Prep notebook: Vail Christian picks up first win of the 2024 season

The Vail Christian boys volleyball team picked up its first win of the season on Monday, defeating Aurora West College Prep Academy 3-0. The Saints won the first set 25-15 and cruised to back-to-back 25-19 wins in the following two to secure the win and move to 1-2 on the year.

Head coach James Scott was excited to get the win heading into a busy April.

“We have a heavy road ahead and there is no better way to begin that quest,” he stated. “Taking this momentum into Wednesday’s game versus Alameda and our first tournament on Saturday at Mullen, the varsity squad should find their stride this week, setting the tone for the remaining three weeks in (the) regular season.” 

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Luis Rico led the way on Monday with nine kills and Ian Salyer and James Petersmeyer added seven and six kills respectively. Mauricio Terrazas had four aces and 29 assists and Keegan Chalberg had 23 digs for the Saints as well.

Soccer notes: Eagle Valley and Battle Mountain pick up wins

• Thea Armistead scored a first-half goal and Battle Mountain played great defense to shut out Summit 1-0 on Monday. The Huskies improved to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the 4A Western Slope with the win. They travel to Atlas Preparatory School on Thursday before hosting Steamboat Springs on Saturday.
• Eagle Valley scored three first-half goals against Steamboat Springs in Monday’s 3-2 road victory. Kassie Carpenter led the Devils with two goals and Izzy Hiatt added the third while Addison Mandeville picked up an assist. The Devils had nine shots on goal in the victory. Eagle Valley improved to 4-2-2 overall and 3-0-1 in league play. The Devils will try to extend their two-game winning streak against Palisade (3-0-1 overall, 2-0-1 league) on Thursday in Gypsum.
• Vail Mountain School picked up a 2-1 win against Salida last Thursday to improve to 3-1-1 on the season. The Gore Rangers host Rifle (2-2-1) on Thursday at 4 p.m.

Lacrosse notes: Eagle Valley falls to Durango

Eagle Valley received four goals and two assists from Sienna Rinn, two goals from Lily Thomas and a goal and assist from Reese McCormick, but it wasn’t enough against Durango last Friday. The Demons defeated the Devils 18-7 in Gypsum. Eagle Valley will try to get in the win column on Wednesday at Montrose.

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Track notes: Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley track off to fast starts

The Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley track teams are off to a fast start in the first three meets of the spring. Both teams competed in Rifle on March 15 and Broomfield March 23. The Huskies traveled to Erie last Friday while Eagle Valley tested themselves at the Mickey Dunn Invite in Grand Junction on Saturday.

The Devils won the boys 4×800-meter relay by 12 seconds, posting an impressive early-season mark of 8:09. Kaden Kraft, last year’s Western Slope athlete of the year, showed his range, running a 2:02 opening leg in his his first two-lap race ever.

“We were laughing because he looked incredibly out of place with a bunch of distance runners,” head coach Jeff Shroll said of the muscular Kraft, the football team’s starting quarterback and the basketball squad’s bruising power forward. In his rookie track season last spring, Kraft established himself primarily as a 100 and 200-meter specialist; he’s also tantalizingly close to the school record in the 400-meter dash.

Cooper Filmore (9:47.88) and Tyler Blair (9:48.06) went 1-2 in the 3200-meter run, respectively and Kenzie Cosper went 10-feet, 4-inches to win the pole vault by over a foot on Saturday. Cosper set the school record with a 10-10 leap in Broomfield the prior week.

“She just looks so good in the air,” Shroll said of Cosper. “She’s just vaulting with a lot more confidence — she’s not making mistakes.”

Battle Mountain had several athletes post program top-10 marks in its first three meets as well.

Tabi Schroeder (26.93 in the 200-meter dash, seventh-fastest) and Addie Beuche (11:32.19 in the 3200-meter run, the 10th-best) posted top-10 times on the girls side. Porter Middaugh and Will Brunner ran 1:57.19 and 1:57.90 to go 1-2 in the 800-meter run in Erie. Brunner is the school-record holder in the event and Middaugh’s time is now the program’s fifth-fastest.

Middaugh and Brunner joined Jacob Methvin and Caleb Hodges to run 3:28.45 in the 4×400-meter relay earlier this season, too. The time is just 1.28 away from the school record set in 2017.

Finally, Edgar Ruiz (97-2) posted the sixth-best javelin throw in program history and Cooper Skidmore (155-2) had the second-best discus throw ever.