NoCo Nine: State track record, conference titles, city baseball battles highlight week's best

The wait is over. May is here and so is championship season.

That much was evident across local high school sports, with regional and conference championships being settled and state titles ready to be determined over the next three weeks.

From the soccer pitch to the pool, the lacrosse field to the baseball diamonds and beyond, there are some elite Northern Colorado teams across nearly every sport in action right now.

Here's the best of Fort Collins-area high school sports this past week:

Note: If you have nominations for future NoCo Nine editions, please send them via email to ChrisAbshire@coloradoan.com for consideration.

Isabel Allori goes into the record books

Welcome to the state record books, Isabel Allori.

The Liberty Common girls runner set a new Colorado 2-mile record time of 10 minutes, 4.16 seconds to win the Patriot League 3200-meter championships on Saturday.

It's the latest legendary performance from the two-time defending 3A girls cross country champion, who broke the record set by Cherry Creek standout Riley Stewart in 2022.

Allori's just the second Fort Collins track and field athlete in the Colorado record books (as of May 6, 2024) , joining Fort Collins High School's Raymond Bozmans' 2012 record time of 10.27 seconds in the 100-meter dash.

City rivalries hit the baseball diamond

City rivalries ruled the diamond this past week, with Fort Collins making a big splash with wins over Poudre and Rocky Mountain on back-to-back days.

The Lambkins beat Poudre 4-2 on Thursday behind Jude Miller's strong outing and some timely hitting.

Fort Collins turned around Friday and handled Rocky Mountain 6-1, a third win over the Lobos in the last four seasons. Sean Togher struck out 15, hit a homer and scored two runs in the rivalry win.

Meanwhile, Fossil Ridge stayed No. 1 in Class 5A after battling by Poudre 8-6 on Saturday. The SaberCats broke open a tie game in the seventh inning with two runs, moving to 2-0 against city rivals this season.

Regional champs rule the tennis courts

Spring has been kind to our local tennis teams and regional play was no different.

There were 54 total individual state tournament qualifiers from the Fort Collins area across 34 lines and seven schools during regional play, including three team titles (Fossil Ridge, Rocky Mountain and Windsor).

The SaberCats and Lobos also qualified all seven lines and 11 players each for state. Windsor and Fort Collins qualified six lines apiece, while Timnath scored five spots.

Wellington also earned its first-ever state qualifier, with Ava Essay advancing at No. 2 singles.

Local teams dominate league titles

Speaking of champions, there was no shortage of them at the conference level across several sports last week:

Girls soccer: Fossil Ridge, Windsor wrapped up league titles after sweeping their final week of conference matches. Liberty Common and Timnath also split as Patriot League champions. The four teams combined to go 30-0-2 against league foes this season.

Boys swimming: Fossil Ridge won its 13th Front Range League meet championship, holding off Fairview by eight points. Ryan Stahl won the 100 fly and 200 free, while Brennen O'Neil took the 200 individual medley.

Windsor also won its first-ever Northern Conference title, with Jake Eccleston also sweeping the 100 fly and 200 free while setting new league record times and helping the Wizards set another in a 200 free relay win.

Track and field: Three girls track and field teams (Fossil Ridge, Timnath and Heritage Christian) won their respective league championships, while the Heritage Christian boys also won the Mile High League title.

The SaberCats won the FRL girls crown for a fourth straight year, the Cubs scored their first Patriot League title and the Eagles rolled to another Mile High League title, with the schools combining for over 15 individual girls champions.

Playoff soccer brackets released

The playoff brackets are out for all girls soccer classifications and postseason action begins this Tuesday:

Class 5A: Fossil Ridge earned the No. 2 seed and will face No. 31 Denver South in the first round. Rocky is the No. 14 seed, hosting No. 19 Columbine. No. 25 Fort Collins travels to No. 8 Pine Creek. No. 30 Poudre made the playoffs for the first time since 2010 and will meet No. 3 Rock Canyon.

Class 4A: Windsor grabbed the No. 3 seed and will host No. 30 Steamboat Springs to open the playoffs.

Class 3A: No. 9 Timnath opens at home vs. No. 24 Regis Groff on Thursday. No. 12 Liberty Common hosts No. 21 STEM Schools Highlands Ranch.

Lacrosse brackets also set for PSD boys, girls teams

It's also playoff time for the Poudre School District lacrosse teams, who both finished the season on strong runs.

The PSD girls team earned a No. 7 seed in Class 5A's 16-team breacket and will host No. 10 Palmer Ridge on Wednesday. It's a rematch of last year's first-round matchup, which the Stars won 16-6.

The PSD boys squad (also newly crowned conference champs) took the No. 12 seed in the 24-team field and will host No. 21 Pine Creek on Wednesday.

School records fall on track, in pool

Beyond Allori's state-record time, there were several other school records set on the track and in the pool last week.

Eccleston set conference and Windsor school records in the 100 fly (49.60 seconds) and 200 free (1:40.35) to win league swimming titles.

Fossil Ridge's Marcus Mozer set a SaberCat record during the FRL meet prelims in the 100-meter dash (10.90) and 200 dash (21.91).

And finally, Poudre's Micah Moore broke the Impalas' 100 meter backstroke record in a time of 54.29 seconds. Tyler Hicks previously set the mark in 2011 at 54.52.

Fossil Ridge girls golf wins FRL match

The SaberCats are trending up heading into the postseason, with separate Fossil Ridge teams taking the top two spots at a FRL match last week at Flatirons Golf Course.

Fossil's top team won with a 33-over-par score of 313, 18 shots ahead of its No. 2 team at 331 and well clear of third-place Loveland at 347.

Ellie Barry finished third individually with a 5-over 75, while Abbi Beld took sixth by firing a 78.

Richa Sajjan and Cailin Lowdermilk also had tied for top-10 finishes, each shooting an 80 to round out the team scoring for Fossil Ridge's top unit.

Games of the Week (May 6-11)

• No. 4 Rocky Mountain girls tennis at No. 1 Ralston Valley (Tuesday, 4 p.m.)
• Fossil Ridge at Rocky Mountain baseball (Tuesday, 4:30 p.m.)
• No. 19 Columbine at No. 14 Rocky Mountain girls soccer (Tuesday, 6 p.m.)
• No. 10 Palmer Ridge at No. 7 PSD girls lacrosse (Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.)
• No. 21 Pine Creek at No. 12 PSD boys lacrosse (Wednesday, 6 p.m.)
• State tennis tournament/individual championships (Thursday through Saturday)
• Track and field: Fort Collins hosting John Martin Invite (Friday, 1 p.m.)
• 4A boys state swimming championships (Friday, 5 p.m.)
• 5A boys state swimming championships (Saturday, 3 p.m.)

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: NoCo Nine: State track record, conference titles, city baseball battles highlight week's best