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By Matt Meyer
For the Courier
GRAND JUNCTION — Littleton High School swimmer Josh Tinucci took one last vicious kick during the anchor leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay preliminaries and lunged for the touchpad. He looked up at the scoreboard, checking to see if the Lions’ win during the second-to-last heat would qualify them for the state finals. The senior stared at the scoreboard and was stunned.

LAKEWOOD — Maybe the rest of the state wasn’t expecting it since Chatfield’s 4x800 relay team was seeded 16th entering the 5A boys state track and field championships May 16, but Panos Smyrnios, Nathan Moore, Tyler Hale and Larry Huff believed in themselves.
One by one, they picked off the state’s best at Jefferson County Stadium until they finished third in 7 minutes, 59.86 seconds. It may have been unexpected to the rest of the state but not surprising to the Chargers.

LAKEWOOD — McKenna Spillar walked around with a smile on her face. She wasn’t the least bit concerned that she’d just finished sixth in the 3,200 meters. This was, after all, a year after the Dakota Ridge senior had surprised even herself by winning the event at the 5A state track and field championships.
But on May 16 at Jefferson County Stadium, sixth place was as good as it would get, and that was OK.

DENVER — Joey Plaster absolutely crushed the baseball to left field. Connor Gray, on first base after a fielder’s choice, took off for home at top speed; he rounded third and found an unexpected surprise awaiting him.
What, or, more accurately, who was waiting for him was home plate umpire Dwight Nichols. The man in charge of calling the balls and strikes had ventured up the third-base line inexplicably to make a call that wasn’t necessarily his to make with a three-man umpiring crew on the field.