Delta coaches Luis Meza, center, and Clayton Curtis congratulate 152-pound senior Hunter Brasfield after an upset win sent him into the 4A Region 4 semifinals.
Hotchkiss senior Joe Boyle controls Ruben Chagoya of Basalt to win a 3A Region 1 title. He is one of 7 Hotchkiss state qualifiers.
Hotchkiss and Paonia boys will square off this week on the basketball courts. Both are 6-4 in league play.
Delta senior Brooke Taylor scores two of her 12 points against Summit after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Paonia 195-pounder Tyler “TK” Kendall sets Rangely’s Drew Collins up for a pin.
Paonia freshman Bo Pipher sets TJ Richard of North Park up for a pin in Saturday’s regional semifinal round. He is one of 13 Paonia wrestlers headed to state!
Surrounded by coaches and his dad, Conner Beard signs Letter of Intent to play football for the University of Nebraska Kearney.
Hotchkiss' Jacobe Galley signed a Letter of Intent to play football and study engineering at Colorado Mesa University.
Hotchkiss senior Cody Bartlett signed his National Letter of Intent to run cross-country for Hawaii Pacific University.
Photo by Tamie Meck Delta’s 3200m relay team placed fourth at last weekend’s 4A state track meet in Lakewood. Its time, 9:32.92, set a new DHS record. Team members are; left to right, Clarissa Whiting (Sr), Mykayla Music (Fr), Skylyn Webb (Sr) and Cleo Whiting…
Photo by Rich Meck Hotchkiss distance runners, and sisters, Natalie Anderson (left-center) and Mae Anderson start the 3200m run together on the opening day of the state track meet. They were fourth and fifth in the 3200 and fourth and sixth, respectively, in…
Photo by Tamie Meck Andy Pipher and son Bo meet Bo’s opponent during the Parade of Champions at the 2013 state wrestling tournament. Pipher was recently named 2013 Colorado Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA).Paonia…
Braeden Horton sprints to the finish in the 100-meter dash at Saturday’s Montrose Invitational. The senior has qualified for state in relays, but he won’t be at the state meet. He is among four Hotchkiss students attending a science fair instead.
Whether he's throwing a football in the state playoffs or sprinting the 100-meter dash, Braeden Horton's competitive nature won't let him give anything but all he's got. Horton is a member of three sprint relay teams for Hotchkiss, including the 1600-meter team that is all but guaranteed a trip to this year's 3A state track meet.
He's giving his all, despite the fact he won't get to the state meet.
"There's an international science fair that I'm going to be competing at the same week as state," said Horton after competing in Saturday's 100m dash. "It's kind of bad timing on that, but I got selected to compete, so I'm going there."
Horton along with Vikash Hypio, Beth Wood and Nikki Buhrdorf qualified for the International Science and Engineering Fair, scheduled for May 13-18, although Hypio has elected to run at state. Girls tennis team manager Brydie Mitchell also qualified.
In relays, the team qualifies for state, not the individuals, but Horton will continue to compete with the team through the league meet. He's still working hard and doing "the little things" to get his team to state. "It's a competition, so of course I'm taking it seriously," said Horton, a four-year veteran for the Bulldogs football team.
This is Horton's second season to run track. His freshman and junior years he made a daily, three-hour commute to play lacrosse for Grand Junction High School. "It was a lot of driving," said Horton, whose dad, Douglas, is the athletics director at Hotchkiss High School. "Lacrosse is a really fun sport. It's kind of unique and not really well-known in Colorado."
This year, he opted to stay off the highway. "I wanted to play lacrosse, but the time to drive down there is a little bit too much," said Horton.
Horton said his biggest accomplishment in sports was in making it to the 3A semifinals in football two years in a row, including his senior year at starting quarterback. "I've been on great teams four years in a row," he said.
With just two weeks of school remaining, he's busy focusing on track and the science fair, "So it really hasn't hit me yet, but I'm sure that it will in the next couple of weeks."
Horton plans to study economics and play football at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, an NCAA Division III school. Horton will most likely play at receiver or defensive back.
He also has family in Grinnell and stayed with them while visiting. "I just kind of fell in love with it," he said. "It just seemed like the right fit."
This summer he plans to continue training, and "just try to enjoy it a little bit before I have to head out in August."
