The Rapids on Wednesday signed defender Danny Earls and midfielder Josh Janniere, filling two of their seven international roster spots allowed by Major League Soccer.
Earls, a 21-year-old from Dublin, Ireland, played in 18 games for the Rapids last season before he was traded to Seattle late in the year. He was cut by the Sounders last month, making him a free agent.
Janniere, 18, arrives from Canada, where he had been a youth program player with Toronto FC since he was 15 years old. The Rapids traded for Janniere’s rights in exchange for a 2013 third-round supplemental draft pick. He was with Colorado, unsigned, during the preseason.
The Rapids did not discuss terms of either deal.
Fire douses Rapids in U.S. Open Cup.
Gaston Puerari and Jalil Anibaba scored to lead the Chicago Fire to a 2-1 victory against the Rapids in a play-in match for the U.S. Open Cup in Peoria, Ill.
Puerari scored on a long shot in the 45th minute to make it 1-0.
Colorado tied it up in the 47th minute, when Quincy Amarikwa found an open Andre Akpan. Akpan drilled the ball into the net.
The Fire regained the lead in the 61st minute, when Anibaba blasted a 40-yard shot past diving Rapids goalkeeper Ian Joyce.
A late shot by Colorado’s Sanna Nyassi in the 86th minute just missed the right post.
Chicago will face the winner of Portland-San Jose in the next round of Open Cup play.
Gilles leaves Broadmoor Skating Club.
Another disappointing season has Alexe Gilles leaving The Broadmoor Skating Club, hopeful a change of scenery can jump-start a career that hasn’t quite gotten off the ground.
U.S. Figure Skating announced that the 2008 U.S. junior champion is cutting ties with Broadmoor coach Tom Zakrajsek to train alongside former Broadmoor member Jeremy Abbott and Grand Prix Final winner Alissa Czisny at the Detroit Skating Club.
A Cheyenne Mountain High School graduate, Gilles, 19, won four medals on the Junior Grand Prix tour in 2007 and 2008 but hasn’t finished better than fifth in five appearances on the senior tour the last two seasons and never has been better than eighth at nationals. This season, she took 11th at Skate Canada, 12th at Skate America and 14th at nationals.
Gilles said she’s striving for “a new start and a fresh perspective” with husband-and-wife coaching team Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., a Detroit suburb that’s six hours from her hometown of Rockford, Ill. She added she’s “comfortable in the Detroit area,” noting that the 62-year-old Detroit club “has everything in one place. I can get the support and training I feel I need in order to achieve my goals for next season.”
The departure of Gilles is a setback for The Broadmoor, which lost Abbott, a 2010 Olympian, to Detroit in 2009 — the same year that two-time U.S. champion pair Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker shunned Colorado Springs for Los Angeles. Olympian Rachael Flatt also plans to leave The Broadmoor after the world championships next month in Moscow, since she’ll be starting her freshman year at Stanford in the fall.
Zakrajsek had directed Gilles for 10 years, and Gilles also worked with Broadmoor coach Becky Calvin, acknowledging they were “dedicated to my training. They took me from a preliminary competitor up to an international team member. I learned so much for them.” Zakrajsek said he holds “fond memories of coaching her. . . . I wish her the best of luck.” Brian Gomez, Colorado Springs Gazette
Snowboarder Wagar finishes 18th.
Cassie Wagar of Steamboat Springs had the best finish for the U.S. at the Junior World Snowboard Championships in Valmalenco, Italy, finishing 18th in the parallel giant slalom.
On Tuesday, Chloe Banning of Steamboat Springs took the bronze medal and Mick Dierdorff of Steamboat Springs finished eighth in the snowboardcross.
Baseball: K-State routs UNC.
University of Northern Colorado pitcher Chris Carlberg gave up 10 runs on five hits and three walks in only 2/3 of an inning, and the Bears (2-17) lost 16-3 to host Kansas State (15-9) in Manhattan.
T.J. Berge and Tony Crudo each had two hits for UNC, and Adam Hilker extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double.
Dryer selected to track Hall of Fame.
Elva Dryer of Western State was one of three people selected for induction into the Division II track athlete Hall of Fame.
Dryer was a seven-time NCAA champion in cross country and track, and a two-time Olympian.
