Shaw’s exploits take top spot in Fort Lupton sports for 2011

It isn’t often that Fort Lupton can crow about a world champion.
But that’s exactly what happened in 2011, and that’s why Brian Shaw’s first-place effort in the World’s Strongest Man event in North Carolina earned the top spot in the recap of top sports stories this year.

Brian Shaw

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Fort Lupton’s Candace Cook goes for the kill as Conifer’s Brooke Shaw (7) and Brittany Langford try for the block during the Class 4A District 3 volleyball tournament at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch.

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Fort Lupton’s Juan Arellano (5) walks off the field along with teammates Arnaldo Chavez, left, and Francisco Arellano after losing 4-2 against Mullen in the first round of Class 4A soccer playoffs Oct. 25 at Mullen High School.

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    Shaw won first place in the final event of the competition, the stones. He beat runner-up Zydrunas Savickas by four points. Shaw finished fourth in the 375-kg frame carry and second in the 450-kg (1,000-pound) tire carry. He took second in the truck pull and second in the deadlift at 432 kg. He finished fifth in the log lift with five repetitions.
    Shaw was second a year ago and third in 2009.
    In February, his approach to the pending world championships was rather simple: “Why not me?” After all, Shaw was the runner-up in the 2010 event in South Africa. He originally wanted to play basketball and was able to play in college.
     “I think a lot of people put a lot of limitations. People dwell on the negative. Whenever I went after something, I believed in myself,” he said.
    Shaw enjoyed the weight training and conditioning so much during his basketball years that he decided to explore the world of professional strength competition.
    “Why can’t the world’s strongest man be from Fort Lupton?” Shaw remembers asking himself as he embarked on this career. “The world’s strongest man has to come from somewhere. Just because I came from a small town that doesn’t mean I can’t be the absolute best in the world at something.”
    That wasn’t the only sports event in the area this year. Here’s a thumbnail recap.

February

    Derek Salinas finished third in the state wrestling tournament through a rather improbable finish. He lost his first match in the tournament, then had to win five in a row.
    Salinas, who was the Eastern Metro Athletic Conference wrestler of the year, graduated with 107 career wins as a member of the Bluedevils.
    “Yes, I think it means more making my way to third on the consolation side,” Salinas said. “I kept telling myself not to give up and just to try my hardest.”
    Donovan McMahill, who is from nearby Lochbuie, won his second straight NCAA Division II national wrestling title in San Francisco.

March

    A pair of Fort Lupton basketball players earned spots on an all-star team representing Weld County high schools.
    Zach Reynolds and Clint Cook were among 24 Weld County High School players from the county’s 15 schools selected based on their performance during the basketball season.
    The score of 130-108 looked like an ABA game of years past.
    “We had one practice the night before. We got familiar with one another,” Reynolds said. “We ran through some drills, scrimmaged and qualified for the 3-point contest.”
    “There was still pressure to win the game because you never want to lose,” Cook said. “The whole game was played like a normal game except for the last five minutes of the fourth quarter. It was pretty much everyone clear the lane and see who can dunk it.”

May

    Fort Lupton returned to the first round of the state 4A baseball playoffs and lasted just one game. Green Mountain blanked the Bluedevils 10-0 in Johnstown.
    “Nobody wants it to end. But
we’re not going to ignore the
fact these kids persevered,” coach Mark Gonzales said. “We knocked off the overall EMAC league champion in Northglenn. Some of the accomplishments these kids have made in the last two years have been awesome. But a game like this is part of building and getting that foundation is getting to the next level. That’s what we’re going to do.”

    WICHITA – Former Fort Lupton pitcher Matt Stevens and the rest of his Colby Community College baseball teammates came up one win short of a trip to the National Junior College World Series. Colby finished the season with a record of 42-19.

    When it came to finding a new football coach for the Fort Lupton High School, three factors helped seal the deal: location, location, location.
    Every work day, Jeff Priestley, the Bluedevils’ new head coach, commutes from his home near Platteville to his job teaching physical education and health at Thornton High School.
    “When I drive home I go past there, so I became very excited for looking at the position and it worked out and I ended up being fortunate enough to get the job,” Priestley said.
    Priestley replaced Justin Carpenter, who was the Bluedevils’ head coach for two years. Carpenter and his staff resigned in December 2010.

June

    Kerry Brunton decided it was time to move from the athletic director’s seat back to the classroom. Joseph Gutierrez, the girls basketball coach, took Brunton’s administrative spot.
    Brunton had no regrets about the move.
    “I miss the classroom and being around the kids,” he said. “I have just a few years left. I don’t have reservations about retiring. I think I’ll be able to find ways to entertain myself. I have financial reservations, but everyone else does, too.”
    
    ALAMOSA – The wrestling swan songs are in the bag for Fort Lupton’s Derek Salinas and Eddie Finkbiner.
    They were in a contingent of 26 high school wrestlers who competed at the Colorado High School Coaches Association all-state games at Adams State College.
    Salinas and Finkbiner were on the same team, “The Red Rockets.” The squad beat the Blue team on the scoreboard, but Salinas lost his match 5-2 to Corbin Bennetts of Buena Vista at 119 pounds.
    “It was pretty cool,” Salinas said. “He was a three-time state champ, and I think I did really well against him.”
    The two teams practiced twice the day they arrived in Alamosa. Finkbiner said the practices were “difficult.
“I have been wrestling Tuesdays and Thursday the past three weeks leading up to the all-state games,” Finkbiner said.

    Zach Reynolds wanted to play college basketball – a “childhood dream,” he called it.
    Otero Junior College in La Junta will be where he’ll get the chance to live out his dream.
    “Otero was the only place that actually gave me the opportunity,” Reynolds said. “We stayed overnight in their gym while competing in their tournament. I also got a campus tour and was actually very surprised at how nice their facilities were. It was much bigger than I thought.”

    FORT LUPTON – Clint Cook made his decision to take his baseball talents to Nebraska.
     Cook opted for McCook Community College this fall and play baseball for the Indians in the spring. The decision to play for McCook was an easy one. Cook also drew some interest from Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Miles Community College in Montana and Doane College in Nebraska.
    “Honestly, McCook was the school most interested in me, so it was easy for me to decide to go there,” Cook said. “Their baseball program is in a position where they could use a first baseman to come in right away, and the chance of getting playing time was important to me.”
    Fort Lupton baseball coach Mark Gonzales couldn’t have been more proud of what Cook accomplished.
    “Clint, to me, is one reason why I like to coach,” Gonzales said. “He is an extraordinary young man, and his leadership was the backbone to our team’s success. He set the tone as far as the direction I would like to take this program, and I am extremely proud and excited for him that he is playing at the next level.”
    Cook wants a degree in sports medicine.

September

    Fort Lupton’s football team got off to a strong start with wins against Arvada and Valley high schools.
    Then came word from the Colorado High School Activities Association that neither of those wins would count.
    FLHS used an ineligible player in both games, so the Bluedevils had to forfeit the wins.
    “I hope they see it wasn’t purposely done,” athletic director Joseph Gutierrez said. “As a new athletic director, I didn’t know how the process worked. It’s a glitch that needs to be fixed to ensure that it never happens again.”

November

    HAYS, KAN. – When he left Fort Lupton for Fort Hays (Kan.) State in 2009, all Zach Nash knew was that he’d have a chance to walk on with the Tigers and, perhaps, play some football.
    There’s no “perhaps” about Nash and Tigers’ football these days.
    He’s on scholarship, started at linebacker and won defensive player of the week honors in a Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association game against Central Oklahoma and has two more years of eligibility.
    “But now with our new coaching staff that we got this year, I play an outside linebacker/safety position in our 4-2-5 defense that we run,” Nash said. “My first couple years here with our old coaching staff, I wasn’t on scholarship. But with the hiring of our new coaching staff, I am now on scholarship. I reached this point by working hard during practice and in the weight room. In the end it paid off.”

    The Fort Lupton volleyball team made it to the district playoffs this fall. But the stay lasted just two matches.
    “What we did right was play as a team and rallied behind the players who were struggling,” coach Amy Shoemaker said. “They helped each other.”
    She particularly cited Briana Perez.
    “Briana Perez played the best two matches I have ever seen her play,” Shoemaker said. “She listened and made the adjustments that she was told to make, and she dug just about everything. If she didn’t dig the ball she was at least in the area to get a hand on it.”

    The Fort Lupton soccer team made it to postseason, too. And like its volleyball counterparts, the Bluedevils bowed out after one round. Mullen won the game 4-2.
    There was more of an emphasis on year-round soccer before the fall season began. Senior Arnaldo Chavez was one of the participants.
    “As a team, we matured a lot,” Chavez said. “We played together. The more we played, the more chemistry we had. During the preseason, we hung out together, passing the ball back and forth. We knew where each other was going to be, and we knew each other. That made good chemistry.
    “The more you get people out there year-round, the better they are skill-wise,” he continued. “It helps everyone build their skills. Once they build their skills, there are more opportunities for give and gos. It’s like everything was synchronized.”