Telluride dominates All-San Juan Basin League volleyball selections

Telluride dominates All-San Juan Basin League volleyball selections

Nov. 23, 2000

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

Volleyball season is now in the books.

The Class AA San Juan Basin League featured exciting play throughout the season with very competitive action. Telluride won the regular-season league title, district title and regional title and a berth in the Class AA State Volleyball Championships in the Denver Coliseum.

Dolores High School finished as runnerup in the regular-season league race, but faltered at the district tournament. Mancos, the darkhorse team, finished third during the regular standings but placed second in Districts and advanced to Regionals before bowing out.

It is not surprising the Miners dominated the All-San Juan Basin League post-season awards. Senior Kelli Hart was joined by teammates junior Catherine Arnold and sophomore Chelsey Padilla on the First Team. Hart was also chosen Player of the Year. Sophomore Rhea DePagter of Telluride was named Honorable Mention. And as it stands to reason, first-year head coach Ian Evans of Telluride was named Coach of the Year.

Joining Hart, Arnold and Padilla on the First Team were senior Rachel Ragland of Dolores, junior Katie Paxton of Mancos, senior Dana Hammond of Nucla, and senior Cassidy Haught of Norwood.

Heading up the Second Team were two sophomores from Dolores. Sarah Nielson and Joni Everett joined junior Katie Rosso of Mancos, senior Lancie Marolf of Norwood, and senior Shelane Wren of Nucla.

Senior Krystal Neely of Dolores County and sophomore Inga Johannson were named Honorable Mention.

Incidentally, the league’s football awards will be announced just as soon as unbeaten and top-ranked Nucla finish their season.

The Mustangs continue to roll. They ran over Custer County 32-0 in the Class A 11-man semifinals. They crushed defending champ Wiggins 49-28 the week before.

Nucla limited the Bobcats to 32 rushing yards on 33 carries. Bobcat junior tailback Karl Voll, who had rushed for more than 100 yards in both of Custer County's playoff wins, was held to 37 yards.

Nucla quarterback Jason Mock connected on scoring tosses of 24, 52 and 42 yards to put Nucla on top 20-0 at the half. In the second half, six Mustangs players carried the ball as Nucla played keep away from the Bobcats. With the win, Nucla remains undefeated in 12 games this season and will host Limon in the state championship game this Saturday, Nov. 25.

In the Mustangs’ win over Wiggins, Nucla was led by Josh Hainey's four touchdowns, a pair each on offense and defense. Nucla opened up a 49-15 lead late in the fourth quarter before allowing two touchdowns in the final minute. The Mustangs led 21-15 at the half, thanks to taking advantage of several Wiggins’ turnovers.