It’s almost time for spring sports! See the infographic below for more information.
By Becca Grobe
For more information, visit the athletic website.
Legend Spring Sports Preview
Category Archives: Spring Sports
Starting Strong
With tennis season fast approaching, returning players reflect on the past years and their plan for the new season
By Lauren Penington
With last season welcoming a new coach for Legend’s tennis team, the girls had much to adjust to. As this season quickly approaches, returning players reflect on their past seasons to make plans to increase their success.
“Last year was my first ever season playing tennis, so I’ve made sure to immerse myself in practice a lot more. It’s no longer about showing up and hoping I do good, I’m putting in a lot more effort and working my way up,” sophomore Catie Mortimer said. “This season I really want to make one of the top JV teams and bond with my partner.”
Although the season is short, many girls have spent the offseason preparing.
“We have offseason practices and then we have practices from 5:30 to 7:30 am that I have been attending,” sophomore Alina Mali said. “I’ve definitely started practicing more on my own time versus only on official team practice times in order to improve a little bit more.”
The weather doesn’t hold these girls back at all. Many push through the winter season determined to come out on top in the season.
“When the weather is bad we play at the Parker racquet club,” Mali said. “Otherwise if the weather is nice and we want to practice on our own time then we use the Legend courts here.”
However, tennis itself isn’t the only thing the girls have been preparing.
“I’ve been exercising a lot,” junior Emily Schultz said. “I do workouts that aim for speed and agility. When I do practice for tennis, I make sure to give my full effort. I am more prepared for the competition there is this season and I’m hoping to go to Varsity.
Schultz isn’t the only athlete with competition in mind.
“Personally, I know that there is going to be a lot of competition,” Mali said. “I want to have more wins than losses so I can make it to Varsity. I’ve just been passionate for [tennis] since I was young and it’s really fun to participate in so I want to be able to go far this season.”
All the girls have been preparing for their season and their efforts are about to come to fruition. During tryouts, Legend coaches Guinn and Siers will assemble their top team in hopes of advancing farther this year. The coaches’ goals are to increase the team’s competitiveness. They hope this will result in an increase in the team’s standing within the league. Let’s see how far these Lady titans go, as their season begins.
Run Catherine, Run!
As all track fans and participants know, being in track means commitment, hard work, and of course, lots of strength to try as hard as possible to win. Only the best girls made it to State May 15th through 17th, and even fewer managed to do well against all the other runners in Colorado. Sophomore Catherine Liggett was one of the girls that stepped it up to rock the track for Legend High School.
Liggett placed 9th in the two mile run, 5th in the mile, and 3rd in the 800 meter dash. However, the stress of this competition was much more real than most of the other competitions Liggett had attended.
“All the girls were extremely well-known and had amazing athletic accomplishments. I couldn’t help but worry that there would be no way for me to compare to them when I ran,” Liggett comments. However, Liggett has an “extremely supportive team, and many of them came out to cheer for me while I ran.”
Liggett added that she “was just hoping to place, not really focusing on possibly getting in the top three.” After all, Liggett was running against girls that are “known around the state and even the nation for their running abilities.” She was extremely shocked when she ended up placing as well as she did in the two mile run, mile run, as well as the 800 meter dash.
Liggett earned a whopping 13 points for Legend, putting the school in 22nd place, with a personal best mile (5:01.65 minutes) and 800 meter (2:13.69 minutes.)
Other girls in Legend did just as well in other categories, however, with Senior Abby Albrecht placing 11th in shot put, which is just shy of the podium, Senior Liz Hershey placing 14th in discus, and Sophomore Tara Pelton placing 14th in the 100 meter sprint.
Anna Kennedy Wedges Her Way into Girls Golf State Tournament
By Nate Loibl
Junior Anna Kennedy really took the state by storm after finishing in third place at the Colorado Girls 5A State Golf Tournament on May 19-20. She finished better than projected and better than her own personal goals.
“My goal was top ten,” Kennedy said. “It was really cool to beat the goal that I set for myself.”
The tournament was at the Raccoon Creek Golf Course in Littleton, and posed to be a difficult course. However, Kennedy shot an 80 the first and a tournament low 74 on the second day. She was one stroke away form playing in a playoff for first place.
“I was upset because I wanted to in the playoff but I’m still really happy because I had a lot of fun and it was very competitive” Kennedy said.
Big sports venues like this always tend to bring out the best in athletes along with anxiety. According to Kennedy, she tried to focus on other things, like her tan, instead of the nerves that were prevalent from her shaking hand during the course.
“My coach was very proud of me, and told me that he knew I could do it” Kennedy said.
Needless to say, the pressure is on her next year. Her coach expects her to win it all next year and cap off a great high school golf career with a sate championship. Her biggest goal for next season is to improve off the success that she achieved this season.
“I don’t really have a favorite part, but the whole experience of it was really positive and it will help me next year,” Kennedy said.
Legend State Tennis
The Legend Girl’s Tennis team finished their season with 41 wins and 51 losses. Senior captain Natasha Williams and sophomore Haley Hildenbrand lost first round, 6-2 and 6-4, to Rocky Mountain High School at Colorado’s 5A State Championship Tournament.
“It was truly remarkable how they qualified,” said Coach Craig Marshall.
Williams and Hildenbrand beat Fairview in the final match, which was, according to Natasha, a thrilling match.
During the regular season, Hildenbrand and Williams played a similar match against Rock Canyon. The team displayed a relentless attitude while executing mid-court overhead smashes during a thrilling 3 set victory over the Rock Canyon team.
“They were down 3-5 in the third set and proceeded to win the next four games. They won the match against Fairview on a double fault,” Marshall said. “It was a great season and all of the players fought and deserved to be at state.
Girls Golf Heads to State
By Prisca To
Golf, a sport seen as a leisure activity, is actually beneficial physically and emotionally. Our Legend Girls Golf team has had a very successful season and strive to continue to do so in the future.
“Our team did really great this year. We had a goal that three girls on our team would qualify for state,” Anna Kennedy said. “We exceeded our goal.”
Duval Sutherland, Anna Kennedy, McKenna Reppe, and Andrea Reppe are the four girl golfers that have qualified for the state tournament at Raccoon Creek Golf Club in Littleton on May 19. Girl golfers from all of Northern Colorado that qualified will get together and play at the state tournament.
A major hardship in this year’s golf season has been the weather. It has been windy and rainy at almost every tournament. The golfers overcame this obstacle and achieved their team goal and qualified for state.
“Golf is a lot different than any other sport. That’s what makes it interesting,” Kennedy said. “You aren’t with your team while you play. But it’s fun seeing them afterwards and talking.”
Frosh/Soph Shine at League Championship
Photos by Catherine Liggett
Prom Assembly Slideshow
Photos by Ashley Keller
Second part of the season looks dangerous for struggling Legend baseball
Legend baseball came into the 2014 season with high hopes and even higher expectations, as they were ranked sixth in the CHSAA preseason poll. But things haven’t panned out for this young team as they sit at (4-9) halfway through the season.
As was the case with 2013 Colorado Rockies, this years Legend offense has been exceptional while the pitching has been sub-par. The Titans sit at fifth in the league in runs scored while they’re eighth in runs against.
Dakota Marley has done his best to keep this Titan team afloat so far this season. The junior pitcher has recorded a 3.25 earned run average through 28 innings pitched this season. Marley is also hitting .444 and has one home run in 19 plate appearances.
Also, junior transfer Greg Pickett has had a huge impact on the Legend offense since he was called up for junior varsity. Pickett is hitting .538 and already has two home runs in only four games played this season. The first baseman will need to spark the offense if the Titans are to make a second half run.
Ace of the staff Peyton Remy has not exactly lived up to the preseason hype. The junior is 0 and 4 and has a 5.50 earned run average in 28 innings pitched. Remy came into the year with high expectations along with a baseball scholarship to the University of New Mexico.
The Titans have six games left in the season including games against two of the top teams in the state in Mountain Vista and Regis. Legend will need to pick up their game and finish this season strong of they are to have any chance at making a state run.
Girls’ Soccer Starts Up at Legend
By Nate Loibl
After coming off of a rough season with a record of 4-9-2 last year, Titan girls’ soccer is ready to start their new season with new skills, new confidence, and a new head coach. Their first game was on Thursday against Legacy High School. The team lost a tough one 4-1 after being tied at halftime.
“We started off really strong and worked as a team, but once [Legacy] scored we put our heads down,” junior Kaitlyn Reilly said about the loss.
Legend’s only goal was scored by freshman Cameron Bell coming in the first half. Three of the four goals by Legacy came in the second half of the game.
Legend uses triangle formations on the field when playing against their opponents. There are many different types of triangle formations that the team uses. Not staying in these formations could have been a factor in the loss on Thursday, according to Reilly.
“We need to make sure that we keep in our formations during the game,” Reilly said.
The girls’ next game is today against the equally 0-1 Liberty High School in Colorado Springs. They hope to redeem themselves after last week’s game.
“I can see us going to the playoffs this season once we get used to playing with each other,” Reilly said about this young season.