Roaring Fork High School’s boys soccer team scored a hard-fought 3A Western Slope League win at home over Steamboat Springs on Sept. 19, before falling on the road to state-ranked Timnath two days later.
Junior Delano Crooks collected both of the Rams’ goals in the 2-1 win against the Sailors in front of the home fans.
His first came with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half on a pass from senior Emiliano Galindo that found Crooks open on the left side of the box.
The clincher came nine minutes into the second half when Crooks took a slide pass at midfield from senior captain Fernando Rodrigues-Candela and dribbled the ball high over the head of a Steamboat defender, then beat the goalkeeper to the left side to give Roaring Fork a 2-0 edge.
But for an unfortunate ball that skipped off his fingertips in the 79th minute to set up the Sailors’ only goal, the Rams’ junior goalkeeper, Keven Cisneros, was nearly impenetrable, recording 10 saves on the night.
It was an important win over the newest team in the 3A WSL ranks that sets the Rams up for a chance to take the league title, head coach Nick Forbes said.
“Steamboat was a marker for the league,” he said. “They are also a good team, and between some great defensive play, a keeper who was on fire and a little luck, we managed to get a huge league win.”
A chance to grab a win on the road in northern Colorado at Timnath on Saturday went south for the Rams, as they fell 3-1.
“It was a long journey to a big turf field, and was a really good chance for us to play a good team on a different surface,” Forbes said. “We had a rough first half waking up off the bus and couldn’t salvage it in the second.”
Roaring Fork’s lone goal was scored by senior Sam Brennan in the second half.
CHSAA’s weekly rankings released on Monday put Roaring Fork at No. 5 among 3A teams.
Next up, the Rams (3-2 overall, 2-0 league) travel to play 5A Grand Junction Central on Friday, and are back home on Saturday versus 4A Summit (varsity game time at 11am).
Football
The Rams dropped to 2-2 on the season with a 13-7 loss at Prospect Ridge Academy on Saturday, Sept. 21. Roaring Fork’s lone score came in the second quarter when junior Donny Read scrambled six yards for a touchdown and junior Eli Norris was good on the extra point kick to tie it at 7-7.
Roaring Fork was unable to answer a second-half touchdown by the Miners.
“We continue to struggle to put together scoring drives,” head coach Scott Noll said. “Our defense did well overall, and that was good to see.”
With a break in the schedule before the homecoming game against Grand Valley on Friday, Oct. 4 (7pm kickoff), Noll said the team has some work to do in practice.
“We are getting healthy now and ramping up for a couple of home games,” he said. “It’s necessary that we push ourselves and do our best for the second half of the season.”
Girls Volleyball
The Lady Rams volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-16) decision to Coal Ridge at home on Thursday, Sept. 19.
Junior Nikki Tardif had eight kills on the night, and senior Carley Crownhart picked up 18 digs and had 11 assists from the setter position.
Roaring Fork (2-7 overall, 0-2 league) was set to host Olathe on Tuesday night this week before hitting the road to play Aspen on Thursday and Gunnison on Saturday.
Boys Golf
Roaring Fork sophomore Griffin Didier won a multi-team meet at Haymaker Golf Club in Steamboat Springs on Sept. 10 to lead the combined-school Basalt High School squad to the team title.
Griffin birdied the 18th hole to shoot a 4 under par 67.
Sophomore teammate Hudson Arnold tied for second, and senior Jackson Stewart and Brady Luetke tied for fourth.
The Longhorns claimed their seventh team win of the season on Sept. 16 at the Rifle Bears Invitational, earning a low team score of 227 to beat Vail Christian by 11 strokes. Stewart shot a 74 to win it, while Arnold finished tied for third at 76, Didier was fifth at 77, and freshman Parker Strelecki was tied for sixth at 78.
The Longhorns are now preparing for the 3A Regionals, Monday, Sept. 30 at The Snowmass Club, for a chance to qualify for the state meet in Pueblo Oct. 7-8.
Cross country
The combined-school Basalt High School cross country team was at the prestigious Woodbridge XC Classic in Irvine, California, last weekend — now the largest high school cross country meet in the U.S.
The Lady Longhorns team took second place in the White Varsity A Division, staged at 8:28pm Friday, Sept. 20, the first of two days of back-to-back boys and girls races on a super-fast course at Irvine’s Great Park.
Senior Izzy Moon placed 10th in the race in 18 minutes, 42.9 seconds over the five-kilometer course. Junior Caroline Cole was 18th (19:22.9); junior Addison Raymond, 28th (19:43.9); sophomore Sadie Silcox, 52nd (20:29.7); senior Morgan Fink, 60th (20:41.7); senior Ana Cabrera, 71st (20:57.9); and freshman Kinley Richmond, 73rd (21:00.9).
In the boys White Varsity A race, Basalt junior Towler Scott was 16th in 15:08.5.
Notably, the event saw a new national record time of 15:20.3 run by senior Rylee Blade from Corona, California, in Saturday’s elite girls race. Senior Owen Powell from Mercer Island, Washington, won the elite boys race in 13:30.3.
Competing at the Glenwood Springs Demon XC Invitational on Saturday, the Colorado Rocky Mountain School girls won the team title, led by freshman Kayla Steele, second (21:10.4). She was followed by freshman Genevieve Vickers, third (22:19.8); freshman Abigail O’Keefe, fifth (22:51.4); senior Ellis Hutchens, sixth (23:35.); and junior Lexi Bier-Moebius, 10th (24:32.5). CRMS senior Henry O’Hagan took fourth in the boys race (19:22.4) and sophomore Max Peterson was 10th (21:03.9).
CRMS mountain biking
Colorado Rocky Mountain School’s (CRMS) mountain biking team hit the track this past weekend at Colorado Springs-based Fountain Valley School’s first Lazy B Ranch Rally race. Fifty-one high schools participated. And the CRMS team took first place! Go Oysters!
Photos by Isaac Sterling, youth correspondent
Additional CRMS placements:
Aurora Cherney got 3rd for sophomore girls
Laia Ogibly got 4th for sophomore girls
Finley Nolan got 5th for freshman girls
Senior Canyon Cherney got 2nd for Varsity boys
Sophmore Drew O’Keefe got 1st for JV boys
Junior Finn McDermott got 2nd JV Boys
Bram Marlow got 4th for sophomore boys