Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Let’s start this off with a necessary shout out. I’m not sure who is responsible for clearing the turf, but he/she/they deserve some recognition.
Yes, I know it snowed a lot, but seeing a foot of it still standing on the track when I went to the Aspen High School girls soccer game Saturday really put it in perspective. The turf was clear and playable, but the snow was piled so high around the perimeter you couldn’t actually see the scoreboard from the sideline.
Honestly, it was kind of cool. Well, it made the photos that much more dramatic, at least. Figuring out a score or how much time was remaining was more of a challenge.
All that snow, as awesome as it was, made quite the mess of the spring sports schedule early on. But now that it’s behind us, we’ve actually been able to play some games. Let’s see where things stand in the final week before both Aspen and Basalt schools go on spring break.
TRACK
Both track teams competed Friday in Rifle. It was Aspen’s second meet of the season and Basalt’s first.
We’ll start with the Longhorns and stud sophomore Sierra Bower. She finished third in the girls 3,200-meter run with a time of 11 minutes 24.59 seconds. That time is impressive as so far this season it’s the best in Class 3A. The two girls who beat Bower in Rifle run for Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley, both bigger schools.
It’s way too soon to put too much stock into this, but Bower has the potential to make some noise come the state meet. If you remember, Bower won the regional cross country meet hosted by Aspen back in October.
Other Longhorn girls with notable results at Rifle were Megan Maley (third, 800-meter run and eighth, 400-meter dash) and Katie Bohannan (fourth, high jump and ninth, long jump).
The BHS boys best finishes were a pair of fifth places from Tucker Bruce (800-meter run) and Ben Williams (110-meter hurdles). Rulbe Alvarado was sixth in the 800 behind Bruce, while Williams also finished seventh in the high jump. The boys 3,200-meter relay team was eighth and Nathan Rivera was ninth in the pole vault.
The Skiers also had some nice results. Paige Quist was second in the girls shot put, while the girls 800-meter relay team also took second. Kendall Clark was fourth in the 800-meter run and sixth in the 400-meter dash.
Nicholas Galambos led the AHS boys by taking second in the 800-meter run and eighth in the 3,200-meter run.
LACROSSE
The season finally got underway for Aspen boys lacrosse Monday. After having its first two games postponed, the Skiers kicked off the Tommy Cox-era at Battle Mountain, losing a tightly contested 6-5 affair in overtime.
Aspen (0-1) entered the game ranked No. 5 in Class 4A, while Battle Mountain (2-1) was No. 9 and even receiving a vote to be No. 1. It was a non-league game.
The AHS boys will play again Wednesday. The AHS girls will finally start their season today at 4 p.m. with a home game against Durango. They had originally been scheduled to play last week, one of three Aspen girls lacrosse games postponed because of the weather.
SOCCER
There’s been a change in venue for today’s AHS girls soccer game with Roaring Fork. Instead of playing in Carbondale, the game will be held at 6 p.m. on the AHS turf, following the girls lacrosse game.
Aspen (1-1) bounced back from a season-opening loss at Class 5A Grand Junction to beat Delta over the weekend. Despite the loss, AHS remained at No. 4 in 3A in this week’s rankings. The Skiers are supposed to play Thursday at Steamboat Springs, as well.
Basalt (0-2), which lost to a pair of top-10 teams over the weekend, doesn’t have any more games scheduled until after spring break.
BASEBALL
Both baseball teams had a rough go of it Monday. Aspen baseball dropped to 0-4 overall with two losses at Prospect Ridge, falling 11-1 and 10-0. Basalt opened its season with a 7-0 road loss to Hotchkiss, which is ranked No. 5 in Class 2A.
Aspen is scheduled to play Wednesday at Moffat and Thursday at Battle Mountain. Basalt is slated to host Elizabeth on Wednesday, assuming the field is playable.
TENNIS
Aspen girls tennis competed over the weekend at Steamboat Springs in a rather large and competitive tournament, won by the host Sailors. Steamboat and Aspen will likely duo for the regional title yet again this spring. AHS tennis doesn’t have anything else scheduled until after spring break, nor does BHS tennis or Aspen girls golf.
Note: With next week being spring break, this column also is going on a one-week hiatus. It’ll return in April.