by Bill Hall
CA Athletic Director

The story is in the numbers: In the past four years, Colorado Academy sports teams have been to the State final match 20 times and brought home the gold trophy an unprecedented 11 times.

 

Certainly there are failures along the way, but the CA athletes and their supporters view these as learning opportunities and a chance to evaluate a performance and get better the next time they take to the arena. Most CA athletes, as evidenced by some of the efforts this spring, have a never-say-die attitude that is focused on grinding out victories through hard work and being tougher both mentally and physically than their opponents.

 

Hard work has never been in doubt when it comes to the Girls Soccer program. Having been to the State Championship game four times in the past five years, and winning the final game three times, the girls are accustomed to putting in the work necessary to achieve their success. Senior Heather Kurtz was exemplary in her leadership as the lone Senior on coach Sean Stedeford’s team this spring. The squad exhibited exceptional command of the game through a possessing style that produced 13 games where the Mustangs posted a shutout.

 

Juniors Celia Osman, Isabel Chandler and Sarah Masinter, along with Sophomore Anna Ponzio and Freshman Mari Annest, provided some consistent scoring, while Juniors Riley Brook and Kelsey Stone helped hold down the back line. Sophomore Kyra Kurtz was outstanding in the goal for the Mustangs in her first year as the starting goalie. Good things are certainly on the horizon for this program, as they don’t lose many to graduation and there are some strong girls coming up through the ranks.

 

JT Putt’s baseball team was also young, with three of the top four pitchers in the Freshman class. Sophomore Sammy Richards and Freshmen Emmett Ela, Ari Fierer, and Graham Osman will be back next spring and look to build on the success the team had this year. Certainly Seniors Peyton Rice, Dat Le, and Lorenzo Lopez will be missed, but there are a core group of underclassmen that will set the bar for next year’s team. The program boasted a 14-5 regular season record with six total runs separating the team from victory in the five losses. Juniors Evan Reiter and Walker Hamilton and Sophomores Wyatt Westfall, Bo Dodge and Geoff Farmar provide experienced depth next year.

 

Coach Putt and his staff are exceptional leaders of this group and are looking forward to the future in the ever-strong Metro League. The CA Girls Tennis program, under the leadership of Bob Ulrich, continued their strong showing by placing five out of seven teams in the state tournament with their performance in regionals and sweeping the Metro League in awards. Senior Tara Edwards was voted as League Player of the Year, and Junior Morgan Bullen and Sophomore Savannah Mease were

also top singles players. Junior Hope Cherubini and Senior Sage Lochhead were strong at the #1 doubles position as were Juniors Grace Ingebretsen and Amanda Funk at the #2 doubles spot. Providing depth at the #3 and #4 doubles positions were Sophomores Lila Arnold, Ann-Claire Lin, Avery Gillespie and Jill Murphy and Freshman Lauren Preston. Coach Ulrich says he is “proud of the accomplishments of this year’s group and is anxiously awaiting the 2017 season.” Head of CA Boys Lacrosse, Randy Colley, is also anticipating good things to come for his group. He graduated only three Seniors, Winston Palmeri, Mac Mease, and John Barron.

 

Palmeri was named First Team All-State and will take his skills to the Air Force Academy next year. Barron was cited as an Academic All-American. The strength of Colley’s teams is their attention to detail, cohesion, and a tough attitude. The 12-4 record posted by the Mustangs reflects one out-of-state loss, a one-goal loss in the playoffs, and a regular season loss to the eventual state champion. Not bad for a group that has a strong sophomore class and some key juniors returning.

 

Sophomore Tyler Little has established himself as one of the premier goalies in the state and Juniors Beau Lawrence and Andrew Maffei have evolved as shut-down defenders tasked with covering the opponents’ top attackmen. Juniors Matt Pollack, Tyler McCoy and Dana Greenleaf and Sophomores Brooks Brown and Alexander Archie, along with Freshmen Conner Brook and Jack Oberg, will be asked to carry the offensive load next year, a challenge they will all most certainly be up for.

Girls Golf will reload next year, too, after a dominating 52 stroke victory in the State Tournament over second place Cheyenne Mountain. Kacey Godwin, who finished fourth at the State Tournament, is the lone Senior on the team. Juniors Trinity Goderstad and Cassie Kneen will return after both tying for twelfth place in the State Tournament. Freshman phenom, Caroline Jordaan, who finished one stroke off the lead in the State Tournament, will be counted on to pave the way for the group. Coach Beth Folsom’s program is grounded in fundamentals and playing against the particular course and not the opponent. Regarding the season, Coach Folsom says, “The girls lived up to their own expectations, and they pushed each other to get there. A highlight, along with the final tournament and State Championship, was scoring 8 under at a league match at Indian Peaks, and the best part for me was seeing the growth of our players.” It will be fun to watch this group next spring!

 

The growth of Steph Sanders’ Girls Lacrosse program was also evident, especially in the last six games of the season. With Senior Captain Emma Richards sustaining a season- ending injury midway through the year, the girls had to learn how to come together and fill the void of this exceptionally skilled competitor. Fellow Seniors Ella Annest, Anna Gallagher, Maddie Webster, Sammy Little, Annie Miller, and Jackie Melberg steadied the ship and brought the entire team through a challenging end-of-season and playoff run.

 

Juniors Sydney Prokupek, Claire Wright, Nellie Turnage, Jackie Patel and goalie Bridget Sutter, along with Sophomore Lauren Russell and Freshmen Sloane Murphy and Maggie Silliman, helped the Seniors with timely goal scoring, tenacious defense, and an assassin’s mindset. The fact that the girls built a 6-2 lead against Cherry Creek in the finals to see it slip to a 7-8 deficit with just less than six minutes left and then regained the lead off of goals from Wright and Prokupek is evidence of the grit inherent in the group. Coach Sanders says, “Every team we played was good, and every game we played was tough. The CA girls are an incredibly hard-working group and answered the call every time; I’m proud of their resolve.”

 

As the Director of CA Athletics, I am also proud of the resolve and accomplishments all of the programs achieved this year. As former college womens basketball coach Patricia Summitt says, “In athletics, you can’t pick and choose the days you feel like being responsible.

 

It’s not something that disappears when you are tired.” The CA student-athletes are comfortable with hard work and challenging themselves against top opponents. The culture surrounding CA athletics reflects integrity, loyalty, commitment, and hard work. All of the programs have their goals, but “a goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.” The success that surrounds CA athletics is a result of setting the goals high and continually pushing the limit on those goals. I look forward to following the summer work and process that sits on the edge of next year’s season. Special thanks to all those that attended games this season. Your presence and support are greatly appreciated. Go Mustangs!