Jacob Spetzler
Alex
McCrindle Times Sports InternHigh school athletics is defined by the cycle of a student athlete — from potential and growth to leadership and ultimately graduation. In the case of the GHS girls golf team, the squad appears to be in the midst of a rebound after losing a vital leader in captain and two-time state qualifier Riley Murphy.
Despite Murphy’s departure, the Cowboys welcomed eight freshmen to the team this spring alongside two returning sophomores — making it safe to say the Gunnison golfers show strong potential.
This season, junior Allie Schwartz and senior Blue Noble will step into leadership positions, Head Coach Kevin Mickelson said. Both golfers have experience battling against the region's toughest opponents, and are positioned to guide an inexperienced roster towards the state competition. Last spring, Schwartz qualified for state as a sophomore, while Noble narrowly missed out on state qualification in a sudden-death regional playoff round.
Mickelson said the team hopes to fill the shoes of previous players and grow the program following the influx of younger golfers.
“Blue and Allie will lead the way this year,” Mickelson said. “Then we have an entire range of underclassmen that look to fi ll those top-fi ve spots by the end of the year.”
The GHS golfers are scheduled to begin practice on March 21, however, there is a large hurdle awaiting the team in the next few weeks: the remnants of an especially snowy winter in Gunnison.
The Dos Rios golf course is still in the process of defrost-
ing as the season slowly turns. The girls will practice putting on carpet, hitting wiffle balls in the high school gymnasium and praying the groundhog was wrong this year until the course opens.
“We are at the mercy of Mother Nature,” Mickelson said.
“After spring break we’ll begin winter drills, but we are really excited to start hitting balls.”
The Cowboys will begin competitive play in a shotgun-style tournament in Eagle on March 28 before heading to Montrose for a two-day tournament on April 4 and 5 at the Black Canyon
and Cobble Creek golf courses. Although this spring presents a less-than-ideal preseason, the GHS golfers have set high goals for their overall performance this spring.
“We just want to be playing our best at the end of May,” Mickelson said. “We want
Seniors
Blue Noble
Sam Brown
Elaina Dillard
Juniors
Allie Schwartz
Ryann Nordberg
Dakota Shagun
Josephine Wishard
Cristina Ivars
Sophomores
Amara Lock
Maddie Vollendorf
Freshman
Kamryn Noble
Janey Mugglestone
Aiden Tomlin
Elizabeth Klingsmith
Anastasia Harvey
London Shafter
Zoey Wilkinson
Kaylee Vincent
everyone to get better. But when it comes to competition, we like to stick our noses right in it and compete.”
(Alex McCrindle can be contacted at 970.641.1414.)
2023 GOLF ROSTER
During the 2022 season GHS baseball team finished seventh in their division, and this year a solid senior class aims to turn the program around. Leadership roles now rest on current seniors Justus Williams, Rocky Marchitelli, Duke Sloan, Ty Taramarcaz, and Wade Johnson following the graduation of four key players. Head Coach Tom Percival continues to set high standards for his upperclassmen.
“We have five seniors coming back, and the majority of them have a lot of varsity experience,” Percival said. “We’re looking for them to step up and be leaders, they have big shoes to fill.”
The 2023 season is set to have a fast and furious beginning, with an immediate first game scheduled for March 10 in Monte Vista, followed by a tournament in Delta on March 18 and 19. Despite a dense and quickly approaching schedule, the team must wait for its facilities to defrost and dry out. In the meantime, Percival continues to train his team using the resources that are available. While the field melts, he’s putting the boys through parking-lot ground ball and pop-fly practice.
“Spring in Western Colorado has us battling snow, rain and bad weather,” Percival said. “We’re very flexible with what we do in preparation. Sometimes we play home games in Montrose or Delta, and we’ve had the team out shoveling snow in years prior.”
The Gunnison High School baseball facilities have been plowed by Paul Morgan, the
Gunnison Watershed School District's transportation director — leaving the majority of the field dry, but with ice-hockey style berms along the sides. The team aims to play its first home games in Gunnison after spring break if the weather cooperates.
Percival said his overall hope for the Cowboys is play-off qualification this season with the ultimate goal of a state championship in the near future.
“Of course we have goals to get into the playoffs and hopefully win a state title, but all we can do now is take things day by day,” Percival said. “We play in a really tough league and consistency is the goal.”
The Cowboys baseball team is set to face off at Monte Vista in a non-league matchup on March 10 to kickstart the season, followed by a game in Buena Vista on March 21.
(Alex McCrindle can be contacted at 970.641.1414.)
DateTeamOpponentLocation
Friday, March 10VarsityMonte VistaGunnison High School
Friday, March 17VarsityKent DenverNorth Fork High School
VarsityPagosa SpringsCedaredge High School
Saturday, March 18VarsityBayfieldMontrose High School
Tuesday, March 21VarsityBuena VistaBuena Vista High School
JVBuena Vista Buena Vista High School
Thursday, March 23Varsity DoubleheaderCoal RidgeGunnison High School
Tuesday, March 28VarsitySalidaGunnison High School
JVSalidaGunnison High School
Saturday, April 1Varsity DoubleheaderCentauri High SchoolGunnison High School
Tuesday, April 4VarsityAlamosaAlamosa High School
JVAlamosa Alamosa High School
Thursday, April 6JV DoubleheaderDeltaDelta High School
Thursday, April 13JV DoubleheaderBuena VistaBuena Vista High School
Saturday, April 15VarsityOlatheGunnison High School
JVOlathe Gunnison High School
Tuesday, April 18Varsity DoubleheaderDeltaDelta High School
Saturday, April 22VarsityBasaltBasalt High School
Monday, April 24JV DoubleheaderDeltaGunnison High School
Tuesday, April 25Varsity DoubleheaderNorth Fork High School Gunnison High School
Thursday, April 27JV DoubleheaderDeltaTBD
Saturday, April 29VarsityAspenGunnison High School
JVAspenGunnison High School
Tuesday, May 2VarsityRoaring ForkRoaring Fork High School
JVRoaring Fork Roaring Fork High School
Thursday, May 4JV DoubleheaderBuena Vista Gunnison High School
Tuesday, May 9VarsityCedaredgeCedaredge High School
JVCedaredge Cedaredge High School
Friday, May 12Varsity DoubleheaderDelta High SchoolTBD
The GHS track and field program grows and shrinks from year to year, but this season the Cowboys are on the upswing. Though the upperclassmen groups are small — consisting of five seniors and eight juniors — the sophomore and freshman squads show growth with a whopping 31 athletes between the two classes.
The growth in track and field may have to do with the team’s recent success at the state competition. Melita Ferchau won a state championship in discus in 2022 after a season of breaking school records. Two years ago Kelita Baroumbay, now a Western track athlete, earned a state championship in the triple jump.
Head Coach Stacey
Mickelson said she looks forward to seeing what her relatively young and enthusiastic team can do this season. At the top of the list are the long distance runners — Madelyn Stice in the individual 3200-meter run and the 4x800 team. Stice notched a 12th-place finish last year at state, and earned top results in the fall during the cross country season.
Mickelson said there’s a crew of juniors who will also bring their cross country skills and fitness to bear: Julian Ryter, Spencer Hays, Noah Pederson and Luke Ebott.
As for the jumpers, sophomore Angela Hines leads the way for the Cowboys following a ninth-place finish at the state tournament in the high jump when she was only a freshman.
She will be joined by fellow sophomores and triple jumpers Sienna Gomez and Eden Williams.
With the number of par-
Seniors
Nicholas Ferraro
Cael Medina
Jaime Perez-Rosa
Lydia Boardman
Lydia Frazier
Juniors
Rowen Downum
Luke Ebott
Spencer Hays
Noah Pederson
Julian Ryter
Izabella Hartzell
Justine Mowery
Megan Vanderveer
Sophomores
Wolfgang Anderson
Noah Froelich
Tyler Hill
Garret Maclennon
Shane Mensing
Arno Mortensen
Lee Brunsting
Kathryn Frey
Nella Gardner
Sienna gomez
Angela Hindes
Kristen Isham
Samantha Jones
Jemma Petrie
Catalina Schwab
Zia Schwab
Madelyn Stice
Eden Williams
Freshman
Cooper Boardman
Gabe Perez Rosa
Penn Sleighthoalm
Eduardo Sandrez
Andrianna Baird
Kelsey Brockschmidt
Ashlyn Cowen
Kim Isham
Rose Kowal
Aubriel Loken
Lily O’Connell
Caroline Sudderth
Aubrey Welfelt
ticipants as high as they are, Mickelson said they will have enough athletes to compete in almost every event. She highlighted senior Cael Medina as a sprinter and sophomore Shane Mensing as a discus and shot put thrower.
The team will spend the beginning of the season finding ways to train. The big challenge, as always, is Gunnison’s fickle spring weather as well as the ongoing renovations at
2023
Saturday, March 25 Meet9 a.m. North Fork High School North Fork High School
Friday, March 31Meet 9 a.m.Sangre De Cristo Sangre De Cristo High School
Friday, April 7Meet9 a.m.Pueblo CountyCSU Pueblo
Saturday, April 15Meet TBDDel Norte Del Norte High School
Friday, April 21Meet 9 a.m.Coal Ridge Coal Ridge High School
Saturday, April 29Meet 9 a.m.HarrisonTBA
Friday, May 5 League Meet 10 a.m.Grand Junction Ralph Stocker Stadium
Saturday, May 6Meet10 a.m.Grand Junction Ralph Stocker Stadium
Friday, May 12Meet 5 p.m.Pueblo WestTBD
Friday, May 19State MeetTBDTBAJeffco Stadium
Saturday, May 20State MeetTBDTBAJeffco Stadium
Sunday, May 21State Meet TBD TBA Jeffco Stadium
Western’s Mountaineer Bowl — the only outdoor track in the valley. In the meantime, Mickelson said the university has made the indoor track at the Mountaineer Field House available to the team for up to three days a week. Gunnison School District Transportation Director Paul Morgan also plowed a circle into the snow laden footbal field.
“We can do some intervals and work out there,” Mickelson
said. “We'll just get creative in how we do things this year.”
As the team gets its running legs back in shape, the first few meets will be spent reshuffling and finding where the freshmen are most competitive, Mickelson said. To aid in the endeavor, she’s joined by three assistant coaches. Blake Davis, who runs for Western, is in charge of the distance kids while Tom Kattnig leads the throwers. Lindsey Hart, the GHS
volleyball coach, also joined the team last season as a sprinter and hurdle coach.
The Cowboys will compete in the first meet of the season after spring break on Saturday, March 25 at North Fork High School.
(Jacob Spetzler can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or jacob@gunnisontimes.com)
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The Crested Butte Titans lacrosse team is heading into its third year as a high school program and despite its relative youth, it now boasts a total of 36 players. Crested Butte is also heading into the second half of its four-year probationary period which means it will finally field a varsity team.
Not only has the program’s depth continued to grow, this particular season’s roster boasts a large number of upperclassmen. Last season only one athlete — captain Kody Bodine — represented the senior class, but this year 10 athletes will graduate at the end of the season.
“We have a lot of guys with at least three years [of high school lacrosse experience],” said Head Coach Buck Seling. “And some of these guys played the youth program as well.”
Despite some late season injuries, Bodine was a presence on the field as an attacker and replacing him will be no easy task.
NameGrad. Year
Otter Billingsley2023
Fraser Birnie2025
Brock Colvin2023
Wyatt Cook2026
Kason Cox2023
Cy Davis2024
Riley Davis2024
Rowan Dishmon2025
Max Dukeman2026
Gavin Fischer2024
Ace Gaither2023
Blue Gardner2025
Marin Gardner2025
Liam Hadley2026
Brenden Hartigan2023
Luke Hartigan2026
AJ Hegeman2026
But Seling said a few rising seniors may be up for the challenge.
“Frasier Birnie is only a sophomore, but he is really focused,” Seling said.
Seling said he also expects a strong season from midfielder Riley Davis. On defense, Seling said he feels particularly solid. He’s tapped senior Otter Billingsely and juniors Weston Miller and Ty Pulliam as defensive starters.
Aside from a growing team, five assistant coaches have come on board as well. In years prior, only Seling coached.
“That's going to be a big help,” Seling said. “We can
Merrick Jeffery2026
Mario Ladoulis2026
Luca Loperfido2023
Tanner Maltby2025
Brody Marquart2026
Levi Mason2025
Luca Meyer2025
Weston Miller2024
Hayden Moran2026
Jack Pierson2024
Ty Pulliam2024
Finn Ramsey2023
Vinny Sciortino2026
Jordan Silva2025
Jack Smolen2025
Trey Smolen2024
Luke Walton2026
Jake White2026
break [the players] down by skill position areas — attacking, midfielder, goalie and defense — and have coaches working with those groups individually. We did that already this week, and it's just a pleasure to see all these kids are
getting a lot more reps.”
The Titans will practice and play on Gunnison Middle School’s dry field during the early season. If the snow melts in time, the team will move back to Crested Butte.
As the season begins to take off, Seling said he plans to focus on training the younger athletes on offense and defense styles that are signature to the Titans. Although the team’s 10 incoming freshman have middle school experience, playing at the high school level will require an adjustment, he said. Opponents are often larger, and the game moves more quickly.
The Titan’s first games are scheduled for this Saturday, March 11, at the Dawson School in Boulder. Varsity will face Dawson at 10 a.m. and JV will play Green Mountain at the same location immediately after.
(Jacob Spetzler can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or jacob@gunnisontimes.com.)
Saturday, March 11Varsity Game10 a.m.Dawson Dawson School
JV Game12 p.m.Green MountainDawson School
Tuesday, March 14Varsity Game4 p.m.Grand Junction Canyon View Park, Grand Junction
Saturday, March 18JV Game11 a.m.AspenAspen High School
Varsity Game1 p.m.AspenAspen High School
Tuesday, March 21Varsity Game3:30 p.m.Telluride Gunnison Middle School
JV Game5 p.m.Telluride Gunnison Middle School
Saturday, March 25JV Game12:30 p.m.Montrose Montrose High School Varsity Game11 p.m.Montrose Montrose High School
Tuesday, Mar 28Varsity GameTBDDurango Durango High School
Friday, March 31Varsity Game4 p.m.Telluride Telluride High School
JV Game5:30 p.m.TellurideTelluride High School
Tuesday, April 4 Varsity Game4 p.m.Fruita MonumentTBD
Saturday, April 8Varsity Game1 p.m.The Vanguard SchoolTBD
Tuesday, April 11Varsity Game4 p.m.DurangoTBD
JV Game5:30 p.m.DurangoTBD
Thursday, April 13Varsity Game4 p.m.MontroseTBD
JV Game5 p.m.MontroseTBD
Tuesday, April 25Varsity Game4 p.m.Grand JunctionTBD
Wednesday, April 26Varsity Game4 p.m.Fruita Monument Canyon View Park, Grand Junction
JV Game5:30 p.m.Fruita Monument Canyon View Park, Grand Junction
Tuesday, May 2 Varsity Game4 p.m.MontroseTBA
JV Game5:30 p.m.Montrose TBA
Friday, May 5Varsity Game1 p.m.Middle Park Crested Butte Community High School