Having captured their second consecutive High Plains Hockey League Tier 1 varsity boys championship, the Arapahoe Warriors have been named winners of The Denver Post Youth Excellence in Sports (YES) award for May.
Arapahoe finished the top level of the spring high school hockey season 12-3-2. The Warriors outscored their opponents 21-4 in three playoff games, including 5-2 in a title game victory over Mountain Vista.
Arapahoe also won the 2007 Tier 2 title for the High Plains League, a club-based loop that offers competitive to recreational spring hockey for girls and boys. High Plains teams are not sanctioned by the Colorado High School Activities Association.
The CHSAA offers boys hockey in the winter, when many elite players are competing locally and nationally for midget triple-A teams.
Arapahoe does not offer a CHSAA hockey program, but not because it doesn’t have great hockey players. Each of its 17 varsity players attends the school, which isn’t the norm, and nearly all play midget hockey in the fall, including nine for the triple-A Colorado Thunderbirds.
“The high school stuff was really fun, because you got to play in front of kids at school, and for my school,” said Warriors freshman Landon Smith, who played for the Thunderbirds’ midget-minor triple-A squad in the fall and winter. “And it’s fun to play against other kids that were on my club teams.”
Arapahoe coach Tim Fahl-stedt is disappointed the High Plains League doesn’t attract much media attention.
“The competition in the High Plains League is exceptional,” Fahlstedt said. “When all the triple-A kids are playing, I think it’s a better league than what CHSAA has to offer.”
High Plains teams are funded by parents, at a cost of $550 per player. Most schools don’t acknowledge the teams that wear their colors and logos.
“We don’t have a hockey team. We have boys and girls that play hockey and are proud of their achievements,” said Arapahoe athletic director Steve Sisler. “We don’t have anything against them, but we only have a certain number of sports we can sponsor.”
Junior Stephen-Tanner Fahlstedt, the coach’s son, paced Arapahoe in scoring with 10 points (seven assists) in the playoffs, and sophomore David-Chase Komatz had a team-high four goals and nine points.
Junior Grant Arnold, who played in the winter with the midget triple-A Colorado Rampage, led the team with 27 points (13 goals) in the regular season. Arnold was recently drafted by the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League, a prestigious junior-A feeder league to NCAA hockey.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
Arapahoe Warriors
Champions of the 2009 High Plains Hockey League Tier 1 varsity boys:
Pos. Player Yr.
D Dylan Abood So.
F Trevor Ahbe Jr.
F Grant Arnold Jr.
D Brennan Bohnsack So.
D Connor Burke So.
F Sean Burke Sr.
G Ethan Elliott Sr.
G Matthew Fitzgerald Jr.
F Skylar Harding So.
F Davis Haug Jr.
F David-Chase Komatz So.
F Stephen-Tanner Fahlstedt Jr.
D Matt Schmidt Sr.
F Rollin Schuler Sr.
D Scott Thompson So.
F Landon Smith Fr.
D Michael Washington Sr.
Coaches: Tim Fahlstedt, Greg Ahbe, Tom Smith, Paul Schmidt
Honorable mention
KYLE COLEN
This boy has some serious skills. And the fourth-grader from Indian Ridge Elementary School in Aurora showcased his talent at the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Skills Challenge National Finals on May 15 in Orlando, Fla. Kyle, competing as a representative of the Nuggets, placed third in the nation among 9- and 10-year-olds in the event, which tested dribbling, passing and shooting skills and began with 106,000 participants throughout six age/gender divisions.
Know a top athlete?
Youth Excellence in
Sports honors those 17
or younger who have
excelled in any athletic
endeavor unaffiliated
with the Colorado High
School Activities Association.
To submit your
choice for the top individual
or team achievement
during June, visit
denverpost.com/youthsports
for an online
form or fax a brief description
of the achievement
to 303-866-9004
(Attention: “YES!”).
