Two Arvada men have been fined more than $35,000 after their conviction on multiple charges for the poaching of a trophy bighorn ram above Georgetown in 2008.Henry Butler, Jr., age 57, and his son, Brandon Butler, age 30, were sentenced two weeks ago in the 5th Judicial District Court in Georgetown for illegally killing the ram on September 28, 2008.  In addition to their sentences, they face a lengthy suspension of their right to hunt and fish in most of the United States.

The case resulted from a tip called in by a hunter who was scouting the area for a later hunt.

“Bighorn sheep are Colorado’s state animal and a cherished part of our wildlife heritage,” said Area Wildlife Manager Reid DeWalt, who supervised the case. “We rely on the public to stand up for Colorado’s wildlife when they see people abusing it.”  Bighorn sheep licenses are so highly prized that hunters can wait decades to successfully draw a tag. Ironically, Brandon Butler did have a valid sheep tag that would have allowed him to legally harvest the trophy ram.

After receiving the phone tip, DOW investigators responded quickly to an area north of Empire along the continental divide off Breckenridge Peak. There, they observed the Butlers walking away from the kill site above tree-line, one with a bighorn sheep head strapped to the top of a backpack, the other carrying a rifle.  Later that night, officers encountered the two men on an ATV, but without the rifle or the ram’s head in their possession.  Investigators subsequently discovered that both items had been placed in a truck parked near the Empire dump.

Under questioning, the men admitted that Henry Butler, 57, had illegally shot the ram just below Breckenridge Peak after Brandon, having tired of a difficult and challenging hunt used a cell phone to illegally guide his father to a position where he could see the band of sheep. The elder Butler did not care to see the tag “wasted” by remaining unfilled.

“Poachers are criminals,” said Steve Yamashita, DOW’s Northeast Regional Manager. “They give true sportsmen and women a bad name.”

Hunting licenses are not transferrable in Colorado; only the license holder may legally harvest an animal. In addition, meat from the animal must be cared for and brought out of the field for consumption.  It is a felony in Colorado to kill an animal and only take the trophy parts from the carcass.

Henry Butler fought the charges, but in April was convicted at trial on a felony charge of willful destruction of wildlife. He was also convicted on misdemeanor charges of hunting without a license, illegal possession of wildlife, transfer of a license, waste of wildlife and the use of electronic equipment in the commission of a wildlife crime.

Butler was sentenced to a 90 days suspended jail sentence, fined more than $8,500 and assessed a $25,000 “Samson surcharge” for killing a trophy-class big game animal.

Brandon Butler accepted a plea bargain resulting in his conviction on illegal transfer of a license, illegal possession of wildlife and waste of wildlife. In addition to the fines, he agreed to make a $2,000 charitable contribution and to the forfeiture of a rifle and ATV.

Later this year, DOW will recommend that the Colorado Wildlife Commission impose lengthy suspensions of the Butlers’ right to hunt and fish in Colorado and the 33 other states who participate in the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact.

For more information about wildlife crimes, visit the Colorado Division of Wildlife website at: http://wildlife.state.co.us/RulesRegs/LawEnforcement/OperationGameThief/OperationGameThief2.htm and learn how to protect our most precious natural resource, our Colorado wildlife.

Gilpin County High School Winter Sports Banquet 2009-10

The Gilpin County High School Winter Sports Banquet took place in the school cafeteria on Thursday, March 11, at 6:00 p.m. The awards ceremony took place in the school auditorium following the banquet.

Athletic Director Ryan Witzel introduced the winter sports of basketball, cheerleading and wrestling and their respective coaches. The Booster Club received compliments for generously sponsoring the banquet and donating sports gear to the event. Witzel also thanked the cheerleaders, parents, fans, and everyone who had helped with the 2010 sports season. Awards for the season were presented to the student athletes from their coaches.

Gilpin County Eagles Girls High School Basketball Team

First in the awards ceremony was the Lady Eagles Basketball Coach, Jeff “Shu” Schuessler, who presented a heartfelt introduction to his team, beginning with a description of the season in retrospect. The Lady Eagles did well this season with an overall record of eight wins and 13 losses, for a total of 21 games played over three months, making it to the district playoffs.

Shu said a foundation was laid down for future success with his players having been mentally, emotionally and physically tough all year long. The team learned how to compete, how to win and developed an appetite for winning. And that’s where they want to be next year – one of the top ten teams at state.

Coach Shu genuinely thanked many for helping making this season a success, including the seldom-mentioned maintenance staff of Ron Berg and Juanita Essex in doing an outstanding job of keeping the gym floors clean for practice and games. It makes a difference.

Managers Ashlen Cortez, Andi Ramsey, and Trevor Smulders (the video guru), were thanked by Shu for their help and presented with gifts. Shu displayed the special t-shirt he had made up for Smulders with the motif of “T-dogg” on the front that the students gleefully recognized.

Coach Shu gave particular thanks to Assistant Coach Brook Ramsey for the amount of time she put in coaching the team and for the fact that he didn’t need to train her, as she was already a very good, experienced coach.

Schuessler and Ramsey presented their players with certificates and letters, offering commendable comments as well.

Freshmen

Maria Garcia gained recognition as “the most coachable” player who was fun to watch. Garcia earned a team award of “Most Improved Player.”

Samantha Peterson was simply “the best athlete in high school,” and earned the “Eagle Offensive Player Award” from her teammates.

Katura Sales “loves basketball” and the team recognized her with the “Eagle MVP Award.” The Mile-High League also recognized Sales – one of two freshmen – with a place on the 2^nd Team All-Conference.

Sophomores

Shelby Foelsch gained confidence throughout the season and averaged the most rebound points. Foelsch also earned a team award of “Most Improved Player.”

Molly Quaranto is “incredibly athletic” and “she really frustrated the other teams” with her great playing. Quaranto earned the team’s “Eagle Defensive Player Award.”

Juniors

Amanda Barngrover missed a year of practice because of attending Warren Tech. She became more confident of her ability throughout the season and “she’s come so far.” Barngrover received the “Coaches’ Award.”

Stephanie Pilcher joined in January, adding to “the depth and strength” of the team.

Seniors

Shauna Corsino earned her second varsity letter and “kept it fun and kept us together.” Corsino earned the “Eagle Attitude Award.” Corsino will be participating in the Mile-High League Senior All-Star Game on April 11 at Front Range Christian High School.

At the conclusion of his presentation, Coach Shu declared that the “next year starts now,” and listed several basketball events scheduled to improve the players’ conditioning, skill and teamwork. A summer camp is scheduled for June 16-19 at Adams State College, with other camps to be announced. Lastly, Shu praised his players with a rousing “Good season, ladies!”

Player Shauna Corsino then took the stage, commenting that “Mr. Shu was the greatest coach we ever had; he cared about us.” Corsino helped present several gifts, including a pink basketball and jewelry, to coaches Shu and Ramsey.

Gilpin County Eagles Boys High School Basketball Team

Coach Paul Hanson thanked everyone who helped out with the sports season, including his assistant coaches Buddy Schmalz and Randy Whiting. George Snyder received special recognition as their consultant. Colton Whiting also took the stage for his great job in videotaping the games.

Hanson congratulated the Lady Eagles on their winning season and making it to the district play-offs. Coach Hanson commented on how it had been a tough season for his team with 1 win and 17 losses. He commended his team on playing hard and showing good sportsmanship. Hanson ended his remarks with “losing is tough,” and guaranteeing they will win more games next year.

Hanson, Schmalz and Whiting handed out the certificates and letters to the team:

Freshmen

Martin Jenkins; Kenny Larson, who always maintained a positive attitude; Vince Marone, “a versatile athlete;” Tyrus Schmalz received praise for being a good player; Kaleb Whiting “always gave a 100% effort and worked hard;” and Michael Yerkman.

Sophomores

Jon Adams received his second year varsity letter and “is a great player;” and Kevin Robertson was identified as being on the “verge of being a great ball player.”

Juniors

Tim Johnson and Samuel Rodriguez, were recognized as two players who “worked hard for us.”

Seniors

Tom Kennedy, who was thanked for playing hard.

Players Jon Adams and Tim Johnson took the stage with Adams remarking how he was proud of everyone this season. They thanked their coaches, presenting gifts from the team to the coaches and Snyder. Adams referred to George Snyder with the unique tribute of “He’s the man!”

Coach Schmalz concluded the boys basketball presentation by speaking about the really strong team they’ll have next year with six freshman returning and only one senior leaving. This was a tough year and they all look eagerly forward to next year.

Next on the stage was Coach Tracy Krug making special mention of one of the most active parents, Lee Ramsey, who has been a “most amazing Eagle!” Ramsey took the stage to audience applause and abashedly remarked that he liked “acting like a squirrel in front of you-all!” He’s been a truly entertaining Eagle mascot at the games, fun to watch with his antics, while showing true black and gold Gilpin spirit!

Gilpin County Eagles High School Cheerleaders

Coach Tracy Krug presented the cheerleaders with their certificates and letters: Amanda Barngrover, Erin Brownson, Cammy Cullar, Katie Shimanskey, Lacey Terry, Aspen Walters, and Kirsten Welch.

Coach Krug reminded the cheerleaders and their parents that there would be a cheerleading camp for both females and males during the summer. The time and date of the camp will be set at a later date.

For her last presentation, Coach Krug commended wrestlers Michael Barngrover and David Yerkman for their participation on this year’s combined Clear Creek-Gilpin sports team as the Clear Creek Golddiggers.

The Booster Club will be sponsoring a basketball camp or shooting clinic this year for both the boys and girls teams. Coach Shu said the “Global Shot Doctor” clinic will take place on Friday, April 16, from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon at the high school. Coach Hanson stated that the clinic coach has 25-30 years of experience in the game and is in a school basketball hall of fame. Both coaches thanked the Booster Club for sponsoring the clinic, allowing school athletes an opportunity to improve their play with instruction by one of the best.

With the conclusion of the Winter Sports Banquet, smiling athletes with their cinch bags stuffed with awards, friends and family contentedly headed for home.

Lot’s of folks were watching the Vancouver winter Olympics last week. But, why not have our own Gilpin County Olympics featuring our very own special mountain contests? Here are my suggestions.

The Tow Chain Untangle

Many of our citizens have a tow chain ready to yank their neighbors out of ditches or their own driveways. Lots of folks with big trucks enjoy pulling their neighbors, friends, even enemies, out of these snow drifts. True tow chain Olympians compete about how fast they can do it. Normally these tow chains are in closets under heaps of junk, or mud rooms under heaps of other stuff. Sometimes they’re in the back of trucks under heaps of still other stuff. Sometimes they are, well, who knows where. The contest is to get those chains out, untangle them, and attach them to the vehicle that’s stuck. Then you, pull out the vehicle and get rewards from the owner such as hugs and kisses, free beer, etc. It’s a better reward than some old medal. We do it right in these mountains.

Awarding Points In Tow Chain Untangle

Points are awarded for length of time finding the tow chains as well as how long it takes to unwind each kink in the chain. Techniques include the g-d pull. Here the participant grabs any end and just pulls while cussing loudly. This can work, but often makes the tangle worse. Another technique is to lay the chain out in the snow under the starlight (it always is night) and chant over it. Still another technique is to build a small fire under the chain and get at least some of the attached ice off the links.

Point deductions: For pulling the bumper off the towed vehicle. For breaking the tow chain. For pulling the tail gate off the towed truck. For leaving the scene and going to the bar to re-think. Extra points are awarded for patience and style. Real mountain style includes offering your Carharts to the stuck person if they’ll just slide under there and hook up the tow chain.  Other style points include flourishing the untangled chain and petting the dog in the stuck vehicle. Speeds are highly variable for this event.  Average qualifiers do this whole thing in 31 minutes, but some have qualified in two days. No points are awarded if participants call Tim over at Help Towing or make a quick call to Black Hawk Towing.

The Post Office Dash

Since most of our local post offices and the Credit Union in Black Hawk close for lunch, most mountain folks wait till ten minutes before the closing then hop in the old jalopy and put the pedal to the metal. Points are awarded for pulling into the Post Office without looking in either direction. Extra points if you cut off a State Trooper with the move. Still more points if you leave the car running and then sprint up to the window all out of breath.

Deductions: If you forget the stuff you were going to mail. Still more deductions if you discover the due date on your credit card bill was yesterday anyway. Times vary, but one Central City citizen claims to have done this from her home to the Post Office in six minutes, five horn honks, two bad fingers, one shaken fist, and one other vehicle ending up on the sidewalk.

The Wood Pile One Foot

Points here begin when the participant realizes the wood box is empty. Participant puts on the one boot he or she can find. Participant hops on one foot to the wood pile and gathers firewood. Extra points if the one found boot is actually tied. Times vary greatly, but can range up to five minutes.

Deductions: No extra points for returning without any wood and shouting at cabin mate to go get it her/himself.

The Marital Relay

Participants must be married couples (or at least mountain style married) and own an older pick-up truck without four wheel drive. The truck must have no weight of any kind in the truck bed, this includes anything other than the set of tire chains. The course includes any county road leading up to the cabin, or the long uphill drive leading the same place. Play begins after any big snow dump. The woman suggests that they put the chains on the pick-up so they can make it home. The man replies that he’s been driving trucks since he was fourteen and can darn well make it up there. Points are given for the amount of time the man can hold out. The woman gains points for each time the truck slides backwards.

Penalties: If the truck actually ends up in the ditch the man is penalized. If the woman actually gets out and starts walking she has forfeited.

Awarding Points In The Marital Relay

The marital relay aspect occurs during the next trip up the same stretch of road. This time the woman is at the wheel, and the tire chains are on the truck.

Deductions: If she can’t get up the hill he gets points. If she gets half way up she gets half points and so on. The relay continues until spring, or when a divorce ends the contest.

The Jumper Cable Jump

Participants must be alone and temperature in Gilpin County must be zero or below. Two vehicles are needed, one which will start and one which will not start. Participant coasts the running vehicle to within cable stretching distance of the nonstarter. Jumper cables are extended from the running vehicle’s battery to the dead vehicles battery. Participant jumps over the cables and gooses the accelerator in the running vehicle to keep it going. Participant then jumps back over the cables to the dead battery and makes sure the cables are attached to negative and positive terminals even though they are completely covered with green corrosion. Participant then jumps back over cables to running vehicle to goose accelerator. Participant then jumps back to dead vehicle, turns key and hits that accelerator hoping for a start.

Awarding Points In Jumper Cable Jumping

Points are awarded for general agility in jumping back and forth over the cables.

Deductions: If the participant’s black lab is standing behind participant and he falls backward over the dog, points are deducted. If participant cusses and stands up suddenly hitting head on hood, points are deducted. If both vehicles die, points are deducted.

Other Mountain Olympic Games

What’s Vancouver got on Gilpin County? Nothing! Our Olympics begin in September and last till May. Our Olympic champions can train year round because it snows here year round. Best of all, anyone can suggest a game for our Olympics. I’ve already had suggestions such as “dog poop scoot” and “Moose jumping.” It takes a certain kind of champion to live around here. We ought to be awarding the gold.

The Dog Poop Scoot

Look the other way, hum a tune.

As first reported by Weekly Register-Call senior reporter Lynn Volkens in the November 19^th issue, Michael Kunzman, Bill Martin, and Brian Wareing appeared before Gilpin County Commissioners at the regularly scheduled meeting on November 17, 2009 regarding the discharge of firearms on a property in Missouri Gulch located in the Arapaho National Forest a mile or so up from Highway 119 and the Gilpin School. The property, owned by Trygve Lode of Littleton since 2001, is in the vicinity of the old town of Wide Awake, now commonly referred to as Uncle Charlie’s Ranch. Property owners Lode or Charlie Morgan were not present.

Wareing said he and Martin are from the Denver metro area, and were appearing at the Commissioners meeting because of an altercation with those who were shooting that involved another Denver friend, Michael Shearer. Wareing told Commissioners that documentary filmmaker Lode purchased the 20 acre property to film historic battle action scenes, and did not want people shooting at his property and was tired of always having to clean it up and haul out shot up trash before filming. He had hired a local realtor to be his property manager, and had posted the property with Private Property and No Shooting signage, and even put up a fence at one point. Regardless of the signage, those shooting had destroyed or taken down both over the past eight years. Wareing used a computer presentation to show the site, direction of shooting, targets, trees destroyed by shooting and the trash left behind. “It looks like a wasteland,” he said.

Adjoining property owner Kunzman referenced the pure spring water found at Charlie Morgan’s ranch and people traveling to the area to obtain the water. He said he’d visited the Lode property often as he has to pass by it on the dirt forest service road to access his own property, and determined the situation is a safety concern because the direction of the shooting is primarily towards Missouri Gulch Road and Morgan’s property. He said that he also spends a couple of days each year cleaning up the shot-up trash left behind on his neighbors property.

Per Shearer, on the Saturday in June 2009 when the altercation occurred, there were 7-10 unauthorized shooters on the 20 acres that was posted as private property with no shooting allowed. At the time, Shearer was working as a ranch hand for Morgan and was staying in the cabin on Morgan’s property across the road and downhill from the Lode property. He spent the morning cutting and stacking firewood over at the cabin and heard the shooting going on for several hours. Finally, after noticing bullet holes in the cabin’s outhouse and being concerned for his own safety, Shearer drove his pick-up the short distance up the hill to tell them that it was private property where no shooting was allowed and to ask them to leave. Because he was confronting multiple persons who were holding rifles, Shearer elected to stand behind his vehicle to talk to the shooters. When arguing with the armed persons, Shearer admitted to becoming agitated and waving and pointing his arm at the others as if he was armed, but stated he only had black work gloves on and no weapon.

Per the seven shooters in the reports they filed with the Gilpin Sheriff’s Office immediately after the confrontation, the property wasn’t posted, and being located right in the middle of the National Forest, it is legal to shoot there as obviously many others had been doing in the past per all the shot-up trash. They told the deputies that Shearer had threatened them with what appeared to be a semi-automatic type of a pistol, but per Shearer, he’s legally not allowed to even own a firearm, let alone carry one per a previous settlement with the FBI, CBI or TFA. So, it’s seven guys word against Shearer’s word, who apparently has a history with law enforcement. Shearer ended up being arrested within the hour once charges were filed and Deputies drove up to the Morgan property where Shearer had returned to.

The Deputies treated the situation in a SWAT-style arrest based on the charges filed as they’re trained to do when a man has threatened seven shooters with a handgun. They first cleared the area of other personnel, then called out and confronted and cuffed Shearer who didn’t resist arrest. The Deputies extensively searched the cabin and property for a handgun, but found none.

Sheriff Hartman says the case is out of his hands and the courts and jury have to determine whether Shearer was guilty of threatening the other seven guys with a handgun or not.

Since that incident, Shearer has obtained a good job after the short stint of being a hired hand at Uncle Charlie’s Ranch, and that new job is going to require him to travel out of the country. Since the trial isn’t set until late spring, this trial may cost him the job that he’s worked hard to get. His friends are trying to help get the charges dropped against him.

Shearer says that he owns some adjoining property to Morgan’s or Trygve’s, so should have a valid right to protest the shooting on his neighbor’s property.

Because this is an active pending case which is scheduled to go to trial sometime this spring, both the Gilpin County Sheriff Bruce Hartman and the District Attorney Scott Storey can’t comment or discuss and specifics.

Even if they’re unable to help their friend, the long-term solution, said Wareing, is to designate a legal and authorized shooting area in the county, pursue those who shoot in undesignated areas, and make them stop.

Sheriff Hartman agreed that a designated area, such as a sport shooting range would be best. He brought a map to the Commissioners meeting showing dozens of sites within the County (most on private properties) where folks have shot, or are discharging firearms. He is looking into potential firing range sites in Gilpin, and the Commissioners have also been looking for a 20-30 acre site that they could obtain from the Bureau of Land Management or Forest Service, and for funding to build a range that law enforcement and the public can share. Commissioner Schmalz pointed out that building a range won’t stop those who shoot on public Forest Service lands or private property. Both are allowed as long as there are proper backstops and shooting is done safely.

If shooting on private property is a violation of subdivision covenants, said Hartman, it can be pursued as a civil case via the Homeowners Association, but as long as the shooting is being done safely, the Sheriff has no authority in these cases. Meanwhile, Sheriff Deputy patrols in Missouri Gulch have been increased, which may be deterring those who have been illegally using the property for shooting as deputies have not found anyone there since this incident. Hartman asked Commissioners to move the shooting range issue up on their priority list.

One recent option that is being discussed informally by Commissioners and local shooting enthusiasts is to solicit private land donation of the 20-30 acres needed for a public shooting range that would be maintained by either the County or by a private organization with sponsorship from the NRA and Forest Service, and maybe with a small membership fee to help with maintenance. This would help ease the tension between mountain property owners, hiking and biking enthusiasts, and those who want to practice target shooting in a safe and responsible manner.

Gilpin County Eagles win at Silver State for the first game of the year on Thursday, September 3rd, giving a huge moral boost to the players. The Varsity girls tried to keep it going with another win, but came up short in their next Tuesday, September 8^th match. Game three started out with a loss for the Eagles, but ended with three wins ending the match 3-1. Eagles then continued to win on Thursday, September 10th.

An interview with the Gilpin County Coach revealed new information on this years Girls Varsity Volleyball team. All of the Varsity players are returning from last year. They also got back several players from previous years. Shauna Corsino moved to Texas the previous year, but was back to play for this year. According to the coach she is a good hitter and a great defensive player. Megan Spellman returned this year after a year of going to Golden High School and playing for the Golden Junior Varsity Volleyball team. She starts playing varsity on 9/15 when she is off probation for switching schools. According to the Gilpin Volleyball Coach, she is a great setter and along with returning setter Erin Brownson the Varsity team is ready for anything. Two new freshman were added to the Gilpin Varsity roster – Samantha Peterson and Katura Sales. The Gilpin Eagles Volleyball team has been working a lot on teamwork to help bring their team together.

The Silver State Volleyball team was not large enough for both a Junior Varsity team and a Varsity team, so most of their Junior Varsity team played on the Varsity team.

The Junior Varsity game started out with a bang for Gilpin County as they came out with a win 25-16. The second game was close, but the Silver State ladies pulled away with the win by two points, posting the winning score of Gilpin County 23 – Silver State 25. Due to CHASA rules, they only played two games to allow the players to play all five varsity games if needed.

The Silver State Varsity team came into the game against our Varsity players pumped from the win from the second Junior Varsity game. In the first game, Gilpin County posted a win with a 25-20 score. In the second game, Gilpin girls dominated, ending with a score of 25-13. In the third game, Gilpin came away with yet another amazing victory – ending the game with a kill from Megan Ball, a junior from Gilpin, ending the score at 25-13 in favor of the lady Eagles.

“They were a bit weak on serving in this game, but our defense is getting much stronger,” says Varsity Coach Sunny Vincent.

In the Shining Mountain game, Junior Varsity played hard and came out and pulled away with a narrow win of 27-25. They finished game two with another close game, finishing the set 29-27 as Gilpin wins once again.

The Varsity came out strong, but fell short in game one with a loss 25-18, and the next two games both ended in a 25 -21 loss. They were tough losses for the Varsity girls, but Shelby Foelsch tried to stop them with four amazing blocks.

“Shining Mountain has some hard hitters,” says Head Coach Sunny Vincent “but our front row blockers made them work hard for their kills.”

The Gilpin Eagles took on the Jim Elliot Warriors for their third game of the season. The Junior Varsity started out with an amazing game winning 25-5. Then game two was closer, but Gilpin County pulled away with the win at 25-20.

Varsity game one started with a couple of kills for Gilpin which started a rally early in the first couple minutes of the game, but Jim Elliot pulled away slowly and Gilpin lost 20-25. In game two, Gilpin started out strong with three hard serves from Megan Ball. They kept a strong lead until it was game point; Jim Elliot started to come back with a rally on game point. It wasn’t enough though and Gilpin still pulled the win 25-20. Game three was a great game for the Eagles as they started with a big lead from the beginning of the game and stayed strong to the end winning 25-13. The last game of the set was a close one with Gilpin pulling away just at the end winning 25-20, which adds another victory for Gilpin.

The Eagles are looking good this season and showing great improvements from last year. This week starts league competitions with two home games. Tuesday, it’ll be against Lutheran Parker, and Thursday against Resurrection Christian. JV Starts at 5 pm and varsity at 6 pm. Thursday night is free admission for all Gilpin School Students. Monday night the teams travel to Nederland. There is a fan bus for Gilpin Students, but students must sign-up by Thursday and the bus leaves Monday at 4:30 pm. Come support the Eagles and cheer them on to more victories.

Silver State Stats

Erin Brownson, the Varsity Setter got 13 assists and three aces. Shauna Corsino got three kills, two aces, and one dig. Megan Ball got eight kills and five aces. Shelby Foelsch got one kill, three aces, and one block. Becca Schafer got one kill and three digs. Katura Sales got one kill – not bad for not playing much. Molly Quaranto got one kill and two digs. Katie Schimanskey got one kill for her first varsity game.

Shining Mountain Stats

Erin Brownson served four for nine and got three assists. Molly Quaranto served six for six, and got six digs. Becca Schafer served six for nine with one assist. Katie Schimanskey had three kills. Samantha Peterson served seven for seven with one ace. Shelby Foelsch served six for nine with two kills, one assist and four blocks. Megan Ball served 12 for 14 with four digs, two kills, and one assist. Shauna Corsino got four kills and one dig. Katura got four kills.

Jim Elliot Christian Stats

Erin Brownson got 12 assists and three aces. Kirsten Welch got one ace and two digs. Molly Quaranto got one assist, two kills, three aces, and three blocks. Samantha Peterson got five kills, 10 for 10 for serving, three aces and two digs. Katura Sales got five kills. Megan Ball served 13 for 13, and got six kills. Shelby Foelsch got 10 kills, one ace, one dig, and three blocks. Becca Schafer got one assist, two kills, and three digs. Katie Schimanskey got one kill and one block.

There’s a big trail race coming up on Saturday, June 6th, in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. It’s called the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty and is composed of 30 mile, 12 mile, and 7 mile courses all being run on a trail beginning and ending at Nott Creek Trail Head within the park boundaries. Megan Baker is the driving force behind establishing the local race to benefit Gilpin girls. The goal of the race is to raise funds for scholarships to send several Gilpin girls to wilderness leadership camps through The Women’s Wilderness Institute (TWWI) in Boulder.

Why is Baker so strongly motivated and dedicated to establishing this first annual trail race? She wants to boost the confidence of girls becoming women by showing them that through hard work and training that they can accomplish what they set out to do. This concept is demonstrated in training for and completing the race, and further reinforced in TWWI wilderness leadership camps. According to Baker, TWWI’s mission is to strengthen confidence, courage, and leadership skills in girls and women through wildness and community-based experiences. In preparation for this race, Baker hosts a running club after school hours open to all at the Gilpin School.
Baker has successfully promoted the race to numerous organizations and raised money through sponsorships. One of the sponsors is Runner’s Roost, which has donated socks, running shoes, tee shirts, and water bottles in outfitting ten girls for the race. Another sponsor is the local Peak to Peak Rotary Club which donated cash for the cause. The Golden Gate Dirty Thirty is a 501c3 organization, meaning that any donation to the group is tax deductible. A link to the Gilpin County website should be available in the near future for accessible information.

Please visit Baker’s website, www.goldengatedirtythirty.org, for a more complete description of the race and its activities. The website offers a visual tour of the trail run through beautiful photographs—which may help allay the fears of those of us running (or walking) any race for the first time. Fun race categories range from the Tortoise (Slow) to the Homo sapiens (Average) to the fleet-of-foot Mountain Goat (Very Fast). Register for the race under Registration—Runner Information and choose your race category. If you don’t register to be an athlete for a day, be sure to volunteer your time to the event. Many volunteers are needed to make this trail race a good happening and a recurring event. See you in the nearest recovery room—or rather, at the post-race festivities in the Red Barn—after the race!

Seventeen young Piranhas, members of the Peak to Peak Swim Team, journeyed down the hill in icy, sub-zero weather on Sunday, April 5^th, to participate in their final meet of the winter season against nine other teams at the Westminster Swim and Fitness Club. All teams at the meet were members of the Colorado Association of Recreational Athletics (CARA), which emphasizes good sportsmanship, individual participation, and physical fitness.

The Piranhas who participated in this meet were:

Nicole Adams

Alex and Garrett Ceurvorst

Courtney Clemmer

Sydney Crabb

Emily Curcio

Benjamin, Caleb, and Natalie Hoppes

Eileen Lanthier

Breegan and Kiernan McClish

Andi and Jonathan Ramsey

Anjali Russell

Paul Schumacher

Rachel Schmalz

All the Piranhas participated in freestyle and medley relay races. They also had a chance to show off their cool swimming skills in the backstroke and breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle strokes during different races. Most of the Piranhas also participated in Individual Medley races in which they demonstrated their prowess in all four strokes in one race. Coach Jen (Jennifer Lavely) always has a big smile on her face around her swimmers–she’s pleased with her swimmers, their progress, and meet results.

The Peak to Peak Swim Team continues to practice on Monday and Wednesday at the Gilpin County Community Center in preparation for their upcoming summer season. The season’s first meet will be on Sunday, June 14^th, at the Northglenn Recreation and Cultural Center. Take a look at the team’s website, www.peaktopeakswimteam.com, for more information on practice and meet schedules or for further information on how to join the “Swimmers with Altitude!”