greeley Central's Andrew Alirez (152 pounds in 4A) and Cohl Schultz of Ponderosa (Parker) (285 pounds in 5A) each accomplished the feat.
Alirez dropped only one match in his prep career. Schultz, perhaps the most dominant wrestler the state has ever seen, pinned his way through the tournament and capped his career with a record of 188-2.
Four juniors won their third state title and will attempt to join the four-timer club in 2020.

• Rangeview, Manual end long title-droughts at state basketball
While their paths didn't follow a similar course, last March still meant quite a bit to the boys basketball programs at Rangeview (Aurora) and Manual (Denver).
The teams ended long droughts after bringing home state championships in their respective classifications. Rangeview won its first title since taking 3A in 1985 with a 61-47 victory against Chaparral (Parker) in the 5A championship game.
Manual, which saw its school shut down only to be brought back again, won its state-leading 12th championship after locking up the 3A crown with an 80-68 victory over The Vanguard (Colorado Springs). The Thunderbolts hadn't won a title since bringing home the 6A championship in 1991.
Lewis-Palmer (Monument) won the 4A championship after finishing as the runner-up in each of the previous two seasons. De Beque claimed its first 1A championship in more than two decades.

• Cherry Creek rolls to first swimming championship in 25 years
In the late 1980s and early ‘90s, Cherry Creek's boys swim team was the dominant program. But the Bruins' last title was in 1994 in the 6A classification.
That changed earlier this month. Backed by titles in all three relays and sprint championships in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle from senior Brendan Eckerman, Cherry Creek rolled to the 5A state championship with 520 points.
Eckerman was also on the winning 200 and 400 free relay teams.

• Golden lacrosse upsets defending champion to claim first crown

Joe Brock, Golden

File photo by Lance Wendt

Golden's boys lacrosse team had never played for a state title, so the seventh-seeded Demons were a decided underdog in the 4A championship against defending champion and top-seeded Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs).
But the Demons, who had already eliminated the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds, weren't about to be intimidated. Golden rallied from a five-goal deficit late in the first half to force overtime, and Joe Brock scored the winning goal two minutes into the extra session to give the program its first championship.

• Pueblo West baseball finally breaks through with first championship
In recent years, Pueblo West's baseball team has been a perennial contender in the 4A classification. But the Cyclones always came up a little short, finishing second in 2013, 2016 and 2018.
So, coming into the final day of the spring sports season needing two victories to win the program's first state championship, Pueblo West left everything on the field. The team defeated Silver Creek (Longmont) twice, by scores of 6-5 and 8-6, to finally finish the season on top.
In 2018 it was the other way around, with Pueblo West dropping two games on the final day to miss out on a state title. It was the same story in 2016, when Valor Christian defeated the Cyclones twice to win the first of three consecutive championships.