Good morning and welcome back to Sportsland! First-time reader? Thanks for giving us a shot! Sportsland brings the best high school and community sports news, features, and more to Jeffco, Adams, and Weld Counties.

REAL QUICK: For anyone reading this, I’m going to need you to recreate whatever you were doing on Saturday night through Easter Sunday. In 24 hours, the Nuggets, Avalanche, and Rockies all won. That’s rarer than like … Halley’s Comet.

But the biggest story of the weekend, in this writer’s opinion, is Lauren and Sienna Betts. The superstar sister duo, both from Grandview High School in Aurora, led UCLA to its first-ever women’s NCAA championship in a dominant win over Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad.

Lauren, the potential No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, opted to return to the Bruins for one more year to play with her sister, Sienna. Needless to say, it paid off.

Both were multiple Gatorade Colorado Players of the Year (Lauren in 2021 and 2022, Sienna in 2023, 2024, and 2025), McDonald’s All-Americans, and state champions in Colorado.

The duo joins the lengthy list of Colorado high school athletes who continued their success outside the Centennial State (Christian McCaffrey, Chauncey Billups, and Amy Van Dyken come to mind).

Vote in our Poll of the Week below on who your favorite high-school-to-pro Coloradan is!

I got to Colorado in time to cover Sienna Betts’ high school dominance, but missed out on Lauren’s. But seeing them both win a title together was really special.

Colorado just keeps on givin’.

When I showed up to the North Area Athletic Complex last week, I expected a fiesty girls soccer matchup between two three-win Jeffco teams — Wheat Ridge and Conifer. But one of these was not like the other.

The Wheat Ridge Farmers took total control of the match from the jump, en route to an 8-0 victory to improve to 4-2-1 — meaning in just seven weeks, the Farmers already matched last season’s win total (4-8-3 and 3-6-1 in league play in 2025).

Now at 5-2-1 after a 2-1 victory over Bear Creek on April 3, Wheat Ridge is 2-0-1 in the 4A/3A Jeffco League. Wheat Ridge is seeking its first winning season since 2023 (9-6-1).

What’s been the winning formula for turning the program around?

“Developing players throughout the preseason, summer workouts, putting in the work before the two months we have here. Then we’re ready to play,” said third-year Head Coach Malia Lyken. “That’s definitely the key to what’s helping us this year.”

“I think there’s nothing more powerful than being underestimated,” Lyken said. “Because we have the power to change that. It gives us a little bit more drive and motivation to come out here and show them what we’re really capable of. It keeps us competitive.”

Wheat Ridge looks for its third league victory tonight against Littleton (3-5).

WHY SPORTSLAND? Sportsland is the go-to high school sports newsletter in Colorado, covering athletics across Jefferson and Adams Counties. We give you all the game updates, yes, but we also go deep behind the scenes to give you context to some of the best sports stories in our coverage areas. The best part? It’s FREE!

While other news stations prioritize Colorado’s professional and college sports teams, we keep our eyes on the high school athletics landscape, providing key updates and legislative news from CHSAA, hard-hitting feature stories and connecting generations of families through sports.

Around this time last year, give or take a month and some change, Northglenn hired Jeff Neal as the school’s new girls’ basketball coach. It was a smash hit.

The Lady Norse not only finished with the best record since the 2017-18 season, at 15-8 and 9-3 in league play, but also qualified for the Class 5A state tournament. Northglenn then won its first playoff game since 2000.

So, when Northglenn AD J.P. Sampson reached out to let me know they’d made another hire this spring, I knew I had to get that guy on the phone.

Noah Michaud, who teaches social studies at NHS, was an assistant coach to Todd Corn’s Norse team last year. He’s now in the skipper’s chair after Corn stepped away.

"I think there’s such a strong and positive culture on the tennis team that comes from the students and comes from the work that Coach Corn has put in over the last few years,” Michaud said. “It starts on the tennis court and then extends to the classroom. They care about tennis. They care about school.”

More from Michaud, including his vision and expectations for the team this fall, how his approach might differ from Corn’s, and who to watch on the team this year, can be found at www.northglenn-thorntonsentinel.com this Wednesday!

📈 Weekly rankings announced for spring sports: See who is atop the rankings in baseball, boys and girls lacrosse, girls soccer, boys volleyball and more from CHSAA. Read the full story here ➡

🕹 Esports: Brackets released for Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart playoffs: The playoffs kicked off yesterday, but see who is still alive for the second round tomorrow! Read the full story ➡

🥍 Gardner leads Evergreen girls lacrosse’s quest for 3-peat: Senior Ryn Gardner is closing in on 300 goals, and has one more goal in mind for her high school career before moving on to UC-Boulder in the fall. Read the full story ➡

⚾ Dakota Ridge baseball stays hot with win over Green Mountain: After starting 0-5 on the year, Dakota Ridge has bounced all the way back with a 5-0 win streak. Read the full story ➡

🥍 Ralston Valley boys lacrosse off to best start in program history: The Mustangs have poured an avalanche of goals on their opponents this season. Can they keep it up against Lakewood tomorrow? Read the full story ➡

We want to hear from you!

Last week’s poll: The Final Four is set! Who is winning it all?
Arizona (42.86%) - Yikes!

All records current as of April 6

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