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…
As he enters his 12th year as head coach for the Hotchkiss Bulldogs baseball team, Jason Yantzer said that he still wonders every year about his lineup after losing his seniors. Last year, he lost six talented seniors after a successful 21-4 season and a fourth-place finish at state.
"But it always comes out that somebody steps up."
With 24 players and five seniors out for the team, there's a great pool of talent to choose from.
Seniors Jaime Rodriguez and Edgar Macias return to the lineup, and Ryan Pachl and Marco Meza will move up from junior varsity.
Great pitching is key and the Bulldogs have several pitchers they can go to, said Yantzer. Jacobe Galley, Macias and Rodriguez all bring tournament experience to this year's team, and Meza comes with three years' experience at the JV level. Incoming freshman Devon Rupe pitched for the Babe Ruth U-13 state champion Tri-County Mustangs and could step in as the season progresses.
Other than seniors, the program didn't lose any players, said Yantzer, and gained junior Brayden Wilson and senior Kacey Miles. Both played as freshmen or sophomores and return after participating in other spring sports.
Both assistant coaches bring college-level experience to the team. Blake Carlquist returns as the pitching coach. Carlquist played for Mesa State College and was on the 2009 World Series champion team. Gates Shaklee, who played for Yantzer in high school, will also assist. Shaklee was a safety for the Adams State football team. "He's already a veteran coach to the program," said Yantzer of Shaklee. "He knows what I expect."
Assistant coach Zac Lemon will take the season off and his talents will be missed, "But he's with us in spirit," said Yantzer.
Hotchkiss opened their season Monday night with a close 2-0 victory over Paonia. They play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. at Roaring Fork High School.
