The final champions of the 2020-21 athletic year were crowned over the last week and a lot of hardware made its way back to the area. While not everyone could emerge victorious, a lifetime of memories were made along the way.

Girls golf took center stage last Monday and Tuesday, with Class 3A tackling Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo and Class 4A attacking CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora. Kit Carson's Stephanie Framel led area finishers in 3A, posting a two-day total of 177, good for 15th place. Washington County's duo of Kendall Velder (202, 33rd place) and Mary Dracon (209, 44th place) and Burlington's Lauren Hays (208, 42nd place) all had solid outings.

Class 1A crowned a new champion in baseball last Wednesday, as Holly downed Flatirons Academy 1-0 in the finals. Flatirons beat Nucla 12-1 in a six-inning rematch of the 2019 title clash, also won by the Bison. Jose Magallanes and Brigden Parker both homered in support of Dakota Eaton, as Holly beat Merino 9-1 in their semifinal.

Parker took the mound in the championship contest and he was brilliant. The lanky lefty threw a three-hit shutout, striking out 13 and only walking one. Magallanes solved Flatirons Academy's starter, Trenton Rowan and blasted his 10th home run of the season, a solo shot in the top of the sixth. That was all the offense Parker would need. It also broke the school's single season home run record, held by Magallanes' father, that stood for 22 years.

Area athletes made regular trips to the podium during last weekend's State track and field meet. Lone Star's Alivia Weathers put on a show in the 1A girls meet, winning four titles. Weathers took the championship in the pole vault, triple jump, 100 meter hurdles and 300 meter hurdles.

Eads got a championship from Maggie Haase in the high jump, while Colby Stoker and Kyra Sheridan went 1-2 in the shot put. Haase was third in the triple jump, behind Weathers and Merino's Taysa Conger, who took the title in the 400 meter run. Springfield won the 800 meter relay and the 800 meter sprint medley, while Merino took the 1600 meter relay and Haxtun claimed the 400 meter relay. Brakelle Westphal gave Springfield an individual champ, as she bested the field by nearly three seconds in the 800 meter run.

On the 1A boys side, Arickaree/Woodlin and Cheyenne Wells tied for third in the team standings. A/W saw sophomore Jacob Jefferson win the 400 and 110 hurdles, as well as placing second in the 800 and fifth in the 300 hurdles. Classmate Hayden Page took second in the 400 and fifth in the 800. Cheyenne Wells was powered by championships in the 800 and 1600 meter relays. Cade Mitchek won the 200 meters, with Dominic Coleman from Granada hot on his heels in second.

Granada's John Hainer capped his season with a title in the shot put. Brady Kuntz from Lone Star ended his high school career by establishing a new meet record in the pole vault. Kuntz cleared 13' 6.5”, beating the previous record by half an inch. Akron took second through fourth in that event, with Grayson Pachner, Jackson Filla, and Ivan Dannar filling those spots.

In 2A girls, Holyoke teammates Corey Koellner and Lauren Herman dominated the throws. Koellner won the shot, with Herman finishing second. They reversed that order in the discus, with Herman taking the title. Emali Torres made it a Dragon sweep atop the podium in the shot, with a third place finish. Burlington took sixth in the 3200 meter relay and seventh in the 1600 meter relay.

It was a good weekend for the Ibrahim brothers from Wiggins. Mohamed won the 2A shot put and was runner-up in the discus, while Laith took third in both events. Burlington's Skye Perry grabbed fourth place in the triple jump and sixth in the 110 hurdles.

Lamar's throwers flexed their muscles in the 3A girls meet. Alee Tice was a double champion, winning shot and discus. Jayme Wooten took fourth in the shot and fifth in the discus, while Lauren Reyes was sixth in the shot. Brush's Kenzie Kraich was sixth in the discus. Valerie Allen of Sterling claimed the title in the triple jump and was third in the long jump.

Sterling's boys got a second and eighth place in the pole vault, from Xander Burns and Michael Mertz-Valentine. Tucker Myers won the triple jump, with Lamar's Damion Ramos finishing fourth. Myers was also sixth in the long jump, while teammate Peyton Rose finished second.

Fort Morgan's Rylee Givens was 11th in the 4A girls discus, and Ryan Clark was 12th in the 4A boys triple jump.