Nate Siekierski
LaxRecords.com takes a look back at the 2016 boys’ lacrosse season with Season Rewind: Colorado, noting top performances, notable milestones and more.
Over the next few weeks, LaxRecords will look back at the 2016 season with notes on what happened in championship games, notable milestones and any surprises or fun facts that occurred.
July will kick off our first-ever Looking Ahead features with an in-depth look at underclassmen to watch, what milestones could be reached and the teams to watch in 2017.
Championships
Class 5A
Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colorado) defeated Arapahoe (Centennial, Colorado) 11-6 to give them their second championship in three years on May 20. Mikey Bealer scored three goals in the first quarter and Joey Chott scored three to lead the Raiders to victory. Regis finished the season on an 11-game winning streak.
Class 4A
Lance Tillman scored three goals to lead Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch, Colorado) to a 10-9 win over Dawson School (Lafayette, Colorado) on May 20.
Gavyn Pure, who led the state in points, goals and assists this season, led Dawson School with five goals.
Notable Milestones
Coaching
LaxRecords has Monarch (Louisville, Colorado) head coach David Auday with his 150th career win this season. With the information available, he won his 150th game on April 7 in a 10-9 win over Wheat Ridge (Colorado). This record could be incomplete as records past 2002 have been unable to be verified at this point. I have his career record at 158-82.
Dawson School (Lafayette, Colorado) head coach Peter Devlin won his 50th career game against Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch, Colorado) on April 19 in a 14-11 win.
Player
Based on the information LaxRecords has been able to collect over the last few years, there is a new leader in scoring for Colorado.
Wilkins Dismuke was a prolific scorer in high school.
Monarch, senior, Chad Kreutzer, surpassed Wilkins Dismuke for the most points in a career in Colorado history. Kreuzer finished with 333 points on 190 goals and 143 assists.
Thompson Valley (Loveland, Colorado) senior Kale Wilson finished his high school career by surpassing 250 career points this season. Wilson scored 162 goals and had 90 assists in his career to finish with 252 career points.
Legend (Parker, Colorado) senior goalie, Nate Siekierski, finished his career by surpassing 500 career saves in his final high school game. The Albany commit made 16 saves against Regis Jesuit on May 11 to cap his career with 509 career saves.
Surprise, Surprise
It was not a surprise that Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch, Colorado) reach the state semifinals this season, but the circumstances that players and coaches found themselves in to start the year warrant recognition.
The Golden Eagles head coach, Jake Herman, passed away suddenly in early January. In an article from HighlandsRanchHerarld.com, Jacksonville head coach Guy Van Arsdale, who coached Herman at the Rochester Institute of Technology in the 1990s was quoted,
“I’ve been coaching for over 30 years,” Van Arsdale said. “In that entire time, I don’t know if I’ve ever met, or ever will meet, a more inspiring and unique human being than Jake Herman.”
In a fitting tribute to Herman, the Golden Eagles played inspired lacrosse throughout the 2016 season. Led by Jamie Munro, they finished 16-2 and posted wins over Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colorado) and Arapahoe (Centennial, Colorado) en route to the state semifinal appearance.
Led by a group of underclassmen, the Golden Eagles could make another run next season.
Top Performers
Pure led Colorado with 123 points and 57 assists this season.
Douglas County (Castle Rock, Colorado) junior, Mike Blais and Heritage (Littleton, Colorado) senior, Keaton Komatz, tied for the most known points in a single game this season. Blais and Komatz each totaled 11 points this year. Blais did it with eight assists and three goals and March 10. Komatz had six goals and five assists on March 26.