Menu
What's new
By:
Filters
AllBuffs | Unofficial fan site for the University of Colorado at Boulder Athletics programs

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Prime Time. Prime Time. Its a new era for Colorado football. Consider signing up for a club membership! For $20/year, you can get access to all the special features at Allbuffs, including club member only forums, dark mode, avatars and best of all no ads ! But seriously, please sign up so that we can pay the bills. No one earns money here, and we can use your $20 to keep this hellhole running. You can sign up for a club membership by navigating to your account in the upper right and clicking on "Account Upgrades". Make it happen!

Recruiting News - Olympic Sports

Per the below from her high school, looks like Buff lacrosse has a new 2021*** commitment in midfielder Katie Giordano, who currently attends and plays for Montclair High School, Montclair, NJ. Looks like she also plays club ball with STEPS New Jersey.
.
Welcome and congrats to her!

(***Edit- The tweet says she's a 2025 commitment, which is when she'll be a senior at CU, not when she'll become a Buff. (It would indicate a major recruiting violation if she was coming to Boulder in 2025 and committing this early.))



Edit- Above tweet looks like it has vanished, but did find the below from Dec. 9th.


A recruiting page - https://sportsrecruits.com/athlete/katie_giordano

Maxpreps page (Doesn't look like her team loads stats into Maxpreps, so it doesn't contain that info, but does include some video highlights.) - https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/katie-giordano/HIN4gm5MEeiAyNdjx8XCRA/default.htm
 
Last edited:
As has been done the last few years, I set up and, mainly, entered official National Letter of Intents (NLI) Olympic sport signing news for the next (2020/21) Freshman class in a dedicated thread- https://www.allbuffs.com/threads/20...ws-signing-period-11-13-2019-8-1-2020.141870/ .

Also as in prior years, there have been some previously unknown of commits that appeared as NLI signers, and I only listed summary info for them in the signing thread. The intent over the next few posts in THIS thread will be (mainly) to get those unknown commits into this thread, along with more detail on them than was noted in the 2020 signing thread.
________________________________________________________

Since they just released a full release today, I'll start with women's golf.

Going into the signing period, I only knew of one verbal commit, local (Erie) 3 time state champion Hailey Schalk. Ms. Schalk (See post #485 for more info) DID sign her NLI. In addition to her, 2 previously unknown of commits have now signed on to be Buffs, Ellie Gower (Perth, Scotland; born in London) and Lauren Gooding (London, England). It's definitely looking like the program, led by Coach Kelly, has established a recruiting "pipeline" with the British Isles, as now 4 of the 5 total commits in the 2019 and 2020 classes will have come from there.

OFFICIAL welcome and congrats to the 3 new women's golfing Buffs!

One thing to note from the class announcement linked to below- Ms. Gower is actually arriving in Boulder this coming January so I believe she could, conceivably and within NCAA rules (???), start contributing THIS season. However, the release just says she "will start practicing with the team.". Therefore, I assume the plan may be that she'll start formally competing during the 2020/21 academic year.

Link to the cubuffs.com release-


Quoting from that release, a little more on the 3 incoming Buffs-

  • "Lauren Gooding, a native of London, England, has played several sports at Wellington College. She has been a member of the golf first team for five years, in addition to competing in tennis, rackets and hockey. Her top amateur performances include a win at the London Ladies Foursomes, which was six rounds of match-play (2019), a second-place finish at Junior Europeans (2018), a second-place finish at the Surrey County Championship (2019), a seventh-place finish at the Henry Cooper Masters (2019) and a 10th-place finish at the English Girls U16 (2017). Her stroke average is 73.5 and she has been ranked as high as 126th in the 2019 European Girls Rankings.
Roehampton Club is her home course and her best score there is a 4-under 68. Her best career round was a 3-under 69 at Blackmoor Golf Club in Hampshire.​
​
Denver, UCLA and FIU were also interested in Gooding. She chose Colorado because of the excellent golf program and facilities and was impressed by the business school. Gooding said, "I got a great feeling on campus when I visited and loved it!""​
​
  • "Ellie Gower currently resides in Perth, Scotland, but was born in London, England, and lived in France where she attended Notre Dame de Monbahus. Earlier in 2019, she played on the European Girls Team Championship team and the R&A Girls Home International team. Gower has had a successful 2019 schedule. She won the Cyprus Open and was third at the Scottish Girls Championships. Gower also placed fifth at the Ladies Irish Open and was top 10 at the German Girls Championships. .In 2018 she won the English U16s North Championship shooting a 14-under. Gower was ranked the No. 1 player in France in 2017.
    She lists her home course as Gleneagles where her best score is 6-under and her best round was a 5-under.

    Gower's father, Brian Gower, is a PGA Professional. Gower was a caddie for Ellie Givens on the Lacoste Ladies Open de France from 2015-17. She chose Colorado over FAU, AU and Fresno State because of its location, facilities and coaches. "

  • "A senior at Holy Family High School, Hailey Schalk has won the first three CHSAA championships she competed in and looks to become the first athlete to win the state championship four times. As a freshman at state, she shot a 7-under 65, which was the lowest score ever for a female at state.

    She has seen a lot of success in her young career. In 2017, she won the AJGA Hale Irwin Junior Championships with a scorecard of 70–73–69—212. Schalk placed second at the Nike Junior Invitational at Vanderbilt and was fifth at the Arizona Silverbelle. She was named the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Player of the Year once, the Rocky Mountain Junior Golf Tour Player of the Year twice and the CHSAA High School and Boulder County Preps Player of the Year three times.

    A Sportswomen of Colorado high school golf honoree, she was named the 2017 Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Player of the Year and was a 2018 Colorado Golf Hall of Fame Future Famer.

    Schalk's home course is the same as the Buffs, Colorado National Golf Course. Her best round there was a 9-under 63.

    She was highly recruited by schools in the SEC, Pac-12, ACC, Big Ten and Mountain West, but chose Colorado because of the coaches and the opportunity to represent her home state. "
 
Unlike the women's team, men's golf hasn't published a full release announcing its class. However, so far it has tweeted out about 3 signers, of which 2 were not known about or disclosed previously in this thread. Torrey Pines High School's (San Diego, CA) Justin Biwer (see post #489) was the one previously known about, and it looks like he'll be joined by high school teammate Ryan Mendez, as well as Westminster CO native and Holy Family HS student-athete Jacob Mason.

OFFICIAL welcome and congrats to the 3 new men's golfing Buffs!

Here are the tweets confirming the 3's signing-




What little I could find on the 2 incoming men's golfers I didn't know about-

Jacob Mason -
A Junior Golf of Colorado page with his junior results - https://copgajr.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/copgajr16/profile/jmason266/tresults.htm

Per the leaderboard for this past October's 3A State Championships (https://www.highschoolgolf.org/app/...-chsaa-3a-state-tournament/player-leaderboard), Mr. Mason finished 3rd individually, which (per https://www.bocopreps.com/2019/10/0...nklin-holy-family-grab-second-place-finishes/) also helped lead his Holy Family HS team to a 2nd place finish.

Ryan Mendez -
A San Diego Junior Golf Ass'n. page with his junior results - https://sdjga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/sdjga18/profile/rmendez24/tresults.htm
 
These 2020 soccer commits had already been noted as part of the 2020 signing thread (https://www.allbuffs.com/threads/20...ws-signing-period-11-13-2019-8-1-2020.141870/), but since this thread is where detail for ALL Olympic sport commits is accumulated, wanted to mention there were 2 previously unknown of commits (both from Europe) for that sport announced when its 2020 class was announced the middle of last month in the article linked to in the below tweet.

Welcome and congrats, once again, to midfielder Jenny Beyer (from Stuttgard Germany) and forward Filippa Graneld (from Stockholm Sweden), as well as the 8 other, already known about, incoming Buffs!



(Direct link to article - https://cubuffs.com/news/2019/11/14/soccer-sanchez-adds-10-for-2020.aspx. Note that this article also includes a 7+ minute video of Coach Sanchez announcing this class.)

From the article, more on the 2 incoming Buffs not previously noted in this thread:

Re Jenny Beyer-
"
Beyer comes to Colorado from Stuttgart, Germany. She is a member of the German U17 National Team and has represented her country on the international stage since 2016. Beyer helped SC Freiburg to two U17 Bundesliga-Sud championships. She also won the 2019 U21 Regionalliga Fall championship. Beyer will be Colorado's second player from Germany, joining former Buffs Hannah Scheid.

Sanchez on Beyer
"Jenny came to us late in the recruiting process. She's a player that plays in the back for her club team but also plays in the midfield for the German Youth National team. Jenny plays for FC Freiburg on the U21 team. She has a lot of qualities that we're looking for that we think can make an impact in the Pac-12. She's very experienced and has the drive to play for the full German National Team."

Re Filippa Graneld-

"
Graneld, a 5-8 forward from Stockholm, Sweden, becomes Colorado's second-ever Swedish player. Graneld spent two years in the US, playing at Harriton H.S., outside of Philadelphia, Pa. She was Second-Team All-Main Line as a freshman and improved to First-Team as a sophomore. Graneld started every game at Harriton, scoring 16 goals before moving back to Sweden. Internationally, Graneld has played with both the U17 and U18 Swedish National Team. She was selected to the U17 EURO qualifier but could not compete due to injury.

Sanchez on Graneld
"Filippa plays her club soccer with Hammarby, one of the top clubs in Sweden. She just got back from some friendly internationals with the Swedish U18 team in Iceland. She got her first start at that level. We feel as a striker, she has a lot of tools and experience that she can come in and replace some of the players that we're losing."
"

Note- This thread previously had 9 known of verbal 2020 soccer commits. One of those, Audrey Sexson (see post 297 for more on her) was NOT included in the initial class announcement linked to above. From a quick Google search, I can't see any indication she committed anywhere else, and topdrawersoccer.com still has her listed as a Buff commit, so I have no idea if she will still be coming to Boulder or, as sometimes happens with verbals in ALL sports, plans may have changed. (I will update this thread when/ if I hear more definitively about her one way or the other. IF she's not coming to Boulder, best wishes to her where ever her path(s) may lead.)
 
Last edited:
As I noted in various posts in the 2020 class signing thread, there have been 10 track and field student athletes who have officially signed on to be Buffs (per the team’s Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/cubuffstrack/)), of which only 3 had previously been known about in this thread. So, the main purpose of this and the next post will be to fill in with some info on the 7 newly known of commits.

To break things up so I could include the Instagram posts, this post will cover the previously unknown women, while the next will cover the men. (I haven’t collected any info for the men yet, so it may be awhile before I make that 2nd post.)

But 1st, want to say OFFICIAL welcome and congrats to the 3 T & F student-athletes I had known about as verbal commits, Arvada’s Nicholas Nuhfer (See post #507 for more detail), Niwot’s Elise Gillett (post #510), and Highland Ranch’s Kara Lucyk (post #503).

The other, newly known of and officially signed, track and field (with 1 also being cross country) women student-athletes are:

Sarah Aanenson (Bear River HS, Auburn, CA; Multi-events and (horizontal) jumper)

Camille Jackson (Ames HS, Ames IA; Distance runner)

Allie Routledge (From Aberdeen, Scotland, currently at the American School in Doha (Qatar); Multi-events and jumps)

A little on what I can find on them (mainly from Athletics.net records; thanks to them):
  • Sarah Aanenson


Her T&Fresults to date - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=14458529&L=0

(Impressively earned points for her team as a junior at the very competitive California State Championships with a 7th place finish in the long jump. Also looks to compete a lot in the sprints, and looks like she could seriously compete for a qualifying spot in the state 200M field this upcoming season.)

An article in a local (for her) newspaper after she signed on to become a Buff - https://www.theunion.com/news/makin...-sarah-aanenson-picks-university-of-colorado/

(She’s quoted saying she’ll be starting as a jumper, but will also be training some with the multi-event group, assume to see how she can develop in those events/ areas (hurdles, middle distance, vertical jumps, throws) she hasn’t competed in previously. Also, sounds like she must be a very solid overall athlete who loves sports and competition, having also been named All-League as a junior in basketball and golf at Bear River.)

A recruiting page for her (which in addition to some basic information and a personal statement includes a few highlight videos as well as a brief interview.) - https://www.ncsasports.org/womens-t...valley/bear-river-high-school2/sarah-aanenson

  • Camille Jackson


Her results to date-
Cross Country - https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Athlete.aspx?AID=10605761&L=0
(She won the largest school (4A) division Iowa state championship race this past season as a senior, with what looks to be the fastest time all year for an Iowa runner at the 5K distance. She showed great improvement every year, going from 84th to 64th to 9th to champion in the state championships during her 4 year high school career. Not that times are generally thought of as being very significant in cross country, but Per an article I read (https://www.thegazette.com/subject/...ob-green-runs-to-win-settles-for-3rd-20191102), she “smashed the girls’ state-meet record by nearly half a minute” in her win.)

Track results - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=10605761&L=0
(Looks like she 1st qualified for the (4A) State Championships last season as a junior, and contributed points to her team in both the 3,000M (3rd place finish) and 1500M (8th).

A video interview with her after she won the State Cross Country Championships - https://www.desmoinesregister.com/v...4-girls-cross-country-state-title/4139752002/

An article, with quotes, also after her XC Championships win - https://www.desmoinesregister.com/v...4-girls-cross-country-state-title/4139752002/
  • Allie Routledge


Her track results - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=15170003&L=0

(Given what I’d guess would be a very different competitive environment in Doha, it will be interesting to see her development as a Buff compared to the other, U.S. based, student-athletes.)

A recruiting page for her (includes a couple highlight videos, as well as a personal statement.) - https://www.ncsasports.org/womens-t.../doha/american-school-of-doha/allie-routledge
 
Last edited:
Continuing what I started in my prior post, I'm now going to provide some information on the 4 previously unknown of men’s track and field (and in 2 cases cross country (XC)) committed and signed Buffs.

Welcome and congrats to them!

In summary, they are:
Nicholas Bianco (Massapequa HS, Massapequa, NY; Multi-events)
Ian Gilmore (Humble HS, Houston TX; Sprinter)
Caleb Niednagel (La Costa Canyon HS, Encinitas, CA; Distance runner)
Shaw Powell (Christian Brothers HS, Lincroft, NJ; Distance runner)

More info on each:

Nicholas (Nick) Bianco



His results to date (as Nicholas) - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=12845384&L=0

A few more results (posted as Nick) - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=10048769&L=0
(Looks like pole vault and hurdles are his strongest individual events. Also, looks like he has some nice Top 12 results at top national age-group meets in the decathlon.)

Per this article (https://www.massapequaobserver.com/ending-on-a-high-note/), looks like he must be a very good all-around athlete, as he was one of if not the leader(s) of his school’s volleyball team.

Ian Gilmore



His results to date - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=10950126

(Looks like his high school highlight to date was a 5th place finish in the largest school division (6A) in the 400M dash last season as a junior at what I can only assume is a VERY competitive Texas state meet. This past summer, he also ran the anchor legs at 2 distances for his Track Houston Youth Track Club’s 17-18 age group teams, leading them to a win in the 4X400M and 5th place finish in the 4X100M finals at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships.)

Caleb Niednagel



His results to date-
Cross Country - https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Athlete.aspx?AID=13969741
(He "only" finished 52nd at this past year’s California State XC Championships after finishing 10th and 4th as a sophomore and junior, respectively. I did find an article that indicates, if I understood it properly, he may have been battling a flu bug around the time of this year’s championships.)

Track results - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=13969741
(Looks like his high school highlight was a 5th place finish as a junior at this past season’s 2019 California State Championships in the 3200M run. He also finished 10th last summer at that distance at one of the top national meets (2019 New Balance Nationals Outdoor).)

Shaw Powell



His results to date-
Junior and senior years (in New Jersey)
Cross Country - https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Athlete.aspx?AID=14185959
(Had what looks like many great performances his last 2 seasons, including winning 2 New Jersey Championships in his school’s Group Championships, as well as finishing 3rd this past season individually at the New Jersey (I assume consolidated???) Meet of Champions. He’s also been a top finisher for his team the last 2 seasons in helping it qualify for Nike’s National XC (NXN) Championships, something only 2 schools per region (Northeastern and New York Region for New Jersey schools) auto-qualify for.)

Track results - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=14185959
(Finished 4th in his school’s group state championships in the 3200M race last season as a junior, following that up with a 10th place finish at the New Jersey Meet of Champions. Also was on his school’s 4X1 mile relay team which won at the prestigious 2019 New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet this past summer.)

Through sophomore year (At Jesuit HS in Portland, Oregon)
Cross Country - https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Athlete.aspx?AID=10414773
(Back as a sophomore, finished 14th individually @ Oregon’s large school (6A) State Championships.)

Track - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=10414773
(Looks like his early high school career highlight was probably earning points for his team with a 4th place finish as a sophomore in the 3000M race at Oregon’s large school (6A) State Championships.)

An article from his school’s newspaper after his team qualified for NXN’s last month - http://www.letsgocolts.com/news/64667
 
Noticed that the lacrosse team at some point updated its roster for this season (https://cubuffs.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/roster/2020?&sort=class), and there is one freshman for this 2019/20 freshman class that was not previously known about (at least to this thread), defender Maeve Williams, who went to high school at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham, Mass., and also played club ball with Mass Elite.

Welcome and congrats to her!

Her CU Roster bio page - https://cubuffs.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/roster/maeve-williams/14568

(Wanted to note it must say something positive about CU in general, the CU Athletic Department, and specifically the lax team environment/ culture, that there are now 2 sets of sisters on this year's team, as Maeve is the younger sister of Buff junior Aine. They are joined in the "Buff sister club" by a couple Farellas, junior Haley and frosh Carley.)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Just for reference and simplicity's sake, here is a complete list of the 8 rostered freshmen, which includes a column showing in which post(s) they've been previously discussed in this thread: (A list of all the known lacrosse commits since 2015 can be seen in the original post of this thread.) OFFICIAL welcome and congrats to all!

2019-20 lacrosse freshmen.jpg
 
Don't have secondary confirmation yet, but looks like men's track and cross country has probably obtained another top 2020 commitment, this time from Jace Aschbrenner, who attends and competes for Newbury Park HS,Newbury Park, California. (Newbury Park won this past season's Nike (NXN) HS National Cross Country team championships, with Mr. Aschbrenner his team's #2 finisher in 18th place, on his team behind only the individual winner and #1 ranked national recruit Nico Young (who has already committed to cross country power Northern Arizona).)
‏
Welcome and congrats to him!



His results:
Cross country - https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Athlete.aspx?AID=10487632
(In addition to the NXN results I noted above, he also came in 2nd individually at this past season's California State Championships after finishing 15th in 2018.)

Track and field - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=10487632
(Looks like his best result, at least at the state level, was coming in 11th place last (his junior) season in the 3200M run at what I'm sure is a stacked California State Championships.)
 
Per the below (see post #520 above for more detail on him), Jace Aschbrenner is now SIGNED on as a Buff.

OFFICIAL welcome and congrats to him!

 
Last edited:
No luck finding out who via my usual initial QUICK social media searches and viewing the couple websites that list recruits, but per the below, looks like volleyball has picked up a new commit for next (2020) season. (Based on the timing, it could also be a transfer, in which case I will add more information in the transfer thread when the person becomes known.)

 
Per Milesplit (https://www.milesplit.com/signings?year=2020&sortBy=college&collegeSearch=university+of+colo), my main source (other than social media) for finding out about track and field commits, the Buff's men's track and cross country teams have picked up a new 2020 verbal (at minimum) commitment from distance runner Jake Derouin, who's currently at Eden Prairie High School, Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

Welcome and congrats to him!

His results per Athletic.net -
Cross Country - https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Athlete.aspx?AID=10478357&L=0
(Looks like he made huge strides his senior year, finishing 4th at his state's championships and 23rd at his Nike Regional Race after finishing 151st in both those races as a junior.)

Track and Field - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=10478357
(As with cross country, has been showing nice improvement as he 1st qualified for his state's championships last season as a junior, and scored big for his team with a 3rd place finish in the 3200M run. Hope he has a great senior season.)

From https://www.swnewsmedia.com/eden_pr...cle_26df3ab7-c3a6-57d9-9575-25572a4dbb80.html , he's already, with a teammate, developed a running-related app and formed a company to market and distribute it, and (at least as of last July) they were also working on a sleep tracking app. (I'd guess computer science will be a significant part of his studies at CU.)
 
Last edited:
Per a couple sources (Milesplit and the CCHSA (Colorado HS Association) database), the women's track and field and cross country teams have picked up a new distance runner for next (2020) academic year in Sarah O'Sullivan, who currently attends and competes for Mountain Vista HS, Highlands Ranch, CO.

Welcome and congrats to her!

Her track results to date -
Cross Country - https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Athlete.aspx?AID=10482551

Track and field - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=10482551

A Q & A interview, dated yesterday, which includes more on her commitment and recruiting process (among other things) - https://co.milesplit.com/articles/274844-sarah-osullivan-mountain-vista-to-colorado
 
Last edited:
Per one of my main sources (excluding social media) for lacrosse commitments (https://www.insidelacrosse.com/recruiting/commitments/girls?class=2021&league=6), looks like the Buffs have (at some point) picked up a commitment for the 2021/22 academic year in midfielder Sophie Halus, who looks to attend (or did attend***?) Ronald Reagan HS in Pfafftown, North Carolina (looks to be a small town outside Winston-Salem), as well as competing for the Carolina Fever club team.
(***Almost everything I saw indicated she attends Reagan, but my insidelacrosse.com link above that alerted me to her Buff commitment says she's at East Chapel Hill HS, so maybe she recently transferred there?)

Welcome and congrats to her!

What little more I could find for her-
A recruiting page with a highlight video (It also shows her commit to the Buffs) - https://sportsrecruits.com/athlete/sophie_halus

Maxpreps page - https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/sophie-halus/RDh56JzkEeeT-Oz0u-e-FA/girls-lacrosse/stats.htm
(Doesn't look like her team reported stats last season, but back in 2018, she already led her team in goals (53) and tied for the most assists (24) as a freshman.)
 
Once again (as with my last post in this thread), my main source (excluding social media) for lacrosse commitments (https://www.insidelacrosse.com/recruiting/commitments/girls?class=2021&league=6), shows a new 2021/22 academic year commitment for the Buffs in attacker Samantha Lipka, who looks to attend and play for Academy of the Holy Cross (a Catholic college preparatory school) in Kensington Maryland (looks to be ~12 miles north of Washington DC). She also competes with the Capital club team.

Welcome and congrats to her!

What little more I could find for her-
A HUDL page with highlight videos - http://www.hudl.com/profile/9214788/samantha-lipka

A Washington Post game by game stats page for her - https://www.washingtonpost.com/allmetsports/holy-cross/samantha-lipka/
 
Per the below (with the unscheduled dead period, looks like Coach Mahoney has had time to up his Twitter game!), volleyball has picked up a 2021 commitment. And, per one of my main sources for volleyball commits (http://www.richkern.com/vb/recruits/indexsub.asp?Div=DI&VBYear=2021). it is 6'0"-6'1" middle blocker Bella Simkus, currently playing with and attending Denver East HS, while also playing club ball with the Juggernaut Volleyball Club (JVC).

Welcome and congrats to her!



A little more I could find on her-
HUDL page with some videos - http://www.hudl.com/profile/11818449/Bella-Simkus

Her Maxpreps stats page (Looks like for last (2019) season, her school only posting stats for some of their matches.) - https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/bella-simkus/qlc--6TvEeiAxKkkK9HIDg/volleyball/stats.htm#year=19-20
 
BeBe said:
Per Rich Kern: Morgan Riddle DS/L from Chaparral HS Parker CO and Rachael Fara MB transfer from Dayton. Checked the Dayton website and its looks like Fara is probably a grad transfer.
Click to expand...

Confirmation of and more info on the 2 newest vball Buffs!

Official welcome and congrats to them!



Direct link to article - https://cubuffs.com/news/2020/4/3/volleyball-buffs-add-two-to-2020-signing-class.aspx

"
BOULDER – To say Colorado volleyball added two different players to the 2020 signing class is an understatement as graduate transfer Rachael Fara from Dayton signs along with Colorado native Morgan Riddle of Chaparral High School. Fara is a 22-year old, 6-foot, 3-inch graduate transfer middle and rightside from Naperville, Illinois, while Riddle is an 18-year old, 5-9 outside/defensive specialist.

"We are thrilled to welcome Rachael and Morgan into the Buff family," said head coach Jesse Mahoney. "Both are outstanding volleyball players and even better people who will represent the Colorado Volleyball program well on the court, the classroom and in the community."

Fara joins the Buffaloes most recently from Dayton University. She will be entering her sixth year of college after competing for Northwestern University from 2015-17, including a medical redshirt in 2017. After not playing in 2018, she returned to the court in 2019 for the Flyers. She appeared in 65 sets in 22 matches, totaling 99 kills for a .316 hitting percentage and 43 total blocks.
...

Riddle joins Colorado from Chaparral High School and the Front Range Volleyball Club. Riddle was a key member of the Chaparral team this fall and helped her team to 5A State Championship. She dished out four kills in the final match as well as a pair of blocks and 15 digs.

Her senior season she finished with 166 kills, 40 blocks and 264 digs. As an upperclassman, Riddle's squads had a combined record of 53-5 with a pair of trips to the championship match. She also holds school record in track in the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400 and 400-meter dash.
...
"
 
Interesting sidenote … it appears Riddle "signed" with UNC Greeley in the fall signing period. But I suspect that as a DS there she may not have actually signed an LOI but was rather going to be a walk-on.
uncbears.com

Four Sign With Bears Volleyball - University of Northern Colorado Athletics

Head coach Lyndsey Oates announced the signing of four student-athletes who will be on the court next season. Sydney Cole, Morgan Riddle, Kenedy Schaecher and Bronwyn
uncbears.com uncbears.com
 
There were a couple new Buff commitments I heard about a couple days ago:

  1. Per the below Instagram, the women's cross country and track teams formally picked up a commit for next academic year (2020/21) from middle distance/ distance runner Whitney Valenti, who attends Brea HS in Brea (inland Orange County) California.
  2. I 1st saw it referenced in a tweet, then saw it on my one sources for golf commits (https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2016/03/31/college-golf-recruiting-verbal-commitment-list/)- looks like the men's team picked up a 2021 commitment from Dylan McDermott, who goes to school at Granite Bay HS, in the town of the same name (looks to be in the foothills northeast of Sacramento?).
A BIG welcome and congrats to both!



A little more I could find on both:

  1. Whitney Valenti. Her high school results -
  2. Dylan McDermott
 
Last edited:
AztecBuff said:
Per a couple sources (Milesplit and the CCHSA (Colorado HS Association) database), the women's track and field and cross country teams have picked up a new distance runner for next (2020) academic year in Sarah O'Sullivan, who currently attends and competes for Mountain Vista HS, Highlands Ranch, CO.

Welcome and congrats to her!

Her track results to date -
Cross Country - https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Athlete.aspx?AID=10482551

Track and field - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=10482551

A Q & A interview, dated yesterday, which includes more on her commitment and recruiting process (among other things) - https://co.milesplit.com/articles/274844-sarah-osullivan-mountain-vista-to-colorado
Click to expand...

Sorry to quote myself, but wanted to note we now have confirmation on Ms. O'Sullivan's commitment to the Buffs.

OFFICIAL welcome and congrats to her!

 
OFFICIAL confirmation on distance runner Jake Derouin (See post #523 for more detail on him) becoming a Buff, so OFFICIAL welcome and congrats to him!

 
Just correcting a prior error (I had posted the below in the Transfer thread on May 1st rather than this one.), I wanted to paste the below here.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'd put this in the unconfirmed category but, per the below tweet, looks like women's track and field may have picked up a 2020 commitment from thrower Obiyaa (Obi) Osafo-Mensah, who currently goes to high school at Nolan Catholic HS in Fort Worth TX. (Looks like discus has been her best event, and she also throws the shot.)

Welcome and congrats to her!



Her high school and club results -
www.athletic.net

Obiyaa Kyiraka Osafo-Mensah

Obiyaa Kyiraka Osafo-Mensah - TX Track & Field results and photos on Athletic.net
www.athletic.net www.athletic.net
(With Covid-19 closing things, down, she obviously she wasn't able to have much of any senior season, but came in second for her HS at the State Championships (6A (Large school) division of the TAPPS (Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools)) in the discus both her 10th and 11th grade seasons. She also came in 8th both years in the shot put.)
 
Per the below, Coach Mahoney indicated yesterday that volleyball had picked up a new 2021 verbal commitment, and per http://www.richkern.com/vb/recruits/indexsub.asp?Div=DI&VBYear=2021, it is 5'7" libero/ defensive specialist Emilea Stepaniuk, who plays for Ridgefield HS*** in Ridgefield Washington, and with Excel NW (Northwest) for club ball. (Ridgefield looks to be not too far (~25 miles) north of Portland OR.)

Welcome and congrats to her!

(***Her high school is the 2 time defending State Champions. Although in a smaller (2A) division, Prepvolleyball named one of her teammates the overall Washington State player of the year after last season (AND the season before), and Ms. Stepaniuk and one of her other teammates were among only 5 other young women in the state Prepvolleyball had "in the running" for that overall player of the year honor. Her team also has one of the great nicknames I've heard- they're the Spudders.)



A nice recruiting page (linked to from her club team's roster page) - http://recruit-match.ncsasports.org/clientrms/athletes/5031171
(Page includes video highlights and links to many articles that reference her. Per this page, she has been named to the 2A Divison All-State 2nd team the past 2 high school seasons, and was a team captain last season. Also, they have a link to stats for her. If they're accurate, they say she averaged over 8.5 digs per set for her high school last season. Obviously college ball is very different, but for reference, the TOP player in NCAA D1 averaged ~6.5 per set in 2019.)
 
Nice article from a local website (for her) on incoming freshman Buff lacrosse student-athlete Mack Moore.



Direct link - https://papreplive.com/2020/06/13/s...-to-lead-upper-dublin-to-top-of-sol-american/

Just quoting part of the small portion of the article re her decision to become a Buff-

"
...
Moore started to focus on the sport in middle school and now after a standout career at Upper Dublin is set to play at the NCAA Division I level at Colorado, which plays in the Pac-12 Conference.

“I just loved it from the second I stepped onto campus,” Moore said. “I loved the coaches and the team, they were very welcoming and it’s a competitive program so it’s really exciting for me. I can’t wait.”

Moore also considered Virginia Tech, Bucknell and Rutgers but the opportunity to attend a big school along with campus’ Boulder location had Moore choosing CU.

“I just love the atmosphere,” Moore said. “Everything there is so relaxed and chilled-out and that’s kind of like how my personality is. So I love the views, I love going on adventures – hiking, stuff like that, skiing.”
...
"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top