State championships in eight prep spring sports will be contested over the next few weeks, according to the Colorado High School Activities Association schedule.

State titles will be decided in boys and girls track and field, boys swimming, girls tennis, boys and girls lacrosse, girls golf and baseball.

Dolores County has a baseball team competing today, May 5, in a Class 2A District Tournament game. The Bulldogs, 13-7, are tangling with Custer County, 16-2, at 10 a.m. at OTA Field in Gunnison. Should the Bulldogs win, they will head to Colorado Springs. Regionals will be played May 11 and State’s semifinals and finals on May 12 at Sprugeon Field. Crowley County is the defending 2A state champ.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 12-1 win over Grand Valley but a 19-1 loss to Nucla at last weekend’s District I Tournament which was held at Parque de Vida in Cortez. They are led at the plate by Terence Gardner who has a .473 batting average. Keith Pierce is right behind him at .471 and Kyle Krafka swings the bat at .364.

Custer County is 16-2 overall and is coming off a 9-4 win over Cotopaxi and a 16-0 rout of Antonito in the Division II Tournament The Bobcats have several of the top hitting players in all of Class 2A. Dave Schultz leads the team with a gaudy .640 average. Chad Lockhart hits better than 50 percent of the time at .511. Kyle Butts has a .490 and Grady Camper checks in at .429.

Butts will likely get the start on the mound with Schultz coming in relief for Custer County. Dove Creek will likely go with Dallas Coker and Dallas Daves.

MCHS boys lost this past Tuesday, May 1, to Rifle 5-1 in the first round of 4A post-season competition. Niwot is the two-time defending state champs.

Montezuma-Cortez boys swim team will compete all day today at the Western Regional Championships in Grand Junction. Senior Daniel Puls has a shot at making the finals in several events. The State 4A Swimming Meet will be held May 17 with preliminaries and May 18 for finals at the Eldora Pool and Ice Center (EPIC) in Fort Collins. Cheyenne Mountain of Colorado Springs is the defending 4A state champ.

The Cortez boys and girls track and field teams was to have competed today at the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational, but due to the recent storm the meet was cancelled. Regionals for track and field are set for May 11-12 at Stocker Stadium in Grand Junction.

The Dolores, Dolores County, and Mancos boys and girls will also compete that very same weekend at Stocker Stadium as well in 2A. The San Juan Basin League Meet, which became a qualifier when it was moved to Bayfield and able to use the equipment there, on Friday, May 4. Thinclads had to hit specific times, heights or distances in order to qualify. The top four placers automatically advance to State. The Mancos boys and Dolores girls have good shots at winning titles at the league meet.

The 4A State Track and Field Championship will be held May 18-19 at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood, a western suburb of Denver. The 2A State Track and Field Meet will be held the same weekend at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo. Harrison boys and Mullen girls are the defending champs in 4A while the Swink boys and Julesburg girls are the defending titleists in 2A.

The MCHS girls tennis team is competing this weekend at the Class 4A Western Slope Regionals today in Grand Junction. Joining the Panthers at the Region 8 Tournament are teams from Steamboat Springs, Aspen, Cedaredge, Delta, Glenwood Springs, Hotchkiss, Montrose, Paonia, Ridgway, and Roaring Fork. The Girls 4A State Tennis Tournament will be held May 10-12 at Pueblo City Park. Cheyenne Mountain is the reining state champs. Itsuki Hyakuno, a Japanese exchange student, is the Panthers’ best hope at no. 1 singles although she is in a very tough bracket.

The 4A State Soccer Tournament semifinals are at Air Academy High School May 18 with action moving to Englewood High School on May 22 for the finals. Cortez ended the regular season this past week at 4-11 and did not qualify for post-season play.