23 from ’23: Athletes we won’t forget from this past year

Blake Barnett, Erie football: The Kansas State commit broke Colorado’s 11-man touchdown record and led the Tigers to a 4A title. He stayed in the game on one bad leg in the championship game against Palmer Ridge, helping lead the Tigers to a decisive score in the final minutes.

Quinn Bernthal, Fairview girls’ tennis: The Daily Camera girls’ tennis player of the year won the 5A No. 1 singles title in the spring.

Omari Bursey, Legacy football: The heart of the Lightning’s defense, a 5A first teamer, had 99 tackles, 22 for loss, eight sacks, two picks and two fumble recoveries this fall. He also had seven TDs.

Rylan Cooney, Holy Family football: The 3A player of the year threw for 2,812 yards and 25 TDs and rushed for 816 yards and 23 scores, leading the Tigers to their first football championship since 2005.

Ashtin Gilio, Dawson baseball: He hit .784 in 72 plate appearances in the spring, which was in the top 15 for best high school batting average in a season since 1954, per MaxPreps.  He led the nation with a 1.811 slugging percentage and was tied for first with an .889 on-base percentage. He didn’t strike out once.

Natalie Guanella, Monarch girls’ basketball: Winning Daily Camera’s player of the year a season after she was the BoCoPreps.com recipient, the star point guard led the Coyotes to the 6A championship game, where they lost to Grandview.

Logan Hale, Erie girls’ golf: Hale ran away with the 4A individual title in the spring and went on to make the cut at the Colorado Women’s Open.

Allie Hartman, Mead girls’ lacrosse: Now at the University of Michigan, Hartman first led the Mavericks to the 4A title on the back of 70 goals and 25 assists.

Julia Hodell, Holy Family girls’ basketball and track and field: She was the star defender for the Tigers in their state title run in basketball. In track and field, she won four 3A golds and helped the Tigers set the class meet record in the 400-meter relay (48.72).

Luke Justice, Frederick boys’ basketball: A hyper-speed game and range from practically anywhere in the gym, Justice led the Golden Eagles to the semifinals for a second straight year. He averaged 22.2 PPG.

Reagan Kotschau, Broomfield girls’ soccer: Legendary coach Jim Davidson called her one of his “all-time favorite players.” The All-American ended her high school career as one of the best soccer players to come through the area.

Jamieson Legh, Niwot girls’ swimming: She ended her career by winning two golds at the 4A state meet, winning the 100-yard backstroke and 100 butterfly. Longmont’s Jordan Bindseil also won an individual 4A title. Boulder’s Zara Zallen, Fairview’s Edith Simecek and Legacy’s Sabrina Rachjaibun won 5A titles.

Om Mathur, Peak to Peak boys’ golf: Having not played competitive golf long, the junior won the 3A boys’ golf title in the fall.

Addie Osborne, Erie softball: The Rutgers commit hit 19 home runs, the most among the six states playing in the fall and tied for the most by a Colorado player in at least 15 years. She led the Tigers to the 5A title game.

Jordan Rechel, Fairview football: He led Class 5A with 30 touchdowns in the fall, including five in one quarter in the game against Boulder.

Addy Ritzenhein, Niwot girls’ cross country and track: She won a state and national championship in cross country this fall. She won the 4A 3,200-meter run at state track and field in the spring.

Kate Runyon, Jefferson Academy girls’ soccer: Leading the Jags to a 3A state title, the Gatorade Colorado player of the year had 30 goals and 14 assists in the spring. She scored twice in the title win over Manitou Springs.

Ramon Salazar, Erie boys’ wrestling: He won his second straight individual title at Ball Arena in February. He became the first wrestler from Erie to win two titles since the early 80s. Other local champs included Mead’s Jake Glade, Dalton Berg and Legacy’s Quinn Funk.

Noah Scott, Broomfield baseball: As a senior, he had a 5A-most 12 wins on the mound, sporting a 1.16 ERA. He also hit .453 with 28 RBIs and was the Front Range League and Daily Camera player of the year.

Madison Shults, Niwot girls’ track and field: Now at Stanford, Shults won three golds at the 4A state track and field invitational in the spring. She finished high school with eight individual and relay titles and the Cougars won a state title in every track and field and cross country season she participated in high school, going a perfect 7 for 7.

Kai Trujillo, Broomfield boys’ tennis: He won the 5A No.1 singles title over Grandview’s Justin Son in the fall.

Tavon Underwood, Mead boys’ track and field: Closing his track and field career, he set the state’s all-time mark in the 400-meter run and won three 4A golds. In the spring, he was the nation’s fastest 400 runner.

Marcus Von, Broomfield boys’ soccer: The 5A player of the year and Daily Camera player of the year led the Eagles to the 5A title, finishing the season with 19 goals. The best of which came on a bicycle-kick goal in the 5A finals.

Others who could’ve made the list: Mead’s Katy Adler (girls’ soccer), Holy Family’s Isabella Arroyo (softball), Longmont’s Jordan Bindseil (girls’ swimming), Mead’s Dalton Berg (wrestling), Holy Family’s Essynce Contreraz (softball and girls’ basketball), Erie’s Jackson Cowgill (football), Niwot’s Rocco Culpepper (boys’ track and field and cross country), Broomfield’s Landen Davidson (football), Silver Creek’s Joshua Dowlin (boys’ swimming), Lyons’ Miles Dumbauld (football), Monarch/Broomfield’s Derek Duplechin (lacrosse and basketball), Peak to Peak’s Alexandra Eschmeyer (girls’ basketball), Legacy’s Quinn Funk (wrestling), Longmont’s Cole Gaddis (football and boys’ basketball), Mead’s Jake Glade (wrestling), Erie’s Mackenzie Greenlee (volleyball), Mead’s Kyra Haan (girls’ basketball), Erie’s Carson Hageman (football), Skyline’s Brian Heredia (boys’ soccer), Fairview’s Ava Hickey (girls’ golf), Fairview’s Cami Johnson (girls’ lacrosse), Silver Creek’s Megan Kelleghan (girls’ track and field), Jefferson Academy’s Chrisly Kelly-Cannon (boys’ track and field), Monarch’s Gavin Keogh (boys’ swimming), Niwot’s Charlie Kirtland (boys’ tennis), Fairview’s Bekkem Kritza (football), Fairview’s Holden Krizek (boys’ cross country), Holy Family’s Kaylee McDonald (softball), Mead’s Tucker Mills (boys’ basketball), Erie’s Charlie O’Brien (boys’ lacrosse), Holy Family’s Ava Olsen (volleyball), Longmont’s Lauren Pavot (girls’ tennis), Longmont’s Ella Pears (girls’ track and field), Holy Family’s Eric Quintana (boys’ basketball), Legacy’s Sabrina Rachjaibun (girls’ swimming), Peak to Peak’s Kourtney Rathke (girls’ track and field), Broomfield’s Mia Ritchie (gymnastics), Frederick’s Mackenzie Sais (softball), Silver Creek’s Zach Schmeeckle (boys’ basketball), Niwot’s Emmett Shell (boys’ golf), Fairview’s Edith Simecek (girls’ swimming), Prospect Ridge Academy’s Max Vacco (boys’ basketball), Boulder’s Kiki Vaughn (girls’ cross country), Boulder’s Zara Zallen (girls’ swimming).