Category Archives: Sports

This spring many sports are available for students. Track and Field is one of these sports. Students from all over Colorado throw, jump and run against each other in different events to make the best time or distance. At South, the team is motivated and loves to run great times.

Seniors Pete Williams, Kendall Bundy, Orlando Mosley, and juniors Shun Johnson, Morgan Craig, and Camille Jump are all top runners on the team. Craig runs the 800-meter and mile during the track meets. Her best time is 2:35 on the 800 meter, which she was very excited about, “It was very difficult to accomplish, but I am proud of myself for that time.” Although the 800 meter is her favorite to run, she enjoys running in general. Craig explained the hardest school to run against is George High School because there are very fast runners on the team, but she loves the competition. “I would encourage any student to run track next year because we always need runners and there is a race for everybody.”

Sophomore Michael Johnson runs the 4 by 1 and the 4 by 2 relays, but Johnson likes the 4 by 1 more, “because it is shorter.” His best time was 11.3 seconds on the 100 meters and, although he very proud of this, he was not quick to boast about himself. “The best runners right now are Orlando Mosley, Pete Williams, Shun Johnson, and Kendall Bundy,” Johnson said.

Although Craig and Johnson were very proud of their times, some runners do not focus on their times. Williams said, “to me times do not really matter, I focus on how well I am running.” Williams runs the 4 by 1, 4 by 2, and 100 meter but he runs track to stay in shape for football season next fall. Williams explained that East is the toughest school to run against because of the excellent runners on its team as well, “But I know I can beat them all.”

Although this is many seniors’ last season to run track for South, many of them would love to see students participate next spring. Williams said “track keeps you in shape, and it is a good sport it show off what you are capable of doing.” This year’s track and field team is ready for what the season brings them. Come support your Rebel runners during their track meet on Tuesday, April 26 at Littleton at 4:30 P.M.

Attending practices daily from 3:30-5:30 p.m. from the beginning of the season until the very end, the girls’ tennis team works hard to improve its game performances. Sophomore Kathleen Linton said, “It’s nice to have multiple coaches to learn from different points of view and we do a lot of conditioning.” Each game is a competition to see which opponent is the smartest in how they place the ball on the court.

Although the sport is played with either singles or doubles, the varsity and junior varsity’s members’ support of one another is stupendous. Linton said, “Junior varsity watches varsity and cheers for them. Then when varsity finishes, we cheer for them, and the more experienced players support the newer players and give them tips.” Most times, the players who cannot participate in a game still show up for their fellow teammates and cheer them on.

Many would consider the team goals as the team’s main motivation, but what wins the most games is each player’s motivation to improve each time she steps on the court. Sophomore Maddie Gawler said, “I want to win both the tournaments we have this season.” When each player reflects upon themselves, then their play in the game improves and increases their chances of winning matches.

The team had a great start in the beginning of the season with a 3-0 record. The team was on its way to meeting its goals. The highlight of its season was the Thomas Jefferson match. With some great hustle and amazing talents South dominated with a winning score of 6-1. South won adding to its strong record. The team’s record as of April 19 is 6-1. Linton was able to achieve her goal in beating the second best ranked player in the Thomas Jefferson game.

The team ended the season well and is proud of its accomplishments. Gawler explained, “My favorite part of the season is hanging out with the team during regionals.” With regionals on May 1, South continues to do well and prepare for success, so go out and support your Lady Rebels.

South has dominated in sports this past year but one specific team has proven it’s great- ness and power, and that’s South’s lacrosse team. So far the lacrosse team has a record of 6-6. The top scorers on varsity this season are ju- nior Nick Moss with 21 goals and 12 assists, ju- nior Justin Roehling with 18 goals and 10 assists, sophomore Skylar Zarrou with 10 goals and 9 as- sists, and junior Malachi Cunningham with 10 goals and 2 assists.

The toughest team the team has played so far was Dakota Ridge, losing 3-11. “We need to work on our offense and our individual defense,” said varsity coach Jason Brookes. “We have improved a lot since last year and

we have some serious potential,” said Sophmore Max Miller

The team has definitely improved from last year; it has equaled the amount of wins from last year’s total. It has improved on team skills and the players have gotten better when it comes to individual skills. The team overall has improved on everything since last year.

The loosing streak ended when the Rebels played against Machebeuf. The team won 16-5 on April 19, but the team lost its next game against Eaglecrest 17-2 on April 23. It then won the game after that against Ridgeview Academy 17-1 on April 25, and against Gateway 21-12 on april 29.

South’s team is combined with Thomas Jef- ferson High School’s team due to the fact that Thomas Jefferson doesn’t have enough players in order to make a full team. Considering that Thomas Jefferson is usually a rival when it comes to sports, the players make a great contribution to the team.

If you want to know more information about the upcoming lacrosse games go talk to Mr. Brookes in room 215 or Ms. Laguerre in her office in room 172 for scores and information about future games.

Lately, South’s boys’ varsity basketball team has been thriving. After overcoming a drastic change from last year’s season, everyone wants to know what the big secret is, having come from a 14-16 record last year to now a 17-4 record

The team’s most recent successful game was against West on January 25, 2013 with a 103-57 game-ending score. During that game, the top two players, both seniors, took the lead in stats. Earl Chavez had 24 points, and Ibrahim Sylla scored 13.

Even though the team has been dominating, it had a sad loss against Thomas Jefferson at Pack the House Night on February 01, 2013. This game is one amongst four losses and the largest loss this season with a final score of 50-56. This was the second time the team played Thomas Jefferson this season; the Rebels won in the first game 64-62. However the Spartans felt the need to come back for victory. “I am disappointed as are the players. It was the biggest crowd we’ve ever had at a game, and unfortunately we didn’t come out and play our best game. But we thank everyone for the support,” said head coach Adam Kelsey.

Kelsey has led the team by focusing on the importance of the players and building a team bond as a family. As one of the deans of the school, Kelsey has a connection with his players, and if they get into any trouble he can reach out to them.

Kelsey has been coaching for 13 years at South. He said, ”We’ve had a great season. We won big games and also hope to win the DPL title. Now it’s time to make a run for playoffs. I wouldn’t make any changes about this season.”

Many of the boys’ sports are starting to make a large impact on South. First the boys’ football and soccer teams made it to the championships and now the boys’ basketball team is dominating and planning for the playoffs. “This year were going to go far and give it our best once we hit the playoffs. I know we got this,” said Sylla.

The sports are starting to gain a following among the new generation of students. Hopefully, with some star seniors leaving South, sports can continue to go forward and advance.

Now that the basketball season has arrived, South fans are able to give their support inside the gyms.  South’s girls’ varsity basketball team is off to a bit of a rough start, with an overall record of 10-9. Lately though, the team has been working very hard to end its season with victories.

On January 29, 2013, the team competed against Lincoln gaining a glorious win 48-43. The lead player was senior Kendra Martin. Martin had nine rebounds and five steals, scoring 30 points total, six of which were three point shots. Martin has been devoted to basketball since she was in the seventh grade. She plans on continuing basketball in college. Her dream college is Grand Canyon University in Arizona, but says she’s not picky on which team wants her.

The team also had a great game against Thomas Jefferson. With the score tied up before the last minute of the quarter, the final score was 44-42 thanks to by a right hand layup by junior Courtney Kindell. This win gave the team a greater advantage to advance in the playoffs, raising its rank from fifth place in its 4A region to third place.

Over the past few years, the Lady Rebels basketball program has grown tremendously by getting new equipment and uniforms for the varsity team and by working more on building the ladies into a family while showing them what basketballs all about. “We see future in our girls, if we can predict the outcome on where their future stands in sports we try our best to help get them there,” said head varsity coach Dommonique Campbell

Martin thinks that the program could improve by encouraging ladies to come out to tryouts and letting the girl student body know that they’re welcome to join. “You’re going to learn how to prosper once you join so why not come and give it all you’ve got?” Martin said.

The team feels that even though it may have been having a rough season with players being injured and shortage of girls, with only fourteen players, it still can see a successful finish. The ladies enjoy playing with their teammates and whatever their record looks like, at least they’re trying their best to make South’s Lady Rebels leave an impact on the people who come to support them.

With all the support the team has, it hopes to improve for next season by trying to fix the mistakes now and learn for next year. “There’s always new talent every year, you never know what to expect,” said Martin.

On February 6, seven seniors from South signed to play college sports. Meaghan Monaghan signed to Southern Illinois University to play tennis. Six of these students signed to play college football this fall. AJ Harris, Taylor Williams and Orlando Mosley all signed to Adams State University, Pete Williams signed to Southern Utah University, Samuel Mabany signed to the University of New Mexico, and Phillip Lindsay signed to the University of Colorado at Boulder. Pete Williams said with excitement, “Signing was great, it is like another big step in our lives because we have been working for that moment for the past four years.” Congratulations seniors, and good luck next year.

The diversity of South High School is known throughout the city; however, the diversity of the school’s girls’ golf team is not as well known. Although the team is not a large group, its diversity spans the world. “I don’t know how it would be otherwise, I’ve never been anywhere without diversity,” said head coach Pablo Joucovsky.

The diversity of the team includes the countries of Sudan, Senegal, Ivory Coast Somalia, Mexico, the United States, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Japan, and Iran. When the girls enter a golf course, the surprised looks the team gets from other players is common because of how diverse the team is. Joucovsky gets past these looks by teaching the team to have fun and enjoy the sport. As varsity players sophomore Sydney Oswald, junior Isabella Martinez-Bettinger, and senior Amodj Manga led the team to overcome the looks. Three years ago, Manga, who came here from Senegal, did not even know how to hold a golf cub until she decided to play on the team. Manga said, “Golf was hard for me at first, but now I understand it and really enjoy playing.” Joucovsky explained the goals for this year’s season; he said, “I want them to have fun, and I want to have fun. I want them to travel to different places in Colorado and meet other girls.”

Joucovsky loves the diversity on the team. He said, “Bringing the girls together, to be a part of one thing to help overcome life situations is something I hope to teach the girls during the season.” He wants to teach the team and others who meet the team that “peace is possible in the world,” by showing them diversity. The diversity does not define the team, but teaches the team how to achieve peace and happiness.

Although the team is very diverse, the girls do not let that get between them, all the girls are close and enjoy playing golf together as a team. During lunches and dinners, the team can be together to bond and just have fun; despite the diversity they still love to be around each other and love to learn from each other.

The 2012 South High School Cross Country Team. Photo courtesy of www.denversouth.org

South High School’s cross country team exceled this year by ranking sixth in the state. The top runners were seniors Ezana Alem and Abdiazz Abukar and juniors Morgan Craig and Carly Bushman. Even though the team had struggles throughout the season, the runners still worked hard and represented South.

Pushing hard all season long, Alem competed and succeeded at state, placing 31^st out of 224 runners and ending his cross country career with a bang. Alem said, “I am not too sad about cross country being over for me because I still have track in the spring.”  Alem is very happy and enthusiastic for track. Although the team is losing a very valuable runner after this year, the team will still fight to do well. With high hopes for next year’s team Alem said, “We have a young but good team, and I know they will grow over the next few years.”

Craig will be joining the cross country team again next year as a senior. She said, “I am really excited for next year and I think our team will keep improving.” Alem said that the hardest struggle was coming together as a team. “I wanted and pushed the team to join me in state; although it didn’t happen, I was proud of my team anyways.” During the competition there were always those teams that were doing really well and posed a big threat to South. East High School has the fastest guy in the state and Cheyenne Mountain High School had a really strong team. These two schools were the toughest to overcome for South’s cross county team.

Although the team had many struggles through the season, the team excelled and worked its hardest to earn the title of sixth ranked team in the state. With Alem making State and Craig, Bushmen and Abukar running their best, the team finished the season knowing they ran excellently.

This fall athletic season, South’s varsity teams have shown outstanding performances. As the Rebels have gotten more and more successful this season, South has become more recognized throughout the State of Colorado through improved State rankings. Football has had one of the most successful seasons that the team has ever seen as it qualified to compete in the Colorado State 4A Football Championships after advancing through finals. The soccer team won over half of its games, and the tennis team won over half of its matches.

The varsity football team started out the season with a win against Mesa Ridge and continued to win every game except one against Broomfield with a score of 31-6. Coach Tony Lindsay said, “I’m very proud of our team’s accomplishments this year.” The team completed a total of 81 passes this season. In the beginning of the season, the Rebels kicked off with 295 passing yards against Poudre. The team finished with 1,224 passing yards and 1,747 total rushing yards. South’s varsity football team competed in the playoffs against Wheat Ridge with a score of 27, winning by 11 points. However, the Rebels lost the Colorado 4A State Football Championships in a tough but close game against Monarch High School on December 1 with a final score of 14-17.

South’s boys’ varsity soccer team won eight games and only lost four while scoring a total of 12 goals throughout the season. The team has a State rating of 30. Also, the varsity boys’ tennis team ended the season with success. It played six matches, ending the season with a final record of 4-2.

Throughout the fall season, South’s varsity teams have shown dedication and perseverance by scoring big in a majority of their games and matches. They’ve done a good job by showing the South Rebels are great athletes and coaches. With further improvements made next year, South’s fall varsity season is expected to see more awards on behalf of their performance.

After the game, the junior girls’ team poses holding up their graduating year, 2014. Photo courtesy of Morgan Craig.

At the beginning of this year, a Powder Puff team put junior girls against senior girls to play football. Although there was only one game, the girls were ready to go out on the field and win.

The girls had a meeting on Monday, October 1 to sign up for the team and to get practice schedules. With only two practices to get ready for the game on Tuesday, October 16, the girls prepared for anything. Two tough practices pushed the girls to do their best in every way. Practicing at two different fields, boys on the varsity football team coached the senior team and junior team separately. Senior Pete Williams said, “I was hesitant to coach the juniors at first, but the girls proved me wrong and coaching for them was fun.”

Along with practices, the girls had mandatory meetings every Monday afternoon of the weeks leading up to the game. At each meeting, the girls discussed what was expected along with team spirit. The conversations included the game being played as flag football, not tackle football. A few people confused this, and at the first practice, a player got hurt by being tackled. After the flag football rule was better established, the girls continued to practice hard to represent their class well.

On the day of the game, the girls all started out strong and ready to go. Top senior players were Sarah Nowak as quarterback and Nasha Bile as wide receiver. Bile said, “The girls I had to watch out for on the junior team were Courtney, Camille, Isabella, and Kelli.” For the juniors, Courtney Kendall and Isabella Martinez Bettinger played running back, Camille Jump was quarterback, and Kelli Ballile played wide receiver.  As the girls fought to the end, the scoreboard was tied with a score of 28-28.

The cheering fans on the sideline brought spirit and excitement to the game. Although it was a tie, the girls walked off the field with high spirits. “I feel as though we all won because being able to play with such amazing girls and getting to know many new people was a blessing in itself,” said junior Claire Aydelotte.

Sophomores, wanting to play next year as juniors? Watch out at the beginning of next year for the announcement to join. Great job juniors and seniors.