Higinbotham, Ehrlich give 2 of Pueblo's best high school performances this week

The final week of Colorado's high school spring sports regular season is upon us, and some are in their first rounds of the playoffs.

This week's top performers list is made up players still competing in regular-season action. The achievements include some monster weeks at the plate for baseball, tight races on the golf course, and nice track and field performances.

Each week, the Chieftain recognizes the top student-athletes from area schools to highlight those who have performed at a high level. The Chieftain sports staff selects them. Coaches can nominate players by emailing cabdelmalek@gannett.com prior to Thursday night.

Here are this week's top prep performers (all stats and standings are updated through Thursday, May 11):

Roy Higinbotham, Pueblo County baseball

Higinbotham has been a pillar for the Hornets all season. He went 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs in a matchup against Pueblo Central that saw the Hornets win 9-1. Higinbotham leads the team with a .500 average and is second on the team in pitching with a 6-0 record and a 2.29 ERA.

Logan King, Pueblo West baseball

King is having a stellar season for the Cyclones and came up with some clutch hitting this week. In a matchup against Pueblo County, King went 1-for-3 and drove in two runs in a 3-0 victory over the Hornets to help the Cyclones lock in the South-Central League regular-season title.

Axton Ehrlich, Rye baseball

Ehrlich had himself a week for the fifth-ranked Thunderbolts. The sophomore went 4-for-6 in a doubleheader against Swink, knocking in six RBIs to help sweep the Lions. He then followed that up with a 2-for-2, 3-RBI performance against Rocky Ford. Ehrlich is second on the team in RBIs behind senior Riley Rochester.

Sofia Contreras, Pueblo Central golf

Contreras once again is showing why she is one of the top golfers in Pueblo. She tied for first place at the Hornet Invite at Hollydot Golf Course. Contreras scored 82 for the second straight week of competition.

Clayre Wagner, Pueblo West golf

Wagner has been improving her game all season, including at the recent Hornet Invite. Wagner shot an 82 to tie for first with Pueblo Central's Contreras. Her score helped lock in a second-place team finish for the Cyclones.

Emma Garcia, Rye golf

Garcia took third place at the Hornet invite with a score of 84 and also helped the Thunderbolts take home first place overall as a team with a score of 267, which was three strokes better than Pueblo West on the day.

Sara Gurule, Pueblo South track and field

Gurule finished second in the shot put at the Twilight Invitational held at CSU Pueblo. Gurule’s top mark of 35 feet was one foot short of leader Abby Provost of Cheraw High School. Her distance was also just short of her season high of 35 feet, 11 inches, which she set at the South-Central League Championships.

Myah Abeyta, Pueblo East track and field

Abeyta finished third in the 400-meter dash at the Pueblo Twilight Invitational held at CSU Pueblo. The freshman ran the event with a time of 1:03.05, which was her season best so far.

Nkechi Onyejekwe, Pueblo West track and field

Onyejekwe competed in the 200-meter dash at the Pueblo Twilight Invitational and finished third with a time of 26.3 seconds. The time was her second-fastest of the season in the event, behind her 26.25-second performance at the S-CL championships last week.

Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or on Twitter @chowebacca.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo's top high school sports performances of the week for May 5-11