At the high-altitude Mountaineer Cowboy Invitational, Sam Rodriguez led Hotchkiss' boys to place 11th out of 87 runners with a time of 18 minutes, 2 seconds. Will Ela and Tevin Keller finished in 20:46 and 20:47, respectively, and freshman Kenny Drbohlav was close behind with a time of 20:52.

Last week's soccer action was played on Delta's Cottonwood Fields with Central High School and Colorado Rocky Mountain School visiting the North Delta fields.

Delta faced Central's Warriors on Sept. 11 and scored a 4-0 non-conference win.

More than 220 racers from 20 schools competed in the men's division at the Eagle Valley Cross Country invitational. Harley Ewert and Caden Meilner led the Paonia Eagles to finish in 18 minutes, 15.30 seconds and 18:15.8, earning 26 and 27 points, respectively. One of three Class 2A teams at the meet, Paonia entered 12 runners and placed eighth overall with 222 points, with Logan Green, Ethan Bartlett, Ben O'Rourke and Elijah Evans rounding out scoring.

Senior Lexi Quinn fueled a three-set victory in volleyball for Delta's Panthers last Thursday, Sept. 14, in Gunnison. An earlier meeting in the season was a 2-1 win for the Cowboys.

Last week's journey to Basalt to play football did not play out the way the Panthers would have hoped. On a cold, rainy evening in Basalt, the host Longhorns scored 14 points in the opening quarter on their way to a 35-7 non-conference win.

The Paonia Eagles are on a five-game winning streak after winning three matches last week. All three games were played on the road, and all three were won in straight sets.

In an early game played last week, Delta High School's softball team hosted Gunnison's Cowboys in a 3A District 5 contest.

Delta lit a fire around the base paths in the first inning to score seven runs on its way to a 13-3 decision.

Last week's Cedaredge (3A) homecoming week softball action included a big win over Meeker (3A) and a pair of losses in games with Delta (3A) and Rifle (4A).

The Bruins hosted Meeker, and won 7-5, on Tuesday (Sept. 12).

The Hotchkiss Bulldogs played hard but came up short Saturday in their league loss to visiting West Grand. It was their first league loss of the season.

Head coach Peter Nethington wasn't unhappy with the outcome after hearing how the Mustangs, a state qualifying team in 2016, beat up on the team last year. "They're a good team," he said.

Cedaredge High School's volleyball team battled a scrappy, and much improved, Hotchkiss team on Tuesday, Sept. 12. The Bruins played well, giving up just one set to the Bulldogs, in a 3-1 victory in 3A WSL play.

Despite fumbling the ball away on their first two possessions, the Paonia Eagles posted a 43-6 win Friday over Ridge View Academy.

"It was a good win, but it wasn't a great win," said head coach Blaine Escher.

The Bulldogs were without a Homecoming opponent after Center canceled its season due to a lack of players. They found a worthy opponent in the Montrose junior varsity squad.

A quick start helped Cedaredge High School get by a scrappy Vail Christian football team at last Friday night's Homecoming game in Cedaredge.

A brisk evening greeted a full house of Bruins' fans for the opening kickoff. Vail Christian won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball to start the game.

The Sizzler, the Cedaredge Ladies Golf Club's annual tournament, is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 23, at the Cedaredge Golf Course. Registration and breakfast begin at 8 a.m., with a shotgun start of play at 9 a.m.

The Cedaredge Bruins are still looking for their offensive mojo two weeks into the season. On Friday, Sept. 8, the Bruins suffered their second loss of the season, falling 40-0 to Aspen in a non-conference game.

The Hotchkiss Bulldogs are 1-1 heading into week three of the prep football season following a 14-26 non-conference loss to Class 2A's Coal Ridge Friday at New Castle.

Chase Hiatt connected on eight of 11 passes for 144 yards and one touchdown.

Hotchkiss head coach Peter Nethington said he was very happy to see his Bulldogs come back from a three-game losing streak to win two conference matches last weekend.

At the Sept. 1-2 tournament at Rangely the Bulldogs lost three games, including a 2-1 loss to Hayden (25-20, 8-25, 15-10).

Coach Jerry Sandoval's Panthers came away with back-to-back wins during a doubleheader with the Durango Demons Friday afternoon. Durango was 7-0 coming into the contest.

The Paonia Eagles are now 1-1 after a non-conference routing of Rye Friday night at Salida. The 44-3 win is the first for the Eagles under new head coach Blaine Escher.

After three years of placing in the top four, Montrose senior Evan Graff pulled off a convincing win Saturday at the Hotchkiss Cross Country Invitational. As part of his training, Graff delayed his start by 30 seconds and finished the course in 18 minutes, 11.35 seconds.

About two thirds of the way through Saturday's Hotchkiss Cross Country Invitational, Paonia senior Caden Meilner trailed Hotchkiss senior Sam Rodriguez as they cruised across the high ridgeline of the adobe desert course. "He's just such a phenomenal runner and I kept him in my sights throughout the race," said Meilner.

The Eagles are off to a good start under new head volleyball coach Karla Head. Following last week's two conference wins and a non-conference loss to 3A Coal Ridge, they are 4-1 overall and undefeated in the 2A/1A Western Slope League.

Despite missing two top runners, the Paonia girls' cross country team placed four runners in the top 20 and finished third with 37 points Saturday at the Hotchkiss Invitational.

Katya Schwieterman finished fourth with a time of 23 minutes, 35.9 seconds.

Quarterback Drake Horn and receiver Colton Galvin connected on three long passes in the Panthers' throttling of Moffat County Friday night.

Horn racked up 170 passing yards and rushed for another 50 in the 40-7 victory. Galvin was credited with four receptions for 150 yards.