Premier Gymnastics of the Rockies, rocked out their first optional meet of the season this past weekend. Gymnastics Unlimited of Northglenn was the host of the 2013 Rocky Invitational. Premier’s Level 7 Team took first Place and the Level 8 Team took second Place. Levels 9 and 10 had impressive individual Placements as well.

Level 7 Top 5 All-Around Finishers:

In the Child Division; Lauren Thomas placed first, Abby Stoops placed third and Abbie McCrimmon placed fourth. In the Junior A Division; Moira Dillow placed second, Nikki Sims placed third and Kaiya Lindhardt fifth. In the Senior Division; Kathryn Eggerling placed fifth.

Level 7 Top 5 Individual Event Finishers:

In the Child Division; Thomas placed first on Floor and second on Vault. Stoops placed third on Floor, fourth on Beam and fifth on Bars. McCrimmon placed first on Bars and fifth on Beam. Kira Sanchez placed second on Floor and third on both Beam and Vault. Katie Parsons placed first on Beam and fourth on Vault. In the Junior A Division; Dillow placed second on both Bars and Floor and third on Beam. Sims placed first on Floor and second on both Vault and Beam. Lindhardt placed fourth on Beam and fifth on Bars. Jayde Minnis placed fifth on Floor. Reagan Ball placed fourth on Floor. In the Junior B Division; Zoe Beard placed fifth on both Vault and Bars. In the Senior Division; Eggerling placed fifth on Bars. Kelsey Knuth placed second on Floor and third on Vault.

Level 8 Top 5 All-Around Finishers:

In the Child Division; Sidney Strizki placed first, Tatum Graham placed third and Kairey Vela placed fifth. In the Junior Division; Aryn Archambeau placed third.

Level 8 Top 5 Individual Event Finishers:

In the Child Division; Strizki placed first on both Bars and Floor, fourth on Beam and fifth on Vault. Graham placed third on Vault and fifth on Bars. Vela placed third on Bars. Jaxin Melby placed second on Vault and fourth on Bars. In the Junior Division; Archambeau placed second on Floor, third on Beam and fourth on Vault. Morgan Adams placed second on Bars. In the Senior Division, Alyssa Strong placed third on Floor and fourth on Beam.

Level 9:

In the Junior Division; Rachel Rost placed fourth on Vault and fifth on Beam.

Level 10:

In the Junior Division; Kaitlyn Holley placed first in the All-Around. Holley placed first on both Bars and Floor, third on Vault and fourth on Beam. In the Senior Division; Bailie Holst placed third in the All-Around. Holst placed first on Vault, second on Floor and fifth on both Bars and Beam.

Next Optional Meet will be The 2013 Pikes Peak Cup, January 18 and 19, at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Aerials Gymnastics will be hosting.

Pictures by Shannon Renke

Back row: Zoe Beard, Abbie McCrimmon, Kathryn Eggerling, Jayde Minnis, Kelsey Knuth, Abby Stoops, Katie Parsons, Nikki Sims, Lauren Thomas and Reagan Ball. Middle: Kaiya Lindhardt and Kira Sanchez. Front: Moira Dillow

Back row: Jaxi Melby, Morgan Adams, Tatum Graham, Alyssa Strong and Sidney Strizki. Front: Aryn Archambeau and Kairey Vela

Kaitlyn Holley, Rachel Rost and Bailie Holst

For updated Altitude schedules and formats, Click here

·         Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets*– LIVE Mon., April 9 at 7:00pm

·         World Class Championship Boxing from Las Vegas, NV: Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton – Tues., April 10 at 1:00pm

·         World Class Championship Boxing from Las Vegas, NV: Floyd Mayweather vs. Ricky Hatton – Tues., April 10 at 2:00pm

·         Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets*– LIVE Wed., April 11 at 7:00pm

·         Denver Nuggets* at Los Angeles Lakers – LIVE Fri., April 13 at 8:30pm

·         Encore Presentation of NBA TV’s The Association: Nuggets – Fri., April 13 at 11:30pm

·         Colorado Rapids at Seattle Sounders FC – LIVE Sat., April 14 at 2:00pm

·         New Mexico State Softball: Nevada at New Mexico State – LIVE Sat., April 14 at 4:00pm

·         Houston Rockets at Denver Nuggets*– LIVE Sun., April 15 at 6:00pm

*All times Mountain Time

*Schedule subject to change

Altitude is proud to give Colorado the sports they want most. Altitude is available on Dish Network (Ch. 410), DIRECTV (ch. 681), and through several cable television providers. For a complete list of providers and channel numbers, visit www.Altitude.TV.

ALTITUDE ANNOUNCES 2012 DENVER OUTLAWS BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Altitude will broadcast 11 games during the 2012 season

Altitude announced today that they will broadcast a total of 11 regular season Denver Outlaws games during the 2012 season.  Coverage on Altitude begins Saturday, April 28 against the Charlotte Hounds at 5:00pm.  All games on Altitude will be broadcast in high-definition through an agreement with Major League Lacrosse and ESPN.

“We are thrilled to have Denver Outlaws lacrosse return to our summer programming schedule,” said Doug Ballmer, Senior Director of Programming for Altitude Sports & Entertainment, “Given the growing popularity of lacrosse throughout the nation, we are elated to be able to broadcast Denver Outlaws outdoor lacrosse games alongside our professional indoor package from the Colorado Mammoth.”

 The complete broadcast schedule is listed below.  For more information, please visit Altitude.tv.

2012 Denver Outlaws on Altitude

About Altitude Sports

Seen in more than 3.1 million homes in a 10 state territory, Altitude is the television home of the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Rapids, Colorado Mammoth, Colorado Eagles, Denver Outlaws, the Big Sky Conference, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, ESPN Syndication (including Big 12 Conference and Western Athletic Conference events,) as well as other local and regional sports, entertainment and public service programming.  A full list of Altitude programming and other information can be found at www.altitude.tv. 

About the Denver Outlaws

Part of Major League Lacrosse’s 2006 western expansion, the Outlaws have made the playoffs in each of their five seasons and have consistently led the league in attendance each year, averaging nearly 11,000 fans per game. The organization is managed by Edge Sports & Entertainment – a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Denver Broncos Football Club. Outlaws 2011 season ticket specials are available now. For more information, contact the Outlaws ticket office at 303-OUTLAWS or visit www.DenverOutlaws.com.

Haley Anderson placed third on Bars in the Child Division. Leiah Burgess placed fifth on Vault in the Junior A Division. In the Junior B Division, Kadia Odd placed second on Vault and fourth on Bars. Shaylee  Johnson placed fourth on Beam and fifth on Vault.

The Level 6 Xcel Team placed second at the Airborne hosted April Showers Eagles Meet in Longmont on April 19.

In the All-Around, Kadia Odd placed second, Sarah McCormick placed third and Leiah Burgess placed fourth.

Top Five event finishers were:  Odd second on Vault and Beam and fourth on Bars and Floor. McCormick placed first on Floor with a score of 9.400, second on Vault and fifth on Bars and Beam. Burgess placed third on Bars, fourth on Beam and Floor and fifth on Vault.

The Team, placed fourth out of 12 Teams at the Hollywood Stars 2012 meet, hosted by Encore Gymnastics Academy on May 19-20.

Shaylee Johnson placed fifth in the All-Around in the Junior Division.

Haley Anderson took second on Beam and third on Vault in the Child Division. In the Junior Division, Johnson placed second on Beam and fourth on Vault. Kadia Odd placed third on Vault and fourth on Bars.

Bailie Holst hits all four events at Level 10 Regionals in Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Level 10 Gymnast, Bailie Holst, of Premier Gymnastics of the Rockies of Loveland, was selected to participate in the Junior Olympic Nationals, being held May 9-13 in Landover, Maryland. Holst was one of only five Colorado Gymnasts to qualify. Only the Top 7 Highest All-Around Scores per age group were chosen. Holst placed seventh All-Around in the Junior D Division with a score of 37.125, the second highest score earned by a Colorado Gymnast. Holst placed fifth on Floor, eighth on Bars and ninth on both Vault and the Balance Beam. Premier Gymnastics is honored to have a Junior Olympic Qualifier. Good Luck to Bailie at the Junior Olympic Nationals next month.

By Julee Graham

Premier Gymnastics of the Rockies Places eighth Overall out of 26 teams at the 2012, Colorado USAG Level 7 State Championships, held on March 31 and April 1. The Loveland based team performed well, with several gymnasts placing in the All-Around Competition across all Divisions.

The Youth Age Division Team placed third overall in their session for Team Awards. The team consists of Tatum Graham, Aryn Archambeau, Kairey Vela and Sidney Strizki.

Aryn Archambeau, Sidney Strizki, Kairey Vela and Tatum Graham

Competitors who medaled in the Individual All-Around Competition were:  Tatum Graham, 9^th place and Kairey Vela, 11^th place in the Youth A Division. Aryn Archambeau placed 8^th in the Youth B Division. Morgan Adams placed 9^th in the Junior A Division. Josie Spitz placed 4^th in the Senior A Division and Alyssa Strong Placed 10^thin the Senior B Division.

Individual event medalists were: Abbie McCrimmon who medaled on Floor in the Child A Division. Jaxi Melby medaled on Vault, Bars and Floor in Child B Division. Graham medaled on Vault, Bars and Floor. Vela medaled on Bars and Beam and Sidney Strizki is the Bronze medalist on Bars in the Youth A Division. Archambeau is the Bronze medalist on Floor and also medaled on Vault, Bars and Beam in the Youth B Division. Adams is the Bronze medalist on Bars and Placed 4^th on Vault in the Junior A Division. Spitz is the Gold medal Vault Champion with a Score of 9.650 and Placed 5^th on Floor and medaled on Bars in the Senior A Division. Strong medaled in Bars, Beam and Floor and Kelsey Knuth is the Bronze medalist on Vault and medaled on Beam in the Senior B Division.

Congratulations PGR! Great Job! Great Season!

Photo Credit Corinne Ferdinand

Stockton Sweeps Series, 3-0, With 4-2 Win

LOVELAND, Colo. – The Stockton Thunder defeated the Colorado Eagles, 4-2, sweeping their best-of-five Western Conference Quarterfinals series three games to none.  With the win, the 5th-seeded Thunder advance to take on the defending ECHL champion and 2011-12 regular season champion Alaska Aces in what will be a best-of-seven series.

Colorado killed two early Stockton power plays, and Aaron Slattengren nearly put the home team on top at 5:15 of the first period when his back-hand chance rung off the crossbar.  But the Thunder were able to strike first 14 minutes in when Matt Foy stuffed a wraparound chance under Kyle Jones.

Stockton went on the penalty kill half a minute later, and Olivier Roy — who was great all series long — made a big blocker save on Kevin Ulanski from the slot halfway through the man-advantage.  But following the next faceoff, Colorado was able to tie the game after a scramble in the low slot led to Jake Marto collecting the loose puck in the slot.  He delayed and sent a cross-ice pass to Steve Haddon for an open look he converted.

The Eagles out-shot the Thunder, 12-6, in the second stanza, but it was Stockton that scored the period’s only two goals — both by Max Campbell.  The first came two minutes in on a 5-on-3 power play when the forward laced a perfect shot outside of Aaron Schneekloth’s legs and just inside the left post to make it 2-1.  His second goal (and 9th in as many games against the Eagles) came with the teams skating 4-on-4 when he scored on a similar shot off a rush at 15:24.

Colorado began building momentum at the end of the second period and continued to make a final push in the third when they were able to cut Stockton’s lead to 3-2 with a 5-on-3 power-play goal of their own.  Riley Nelson put home a loose puck from the low slot 3:30 into the final frame, and the Eagles nearly tied the contest in the second half of the advantage, but Roy continued his stellar netminding to snuff their chances.

The Eagles had one final golden opportunity to tie the game when they were awarded another power play in the final minute, but Jordan Fulton was able to deposit the puck into Colorado’s empty net with 25 seconds left to ice the game and the series.

STOCKTON, Calif. – The Colorado Eagles took an early lead but the Stockton Thunder stormed back to force overtime and win the game, taking a 2-0 series lead in the ECHL’s Western Conference Quarterfinals.  The best-of-five series now heads to the Budweiser Events Center, with Game 3 Friday night.

Colorado jumped out to a quick start, netting a pair of goals in the game’s first two minutes.  Joey Sides got the first goal 48 seconds in following a faceoff in the right circle of the offensive zone.  Off the draw, the speedy forward stole the puck from Stockton’s goalie behind the net and was able to back-hand a wraparound goal into the cage before the netminder could get back in position.

A minute later, amateur-signee Teegan Moore picked up his first professional playoff goal with a shot from the left circle as he worked a 2-on-1 rush with Gord Burnett, giving Colorado a 2-0 lead on their first three shots of the game.  Thunder head coach Matt Thomas called his timeout following that goal to stop the Eagles’ momentum, and his team responded with more solid play the rest of the period.

Stockton had a much better second period, controlling much of the play and testing Kyle Jones on several occasions.  The Eagles’ netminder was largely up to the task, though, and looked like the goalie who led the ECHL in wins during the regular season.  He was, however, beaten once on a beautiful effort that saw Matt Foy flip the puck toward the crease from the right point and a streaking Max Campbell swat it out of mid-air from the low slot.

Olivier Roy was just as good when challenged at the other end of the ice, stopping all 10 of Colorado’s shots in the frame, helping to send his team into the second intermission down by just one goal, 2-1.

The Thunder took even more control of the game in the third period, out-shooting the Eagles 17-4 in their final push to tie the game.  Despite Stockton’s domination of time of possession, Jones & Colorado nearly withstood the firing range, but the home team was able to get the tying goal with less than three and a half minutes in the period when Campbell picked up his second goal of the game with a one-timer from the left circle.

The Thunder carried that momentum into the overtime period and it took them just 17 seconds to find the back of the net when Kevin Baker fed Chris D’Alvise from behind the net for a chip-in from the low slot.

STOCKTON, Calif. – The Stockton Thunder took a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-five opening round match-up with the Colorado Eagles in the ECHL’s Kelly Cup playoffs.  The Thunder diversified their offense, scoring a goal at even strength, shorthanded, and on the power play, while Olivier Roy stopped 35 of 36 shots to backstop the victory.

As advertised, the opening period between the two teams featured plenty of high-tempo, back-and-forth action with plenty of offensive chances.  But despite a combined 26 shots (14 for Stockton), just one puck found its way into the back of the net as both goaltenders were solid.  Garet Hunt accounted for that goal by back-handing his own rebound over Kyle Jones at 3:10.

The Thunder out-shot the Eagles 17-8 in the second period and doubled their lead midway through with a shorthanded tally on a 2-on-1 rush.  It was actually their second such rush in succession on the penalty kill, and Jesse Fratkin was able to cash in when he snapped a shot past Jones from the left circle.

Stockton made it 3-0 four and a half minutes into the final frame when an un-checked Chris D’Alvise was able to put home a Max Campbell rebound from the doorstep on a power play.  Colorado finally got on the board just over six minutes in when Aaron Slattengren was able to deposit a Jason Beatty rebound.

Just minutes later, Beatty came close to netting his own goal, but his shot from the point rang off the crossbar, and that was as close as Colorado would come to getting another puck past Roy on the night.

Game 2 of the series will take place in Stockton Wednesday night, and then the teams will travel to Colorado for Game 3 on Friday.  If necessary, Games 4 & 5 will be played on Saturday & Monday respectively.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Colorado Eagles and Las Vegas Wranglers prolonged the 2011-12 ECHL regular season about as long as they could, but the Eagles eventually ended the game with a 4-3 shootout win.  The victory gave Colorado a record of 38-28-6 in its first season in the ECHL and sent the team into their playoff meeting next week with the Stockton Thunder on a high note.

Despite being out-shot 13-6 in the first frame, the Eagles took a 1-0 lead over the Wranglers into the first intermission.  Kevin Ulanski picked up that score at 6:40 by beating Shane Madolora 5-hole from the point on a power play.  Colorado’s defense did the rest of the work, getting tested soon after when they were forced to kill over 1:30 of a 5-on-3 advantage for Las Vegas.

The Eagles doubled their lead with another long power-play goal six minutes into the second session when Kyle Peto’s shot fluttered past Madalora.  But Colorado soon became penalty-ridden and the Wranglers made them pay on another partial 5-on-3 advantage at 14:27 when Jeff May one-timed a shot past Damien Ketlo from high in the left circle.

Las Vegas dominated the third period, out-shooting the Eagles 22-5 as they controlled much of the play.  But just under eight minutes in, Colorado went up 3-1 with another long goal when Luka Vidmar’s shot from the point following a faceoff win found its way under the Wranglers’ netminder.

However, Las Vegas kept coming — just as they did Friday night — tying the game with a pair of goals less than three and a half minutes apart.  Chris Francis trimmed Colorado’s lead to 3-2 with another power-play tally at 11:41.  Then Adam Miller and Eric Lampe worked a give-and-go just over 14 minutes in to tie the game at 3.  Ketlo’s 20 saves in the third period tied the third-most in club history.

The five minute, four-on-four overtime produced plenty of wide open, back-and-forth action between the two offensive-minded clubs, but neither was able to score, sending the game to a shootout.

In the shootout, Colorado’s first two shooters (Joey Sides & Aaron Slattengren) scored, while Ketlo stopped all four of the Wranglers shooters he saw to secure the win.

Colorado will now head to California in preparation for their first ECHL playoff run, beginning on Tuesday in a best-of-five series against the Thunder.  Game 2 will be played in Stockton on Wednesday night before the series shifts to Colorado for the final three games (if necessary).  A complete schedule can be found at www.ColoradoEagles.com.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – While the Colorado Eagles were taking on the Las Vegas Wranglers in Nevada tonight, their opening round playoff opponent was being decided in Idaho & California.  With the end of the ECHL regular season tomorrow, the Western Conference’s final playoff seedings for the upcoming Kelly Cup playoffs were finally decided tonight.

Despite the Stockton Thunder falling to the Idaho Steelheads, the Utah Grizzlies’ loss to the Bakersfield Condors locked the Thunder into the 5th seed, earning them an opening round playoff date with 4th-seeded Colorado.

The Eagles and Thunder will start the best-of-5 series with the first two games in California on Tuesday, April 3 & Wednesday, April 4.  Game 3 will be played in Colorado, as will Games 4 & 5 if necessary, on Friday, April 6, Saturday, April 7 & Monday, April 9 (listed below with start times).

Game 1: Tuesday, April 3 @ Stockton (8:00 MST)
Game 2: Wednesday, April 4 @ Stockton (8:00 MST)
Game 3: Friday, April 6 @ Colorado (7:05 MST)
Game 4*: Saturday, April 7 @ Colorado (7:05 MST)
Game 5*: Monday, April 9 @ Colorado (7:05 MST)

Playoff tickets for Eagles home games at the Budweiser Events Center are on sale now — starting at just $16 — and can be purchased at www.ComcastTix.com, the BEC box office, or by calling 1-877-544-TIXX (8499).

Eagles season ticket holders should use the blue, round 1 tickets in the back of their ticket books (complete details outlined below).

Blue Ticket – Game A = Game 3 on Friday, April 6
Blue Ticket – Game B* = Game 4 on Saturday, April 7
Blue Ticket – Game C* = Game 5 on Monday, April 9