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…
Photo by Tamie Meck Hotchkiss head coach Kendall Roberts, center, led the Lady Bulldogs to their best record in three years. Roberts, a former all-state volleyball player at Hotchkiss, sees a bright future for her team.When she accepted the position as head volleyball coach for Hotchkiss in August, Kendall Roberts jumped at the opportunity. She had been waiting for a coaching position.
She also knew it was a rebuilding year. Hotchkiss had suffered through two losing seasons as a 3A team, and this fall entered Class 2A competition.
Hotchkiss was without a coach all summer, and the players took it upon themselves to work on their skills.
The Lady Bulldogs ended regulation play with two consecutive wins and a 4-6 league record. It was the team's best season in three years. They were seeded sixth going into last week's District 5 tournament at West Grand High School, and opened with losses against Vail Mountain and Rangely. They finished strong, posting a three-set win over Hayden.
The team has come a long way, said Roberts, "And in more ways than just skills. Mentally. Attitudes. All-around work ethics. They've just completely changed."
While this is her first job as head coach, Roberts is no stranger to competition, or to coaching.
Roberts graduated from Hotchkiss High School in 2002, and was an all-state volleyball player and state-champion high jumper. Her school record of 5-foot-6 still stands.
Coaching is in her blood. Roberts is the daughter of Colorado Mesa University head wrestling coach, Chuck Pipher, and the niece of Paonia head wrestling coach Andy Pipher. Her uncle, Charlie Pipher, is assistant wrestling coach at Western State College in Gunnison. Her younger sister, Grayson, helped lead the Paonia girls' basketball team to a state championship in 2010. Grayson also hopes to coach one day.
Her first season had its ups and downs, but overall, attitudes are good and skills are improving, said Roberts. "We just wish we had another season" to improve upon what they learned.
Senior players, including middle hitter Savannah Rocha, see a big change in this year's team. Rocha, a middle hitter, said her confidence level going into district play was at an all-time high.
"Coach said just hit the ball and you'll get a kill, and that's what's happening." said Rocha, After two seasons as an outside hitter, she started the season at middle, then shifted back to the outside.
Rocha plays much taller than her height of 5-foot-8. A state-qualifying high jumper, she can drive in a power shot, or gently bypass the defense to put the ball in the hole.In the last two games of the season Rocha had 15 kills against Soroco, and made key blocks and kills in the win over Plateau Valley. "We've had a lot more wins than the last two seasons, and I owe those wins to the coach."
"We've come far," said senior middle hitter Kristina Deloury, adding that they would love to have more time to put their skills into practice. "We've seen how far we can go and what we can do."
The Lady Bulldogs will lose half of their varsity squad, including Faline Farmer, Christina Jaramilli, Ciara Beegle, Kati Evans and Sadie Smith.
Roberts is already looking ahead to summer training, and to the 2013 season. She will have three returning setters, including Kelli Buhrdorf, Jessie Violett and Arial Duncan. Outside hitters Mandi Chermak and Daryl Batt will be seniors, and blockers Brielle Palmer and Katie Richards will be juniors.
Hotchkiss also had 16 freshmen and nine sophomores out for this year's team.
Richards, a 5-foot-10 blocker, played on junior varsity much of the season. Roberts pulled her in as a blocker for the district tournament.
Richards said she's already looking forward to next season. "We've become a big family," said Richards with a smile. "It's been really fun."
