For those of you who have followed the Prep League since itsinception in 1997 you may have noticed a new look for the 2009fall season. A 2-1-2 scheduling format was introduced for the firsttime in league history. Traditionally all five fall sports begin and endat the same time, thus forcing students to choose between sportslike soccer and flag football or volleyball and softball. With the newlook for fall 2009, the softball and boys soccer seasons would beginas usual at the beginning of the school year. At the completion ofthe six week season the volleyball and flag football seasons wouldget underway. Sandwiched in-between the two seasons would be asix week cross-country season. The change was made in an effort toincrease the leagues fall participation rate and to allow students theopportunity to play a wider variety of sports. So far the new look ispaying dividends as 1,150 DPS students have participated in the“Early Fall” (boys soccer, softball and cross-country) season alone.

As is typically the case when participation numbers climb so todoes the quality of the league and the student athletes thatcomprise it. This fall the Prep League soccer, softball and cross-country titles were hotly contested. Every DPS K-8 and MiddleSchool fielded a team this fall, making it the largest field in historyto compete for the right to hoist the Prep League trophy at the endof the season.

Boys SoccerThe boys soccer season featured the introduction of several new

schools into the mix of Prep League regulars. In all 27 DPS schoolscompeted for the title of League Champion in a season that wouldbe full of excitement.

In an early season match-up that would feature two schools thatwould eventually make deep playoff runs, the Merrill Jaguars andthe Bruce Randolph Grizzlies squared of at the corner of 40th andSteele in a game that would go back and forth. Both schools

featured incredibletalent and depth whichshowed as theyregularly made tacticalchanges throughout thegame in an effort togain a slight advantage.In the end it would beRandolph that gainedthe advantage, winningthe game by a tight

score line. Both schools would come out of the game stronger asthey were able to string together numerous victories throughout theregular season.

With the addition of several new teams to the league this year theopportunity arose for schools to form new rivalries that were full ofcompetition and first class sportsmanship. This was clearly the case

when the Cole Dragons and the Gilpin Jaguars met in a mid-seasonmatch that would have playoff implications for both schools.Although the teams were comprised of young players that are newto the league; by the end of the game it was evident that both teamshave bright futures. With talent like this it is no wonder why DPShas moved to the forefront of Colorado State High School soccer andpart of the reason why Denver East captured a State 5A Boys SoccerTitle last year.

As the season progressed the race for division titles heated up. Inan end of the season contest between Kepner and DCIS thepotential was there for the winner to walk away Southwest Division

Champions. Kepner is no stranger to these types of games as theyadvanced all the way to the league championship game last season.DCIS on the other hand was in the midst of concluding their firstseason of boys Prep League soccer. On this day both schools playedlike seasoned veterans, with neither team succumbing to thepressure. Although the game would end in a 2-2 tie and Henrywould be the eventual Division Champion, both schools used thegame as a learning experience and advanced into the playoffsstronger.

As an added wrinkle, the 2009 Boys Prep League Soccer Playoffswould feature 16 schools. The Northwest Division saw Randolph,Morey, Lake and Cole advance. The Northeast Division advancedMLK, Noel, Greenwood and Smiley into the playoffs. In theSouthwest Division it was Henry, DCIS, Rishel and Kepner. Finallythe Southeast Division would add Hill, Merrill, Hamilton and Placeinto the playoff mix.

As the playoffs got underway the week of October 5th, it wasobvious that all 16 playoff teams had a chance at glory. Despitesome of the coldest weather of the year the students of DPSpersevered and displayed some of the finest soccer in the league todate. Although there were several close calls, including a penaltyshootout victory over Morey in round two, the Hill Skyhawks wereable to advance to the final to face overall #1 overall seed andundefeated MLK Middle School.

On a beautiful day at South High School the Panthers of MLKtook on the Skyhawks of Hill in front of an energetic crowd full offamily and friends. The talent of both schools was on display early

Prep League Early Fall Roundup

October 2009 4

as Hill created the first quality scoring chance. With a beautifulone touch flick a Hill striker was able to loft the ball towards thetop corner of the goal in what seemed like the games first goal.However, to the delight of the MLK co-coaches their goalkeeperwas up to the challenge, leaping with one hand to the top cornerto make the save of the season. The game would remain scorelessfor most of the first half with both teams creating decent chances.Eventually Hill would break through scoring the games first goaland sending it to halftime with a score line of Hill 1 – MLK 0.

The second half lived up to thehype as both teams turned up thepressure. The combination passingand ball control displayed by bothteams was incredible and exactlywhat one would expect from teamsof this caliber. The defense of Hillremained poised throughout thegame. Their ability to win the ballcombined with their field vision inmaking accurate outlet passesproved all the difference. Hillwould add on two late insurancegoals as MLK pushed up their attack in an effort to equalize. Inthe end Hill would emerge victorious 3-0 and take home theleague trophy. Although it was not meant to be on this day, MLKcould walk away with their heads high as they completed thegreatest season in school history, winning ten games and takinghome the Northeast Division Title for the second year in a row.Congratulations to all 27 teams for wonderful seasons.

SoftballAs was featured in an August article here on the Prep League

website, softball in DPS has reached new heights. The growth ofthe summer RBI baseball/softball program here in DPS has in turnpromoted growth in our Middle School league as well. The 2009softball season welcomed 100 additional student athletes fromthe 2008 season total; a trend that is expected to continue in thefuture. As always, with added participation comes addedcompetition, as 22 DPS softball teams took to the diamond thisseason with one thing in common: a commitment to success onand off the field of play.

In a highly competitive early September match-up betweenleague veterans Morey Mustangs and the Grant Griffins nerveswould be tested as the game went down to the wire. It is rare that

one would see such an electric atmosphere at an early seasongame, but it was evident on this afternoon. Both teams exhibitedtimely hitting early, but it would be pitching that would takecenter stage late as Grant was able to hold on thanks to theirdefense by a score of 11-10.

On the very same September afternoon across town SouthwestDivision rivals Grant Ranch and Henry met up in a game for theages. The meeting between the two schools traditionallydetermines who will walk away division champion and it was no

different on this day. With thegame remaining tightthroughout, every run wouldcount in what ended up being anail biting finish. Grant Ranchwould put their hopes of adivisional crown on the shoulderof their young pitcher and in theend would prevail by thenarrowest of margins. With the4-3 win Grant Ranch wouldpush through their regularseason unbeaten and earn an

eventual first round playoff bye.Seemingly every year a new school full of talented student

athletes emerges as a league favorite and this year would be nodifferent. The Cougars of Smiley had a tough road ahead of them.The talented and well coached Northeast Division always proveddifficult for even the most experienced of teams. So for anyone torun the table and finish their divisional play at a remarkable 4-0was a surprise even to them. It would come down to a tough homecontest with the Farrell B. Howell Wolves to decide their divisionalfate. Both teams were playoff bound and this game would decidewhich team would earn the first round playoff bye that goes to thedivisional champ. As would be expected in a game of thismagnitude hitting took center stage. The game would go back andforth until Smiley was eventually able to pull away late. With thewin Smiley preserved their undefeated division record and Howellwould head into the first round of playoff action against theCentennial Prospectors out of the Northwest.

The last day of the regular season always brings about anabundance of excitement as playoff spots are on the line. Thisyear it would be the Kepner Dolphins and the Phoenix of DCISgoing head-to-head for the last playoff spot out of the Southwest.Although this was the first year of Prep League softball at DCIS,

BOYS SOCCER 2009 RESULTS

Overall Conference Overall ConferenceRandolph 7-1 5-1 Henry 5-2 4-1Morey 6-2 5-1 DCIS 4-2-1 3-1-1Lake 7-1 5-1 Rishel 5-1-1 3-1-1Cole 3-4 3-3 Kepner 3-2-2 2-1-2Greenlee 2-5 2-4 Moore 2-5 1-4Skinner 1-7 1-5 Kunsmiller 2-5 0-5Gilpin 0-7 0-6

Overall Conference Overall ConferenceMLK 7-0 5-0 Hill 6-0-1 4-0-1Noel 4-3 4-1 Merrill 5-1-2 3-0-2Greenwood 4-2-1 3-2 Hamilton 3-5 3-2Smiley 3-4 2-3 Place 4-2-2 2-2-1Howell 2-5 1-4 Slavens 1-6 1-4Waller 0-6 0-5 Grant 0-7 0-5

Northwest Division

Northeast Division

Southwest Division

Southeast Division

MLK

Cole

Merrill

Greenwood

Lake

Rishel

Henry

Place

Hill

Smiley

DCIS

Morey

Noel

Hamilton

Randolph

KepnerRandolph

Noel

Morey

Hill

Hill

Hill

Hill

Randolph

Place

Lake

Lake

Merrill

MLK

MLK

MLK

2 October 2009

they played all season long with incredible composure amassing aregular season record of 3-3 entering the game. Kepner is alwaysin the mix in the Southwest and would prove to be a tough test forthe Phoenix. Having the game on their home diamond provedcrucial for the Dolphins. They were able to ride the energy of theircrowd and come away from the game victorious. For DCIS it wouldmean the end to an incredible season. They stepped up and metthe challenge in only their first season in the league. Surely theywill be a contender in the future. As for Kepner, it would be a tripto Hill and a first round playoff game with the Skyhawks loomingthe following week.

As the regular season came to a close the 2009 softball playofffield was set. Coming out of the Northeast it would be Smiley,Howell and Rachel B. Noel. In the Northwest Morey, Lake andCentennial would emerge. The Southwest would send GrantRanch, Henry and Kepner while the Southeast saw Hamilton, Hilland Slavens advance to playoff action.

In first round action the Slavens Storm traveled to Lake to takeon the Knights. Evidently Slavens would bring their namesake withthem for the week as winter storms would cause postponementsthroughout the playoffs. On this day however the game would beplayed and what a great game it would be. Slavens came in withonly two losses, both of which were to eventual league finalistsHamilton and Hill. Lake entered with a .500 record which includedwins against several playoff teams. The game would includedisplays of incredible pitching from both schools and for Slavenssome timely hitting which would prove the difference. The Stormwould advance on this day while Lake would conclude what endedup being a tremendous regular season.

In the end it would be two SE Divisional foes, the undefeatedHuskies from Hamilton and the 9-1 Skyhawks from Hill meeting

at DPS All-City Softball Field in the 2009 championship. Weatherdelays forced the game to be played the Tuesday after playoffweek and left both schools biting at the bit to get out on thediamond. Excitement for the game was high as both schoolswould send out their ace pitchers on several days rest.

Nerves were high in the early stages as Hill was able to get onthe board twice in the top half of the first with some aggressivebase running and a little luck. Despite the early deficit, Hamiltonremained confident knowing their lineup could produce runs atany time. This however would be easier said than done as theSkyhawks 7th grade pitching phenom looked on top of her game.Hill, behind their pitching would allow only one run through thefirst five innings; while Hamilton, who had a 7th gradeflamethrower of their own, held Hill scoreless from the secondinning on.

Entering the bottom half of the sixth inning the score was Hill2 – Hamilton 1. The Skyhawks were three outs away from achampionship and had the top half of the Husky lineup coming tothe plate. Hamilton came out swinging and was quickly able toeven the score at two. With two outs and the score all tied up,Hamilton had runners at second and third. With the game on theline the Hill pitcher showed no fear going right at the Hamiltonbatter. Showing her veteran poise the Hamilton hitter waited forher pitch and when she got it was able to slap it on a rope towardscenter field. With two outs the Hamilton base runners wererunning on contact and seemed likely to score the winning run.

However, seemingly out of nowhere the shortstop from Hillelevated, extended her glove and made an incredible game savingcatch. Jaws dropped as the game would enter the first of whatended up being several extra innings of play.

Going into the top half of the ninth inning the game remainedtied at two. Both starting pitchers were still going strong andshowed no signs of fatigue. Again, thanks to aggressive baserunning and timely hitting, Hill was able to break the tie and take

SOFTBALL 2009 RESULTS

Overall Conference Overall ConferenceMorey 4-3 3-0 Grant Ranch 6-0 5-0Lake 3-3 3-3 Henry 6-2 4-1Centennial 3-3 1-2 Kepner 3-5 3-2Skinner 0-8 0-3 DCIS 3-4 2-3

Kunsmiller 2-6 1-4Rishel 0-6 0-5

Overall Conference Overall ConferenceSmiley 5-2 4-0 Hamilton 6-0 4-0Howell 4-3 3-1 Hill 6-1 3-1Noel 1-5-1 1-2-1 Slavens 6-2 2-2Waller 2-4 1-3 Merrill 2-4 1-3MLK 3-3-1 0-3-1 Grant 3-4 0-4

Northwest Division

Northeast Division

Southwest Division

Southeast Division

Howell

Centennial

Henry

Noel

Lake

Slavens

Hill

KepnerHill

Smiley

Slavens

Grant Ranch

Grant Ranch

Hill

Hill

Hill

Henry

Morey

Henry

Howell

Hamilton

Hamilton

Hamilton

October 2009 3

a 3-2 lead into the bottom half of the ninth inning. With the sunsetting over the mountains and the game now being nearly threehours in length it only seemed appropriate that Hamilton wouldhave runners on second and third with one out and looking to tiethe game at three to extend it to the tenth. However, on this dayit would not be as a sharp liner to third was caught and the fielderstepped on the base doubling up the runner and ending the game.For Hill it was their second team title of the Fall Season. Theyoung ladies of Hamilton gave tremendous effort and showedgracious sportsmanship in defeat. They left with their heads heldhigh looking forward to the chance to do it all again next year.

Cross CountryThe 2009 Prep League XC season would be one for the ages.

Over 400 boys and girls would compete in meets throughout thefall in preparation for a culminating league championship at BearValley Park.

In the first large team meet of the season runners descended onWashington Park in South Denver for the Wash Park Invite hostedby Sough High School. Nearly 300 middle school runners fromacross the district competed in an effort to set personal best times

and see what the competition had to offer. On the girls side itwould be two runners from Morey setting the pace with times inthe low 17 minutes. On the boys side it would be Cole that set themark, finishing in 1st, 3rd and 30th places out of well over 100total runners.

In the premier regular season middle school race of the yearPrep athletes from in and out of DPS took to Harvard Gulch Parkfor the 2009 Slavens Invite. Again, 300 athletes took to thecourse in the first scored team race of the year for the 7th and 8thgraders. Before the 7th and 8th graders got going the 6th graderstook center stage showing everyone what the future of DPSrunning looks like. In the boys division it would be Merrill’s 6thgrade running prodigy taking home the win while Morey and theirfine young cast of 6th grade runners took the girls division.

With nearly twenty teams competing in the 7th and 8th gradeboys division it would be Hill who would finish top amongst DPS

schools with a fourth place overall finish. In the girls division DPSwould take the top two spots overall with Slavens finishing firstand Hill finishing in the runner-up position. In all it was a greatday for DPS cross-country.

As October rolled around the runners took to southwest Denverin a tune-up for the league championship at Bear Valley Park. JFKHigh School would serve as hosts in what was a very competitiverace. Again Cole would take the top individual spots finishing in1st and 2nd place. In the girls division Morey showed incredibleconsistency as their top runner would finish 1st for the third timein as many races. She looked to be an early favorite heading intothe following week’s league championship.

On a beautiful October Tuesday all of DPS gathered to see theDPS League Championship Invitational. In the middle school boysdivision it would be Cole taking the top individual finish with theirrunner earning his third win in four races. The team title would goto Hamilton who finished all five scorers in less than 11 minutes.In all 17 runners in the boys division finished with sub 11 minutetimes giving greathope for the futureof DPS running. Thegirls division wouldsee quite an upsetas Hamilton took thetop individual timenarrowly beating thethree time seasonwinner from Morey. Overall Slavens would narrowly edge Morey inthe team results with a score of 52 to 53. It would be Slavenssecond team title of the season. In all there was some verycompetitive running and a fine end to a record breaking season.

As the 2009 Nuggets/Avalanche Prep League Early Fall Seasoncomes to an end we would be remiss if we did not thank the peoplethat helped make it all possible. The Denver Nuggets, ColoradoAvalanche, Colorado Rockies and McCormick Tribune, as well as theDPS Foundation all dedicated valuable resources which enabledmiddle school children throughout DPS the opportunity toparticipate in structured physical activity. The wonderful coachingstaff at South High School who helped put on an amazingchampionship event. We would also like to thank Bank of the Westfor their dedicated support of DPS middle school athletics and theirfocus on bringing financial literacy to the students of the district.We look forward to a long lasting partnership with an incredibleorganization committed to the community of Denver. And a specialthank you to the coaches and Athletic Directors at all of our middleschools who work tirelessly every day to make the league what it istoday. To all of you we are thankful and look forward to starting theLate Fall season. Games begin October 13th and this year promisesto be a special one as nearly thirty teams will compete for divisionand league crowns.

XC 2009 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Hamilton SlavensHill Morey

Slavens HamiltonMerrill HillHenry DCISMorey GrantRoberts RobertsGrant Henry

Grant Ranch Grant RanchSkinner Waller

HowellFairmont

Boys Girls

http://athletics.dpsk12.org/ms_sports/

4 October 2009