By Lisa Nicklanovich; courtesy photos

In addition to the athletes we honored in our December 2020 paper, we honor the most recent student-athletes to sign letters of intent to play their sport at the collegiate level.

DOUGLAS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL

“Cooper is a great young man and a very talented basketball player. As a three-year varsity captain, his leadership and consistency was highly valued during his time at DCHS. Coop is a great teammate and an extremely coachable young man. Big things coming for him down the road! Thanks for all your hard work Coop!!” From Coach Clayton Comstock and Coach Tyrell Smith.

REGIS JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL

Coach Greg Dilworth said, “Brendan is an excellent competitor who has both athletic talent and the work ethic to improve his technical skills. He is one of the best sabre fencers in Colorado, one of only five high school athletes to attain a “B” rating. Few athletes ever get so far and doing so during high school is a significant accomplishment. Brendan is also a wonderful teammate, going out of his way to act as a mentor to newer and younger fencers at our club, the Fencing Academy of Denver.”

ROCK CANYON HIGH SCHOOL

Coach Mathew Henbest said, “Kendall is a remarkable soccer player with excellent field vision and technical skill. I also had her in class and she is an exemplary student. She will excel at the US Air Force Academy.”

Coach Tinker said, “Sam has always been the kid on the team who you could say is never phased by adversity. As a player, Sam is what you call a shutdown corner. This is a term which highlights Sam’s playing career at RCHS. As you watch the game you never hear his name, which in football means he’s doing his job well. Sam has been a starter since his sophomore year and has earned first team All District defensive back this past year.”

“Gabby is an amazing person and player; she is one of the most driven and committed individuals I have coached. She stands out by her desire to improve, abilities to take feedback and will-ingness to learn. She has natural leadership qualities that made her a team captain during her time with the Colorado Rush Girls Academy program. I look forward to her competing at the collegiate level and potentially after that as well in the pros,” Coach Elliot Prost of Colorado Rush Soccer said.

Coach Henbest said, “Madison is a highly skilled player with exceptional individual skills. She is an excellent teammate and represented her high school well. Madison graduated early and is already at Gonzaga University.”

Coach Tinker said, “Vann has been a tremendous leader and spokesperson for this football team. Vann has been the type of player that always comes up in discussions to fill areas of needs on the team and, quite frankly, Vann has played multiple positions the last couple years and has excelled at them all. This has earned him All Conference Athlete of the Year; this year along with All Conference RB his junior year and honorable mention All Conference as a sophomore.”

The Rock Canyon baseball program and coaching staff led by Allan Dyer would like to congratulate Zach Taylor on his accomplishment of obtaining a scholarship to play baseball at College of San Mateo. “Zach is well deserving and we wish him the best and future success!”

VALOR CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL

Coach Keith Wahl said, “Pearce Coleman comes from a family steeped in baseball at the major league level. He came to Valor Christian with a clear focus on playing baseball at the collegiate level and hopefully professionally. Pearce possesses a great feel for the game and does so many of the intangible things it takes to be successful on the field. His passion for the game helped him to overcome an arm injury a couple of summers ago and his perseverance toward his end goal has resulted in him being on the stage today. We are so proud to call Pearce one of our brothers and celebrate his opportunity at the University of Dallas.”