I can’t believe the Athletic Year has come to a close! Our STEM Spartans all competed with heart and passion, bringing nothing but honor and respect to our school. While most of us focus on wins and losses when considering success, there are so many other things that count just as much if not more. We have students who made friendships, memories and gained confidence for future endeavors. A few of our students were able to leverage their participation and success in athletics to win scholarship money. Other students learned time management skills in order to maintain their eligibility. Still others learned to play their part in a larger plan. These skills will stay with them throughout their lives. Employers want former athletes because they know that athletes have learned to work hard, take direction and learn from adversity. Athletics is so much more than practices and competitions!
Middle School eSports has wrapped up their inaugural season!
Rocket League Finished 4th in the Mountain Region(8 states and part of Canada). Students competed in teams of three against 34 teams. They missed third place by 20 points. The team consisted of Kyle Shoemaker, Jamey Espinosa, and Mikey Lambie. All three plan to compete in various eSports in High School.
Kyle finished 4th in Scores per Game across the entire league. (Side note, Kyle holds national rankings in the larger Rocket League community.) To say we are excited to see what Kyle will do in High School is an understatement.
Smash Bros Gold team finished 28th out of 94 teams in the Mountain Region. The team consisted of Nico LaGrand, Brody Penar, and Nate Minyard. Nico plans to continue on our High School team.
Smash Bros Blue team finished 25th out of 94 teams in the Mountain Region. Team members included Caleb Alleman, Max Bozarth, and Adrian Basham.
Jamey Espinosa and Nico LaGrand were awarded the STEM eSports Founders Award for their efforts in developing Middle School eSports at STEM and coaching teammates and competitors.
Rachel Espinosa has been nominated for Coach of the Year! Last day of voting was 5-16-25. We will let you know the results as soon as we have them. What an honor to even be nominated.
For the first time in program history, the STEM girls’ golf team played in a full-day, 18-hole tournament at the CHSAA 2A Region 4 Championships on Monday, May 12.
It just so happens that it wasn’t your average 18-hole tournament.
The course, RainDance National, in Windsor, CO, is the longest course in North America (8,463 yards from the back tees), with an elevation change of 250 feet as you make your way around. In the rules meeting before tee off, the players were warned not to look for balls in the several arroyos on the course, since there was a chance “you won’t get back out.”
Tasked with taking on such a lengthy, steep and treacherous terrain, the four Spartans in the field faced the challenge admirably.
There were moments that the arroyos took their toll, with lost balls adding up (we’ll politely not mention Hole #12 here), and even the rough next to the arroyos sometimes taking a couple of swings to successfully escape from. Landing in a bunker was a relief for the golfers considering the alternatives.
Once the players safely found the green, they regained the energy needed to move on to the next hole — which on some occasions spanned such a long distance that the tournament organizers, and sometimes Coach Kerwin, set up an intricate system of shuttle services to get between holes.
Leyna Houghton rounded out an impressive freshman campaign by leading STEM with a round of 135, which was good for 29th place. Rowan LaRose spent part of the day in the top-ten before the course took its toll and left her at 148 for the day (36th place).
Seniors Payton Anderson (150, 37th place) and Sky Goodnight (158, 38th place) ended their careers with the added notch on their belt of conquering such a difficult course — to add to their legacy of helping to found the girls’ golf team this year.
The team will look to use Monday’s experience to build for next season; if this year was about STEM dipping its toe in the waters of the competitive girls’ golf landscape, next year the team will look to dive in head first!
STEM Spartans Athletics is offering team camps for High School Boys and Girls Basketball and Volleyball this summer at STEM. The Volleyball Camps are scheduled for June 2-6 (girls 9am-noon, boys 1-4pm) and will be directed by STEM’s HS Coach Abby Tomic. The Basketball Camps are scheduled for July 28-Aug 1 (boys 9am-noon, girls 1-4pm) and will be directed by the HS Basketball Coaches John Munro(boys) and Jeff Hager(girls).
Team camps are for STEM students only, and are designed to be fun, improve individual and team skills, promote team building, and help our teams prepare for the seasons ahead. Current players are strongly encouraged to attend, and new players are very much welcomed, as these can be a fun and beneficial way to be introduced to a sport and the teams STEM has to offer.
STEM has a new registration system for Athletics, here is the link to all registrations(good to bookmark):
STEM Athletics and Activities Registration Page
And this is the link specific to HS Summer Camp registration:
Registration for FALL sports are live now! If you are planning on playing a FALL sport, please register as soon as you can. Remember that you will need a CURRENT physical to be eligible to PRACTICE and play. No exceptions can be made. You do NOT need a physical for Summer Camps.
The 2nd Annual End of Year Celebration for Athletics was held Tuesday, May 13th. Your honorees for 2024/2025 athletic year are:
Freshmen of the Year:Morgan Hamm and Chris Gallegos
Most Improved:Rowan LaRose and Ben Yoder
Sportsmanship:Auburne Mauger/Kiki Kingman and Kaden Morrison
Team Scholarship – Speech/Debate with a 4.29 overall team GPA!
Male and Female Athlete of the Year:Kylie Pautler and Braden Calme
Well done Spartans!
The moment has finally arrived! STEM Spartan Athletics has an APP!
Click here to download the STEM Spartan App from the Google Play Store.
Click here to download the STEM Spartan App from the Apple App Store.
Download the app to see current schedules, news, and receive team messages and DM’s from coaches and STEM Athletics.