Congratulations Eric Monroy:Erick Monroy earns Boettcher Scholarship
Erick Monroy is trying to learn the deep life lessons from his parents, and their parents, that many never learn, or learn too late.Erick
“I've see my parents suffer through their own jobs, and choosing a job that I actually love and feel passionate about is something my parents have always wanted for me,” explained Erick.
Erick’s passion is to serve - to serve his family, to serve his community and to serve his culture. The Coal Ridge High School senior is a finalist for the prestigious Boettcher Scholarship.
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Coal Ridge’s ascension from bare-bones track program to Class 3A title contender on display at Jeffco Stadium
Coal Ridge’s headliner is Peyton Garrison, a Montana State commit who won four state titles last year and can add four more this weekend
When the husband-wife coaching tandem of Ben and Meggie Kirk took over Coal Ridge track in 2006, it was a bare-bones program at a new school on the western slope.
But the Kirks had a blueprint that morphed Coal Ridge into a perennial Class 3A power. The Titans girls won the program’s first title last year, and are in contention to repeat again at this weekend’s state meet at Jeffco Stadium.
“We’ve seen it grow each year from the first year, when there were 17 kids on the whole team,” head coach Ben Kirk said. “We went from just trying to qualify someone to state, to trying to qualify a team, to trying to place a team, to top five as a team, to winning a couple individual events.
Adapted from Denver Post News Story: https://www.postindependent.com/sports/coal-ridges-ascension-from-bare-bones-track-program-to-class-3a-title-contender-on-display-at-jeffco-stadium/
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Four in a row!
For the fourth year in a row, Coal Ridge High School cheer has nabbed a state championship.
Competing in the 2A/3A Coed Cheer division at Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs on Friday, the Titans added to their already vast trophy collection with a winning score of 87.6.
The title marks the fifth state title for Coal Ridge head cheer coach Alyssa Thurmon. Thurmon first led the Titans to a title in 2016, only to get second place in 2017 before they won the next four in a row.
Coal Ridge senior Haven Prodzinski, who’s now been on a Titans state title team all four years of high school, said beating out every division has been a longstanding goal for Coal Ridge.
“Competition in our division usually isn’t super crazy but (Coach Alyssa Thurmon) has always had the goal to beat all the other co-ed divisions, and this year we got the highest score,” she said. “We’ve been gunning for that since my sophomore year.”
The accomplishment is the perfect send-off to her senior year, Prodzinski said.
“It’s super rewarding, because we practice basically almost every day, we practice all breaks, and we put a lot of work into all our championship titles,” she said. “I think we all had the same mindset going into state this year. We just wanted to do the best routine, and we all just left it all on the mat.”
Fellow senior Jon Bolitho also credited Thurmon for inspiring the Titans to achieve state success.
“It’s so great to be a part of a team I can call my family. It was an incredible experience,” he said. “I’m a really hard-working person, and for something to pay off like this is amazing.”
“(Thurmon) is just inspiring,” Bolitho said. “She is just frickin’ amazing in every way.”
Thurmon said the Titans triumphed Friday using stunts with higher difficulty than the 10 other teams in their division.
“It’s kind of crazy. I don’t even know what to say,” she said. “They show up every day, and they do what I ask. I would say our stunting is at an elite level.”
Going into this week, the Titans are going to reflect on their monumental accomplishments, Thurmon said. But more than that, they now have their sights set on something bigger.
“This coming week, I think we’re just going to reflect on what we did and get back to work for nationals,” Thurmon said.
(Adapted from the Glenwood Post Independent article: https://www.postindependent.com/news/four-cheers-in-four-years/)