Following is a list of the top local sports stories from 2011.
Stories include a pair of coaching legends, an NFL Hall of Famer hunting in the area, a former high school basketball star playing in Poland, a body builder competing at the highest level, a cyclist taking on the ultimate physical challenge and some young athletes who hope to someday leave their mark.
50 YEARS AT DOVE CREEK
Kenneth Soper became Dolores County High School head football coach in 1964.
The 27-year-old physical education teacher spent three years as an assistant before his predecessor was fired. Dove Creek football was such a mess, that every game on the 1964 season schedule was canceled, except one.
Only Moffat County High School in Craig kept the Bulldogs on the schedule for its homecoming game.
Playing 8-man football, Moffat County was, of course, expecting an easy victory over the beleaguered Bulldogs. The perceived lowly Dolores County football team ran the ball throughout the game on a series of sweeps and won, giving Soper his first win as a head coach. Now, 305 wins, 20 league championships, 28 playoff appearances and 47 years later, Soper remains the head man of the Dove Creek High School Bulldogs. Eventually, the name of the school changed to Dove Creek High School but its football coach has stayed the same.
Soper stands just one win away from tying the all-time Colorado record for wins by a high school football coach.
As for continuing coaching, Soper would like to play his passion by ear.
However, before the season began, DCHS principal Ty Gray had a meeting with Soper to inform him that the school would not renew his contract after the 2011 football and 2012 baseball seasons.
According to an Oct. 20, article published by the Dove Creek Press, a Dolores County School Board meeting will be held this spring to determine if any coaching changes will be made for the 2012-13 academic school year.
ELI TOMAC gets his first win of the season
Cortez native and pro motocross rider Eli Tomac won the first race of his rookie American Motorcyclist Association Supercross season in February at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif.
Tomac, 18, won the Supercross Lites West race on his Honda CRF250R dirt bike and moved into third-place in the Supercross Lites West season standings. Tomac competes for Geico Power sports Honda factory racing team.
Its been going well for me, Tomac said about his rookie year. I moved 12 points from first and nine from second in the standings. I made up a lot of ground in that race.
Tomac is the son of Mountain Bike Hall of Famer John Tomac. Eli credits his father for his successful motocross upbringing in Cortez.
Its kind of cool, the motocross thing isnt that big in the area, Eli Tomac said. It was cool to have a big ranch to live and ride on. Thats where it all started.
HALL OF FAMER ON THE HUNT
Jim Kelly is well know throughout the world.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback was a first-ballot selection in 2002. Largely in part to playing in four consecutive Super Bowls for the Buffalo Bills and revolutionizing the no-huddle offense in his 11-year NFL passing career.
What many people dont know about is Kellys other love hunting.
Hunting has even brought Kelly to Montezuma County for the past three years. He bagged his first buck here in 2009, along with his brother Pat Kelly.
Colorado Hunting Expeditions owner and guide Bob Luna donated a hunt to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Florida. A man named Larry Bennett bought the hunt and brought Jim Kelly along as his guest in 2009. Jim and Pat Kelly, and a few more friends flew to the Four Corners in search of big game. The 51-year-old Hall of Famer and his hunting contingent have been coming back ever since.
Kelly harvested a 5-point mule deer buck on a picturesque sunny fall Montezuma County morning in his first Southwest Colorado hunt.
Bagging my first muley with (hunting guide) Josh Boren, I mean, just being able to do that with Josh, him being able to show us sights and places where your average person wouldnt know, Kelly said about his favorite hunting experience. The people in this community have opened their arms up. Overall, my experience here has been unbelievable.
UNIVERSAL STATUS
In the world of bodybuilding, there is Mr. Universe, the elite competition among amateurs and professionals. In Musclemania, Mr. Universe is the top.
In June at Miami, Dolores amateur bodybuilder Rob Robson competed in Mr. Universe for the first time against more than 700 bodybuilders worldwide representing 48 countries.
Robson, a certified personal trainer and nutritionist at the Ute Mountain Recreation Center in Towaoc, represented Colorado and the rest of the United States well by placing fourth at the 2011 Mr. Universe competition. He weighed in at 189 pounds and competed in the masters division.
Robson was one of two Americans to place top-five and said he was nervous during judges decisions about whether he would place or not.
Prejudging came and went. I didnt know. I wasnt sure at all, he said.
When Robsons name was called for fourth place, it was a universal sign of relief.
A competition that draws that many competitors, fourth place is nothing to sneeze at, he said.
Hills legendary reign, supreme
In 1981, the boys basketball coaching position at Mancos High School opened up. When Gary Hill got the job to coach the Bluejays, he and his family moved to Mancos.
Seventeen San Juan Basin League regular-season championships, 12 district titles, 17 regional tournament appearances, eight state tournament appearances, and what do you get? Eighteen of the past 22 seasons of post-season basketball at MHS. With all of the success, Hill never moved on to coach at a bigger school. It was simply because Mancos offered something more important, family.
The community has just been super for me and my family, Hill said about Mancos. When my kids got old enough, I wanted them to go to school there. My girls graduated in 95 and 97, and having the opportunity to coach my son when he was there (2000-2003), those are just indescribable terms. I couldnt have had a better place.
Last season, Mancos won seven of its last 10 games to cap off a 12-9 year where it advanced to regionals. It was the Bluejays ninth post-season appearance in the past 10 years.
With nine SJBL Coach of the Year honors, having coached the 1991 and 1997 Colorado High School Coaches Association All-State games and being recognized by CHSCA as a Level 4 coach for surpassing 335 wins, 61-year-old Hill did not have his contract at Mancos renewed for a 31st season. Hills overall coaching record is 447-273 (.610).
BEARS BAT WAY TO STATE FINAL FOUR
Revenge tasted sweet for the Dolores Bears baseball team at the 2A-Region 1 Tournament in Delta in May.
A week after losing the 2A-District 2 championship 9-6 to Paonia in Grand Junction, Dolores (17-5, No. 4 Colorado Class 2A) got another shot at the Pirates. After a thorough 25-8 dismantling of Sargent in the Bears first game at regionals, Dolores let the bats fly for 21 hits and never trailed in an 18-11 victory over Paonia, clinching the region title and a spot in the Colorado High School Activities Association, Final Four 2A State Championships. It was the Bears first state tournament appearance since 1981 and they ended some longtime frustration against Paonia.
Although the Bears lost 7-0 to eventual state champion Rye High School, it was a historic season for Dolores baseball nonetheless. The Bears made their first state tournament appearance since winning the Colorado Class A state championship in 1981 over Revere, 7-2, according to www.chsaa.org.
PANTHERS GOLF FOURTH AT STATE
It was another historic year for the Montezuma-Cortez High School boys golf team.
The Panthers returned home from a successful appearance at the Colorado High School Activities Association 4A Boys Golf State Championships in Windsor that was played in early October.
A young Panthers squad struggled the first day at Pelican Lakes Golf Club, shooting a team score of 231 (top three finishers).
We just couldnt put it together for two full days. The course is very difficult, M-CHS coach Micah Rudosky said. They moved the tees up on quite a few of the holes, so it didnt play the length that I thought it would play. But you still had to hit great shots on certain holes.
One of the difficult holes was No. 3, in which the Panthers shot six-over par on.
However, the second day, M-CHS made adjustments and shot a team score of 228 for a two-day total of 459. The Panthers placed fourth at state out of 11 4A teams.
KIRK ARCHIBEQUE CONTINUES PLAY IN POLAND
Kirk Archibeque, 27, helped lead Polpharma to the 2010-11 Polish Cup Title in the Tauron (Polish) Basketball League last season.
The solid 6-foot-9 starting center signed with LKS Sphinx Petrolinvest Lodz, also of the TBL, this season.
Its the same league, same level of competition, but Ill have a new role, said the former Montezuma-Cortez, Northern Colorado and Fort Lewis hardwood standout. My new role is they basically want me to come in and shoot the ball more, and play a more aggressive game. Ill be on the floor a lot more, so Im excited about that.
Archibeque received the Eurobasket.com Player of the Week award for Round 4. Archibeque, who led Montezuma-Cortez to a state title, now plays for Zastal Zielona Gora in Poland. Archibeque currently is scoring eight points per game and pulling down six rebounds a game.
TITANS CAP HISTORICAL SEASON
The Montezuma Titans fifth-grade football team made history by going undefeated.
After going 8-0 in the regular-season and winning two playoff games, the Titans were a win away from their ultimate goal the YAFL Super Bowl.
The Titans were looking to become the first team from Montezuma County to win the Super Bowl. Inevitably, the Titans met their nemesis, the Aztec (N.M.) Lobos.
Despite the Lobos best efforts to win, Montezuma came out on top, 26-12, in Farmington, N.M.
It was big for the organization to get that first win, coach Scott Conklin said about winning the Super Bowl. This is what we set out to do.
After winning their first Super Bowl, the Titans went to Gallup, N.M., to defend their Four Corners championship in early November. The Titans cruised past Farmington, 26-0, in the first game. In the title bout, the Titans faced instate foe Pagosa Springs, the last team to beat Montezuma. But the Titans would not be denied perfection, as they knocked off Pagosa Springs 25-19 in overtime, capping a 13-0 season.
SHAWN GREGORY GRINDS IT OUT
Veteran mountain bike racer Shawn Gregory finished arguably the worlds most grueling bike race in August.
Gregory completed the 2011 Colorado Trail Race in 5:15.44 (days, hours, minutes).
It was the toughest bike race I have done, said Gregory, who crossed the Durango finish line at 10:24 p.m. Saturday night Aug. 6. I felt like I dealt well with the sleep deprivation, but dealing with wet clothes was kind of hard. It wasnt like I had a spare pair of socks and stuff. The amount of hiking that I did took a toll on my feet. Riding a singlespeed, you cant shift down, you have to hike.
The 490-mile Colorado Trail consistently runs between 11- and-12,000 feet above sea level from Denver to Durango.
Extra motivation to finish the race came from The NEST (Nurturing Environment for Safe Transitions) in Cortez. Gregory raced to increase awareness and help raise funds for abused children in the area. Gregory said donations to The NEST greatly increased during the race.
