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Fall sports are coming to a close here at Doherty. The end of a season is a time for reflection on the successes and failures, triumphs and defeats, and the highs and lows of a season. So come along with me as we review this year’s fall sports here at Doherty.
Football
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After an unsuccessful 2023 season, which many students and athletes at Doherty were unfamiliar with, Spartan Football would look to rebound during their 2024 campaign. Under the leadership of head coach Dwight Hale, the Spartans looked to rebound after their 2023 campaign saw them kept out of the 5A CHSAA Playoffs on strength of schedule, the 2024 Spartans would look to come back stronger and fight their way into the playoffs. The complexion of the campaign started before the first ball was even snapped, as the Spartans were moved from 5A to 4A in the football landscape, this change would throw around their league, schedule, and competition.
This season there couldn’t be any argument from the CHSAA heads as the Spartans played a top 10 strength of schedule in 4A, as they played the #2, #3, #4, #7, and the #10 teams in the state, with 3 of the 5 filling out the 4A SOCO League landscape. The Spartans would, despite the difficult schedule, finish 5-5 and be given the right to host in the 4A CHSAA Playoffs as the #16 seed in the field. The Spartans hosted the Loveland Wolves in the first round where after a promising first quarter the wheels seemed to fall off the tank and the Spartans fell after a series of turnovers after halftime.
When asked about how he felt about the future of the program and the season, Sophomore offensive lineman Cody Moore said, “We obviously felt like we couldve done more this year and made it farther, but it felt like a brotherhood this year and i feel like going forward we can get better and go farther.”. So despite falling in round one of the playoffs for the 2nd time in 3 years, the young emerging faces on the Spartans roster gives everyone at Doherty a look into the future and a feeling of hope for the years to come.
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Volleyball
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This season saw the Lady Spartans’ look to bring back the levels of the past teams that took the court at Doherty. Behind seniors Johanna Subia, Noemi Lou, Elliana Adams and Natalie Chantler and a young, rejuvenated core with the likes of Makari Cooper and Jane Rodriguez filling out the rotation. Despite the results, This year’s Lady Spartans looked like an exciting group that could forge a future of Doherty Volleyball for years to come.
Despite the young core, one name stood out above the rest, Elliana Adams, a monster in the middle who finished top 20 in the entire state of Colorado (Including 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A), and 5th in Colorado 5A for blocks with a season total of 84, while the Spartans were offensively led by senior Natalie Chantler who finished the season with 235 kills which placed her 3rd amongst hitter in 5A CSML. When interviewed after the year, Sophomore defensive specialist Jane Rodriquez said, “It felt like i was playing with my sisters this year, I feel like we beat out the expectations everyone set out for us at the start of the year and there’s definitely something to be excited for going forward.”. Finishing 10-13, the Spartans narrowly missed out on a berth to the 5A CHSAA Volleyball Playoffs.
Despite this much of the chatter around the team is on the improvements of years past, so the question for the next few seasons will be, “Is Doherty on the rise?”, or is it just more of the same old thing.
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Flag Football
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Flag football is the newest sport to join the list at Doherty and it was an instant hit. Led by Seniors Alyssa Ramos and Maddison Medlin-Whitenborn, The Spartans started off a new era at Doherty hot with a final record of 11-3 and a CSML 4A/5A Title under their belts, and an appearance in the first 5A Flag Football state playoffs. The Spartans saw serious production from Alyssa Ramos throughout the season, Ramos was a threat on both sides of the ball for the Spartans. On offense Ramos finished the season with 862 yards rushing, 138 total points and 22 total touchdowns, while on defense she finished the season with 14 interceptions, even posing a threat on special teams with 17.54 yards per return on the punt return unit.
Ramos finished the year with a place locked up in the All-State Honorable Mention squad, and when asked about how she felt about the program going forward as she heads out the door she said,”There’s definitely a lot of potential for the team to go even farther than this year, I’m glad that I could contribute so much for the team and I’m looking forward to hopefully see even more people come out next year”.
The team was coached by Rodney Pierson and Josh Ramos, who have built a program from the ground up in 1 year that looks to be heading in a dominant direction for years to come. We’ll be looking forward to next year for flag football and a hopeful return to the State Playoffs.
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Boys’ Soccer
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New faces filled the Spartans’ Boys’ soccer team this season as 7 Freshman found their way onto the pitch this year. Along with a young roster, Injury plagued the Spartans through the year as they saw Sophomore phenom Kaleb Grejada go down with a fracture early in the year, as well as several others going down with injuries that ended the season early or affected play for much of the roster.
This year saw the beginning of a rebuild under head coach Adam Foulk and assistant coach Raul Ordaz as the Spartans’ lost 5 seniors last season, and while results often didn’t go the way of the spartans this year, the future is filled with young talent for the Spartans’. When asked about the year and the future, Freshman Spence Vollmer said, “This year was definitely a let down for us, we felt like we could’ve done a lot more, but there’s definitely something going forward and were looking forward to it”.
Now the only remaining question is will the young core be able to turn it around in year two or will the rebuild see another year of construction?
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Cross Country
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The Spartans took to the course this season looking for repeated success. Behind coach Robert Duensing the Spartans traveled around the state looking to set new highs and push the limits of what people thought was possible for this year. The team was lead by some familiar and new faces, from Senior superstar Quinton “Q” Rodriguez to rookie Junior Jonah Montoya.
Despite the positive look, only one spartan qualified for the state finals this year, none other than phenome Quinton Rodriguez. Quinton raced his way to a 16th place finish at the 5A CHSAA Cross Country Finals at the Norris Penrose Event Center, making it the first time since the 1991 team won the state title that a Spartan has finished this high at the State Finals.
We interviewed Senior Quinton Rodriquez on the season and he added that,” There a ton of talent waiting in the wings here at Doherty and i definitely have faith that they can take the reigns and take the team even farther than I could.”. But with Rodriquez on his way out the door, the question for the next years is who takes the torch and will the Spartans be able to repeat the successes of days gone by?
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Softball
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A New era kicked off this year on the diamond for the Lady Spartans’ as new head coach Stephen Graham. Led by Junior star Cayla Baker and sophomore Maritza Enriquez , the Lady Spartans looked to hike their way out of the darkness they’ve been in over the past years and find their way into the light of a new, brighter and better future for the program.
The Graham era got off on a sour note as the Lady Spartans’ dropped their opening 6 games by a combined score of 90-22, but things got brighter as they would go on to win against the FFC Lady Trojans twice, and Palmer and Pueblo East each once. Despite the final record showing 4-19, the Spartans look to be heading in a much better direction with Graham at the helm. Capitan Cayla Baker finished the year slashing a .657/1.265/.671/1.917 with 45 hits, 33 RBI’s and 5 home runs. Leading the way alongside Baker was sophomore slugger Maritza Enriquez who slashed a .708/1.167/.794/1.961 with 17 hits and 11 RBI’s.
When asked about how she felt about the program heading forward and what she felt they accomplished under the new coaching team, Junior phenom Cayla Baker said, “ There’s definitely some new pieces that the new staff added, there’s more discipline in the team and everybody knows there role, and going forward were hoping to turn the narrative and to be a threat in the next few years.”.
To say the least, the future looks bright for the Lady Spartans and head coach Stephen Graham and we cant wait to see what they bring to the table next year.
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Tennis
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The Spartans served up a new look for the Tennis program this year between the white lines. Led by Juniors Wyatt Buckmiller and Nick Lawrence, the Spartans looked to take their game to a new level this year by improving on the strong look of last year.
This year the Spartans did take a step to a new level – In terms of the schedule, which saw a new Tournament schedule and new opponents through their league schedule – The Spartans started their year at the AA Kadet Court Kickoff where despite a strong showing the spartans finished 11th at the tournament. This season the Spartans finished with a final record of 3-6 (1-4 in 5A/4A CSML Play), which is a major improvement from the 0-9 season the Spartans faced last season.
When interviewed about the season and program, Junior Wyatt Buckmiller said, “ I feel like our culture has gotten better over the last year, We’ve begun to play better as a team and together, and for the future i feel like we’ve got something to build off this year and we’re all looking forward to next year.”. With this kind of hope from inside the team camp, its impossible to not to feel some kind of optimism for next year between the white lines.
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Thank you for coming along with me through this journey as we explored the fall landscape here at Doherty. We’ve seen the highs and the lows of these teams but now its in the past. Now its time to look forward to whats next, so stay up to date and don’t leave our journey here, as we move forward into Winter sports here at Doherty.
