Ellie Seibel wouldn’t have expected a ‘class’ reunion so quickly after graduation.
At least not the sort she’s been summoned for: A near-reassembly of the basketball team for which she played, and that which she played against at the Colorado Coaches of Girls’ Sports All-State Games back in March, to take the court one last time at the 60th Annual Colorado High School Coaches Association All-State Games.
As part of the multi-sport showcase to be held June 8-11 on and near the Adams State University campus in Alamosa, Seibel will again represent Ignacio and Class 2A along with the following:
Burlington’s Cheylin Corman, Cedaredge’s Nellie Freeman, Haxtun’s Megan Gerk, Yuma’s Logan Hixon and Peighton Roth, Sanford’s Dana Lenz, Akron’s Alexandria ‘A.J.’ Miller, Rocky Ford’s Hanna Moore, Calhan’s Mikaela Parker (also a CHSCA All-State Volleyball pick), Paonia’s Ashley VanVleet and Kiowa’s Madi Zielinski.
All but Moore were CCGS All-Staters, with Freeman, Lenz and VanVleet having been teammates of Seibel – the lone 2A or 1A player picked by CHSCA from the San Juan Basin League – for the action at Arvada West H.S. shortly after the 2015-16 season’s conclusion.
IHS BOYS ALSO REPRESENTED
On the boys’ side of the Games, now-graduated, Fort Lewis College-bound Bobcat Wyatt Hayes (see related feature) was one of the honored players selected to participate in the spectacle, while SJBL rival Jordan Ernst of Dove Creek was picked for the 1A feature.
In addition to Hayes, the other Class 2A players chosen were:
Sanford’s Chance Canty and Miles Caldon, Loveland Resurrection Christian’s Luke Fick, Limon’s Matthew Florek, Simla’s Jason George, Rye’s Connor Hale, Holyoke’s Jesus Loya, Julesburg-Ovid Revere Sedgwick County’s Cole McKinley and Tyler Woodhams, Kremmling West Grand’s Ivan Mendoza and Ellicott’s Morgan Murray.
Finally, Ignacio’s Chris Valdez was one of the coaches named to help guide a squad, along with 1A Weldona Weldon Valley’s Kerry Sherman, 1A Blanca Sierra Grande’s Matt Lucero, 2A Simla’s David Guy, 3A Parachute Grand Valley’s Scott Parker, 4A Colorado Springs Sierra’s Terry Dunn, 4A Pueblo West’s Robert Tyler, and 5A Highlands Ranch Rock Canyon’s Kent Grams.
“Yeah, he was pumped,” Hayes said of Valdez’s reaction to his revealed FLC intent. “We kind of talked about it ever since I was a freshman, going and playing at the next level, and I’ve always wanted to go to Fort Lewis if a Division I school didn’t have anything. But he was pumped, said he’ll be at my games.”
All-State play is set to begin with semifinal battle on Friday, June 10, beginning at 4 p.m. inside ASU’s Plachy Hall. The girls’ third-place game is scheduled for 10 a.m. the next morning, with the boys’ third-place contest following at noon. Girls’ championship play is slated to tip off at around 2p.m., with the boys’ finale following at around 4.