AURORA | With regional state qualifying tournaments fast approaching, the results of several of Monday’s dual matches involving Aurora teams were quite important.
The most important victory went to Rangeview, as coach Brad Emmer’s Raiders traveled to Vista PEAK for a rescheduled match and came away with an important 5-2 East Metro Athletic Conference victory.
Rangeview moved to 7-0 in EMAC play with its victory over the Bison, which came into the matchup seeking a share of the top spot in the conference standings. The Raiders swept singles play — including an epic 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory for senior Justina Koukeokingthale over Holly Edwards — and captured Nos. 2 and No. 4 doubles as well.
Vista PEAK’s wins came from Faith McFann and Kylie Tandy at No. 1 doubles and the No. 3 doubles team of Mar’Quelle Evans and Evelyn Vazquez.
Cherokee Trail posted a 7-0 Centennial League shutout win at Eaglecrest as the Cougars didn’t lose a single set and got a perfect match (6-0, 6-0) from sophomore No. 1 singles player Nicole Ahn.
In a non-conference match involving Aurora teams, Grandview dropped just one set on its way to a 7-0 victory over Legend.
BASEBALL
Grandview won its fourth straight game with a 2-1 walk-off victory against visiting Brighton, with junior Amare Smith delivering the game-winning hit.
Smith had two of the Wolves’ five hits and combined with junior Jayden Martinez to drive in both runs for coach Scott Henry’s club. Senior Gunnar Foegen scored both runs for Grandview, which improved to 9-5 overall.
Junior reliever Peter Goldy allowed the tying run to the Bulldogs in the top of the seventh inning, but received the win when Grandview rallied in the bottom of the inning. He allowed one earned run on three hits with five strikeouts in relief of senior Luke La Flam, who tossed four shutout innings and fanned nine.
Vista PEAK scored seven times in the final three frames to rally for a 10-9 EMAC victory over visiting Gateway in a rescheduled contest.
Junior Jeremiah Blackwood hit a grand slam in a five-run fifth for the Bison, who trailed 9-2 at one point. Junior Nick Bookout had three hits and scored three times and freshman Omar Ruiz drove in a pair of runs among several offensive highlights for coach Grant Pippert’s club (8-6, 4-2).
Sophomore Allen Barron doubled and drove in four runs, senior Alex Torales had thre hits and an RBI and freshman Ernesto Caraveo scored three runs for coach Brian Dossey’s Olys (2-11-1, 1-6).
Eaglecrest downed visiting Smoky Hill 4-2 for a needed Centennial League win.
Seniors Matthew Barlow and Zach Sulyma accounted for four of the eights hits for the Raptors (9-5, 3-3), while Barlow, junior Jayson Tisdall and sophomore Brendan Morr knocked in runs. Smoky Hill (7-8, 1-5) scored twice in the sixth, but lost its sixth straight.
In other results on the diamond, Cherokee Trail knocked Arapahoe out of its share of first place in the Centennial League with a 9-2 win; Regis Jesuit couldn’t solve Heritage ace Riley Egloff (4 hits allowed, nine strikeouts) in a 4-0 loss in Centennial League play and Rangeview suffered an 11-1 loss to Windsor in five innings with Spencer Ohu collecting the lone RBI for the Raiders.
BOYS LACROSSE
Cherokee Trail celebrated Senior Night with a 16-8 win over visiting Pine Creek at Legacy Stadium in a game of spurts.
The Cougars built a lead as large as 11-2 in the third quarter, only to watch the Eagles close to as close as three goals in the later stages of the period. Senior Cameron Gilmore scored in major traffic with 13.2 seconds left in the third and tallied again early in the fourth period to put the momentum back on Cherokee Trail’s side.
Coach Austin Lanpher’s Cougars continued the momentum gained from their first win over Mullen in their previous game and have now won three straight to get to 5-6 overall.
GIRLS SOCCER
Freshman Madisyn Bagby recorded another game-winning goal for Cherokee Trail, as her first-half score lifted the Cougars to a 1-0 win at Regis Jesuit.
Goalies Paige Hickman and Kaitlyn Emmons combined to make five saves for Cherokee Trail (10-3), the first Aurora team to double digits in wins.
Unbeaten Grandview plowed through Valor Christian for a 7-0 road victory, fueled by a pair of goals from Natalie Beckman and others from Kendra Gipson, Kacy Johnston, Lily Newberry, Tori Parker and Keelie Wortman.
Vista PEAK topped Rangeview 2-1 in EMAC play to get to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in league play. The Raiders sit at 3-8-1 overall and 2-4-1 in the EMAC.
Freshman Bianca Archuleta scored in the second half for Hinkley, but a two-goal hole at halftime proved too much for the Thunderbirds to overcome in a 2-1 non-league defeat against Abraham Lincoln. Hinkley dropped to 2-9 overall.
TRACK & FIELD
On a rare Monday meet — rescheduled from Saturday due to weather — Rangeview and Hinkley found great success at the Platte Valley Bronco Stampede.
Coach Chris Carhart’s Rangeview boys and girls teams won a combined 11 individual events and swept the meet’s team titles with a 17-point win on the girls side and an eight-point margin on the boys. Hinkley finished tied for third in the boys standings and fifth in girls.
Dawnielle Lewis swept the 100 and 200 meter dashes for Rangeview, which won six girls events in all, while sophomore Luke Sundberg was the Raiders’ lone double winner with victories in the 800 and 1,600 meter runs.
Hinkley senior star Angel Heredia ran in his first meet and won both the 110 and 300 meter hurdles for the Thunderbirds’ lone boys wins, while the Hinkley girls got wins from its 4×100 meter relay and Diondra Wilborn in the 100 hurdles.
GIRLS GOLF
Vista PEAK posted a sizeable victory in the Elizabeth Invitational at Spring Valley G.C.
The Bison finished 14 strokes lower than runner-up Arapahoe, fueled by the top three finishes of senior Kyree Conaway (plus-6 78) and sophomores Melissa Cooke (plus-12 84) and Kylie Severin (plus-13 85).
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports