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Summer sports take center stage

Bruce Tippets

This is the second part of a three-part series that takes a look at Moffat County sports in 1999. The third part in the series will run Friday.

May

For the second year in a row the Moffat County High School girls golf team had a representative at the state competition.



After firing a round of 95 at Adobe Creek Golf Course in Fruita at the regional competition, sophomore Vanessa Wilson earned a trip to state.

The girls varsity track team was on cruise control at the regional track meet, earning a first-place finish 49 points ahead of the closest competition. The Bulldogs qualified 14 girls for state competition in Colorado Springs.



The boys varsity track team finished in second place at the regional competition and qualified 11 individual state competitors.

The varsity baseball team missed advancing to the Class 4A regional playoffs after losing, 7-4, to the Rifle Bears in the championship game of the district tournament in Rifle.

After beating the Delta Panthers, 12-6, in a semifinal game, the Bulldogs (11-7, 7-3) couldn’t defend the district title they won a year earlier against the Bears.

Five varsity baseball team members Josh Bower, Bo Camp, Brandon Carrera, Clint Green and Jarrod Kunkle were named all-conference selections, while Rob Satterwhite earned honorable mention all-conference.

At the Class 4A state track meet in Colorado Springs the girls team finished in fifth place while the boys did not place as a team. The girls broke three school records during the meet in the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 relays. In the 4×400 relay the girls finished second overall.

Varsity golfer Vanessa Wilson fired an opening round of 105 at the state meet in Grand Junction and a 110 for a two-day total of 215.

After its most successful season in its three-year history, the girls varsity soccer team had four players recognized with post-season honors.

Senior Kristen Mason earned a spot on the all-conference team in the Western Slope League, while juniors Brandee Alder and Michelle Donnel and sophomore Lindsay Jackson earned honorable mention.

After a successful season 14 Moffat County High track and field boys and girls earned all-state honors.

The girls were Heather Urbanoski, Jill Adamek, Mike Beldon, Rhianna Bain, April Tague, Misty Landoll, Stephanie Hurd, Emily Mortensen and Charlotte Steele.

The boys were Kelly Christensen, Jeremiah Noland, Scott Bryant and Caleb Van Wagner.

Thousands of fans got a taste of professional bull riding at the Moffat County Fairgrounds. The first-ever bull riding in conjunction with Grand Olde West Days was a success, according to league organizers. Thirty bull riders had a chance against a pen of bulls waiting to take on all comers.

June

The Craig Storm, a 14-and-under boys soccer team, finished in first place at a tournament in Grand Junction.

The Moffat County High School rodeo team earned two sports for national competition after the state finals in Greeley, Colo. Kayla Steel and Coalin Hume led the way for the Bulldogs in the three-day event. Steel finished in first place in pole bending and fifth in the barrels. Hume finished fourth in steer wrestling. The top four finishers in each event are selected to compete in Gillette, Wyo.

The 10-and-under Craig Renegades, a youth baseball team, finished with a 1-2 record in the Triple Crown Tournament in Craig and Steamboat Springs.

July

Three Craig Youth Baseball teams won championships in their respective leagues.

In the 12-and-under title game, Hayden never looked back while cruising to an 8-1 victory over the Craig Dodgers. In the 10-and-under championship game, the Padres beat the Astros, 11-6.

In the 15-and-under title game, the Astros downed the Giants, 11-9.

More than 200 golfers took part in the 32nd Annual Cottonwood Classic. Mike Moser of Glenwood Springs was the overall winner, finishing the three-day event with a 222.

Moffat County High School cowboys Jake Hettinger and Casey McMillen tied for first in the steer wrestling event at the Wyoming State Finals and earned a trip to the national rodeo competition in Gillette, Wyo.

Four Moffat County wrestlers competed at the National High School Coaches Open Wrestling Tournament in Birimingham, Ala. Wrestlers who competed were Cliff Stehle, Trevor Solan, Bryan Hampton and Ryan Hampton.

The Craig Sea Sharks youth swim team finished in eighth place in the Western Slope Championship in Rangely. The Sea Sharks had 40 swimmers attend the three-day meet.

Hume, Steel, Hettinger and McMillen all got a taste of “big time” rodeo at the National High School Rodeo Competition.

Hume led the way with a 27th place and McMillen came in 33rd in the steer wrestling competition.

August

The 12-and-under Craig Yankees youth baseball team finished with a 3-2 record during the Triple Crown World Series Tournament in Steamboat Springs and Craig.

Cook Chevrolet erupted for 12 runs in an extra inning to earn a 20-13 women’s softball championship victory over Jack Paulson Trucking/Mather’s Bar at Loudy-Simpson Park.

Moffat County was well-represented on the Cadet Colorado Junior National Team. Kortney Lake, Kyle Kostur and Mark Hastings all earned spots on the team in training camps and all three wrestled in a Junior National Tournament in Fargo, N.D.

Mountain West Insurance/Bower Brothers scored early and often to down Big O Tires/J.C. Penney, 20-1, in the men’s softball title game.

Mountain West Insurance/Bower Brothers finished in third place at the Triple Crown World Series Tournament in Steamboat Springs.


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