It is hard to believe the state championships for spring sports are nearly upon us.

Eight spring sports, sponsored by the Colorado High School Activities Association, will finish up.

Post-season play actually began for Dolores County’s baseball team when they competed in Divisionals at Delta. The Bulldogs, who defeated Soroco 6-5 but lost to Grand Valley 23-14, will go in as the no. 2 seed from the San Juan League and will play this Saturday, May 6, in District Tournament play at Alamosa. However, a call placed Monday morning to the Colorado High School Activities Association revealed they still don’t know who the Bulldogs will play. Class 2A kicks off the baseball State Championships beginning May 12 with Regionals at Spurgeon Field in Colorado Springs, the next day the semifinals and finals will be held. Aurora Christian is the defending titleists.

Montezuma-Cortez High School will compete this (Friday or Saturday) in the District Tournament at Grand Junction. The Panthers, 8-11 overall, will go into the tourney as the no. 2 seed. They will play Montrose at 3:30 p.m. Friday, May 5. If they win that game they will play Central of Grand Junction at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lincoln Park. Niwot is the two-time defending champs in Class 4A.

The Panther girls tennis team will compete at the Class 4A Western Regional Tournament this Friday and Saturday, May 5-6, at Grand Junction. Courts at Mesa State College, Lincoln Park, and Bookcliff Country Club will be used. The girls State Tennis Championships are slated May 11-13 at Pueblo City Park Tennis Courts. Kent Denver is the Class 4A defending champions. Word is that Montrose has a good chance to snatch that title this year.

Although it is not really a post-season meet, the Class 2A San Juan League Track and Field Championships are set for this Saturday at Panther Stadium in Cortez. Dolores, Dolores County, and Mancos will be joined by Telluride, Nucla, and Norwood. Dolores, both boys and girls, are slightly favored but Mancos boys and girls will be right in there. Montezuma-Cortez athletes will complete the regular season at the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational in Colorado Springs.

On May 12-13, Western Regional championships for Class 2A and Class 4A at Stockman Stadium in Grand Junction. The top three placers in each event automatically qualify for State, May 19-20. Classes 2A and 3A will compete for state honors at Dutch Clark Stadium (not Guy Barickman Stadium) in Pueblo. Classes 4A and 5A athletes will be at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood. Mullen (4A) is a three-time defending state champion in girls and four-time in boys. West Grand boys and Julesburg girls are the defending champs.

The Panthers are not involved in post-season play in state girls soccer. The Class 4A semifinals are set for May 19 at Air Academy High School. Both 4A and 5A championships will be held May 23 at Englewood.

Boys swimming, which has been sort of a shoulder sport between winter and spring, returned to the spring this year. The Panthers will compete this Friday and Saturday at the Western Regional Championship at Orchard Mesa Middle School Pool in Grand Junction. Unfortunately, the only way for any of the Panthers to qualify is to hit times. The Class 4A preliminaries are set for May 19 and the finals May 20 at the Eldora Pool and Ice Center in Fort Collins.