Teams and indivduals from south metro schools did well during the recently concluded Colorado High School Athletic Association’s 2021-22 winter sports season.
Heritage won the Class 4A girls swimming championship and Cherry Creek captured the 5A state title. ThunderRidge won the boys state basketball crown.
There were several other teams that came close.
Valor Christian was the state runner-up in both ice hockey and girls basketball. Ponderosa came in second in the boys state wrestling tournament.
Several individuals excelled during the season, and here are the Colorado Community Media’s winter sports Players of the Year.
Girls swimming
Mary Macaulay, a junior at Heritage, earned the top honor as Swimmer of the Year as she shined late in the season.
She won state titles in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke and also swam a leg on the state champion 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams.
Boys wrestling
Ponderosa senior Murphy Menke compiled a 34-6 record during the season and one of his wins was in the 160-pound state championship match.
Menke, who has committed to wrestle at Bucknell, was a state placer all four years of his high school career.
Hockey
Junior center Noah Fekete of Valor Christian averaged 1.3 points a game during the season and finished with 16 goals, 13 assists for 29 points.
Fekete was the team captain in hockey. He also plays lacrosse and was on the Eagles tennis team as a sophomore.
Girls basketball
Raegan Beers, a 6-foot-3 senior at Valor Christian, was a dominant player. She averaged 19.6 points and 13 rebounds a game to earn Player of the Year honors.
Beers will be playing at Oregon State next season and wrapped up her high school career by averaging 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds in four state playoff games.
Boys basketball
Chaparral’s 5-11 senior Luke Williams showed his value in the playoffs and was named Player of the Year as he edged out Zach Keller of ThunderRidge.
In four state playoff contests, he averaged 23.7 points and made seven of eight three-point attempts. He also pulled down 28 rebounds and had 11 assists.
For the season, Williams was a gifted scorer averaging 16.7 points a game. He also filled up the stat sheet by pulling down 5.9 rebounds, dishing out 3.7 assists per game and averaging 1.7 steals.