The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

The final season of the 2020-21 school year is headed down the backstretch and there continues to be no shortage of top performances across the spectrum. With less than a month remaining, area athletes find themselves among the top in the State in girls golf, track and field and baseball, with girls soccer heating up.

Fort Morgan baseball had four games decided by two or fewer runs last week, with the Mustangs posting a 2-2 mark. Nick Beltran took the loss in a 6-5 defeat by Mountain View last Tuesday, despite not allowing an earned run. Mountain View scored three in the bottom of the fifth and held on for the victory.

The Mustangs followed that loss with a 6-4 win over Berthoud later in the evening. Frank Ortega went the distance to earn the victory. On Thursday, it was Jesse Campa who picked up a complete game victory, as the Mustangs beat Thompson Valley 4-3 after scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth. The winning streak snapped on Saturday, as Fort Morgan fell 6-4 to Severance. Fort Morgan was 13th in the 4A coaches poll last week.

Sterling, Brush and Lamar were all in the top ten of last week's 3A coaches poll. Sterling dropped an 8-4 decision to Eaton last Monday, putting the Tigers on a four-game skid. However, they responded to sweep a home-and-home series with Platte Valley late in the week, 10-1 and 13-2. Brush also opened last week with a loss (8-2 to University) but bounced back to take a pair off Valley, 20-9 and 12-10.

Lamar watched a 6-1 lead through two and a half innings wiped out by rival La Junta last Tuesday. The Tigers scored three in the third and two in the fourth to tie things up, but the Savages worked out a run in the top of the sixth and claimed a 7-6 victory. Zane Rankin had three hits in the win. Lamar closed out the week with an 8-3 loss to Pueblo East.

The 2A rankings were littered with area teams last wee, and another could crack the top 10 this week. Burlington was essentially 12th last week and the Cougars rolled into this week with four straight wins under their belts. Dominic Conrardy and Mikel Long combined to blank Las Animas 13-0 last Tuesday, allowing one hit between them. Michael Gutierrez struck out 13 and walked two, allowing just one hit in Friday's 11-1 win over Holyoke.

Six of the teams in last week's 1A poll were from the region, including #1 Holly. The Wildcats made it three straight shutout wins, adding a 16-0 victory over County Line and a 27-0 blanking of Manzanola to an earlier 13-0 win over Cheyenne Wells.

Merino is the hottest team in the classification, with the Rams running their streak to nine straight after an opening day loss to Wiggins. The Rams took a doubleheader from Haxtun last Friday, 15-4 and 8-2.

One individual performance of note from last week came in a contest between Stratton/Liberty and Caliche. Caliche's JT Pollart smashed a pair of home runs in the 16-5 win, giving him five on the season. That is one off the lead in Class 1A. Stratton/Liberty's Cooper Seaman hit his first of the season in the loss.

Looking at the top performances so far this season in track and field shows many area competitors atop their respective classes. Cade Mitchek from Cheyenne Wells has the top time in 1A boys for the 200 meters (23.36 seconds) and the Tigers have the top times in both the 800 and 1600 meter relays. Eads is #1 in the 400 meter relay, with a fastest run of 46.86 seconds. Lone Star's Brady Kuntz is the top pole vaulter this season, clearing 13', while Titus Glanz of Idalia and John Hainer from Granada lead in the discus and shot put, respectively.

Springfield has dominated the 1A girls sprint relays, posting the top times in the 400 and 800 meter relays. Merino has the top finishes in the 1600 meter relay, as well as the sprint medley relay. Shaylee Scheler of Cheyenne Wells has turned in the fastest time in the 300 hurdles (47.29 seconds), while Eads has the leading high jumper in Maggie Haase (5'01”) and shot putter, Colby Stoker (37'07.5”).

In Class 2A boys, Mohamed Ibrahim from Wiggins improved upon his class-leading standing in the shot put over the weekend. Ibrahim won the event at the Beetdigger Invitational on Saturday with a heave of 58'07.5”, more than 10 feet farther than the runner-up. He also won the discus with a throw of 151'11”. That beat second place by more than 20 feet.

Holyoke's Lauren Herman also doubled up in those same events, winning the shot with a distance of 36'04.25”. Her winning toss in the discus traveled 122 feet. That was a new classification best this season. Teammate Corey Koellner has the best shot put this season at 39' 00.75”.

Washington County (Akron and Otis), Yuma and Kit Carson all continue to have success on the links, as the girls golf season progresses. Mary Dracon has been steady all season for Washington County, while Jada Young has been has consistently been one of the top performers for Yuma. Proving to be a very versatile athlete, Stephanie Framel, who represented Burlington in softball, paces Kit Carson with several top 15 finishes. Framel also was a top performer for Kit Carson in basketball and volleyball.

Despite only having 11 players on the roster, Sterling outlasted Valley last Tuesday to pick up its first win of the girls soccer season, 3-2. Allie Schumacher, Halle Conover and Ryann Linn each scored for the Tigers in the win. They entered this week 1-1 on the year.

Fort Morgan picked up its first win of the 4A season last week, beating Severance 2-1 last Tuesday. Jessica Sanchez and Daisy Meraz each found the back of the net for the Mustangs. The Mustangs dropped a tough 4-2 decision at Frederick the following day and they brought a 2-4 mark into this week.