The opening weeks of the high school sports winter season create interesting momentum.
Local basketball players, wrestlers, swimmers, divers and hockey players begin to gravitate toward midseason form only to have a couple weeks off for winter break.
The season resumed in earnest this past weekend.
And in the days before and after the multiweek break, plenty of local athletes made notable impressions.
Here’s a look at the top athletes, moments and statistics from the final days before winter break and the first couple days after it:
Top athletes
Reagan Annable, Windsor girls swimming and diving
Annable, a senior, made quite the splash just before the winter break during one of the biggest meets of the season, The Rex Memorial Invitational — also known as the Coaches Invitational — at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton on Dec. 20. She placed first in the one-meter diving finals with a dominant score of 526.05. Annable was the state runner-up in the 4A championships a year ago.
Claire Brown, Briggsdale girls basketball
Brown, a senior, nearly matched the opposing team’s offensive output singlehandedly in the Falcons’ 62-35 home win against Cheyenne Wells on Dec. 19. She had 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go with five assists and six steals.
Briggsdale standout Claire Brown takes a shot against McClave in the semifinals game at the Bank of Colorado Arena of Friday March 8, 2024.(Jim Rydbom/Greeley Tribune file photo)Sophia Carbajal, Northridge girls basketball
Carbajal, a junior, filled up the stat sheet in the Grizzlies’ 52-35 home win against Roosevelt on Dec. 16. She had 33 points on 14-of-22 shooting to go with 15 rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot.
Valeria Calzada, Greeley West girls basketball
Calzada, a senior, had a big double-double in the Spartans’ 55-40 home win against Adams City on Dec. 18. She scored 21 points to go with 17 rebounds, a block and a steal.
Crew Haythorn, Eaton boys basketball
Haythorn, a junior, was explosive and efficient in the Reds’ 78-61 home win against Fort Lupton on Dec. 16. He scored a game-high 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting, including 5 of 12 from 3-point range, to go with six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Robert Kendall, Windsor senior
Kendall, a senior, is looking to cap his high school wrestling career with a second consecutive state title. He certainly has displayed championship form early this season, as he won his bracket (175 pounds) in the Northern Colorado Christmas Tournament on Dec. 19-20 at the Island Grove Event Center in Greeley. The tournament is arguably more difficult to win than most classifications’ state tournaments. Kendall capped his 5-0 tournament run by picking up a 26-9 technical fall against Eaton junior Paxton Pettinger in 6 minutes in the finals.
Windsor wrestler Robert Kendall, right, picks up Lutheran wrestler Lincoln Feagans in the 165-pound match in the 4A Region Wrestling Tournament in Windsor on Feb. 8, 2025. Kendall went on to win his first state title. (Jim Rydbom/Greeley Tribune file photo)Chris LaLonde, Roosevelt boys wrestling
LaLonde, a senior, is no stranger to topping podiums. He has two state titles to his name. On Dec. 19-20, he won another highly prestigious tournament, placing first at 144 pounds in the Northern Colorado Christian Tournament. LaLonde (15-0) pinned his three opponents before closing his tournament campaign with three consecutive wins via decision. He earned a 9-0 major decision against Cleveland (New Mexico) junior Marcus Abeyta in the finals.
Noah Lucero, Roosevelt boys basketball
Lucero, a junior, was perfect from the field in the Rough Riders’ 76-48 road win against Northridge on Dec. 16. He scored 21 points on 9-of-9 shooting to go with six rebounds and two steals.
Malakii Martin, Roosevelt boys wrestling
Like LaLonde, Martin, a talented sophomore, also dominated at the Northern Colorado Christmas Tournament. He won the 138-pound bracket and ran his record to 9-0. He defeated Smoky Hill junior Jovani Galvan 6-0 in the final. Each of Martin’s previous five wins in the tournament were pins. He led the Rough Riders to a third-place finish (188 points) behind Cleveland (New Mexico, 237) and Pueblo East (202). It was the highest placement of any team in the area.
Coehn Nitzel, University boys basketball
Nitzel, a senior, had a near-triple-double in the Bulldogs’ dominant 72-51 road win against Northridge on Dec. 18. He scored 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting to go with 13 rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
University player Coehn Nitzel takes a shot while playing against Eaton on Tuesday Jan. 23, 2024. (Jim Rydbom/Greeley Tribune file photo)Evan Perez, Windsor boys wrestling
Perez, a senior, wasn’t fazed in the least by the competition in the Northern Colorado Christmas Tournament. He tore through the field at 215 pounds, capping his 5-0 run with a 19-3 technical fall in 2:37 in the finals over Roosevelt junior Michael Garcia. Perez (15-0), a two-time state champion, had two pins and three technical falls in the challenging two-day tournament. He helped the Wizards to a fourth-place finish (170 points) in the team standings.
Madden Smiley, Windsor boys basketball
Smiley, a senior, had a dominant outing just before the break in an 87-56 win against Castle View during the Holiday Classic at Cherry Creek on Dec. 19. He scored 35 points on 14-of-20 shooting, including 5 of 7 from downtown, to go with 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals.
Samuel Stockton, Resurrection Christian boys wrestling
Stockton is looking to reach even great heights in his senior season after winning his first state title a year ago. On Dec. 19-20, he earned a title in perhaps an even tougher tournament than the state tournament, the Northern Colorado Christmas Tournament. He went 6-0 in his bracket, including a 12-2 major decision victory over Cleveland (New Mexico) senior Riley Haussler in the finals. He secured four pins and two major decisions in the star-studded tournament.
Bethany Vrooman, Resurrection Christian girls basketball
The Cougars entered the winter break fresh off a big 49-38 road win against Eaton on Dec. 19, and Vrooman, a senior, had an impressive all-around performance. She had a game-high 27 points along with 12 rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocked shots.
Eaton's Blake Hawkins wrestles with Alameda International's Caleb Ballejos during a 120-pound match at the Northern Colorado Christmas Tournament at the Island Grove Event Center in Greeley on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)Top moments
Resurrection Christian picked up a big girls-boys basketball sweep on the road against fellow perennial contender Eaton on Dec. 19. The girls won 49-38, and the boys earned a hard-fought 52-44 win.
While the Reds weren’t victorious on the hardwood, the school certainly walked away with a worthy accomplishment on the mat a day later in the Northern Colorado Christmas Tournament at Island Grove Event Center. With 150.5 team points, Eaton, a 3A squad, won the small-schools team title. The Reds placed fifth overall out of 87 teams.
Marquee matchup
University earned a 47-43 nail-biting, seesaw girls basketball win on the road against Northridge just before the break, on Dec. 18. The Grizzlies erased an early 14-11 deficit to lead 24-19 at halftime. The Bulldogs stormed back with a 14-4 run in the third quarter to gain a 33-28 advantage, keeping Northridge at arm’s length in the fourth.
By the numbers
University, the defending 4A girls basketball champion, has been essentially flawless through the first few weeks of the season. Entering a road game against Lutheran on Tuesday, the Bulldogs were 8-0 overall and had outscored their opponents 449-241, which is an average of 56-30.
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