NoCo Nine: Soccer blowouts, Runners Roost wins and baseball power surges highlight week's best

Spring sports are here in full swing, and that means NoCo Nine is back!

Students returned last week after Poudre School District's spring break, and nearly every spring sport was in action on the local level.

From blowout soccer wins to runners ruling the roost, several explosive baseball scores and even some winter sports standouts, here are the best things we saw in Fort Collins-area high school sports this past week:

Note: If you have nominations for future NoCo Nine editions, please send them via email to ChrisAbshire@coloradoan.com for consideration.

Rocky, Fossil win big in local soccer showdowns

The Lobos and SaberCats turned some local matchups into blowouts on the pitch.

Rocky Mountain opened league play with an early season 4-1 rout over Poudre behind Jace Holley's hat trick. The Lobos have now won their first two matches this season by a combined score of 9-0.

Fossil Ridge followed on Saturday, kicking off its season with a dominant 5-0 road shutout over tough 5A foe Windsor. Abby Ballek led the SaberCats with two goals, while McKenna Garrett added a score and two assists.

It's going to be an intriguing race for the city soccer title this spring.

Runners rule the roost at French Field

The Runners Roost Invite at French Field has become an annual tradition, usually marking a post-spring break ramp-up for the track and field season.

This year's edition featured nearly every Fort Collins-area school and some standout performances. There were 47 local top-three finishes Friday, including 12 event winners.

Windsor's Mikey Munn swept the boys 100- and 200-meter titles, while teammate Kylie Becker won the girls discus and took runner-up in the shot put.

Fort Collins took the top boys team spot with 89 points. Rocky Mountain was runner-up with 61. Windsor won the girls crown in a close call, while Rocky and Fort Collins rounded out the top five.

Here are the other local Runners Roost winners:

• Tatum Berg (Fossil Ridge), girls 800-meter run

• Leo Cole (Fort Collins), boys 1600

• Jack Friesen (Liberty Common), boys 400

• Lance Gilbertson (Rocky Mountain), boys high jump

• Ariana Hicks (Windsor), girls pole vault

• Khloe Scharf (Rocky Mountain), girls triple jump

• Fort Collins, girls 4x200 relay

• Rocky Mountain, boys and girls 800 sprint medley relays

Bats play bully ball to open baseball season

Spring was in the air last week (until more snow arrived), and our local baseball teams brought their bats with an explosion of runs.

Fort Collins won its first two games over Smoky Hill and Arvada West by a combined score of 29-1. Rocky Mountain beat Rampart 10-0 on the road. Fossil Ridge beat that same Arvada West squad 11-0 in a delayed opener.

Poudre also dropped 51 runs in four games, including two 20-run outbursts. Timnath even got in on the act, scoring 25 runs in a 2-0 week.

Get ready for some offensive fireworks all season long on local diamonds.

PSD boys lacrosse laps Windsor in local matchup

The Stars played their first game in the local area last week for a road game at local rival Windsor. PSD dominated from the opening draw, cruising to a 10-3 win despite missing star player Colton Pawlak.

Owen Wind scored a three-goal hat trick, Ethan Hough and Jack Crosby added two goals each, and goalie Hunter Jesse made eight saves.

The boys are already five games in, and the PSD girls season kicks off this week.

Final all-state selections for winter sports

While the spring sports are getting underway, there was still some winter business to wrap up with all-state squads for ice hockey plus girls/boys basketball announced last week.

Here are the Fort Collins-area players who made those all-state squads:

First Team

• Madden Smiley, Windsor (5A boys basketball)

• Braeden Kerr, PSD (5A hockey)

Second Team

• Jayce King, Fort Collins (6A boys basketball)

• Reyleigh Hess, Windsor (5A girls basketball)

• Johnnie Reed, Windsor (5A boys basketball)

• Raul Bertinato, Heritage Christian (2A boys basketball)

• Hayden Williamson, PSD (5A hockey)

Full winter list: 26 Fort Collins-area athletes earn all-state honors for winter high school sports

Rocky girls tennis foils Fossil in city rivalry

Rocky Mountain got another early season city rivalry last week, this one in a mild upset.

The Lobos took down Fossil Ridge 5-2 in a crosstown dual on the tennis court.

Freshman Ainsley Cunningham scored a No. 3 singles win with a dramatic 6-4 third-set win. Nora and Lucia Johnson beat Fossil's top doubles duo in three sets, while Hanna Schneider and Justine Anderson also toughed out a three-set win.

The Lobos are 2-0 after the city win, also taking down Broomfield 6-0 to open the season.

Fort Collins gets off to fast start

The Lambkins didn't face any local opponents, but they were no less impressive in their first week of the soccer season.

Fort Collins blasted Rangeview 10-0 with eight different players scoring, led by Gemma Bowers and Isabel Guerrero with two goals apiece. Maria Armatas also added a goal and a whopping five assists.

Collins then took down an always-strong Boulder squad in a 1-0 defensive battle, as Bowers provided the only goal.

Look out for these Lambkins on the pitch this season.

PSD Stars sweep lone home match

The PSD boys volleyball team only had one match last week, but they made it count.

The Stars rolled Greeley Central 25-21, 25-18, 25-20 in a thorough three-set win as they moved to 5-3 on the season.

Geo Schwalm had 12 kills and six digs, Jason Mynatt and Ty Morris combined for 23 assists and 11 digs, and Shane Gerdes added a dozen digs with four assists.

Games of the Week

It's another busy week on the prep sports scene! Here are some of the top games and events this upcoming week:

• Legacy at Rocky Mountain baseball (Tuesday, March 26)

• PSD girls lacrosse at Cherry Creek (Wednesday, March 27)

• Girls golf: PSD Invite at Harmony Club (Thursday, March 28)

• Rocky Mountain at Fort Collins girls tennis (Thursday, March 28)

• Track and field: Jack Christiansen Invitational (Friday and Saturday, March 29-30)

• Cherry Creek at Fossil Ridge girls soccer (Saturday, March 30)

• Wellington at Poudre baseball (Saturday, March 30)

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: NoCo Nine: Best of Fort Collins-area prep sports for March 17-23