With the conclusion of February, winter sports have come to an end, but the beginning of March brings with it the beginning of spring sports. Women’s swim and dive, wrestling, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, and hockey all had their triumphs and trials throughout the winter season, as well as significant improvement from previous seasons.

Women’s swim had a successful season with an overall record of 3-4, qualifying seven swimmers to the 4A State Championships and placing 20th as a team. Freshmen Stephanie Boyd, and Erin Field swam in the 50 Meter freestyle at state, Field also swimming in the 100 Meter Freestyle. Mia Shaeffer, 11, swam in the 100 Meter Fly, placing 6th, a podium finish. Schaeffer also took eleventh in the 100 Meter Backstroke. Leanne Telle, 9, swam in the 200 Meter Freestyle and the 500 Meter Freestyle, and Lindsey Murray,12, Mia Shaeffer, Erin Field, and Stephanie Boyd took 14th in the 200 Free Relay. The Cougars also qualified Lindsey Dwinell, 9, Lindsey Murray, Stephanie Boyd, and Leanne Telle in the 200 Medley Relay and Chloe Cassens, Erin Field, Mia Shaeffer, and Leanne Telle in the 400 Free Relay. Congrats ladies on a successful season qualifying a swimmer in nearly every event!

Wrestling had a takedown of a season with individuals going to the finals or winning their weight class at nearly every meet. In the end, Coronado sent three wrestlers to state: Johnny Lopez, 12, K.J.Kearns, 11, and Angel Flores, 10. Angel Flores wrestled his way to 3rd place at the 4A State Wrestling after a 9-6 decision loss to the eventual state champion in 126 pound weight class. Johnny Lopez took 6th place in 138 pounds weight class, and K.J Kearns took 3rd place in 4A in an overtime loss to Martinez from Grand Junction. Although Coronado usually qualifies more wrestlers for the state tournament, the Cougars suffered several injuries this season including Junior Zeke Terrazas who tore his ACL in the finals of the Colfax Smackdown in December.

Men’s basketball ended their season with a 4-19 record with several games just a few points from being victories. The team said goodbye to four seniors with outstanding Coronado basketball careers: Ashton Rogers, Kaddin Standley, Jareth Morey, and Justin Dwinell. Rogers led the team in average points per game with 13.1, Ladarius Mays, 10,followed Rogers with an average of 11.2 points per game, and Morey averaged 10 points per game. Bryce McKee, 11, led the team in assists with an average of 5.7 per game. The Cougars went 1-11 in the Colorado Springs Metro League having to face well-ranked and talented teams such as Doherty and Rampart who eventually went on to playoffs.

Women’s basketball finished their season with a 7-16 overall record and a 3-9 Metro League record which is a significant improvement in years past. Marisol Estrada, 11, and Fatinah Muhammed, 9, led the Cougars in scoring with an average of 8.9 and 8.7 points per game, respectively. Hope Earls led the average assists per game with 2.5 and Muhammed lead the team in steals per game with an average of 4.9. The Cougars said goodbye to four seniors this season, Madi Eurich, Alanna Langness, Amber Manners, and Abrianna Burr, but with so many freshmen and new head coach, Bryan Earls, the team shows promise for years to come!

Ice hockey had an outstanding year finishing the season with an 8-11 record, improving from 0-19 only four seasons ago. This improvement is largely due to the three seniors who led the team, Andrew Burton, Ian Wark, and Chris Kelly, as well as the team’s younger players who worked hard and learned the ways of the game. The three seniors have been playing together since elementary school, so it was even more meaningful to end their high school careers together. With many talented underclassmen making up the team, great things are hopefully in store for Coronado Hockey in future years. Congrats, Cougars!

The Cougars had many successes in their respective winter sports and many outstanding performances are sure to come in future years. We will all be watching and waiting for victories from all of these athletes in the time to come. Great work this season, Cougars, and now it’s time for things to heat up for spring sports!