The Lady Titans suffered a loss last Friday against the ThunderRidge Grizzlies. This came after they won the three previous games before losing to ThunderRidge. The girls overall is currently 9-6. They will be playing a game tonight at Rock Canyon at 7 p.m.
“In 5A we’ve never won more than nine games. We’re feeling pretty good right now. Having 12 wins would give us a winning record. We’re really focused on hitting double digits in wins [this season],” Coach Eli Moore said.
Sophomore Haley Hildenbrand was chosen as Player of the Game for the Heritage game that the Titans won. “My best game so far has been Heritage. I had 14 points that game. I played well and hard. I attribute [my success to] my coaches and my dad.”
This is Hildenbrand’s first year playing on the varsity level. “I like [playing on varsity more] than junior varsity. You have a family and it’s so much better. It’s really fun,” Hildenbrand said. “It’s interesting [being the only sophomore on the team]. You feel kind of by yourself. But the juniors make me feel like I’m a part of the team,” Hildenbrand said.
Friday’s Pride of Parker meet for Girls’ swim against Ponderosa ended in a loss for Legend Varsity, but the night was not one to forget. Legend’s girls took home 1st place in 5 events: McKenna Moede in the One-Meter, Shilo Syddall in the 100 Free and 10 Back, Hayley Stauber in the 200 Free, and Ryan Sotebeer in the 500 Free. Overall, now, the team is 4-2 overall and 3-0 in league competition.
Friday’s meet was also Senior night for the team, and six seniors received a bouquet of flowers from Principal Corey Wise and Administrator Jason Jacob while Coach Karen Johnson announced their colleges and majors. The team lined up by the pool and cheered for their teammates as they passed.
Duel meets are now over for the team, and they are gearing up for league meets that start this weekend with C Leagues on the 31st. B leagues will be held on the 1st, and A Leagues are held over two days, the 7th and the 8th. Varsity swimmers who make certain times will then be qualified to compete in State competition, held on the 14th and 15th.
The girls started their league season Friday, Jan. 17 with a 59-27 win at home against Littleton. Joey Sale put up a double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks. Legend followed up that win with another home victory over Heritage, 50-28, last night. Coach Eli Moore’s Player of the Game went to sophomore Haley Hildenbrand who scored 14 points.
41 band, choir and orchestra students from Legend travelled to downtown Denver on Monday the 13th to represent our school in the Colorado Continental League music festival. Students auditioned for the group at the end of October and beginning of November to earn their seats, and were notified in early November about acceptance.
Each group had two two hour rehearsals and one five hour rehearsal where all of the groups were at Highlands Ranch High School together. On Monday, each group had a two hour rehearsal before the concert along with a combined half hour rehearsal.
“When your group wasn’t rehearsing, you could go walk around downtown with a group,” junior Hallie Kimbrel, a member of the honor band, said. “My group went to a candy store and walked around 16th Street Mall. It was really fun.”
Each group performed three pieces by themselves, and came together to perform a rendition of America, The Beautiful. Overall, the concert lasted two hours. The concert was held at Boettcher Hall in the Denver Center for Performing Arts.
Slideshow of photos from Jan 9. Legend vs Littleton varsity wrestling match. Legend, playing in the Coliseum, finished the night with a score of 47-15. Photos by Kyra Ferguson.
The Lady Titans lost two straight games last week. They played on Jan. 7 against the Mesa Ridge Grizzlies, losing 62-27. The next day, the girls played against the Pine Creek Eagles and were defeated 45-39. The two losses ended a three game winning streak.
“I think the losses have made us stronger. They have given us something to learn from,” Junior Captain Megan Jordan said.
While Jordan is the team captain, the team has also been impacted by a surprising player, junior point guard Kristen Gallagher. She has played good defense, with an averaging two steals per game.
Despite the outcome of the two previous games, the girls overall record is 6-4. The team plays 13 more games before the season is over. The Lady Titans will be playing tonight against the Cougars at Cherokee Trail at 7 o’clock.
“[The season] is going good. We still have a lot of things to work on. But if we just work on the little things, we should be set,” Jordan said.
After starting out the season with an exceptional 6-1 record, Legend boys’ basketball has lost three out of their last four contests. However, during this rough nonleague stretch for head coach Kevin Boley and his team, the Titans haven’t been back at the Coliseum since Dec. 21 where they are a perfect 3-0.
Legend’s four game absence from Parker has landed them everywhere from Colorado Springs and Denver during the Cherry Creek Holiday Tournament where they finished second for the third straight season with a 59-63 loss to Cherry Creek; to Littleton where they dropped a game to Dakota Ridge 42-54; back to the Springs where they crushed Palmer 76-56; and then to the western slope where they fell at the hands of the Grand Junction Tigers 54-62.
Heading into the second half of the season, the Titans can certainly pride themselves on being balanced in every part of the game and placing an emphasis on team play; an idea that Boley has preached throughout the course of the season. As a team, they rank in the top five of the Continental League in almost every statistical category.
Seniors Zach Mihalicz and Elijah Cherrington have been leading the team effort this season as they average a combined 27.2 points per game on the offensive end. On the other side of the ball, both average one steal per game and just under eight combined defensive boards.
While the senior leadership has been critical to the boys’ success, sophomore Monroe Porter has been stuffing box scores all season long. In just his first year at the varsity level, the 6-foot-2 guard is fourth on the team in scoring with 9.1 points per game, second on the team (behind only 6-foot-8 Zach Mihalicz) with 5.3 rebounds per game, and leading the team in steals and assists with two pilfers and 3.7 dimes per game. Although he’s usually identified as an outside shooter, Porter has proven to be much more versatile.
For Legend’s next matchup, they will finally be back in a “whited-out” Coliseum as they take on Rangeview High School (9-2) who is coming in off of a monster 72-49 victory over George Washington on Friday.
Sunday, Jan. 5 marks the third day that the Legend Titan Marching Band has been stranded in Jacksonville, Fla. after a winter storm cancelled their flight on Thursday. The band is currently staying in the Fairfield Marriott hotel, but will have to move to another nearby hotel on Monday as the Marriott is booked.
On Saturday, the band enjoyed a showing of Disney’s Frozen after lunch at Chick-Fil-A and Five Guys. Dinner was pizza at the hotel.
On Sunday, Band Director Orlando Otis, Administrator Mari Farley, and the chaperones secured a charter bus for free. The bus took the band to a family rec center, where the students roller skated, golfed and played at the arcade. Lunch was sandwiches and dinner was McDonald’s.
Funds for this extended trip have been pulled from an emergency school fund, but money for food and games for the students has been pooled from the chaperones, as well as Farley and Otis. During free time, students gather in the hallways and common room to play games like Uno and Apples to Apples. Students craving a snack can grab one from Farley or one of the chaperones.
Principal Corey Wise has excused band students from school on Monday and Tuesday, and Farley has been communicating with teachers through this ordeal.
Four people–two students and two chaperones–will be flying home on an 11:40 a.m. flight on Monday, Jan. 6. The rest of the band and chaperones will be flying home on four separate flights on Tuesday morning, 41 people at 7:05 a.m., four at 8:35, two at 9:25, and five at 11:10.
“It’s been fun, but you can only be with the same group of people for so long,” junior Hallie Kimbrel said. “I think we all need some time away from each other.”
Otis has told the band that each member will be writing a short essay on their experience throughout the trip, and that the essays will be going up around the school for other students to read.
Abby Feeder, Andrew Duncan, and Grayson Goering wait endlessly at the Jacksonville Airport as their Jan. 2 flight was delayed and finally cancelled. The Marching Band performed at the Gator Bowl parade and halftime show.
Saying “See you later, Alligator!” isn’t turning out to be easy for the Legend Titan Marching Band.
After taking first place in the Gator Bowl parade Dec. 31 and marching in the halftime show Jan. 1, the 75 members of Legend’s marching band were ready to go home. Their flight was scheduled for 3:10 p.m. on Jan. 2, but as they arrived at the airport, it became apparent there was a problem.
“They just kept delaying the flight,” sophomore Jill Wetzel said. “Sometimes by a half an hour, sometimes by an hour.”
Their flight was scheduled to go through Chicago, which was in the middle of a giant winter storm sweeping the Northeast. When the plane finally boarded at 8:30, the kids and chaperones had been at the airport for over eight hours.
“I was just ready to go home,” junior Amy Conrad said.
But after sitting on the plane for 15 minutes, it became obvious that something was amiss. A flight attendant announced that due to weather conditions, the flight had been cancelled.
“I thought maybe we were going to have to sleep in the airport,” sophomore Andrew Duncan said. “[Sleeping in an airport] has always been on my bucket list.”
Other band members were not so excited. “I had surgery for my wisdom teeth scheduled the next day,” sophomore Sarah Ackerman said. “My mom had to reschedule it.”
After an hour wait at the airport, the band took shuttles to a nearby Marriott hotel. Airport employees told Band Director Orlando Otis that, due to the group’s size, it could be until Jan. 7 or 8 before they could get the band on a flight home.
“Now we’re weighing our options,” Otis said. “We’ve considered charter buses and even trains.”
Otis, along with chaperones and administrator Mari Farley, also on the trip, have been working to make sure the band is safe and comfortable during the delay. On Jan. 3, the band made a trip to Walmart in order to buy food and other necessities.
News has spread of the band’s story. Denver’s 9News ran a story in their Jan. 3 broadcast as did Jacksonville’s WJXT 4.
“There were people with cameras taping us and asking kids for interviews,” junior Nick Martin said. “We watched a stream of 9News. It was a little unreal, hearing them talk about us.”
The Band is currently staying at the Fairfield Marriott hotel in Jacksonville, Florida. It is unclear when and how they will return.
