Fresh off the heals of their longest season-opening win streak since 2014, the Fruita Monument High School girls lacrosse team is in a position to return to the state tournament for the fifth consecutive season.<\/p>\n
For the second straight season, McKenna Jensen has been a engine behind the Wildcats\u2019 success early in the year. The senior continues to climb the Fruita Monument record books with impressive statistical showings and her team, too, has climbed toward the top of the statewide rankings.<\/p>\n
Jensen, who has played both attack and midfield throughout her Wildcat career, boasts a team-leading 16 goals scored in four games this season. Her four goal per game average ranks 12th-best among all players in Colorado this season. She credits her teammates spreading the field and opening up shooting lanes for her early-season successes, which have coincided with the team\u2019s strong start.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, we\u2019ve had to make a lot of adjustments,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cI mean, there\u2019s a lot of girls playing new positions, a lot of girls that have moved around, but in the end it\u2019s been working. I\u2019m just really excited to play with these new girls, these freshmen coming up. I just want to be a good role model.\u201d<\/p>\n
If her on-field performance in any indication, there are a lot of local lacrosse players who could stand to learn a thing or two from Jensen. In her junior campaign, Jensen compiled 58 goals, nearly 20 more than the Wildcats\u2019 next-highest scorer, then-sophomore Gianna Diederich, 40. Jensen\u2019s 12 assists also ranked second on the team, behind only senior Olivia O\u2019Hara\u2019s 13. With the graduation of O\u2019Hara, Jensen has been tasked with shouldering a larger workload to keep her team\u2019s offensive output high.<\/p>\n
So far that\u2019s worked well.<\/p>\n
Through four games played, the Wildcats have scored 49 goals, scoring fewer than at least 10 goals in only one game.<\/p>\n
Jensen\u2019s 16 goals this season has increased her career scoring total to 144 goals, just two shy of the program\u2019s all-time leading scorer, Lindsey Burenheide, class of 2014. That record will likely crumble in the Wildcats\u2019 next contest, as Jensen has not averaged less than two goals per contest in any of her four seasons.<\/p>\n
If you ask the Warner University commit, it\u2019s not the statistics she\u2019ll take away from her Fruita Monument career, it\u2019s the memories and the relationships she\u2019s formed on the field that will stick with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a blessing playing here. I love all of my teammates, everyone who\u2019s helped me,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cI would not be who I am today without my teammates, so props to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wildcats\u2019 season-opening winning streak came to an end Thursday, at the hands of Steamboat Springs. The visiting Sailors imposed their will offensively, coasting to a 16-6 victory at Fruita Monument High School.<\/p>\n
The Wildcats (3-1) were never truly able to establish their offense in the wind-dominated contest, which featured gusts upwards of 20 miles per hour throughout. Jensen lead the way offensively for the Wildcats, scoring four of her team\u2019s six goals and assisting on one in the losing effort.<\/p>\n
The Wildcats fell to 3-1 on the season with the loss. They will hope to get back to winning ways next Friday where they will be in action at home once again, hosting Durango. First face off for 4A Mountain West League showdown is scheduled for 4 p.m.<\/p>\n
BASEBALL<\/p>\n
Central picked up a win Thursday on day one of the Trent Grosha Memorial tournament, contested this weekend at Roaring Fork High School. The Warriors knocked off Glenwood Springs 11-5 thanks to a rally in the late innings.<\/p>\n
After falling behind 5-3 through five innings, Central hit its stride, rallying for eight runs in the game\u2019s final two innings to secure the win.<\/p>\n
Four different Central batters recorded multiple hits on the contest. Left fielder Omar Atchley went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles, one RBI and three runs scored; center fielder Octavio Gallegos went 2 for 5, also with two doubles, with two RBI and two runs scored; pitcher Dayton Timbreza went 2 for 4 with a walk and two RBI; catcher Tyrus Kellerby rounded out the group with a 3-for-3 day featuring three doubles, two walks, and two RBI.<\/p>\n
Central improved to 5-3 on the young season with the win. They will be back in action Friday in day two of the tournament, taking on Strasburg; first pitch from Aspen is slated for 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Colorado Mesa extended their winning streak to 13 games with a 10-8 victory over Adams State on the road in Alamosa on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Mavericks scored six runs in the fifth inning of the series-opening contest, establishing a lead they would never relinquish. Junior outfielder Tate Blasi connected on a pair of home runs Thursday, including a grand slam that capped off the five-run fifth and a two-run shot in the ninth to seal the victory for the Mavericks. Blasi finished the day 3 for 4 with a double, two home runs, a walk, three runs scored and six RBI.<\/p>\n
The Mavericks improved to 31-3 on the year with the victory. At 17-0, they remain unbeaten in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.<\/p>\n
GOLF<\/p>\n
Fruita Monument\u2019s Addison Larson won the Warrior Invitational on Thursday at Lincoln Park Golf Course, shooting an 81 to win by five shots.<\/p>\n
The Wildcats won the team title over the other four District 51 schools.<\/p>\n
Palisade\u2019s Maddox Rewold finished second with an 86 and Fruita\u2019s Jersey Zambrano (88) and Peyton Stephens (89), also shot under 90.<\/p>\n
Grand Junction\u2019s top finisher was Cyanna Martin in 11th and Central\u2019s Emily Moyer finished 15th.<\/p>\n
SOFTBALL<\/p>\n
Colorado Mesa lost a doubleheader at CSU Pueblo on Thursday, falling 12-4 and 3-1.<\/p>\n
In the first game, the ThunderWolves scored in every inning of the run-rule shortened game and pounded out 13 hits. Molli Maga\u00f1a and Makayla Westmoreland led the offensive effort for the Mavs with two hits each.<\/p>\n
Mesa took the lead in the top of the fifth inning of the second game on Brynn Escobar\u2019s RBI single. However, CSU Pueblo tied the game in the bottom of the inning and took the lead with two runs in the sixth. Escobar paced the offense by going 2 for 3.<\/p>\n
SOCCER<\/p>\n
Palisade vs Central<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresh off the heals of their longest season-opening win streak since 2014, the Fruita Monument High School girls…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2288],"tags":[2315,2309,5,2313,2325,3437,2333,2335,19,2310,2328,2304,2318,2308,2319,4,2305,2303,2307,2327,2321,185,2311,2312],"class_list":{"0":"post-660458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-postseason","8":"tag-athletic-sports","9":"tag-ball-and-bat-games","10":"tag-baseball","11":"tag-baseball-playoffs-and-champions","12":"tag-baseball-teams","13":"tag-double-baseball","14":"tag-grass-field-surfaces","15":"tag-home-run","16":"tag-major-league-baseball","17":"tag-major-league-baseball-competitions","18":"tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","19":"tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","20":"tag-major-league-baseball-seasons","21":"tag-major-league-baseball-teams","22":"tag-major-league-baseball-teams-seasons","23":"tag-mlb","24":"tag-mlb-playoffs","25":"tag-mlb-postseason","26":"tag-outdoor-sports","27":"tag-seasons-in-american-sport","28":"tag-seasons-in-baseball","29":"tag-sports","30":"tag-team-sports","31":"tag-turf-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}