Editor’s note: John Stroud is a Roaring Fork High School track and field coach.
The Roaring Fork High School (RFHS) boys soccer team made the most of their big homecoming game against Aspen in front of a charged-up fan base on Sept. 24 at Rams Field, topping the Skiers 5-1.
It was a great start to the 3A Western Slope League slate of games, as the Rams (6-2 overall, 1-0 in league) are on a mission to win the league and make a strong home playoff run come late October.
“We played great,” veteran head coach Nick Forbes said of a game that saw the Rams open a 3-0 lead by halftime.
With the new RFHS pep band, under the direction of Arjen Wynja, keeping the homecoming atmosphere lively, senior Ollie Shook scored his second hat trick of the season. Additional goals came from senior Wesley Serrano and freshman Quentin Cohen.
Senior goalies Quentin Galbraith and Garrett Woelfle combined for eight saves.
“The team is looking motivated and our rank is showing that,” Forbes said, referring to a No. 5 ranking among 3A teams in Colorado that just came out this week. “We just need to keep consistent, working hard and with focus to get through the league part of the season, and we should be set up really nicely for a home playoff run.”
Next up, Roaring Fork is at Basalt on Thursday, Oct. 1 (4pm game time at the Longhorns’ field). On Oct. 6, the Rams will host defending 2A State Champion Crested Butte (6pm) at Rams Field.
Girls volleyball
The Roaring Fork girls volleyball team was just up the road at Basalt on Tuesday night for a 3A Western Slope League match. Basalt prevailed 3 games to 1 to hand the Lady Rams their third straight loss and a 1-6 league mark (3-11 overall). The Longhorns improved to 2-7 overall and 2-4 in the league. Set scores and game stats had not been posted as of Wednesday morning.
Next up for the Rams is a trip to Vail on Thursday to play Vail Mountain, followed by a road game at Aspen on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
Demons football
Roaring Fork student athletes now playing for the Glenwood Springs High School football team made contributions in an exciting Demons homecoming game under the Friday night lights on Sept. 25 at Stubler Memorial Field.
The Demons, still in search of their first win this season, held a 12-0 halftime lead over visiting Grand Junction Central, but saw the Warriors storm back in the second half to earn the 18-12 win.
Junior quarterback Emmit Nieslanik from Carbondale was three for nine passing for 29 yards, and rushed for 15 yards on eight carries.
On defense, junior Blake Tardif was the Demons’ leading tackler with 12 total, including five solo tackles and a sack. Sophomore Levy Bumgarner had one solo tackle and assisted on 10. Junior Tobin Vinciguerra also recorded a sack.
Softball
The combined Basalt-Roaring Fork-Glenwood Springs girls softball team is making a midseason push in the 4A/3A Western Slope North League title, improving to 10-6 overall and 5-1 in league play over the last couple of weeks.
The team rattled off four straight wins on the road, including 11-3 and 28-9 victories in a double-header at Middle Park on Sept. 19, and another pair of wins in a double-header at Battle Mountain on Sept. 22, 14-1 and 31-11.
Notably, Carbondale player junior Sydney Ostberg was a perfect 3-for-3 batting in the second game against Battle Mountain, scoring two runs and knocking in three.
The Longhorns are to host Eagle Valley this Thursday, Oct. 1 (3pm game time at the Longhorns field). As of Tuesday, they were in second place in the league standings behind Eagle Valley.
Cross country
The combined Basalt-Roaring Fork cross country running team joined seven other high schools at the Glenwood Springs Demon XC Invitational on Sept. 26.
The Ram’horns boys won the team title, with junior Levi Friday setting the pace on the 5-kilometer course situated along the Roaring Fork River below GSHS. Friday placed second overall with a time of 18 minutes flat. Sophomore Elliot Galbraith was fifth (18:21.4), followed by a trio of Basalt-Carbondale runners in eighth, ninth and 10th — junior Kaiden Werth (19:03.2), senior Kian Sullivan (19:09.3) and sophomore Brode Schoenbrunn (19:20.6).
The Basalt-Carbondale girls also had a strong showing, taking second place as a team, with Basalt sophomore Scarlett Jones placing second overall (20:42.3). Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS) junior Kayla Steele was the individual champion, winning the girls 5K race in 20:23.3. Full results from the girls race were not immediately available.
Mountain biking
Members of the Roaring Fork, Aspen/Basalt and CRMS mountain biking teams raced at the Spring Valley Scramble Sept. 27, on the popular Colorado Mountain College course that will host the Colorado High School Mountain Biking Championships later this month.
For CRMS, Drew O’Keefe won the varsity boys race. The Legacy rider is the current points leader in his classification. CRMS’s Bram Marlow was 10th in that race, and for the varsity girls Finley Nolan placed ninth.
For Aspen/Basalt, Roger Farrell was the top rider, taking third in the varsity boys race, and for Roaring Fork, junior Sophia Warner was eighth in the junior varsity girls race and sophomore Sam Brown was 10th in the sophomore boys race.
The state championship races will run the weekend of Oct. 24-25 at Spring Valley.
Boys golf
Carbondale golfer Hudson Arnold, playing for the Basalt High School boys golf team, picked up another tournament win at the recent Gypsum Invitational. Arnold has qualified for the 3A Colorado Championships, taking place next Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 5-6, at the Cattails Golf Course in Alamosa, along with Basalt teammates Parker Strelecki, Blair Didier and Hagan Hamlet.