Colorado high school sports’ series of fall championships will begin today and run into late November, as usual. But a twist or two won’t necessarily interrupt the domino effect that historically has dominated the first of three seasons during the school year.
Boys golfers will tee off today and Tuesday for individual medalist and team honors in stroke play. Class 5A will be at the Eisenhower Golf Club in Colorado Springs, 4A at Yampa Valley Golf Course in Craig, and the newly contested 3A at Spring Valley G.C. in Elizabeth.
They are the first of nine fall sports championships.
And here’s something new. After the normal weekend off after golf, there will be a double — titles for boys tennis and softball. They will run head-to-head, from Oct. 16-18, for the first time. (Softball was sanctioned in 1987, tennis in 1927.)
The scheduling change accommodates the Yom Kippur holiday, which is Wednesday and Thursday.
“Staffing could be difficult for us, but there should be no problems,” Colorado High School Activities Association assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann said.
Class 5A tennis will be at the Gates Tennis Center and 4A at Pueblo City Park. Aurora Sports Park will continue as the home of championship prep softball.
The cross country finals will stay in the same time slot (Oct. 25) but have a new site: Fossil Ridge High School just off Interstate 25 in southeast Fort Collins.
Fall’s only other weekday championships, field hockey (Oct. 27 at All-City Stadium) and boys soccer (3A, Nov. 4; and 5A-4A, Nov. 5, at Englewood) will surround gymnastics (Oct. 30-Nov. 1 at Thornton).
Next in the lineup — and to fittingly cap fall — will be the season’s most popular sports by gender. First will be volleyball, Colorado schoolgirls’ game of choice, Nov. 7-8 at the Denver Coliseum.
Football, king here and nationally for schoolboys, has slotted Nov. 15, 22 and 29 for championship games. The 5A and 4A classes will enjoy another round of finales at Invesco Field at Mile High, but more switches have been pulled — the 3A and 2A games have booked Legacy Stadium in Aurora.
And there is a minor victory this year. The calendar dates for the end of fall sports and beginning of winter will not overlap, as they usually do. The first official day for season No. 2, consisting of basketball, ice hockey, girls swimming, skiing and wrestling, will be Dec. 1.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
U.S. HOCKEY HALL OF FAME INDUCTION
Big stick-and-puck event in Denver.
Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter and Cammi Granato will be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame on Friday night at the University of Denver’s Magness Arena.
Founded in 1973, the Hall of Fame has 134 enshrined members. Hull, Leetch, Richter and Granato — sister of Avalanche coach Tony Granato — will be added to the list in the first ceremony in Colorado.
ESPN’s John Buccigross will serve as master of ceremonies and Lou Vairo, former Olympic hockey coach, will be the featured speaker.
A limited number of tickets remain. For information, call Colorado Springs-based USA Hockey at 719-538-1184 or go online at .
The inductees:
• Cammi Granato, two-time Olympian and the U.S. women’s national team’s all-time leading scorer.
• Brett Hull, two-time U.S. Olympian and NHL’s third all-time leading goal scorer.
• Brian Leetch, three-time U.S. Olympian and 11-time NHL all-star.
• Mike Richter, three-time U.S. Olympian and New York Rangers’ winningest goalie.
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
TV GAME OF THE WEEK
Avs open, hosting Bruins.
The Avalanche’s season opener Thursday against Boston will be nationally televised by Versus. The second game of the network’s doubleheader will begin at 8 p.m. from the Pepsi Center.
The NHL regular season kicked off Saturday with two games in Europe, and the same teams also played Sunday. The Avs were watching.
“This definitely gets us excited to get things going,” Colorado winger Wojtek Wolski said of the European games. “It was a long summer, and it’s been a long preseason. Everyone’s been working so hard, and we’re all really excited for the season. The guys are ready, and I think we’re going to have a great team this year.”
Colorado’s second game of the season is Sunday at Edmonton.
COLLEGE HOCKEY
DU, CC and AFA begin season.
It could be a fantastic season of college hockey on the Front Range, with games of note this weekend.
Colorado College, the defending WCHA regular-season champion, is the preseason pick to win the league. The Tigers, ranked No. 5 nationally, host Alabama-Huntsville on Friday to begin a two-game series.
The University of Denver, the defending WCHA playoff champion, was picked to finish third in the league. Ranked No. 6 nationally, the Pioneers host No. 3 Notre Dame, last season’s national runner-up, on Saturday in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game at Magness Arena.
Air Force begins at Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Conn., on Friday and Saturday for an Atlantic Hockey Association series. The Falcons, the preseason picks to win the AHA, aren’t ranked but are looking for their third consecutive trip, and third overall, to the 16-team NCAA Tournament.
UNC HEARTBREAKERS
Tough-luck Bears return home.
The Northern Colorado football team hosts Idaho State on Saturday in Greeley. If for no other reason, go check out the Bears to test your heart rate. They are as entertaining as they are disappointing.
The Bears have won just two of their past 27 games but lost their past three games by a combined 10 points. And each loss was determined in the final minute of the game.
UNC fell to 0-4 on Saturday on a Cal-Davis Hail Mary touchdown with no time left on the clock. The previous week, the Bears lost after going for the win with a fourth-quarter two-point conversion.
A week before that, first-year quarterback Bryan Waggener — an impressive junior transfer from the University of Florida — fumbled inside the 1-yard line with the winning touchdown inches away.
The bad-luck Bears could use your support.
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
