Trevor Phipps
For the last couple of years, the fall sports season has proven to be the most exciting in the Ute Pass region.
In 2024, the football and boy’ soccer teams made history when they both hosted home playoff games.
With this trend continue for 2025?
Even though the success of the football team may have stolen the spotlight, a variety of non-pigskin fall sports have been gaining much popularity over the past few years. Moreover, they have given the local football studs a run for their money when it comes to generating wins and making playoff bids. The soccer team has been on a solid streak for the last few seasons, while the girls’ volleyball and softball teams have shown some major improvements.
This year, many of the teams’ star players are back and are hungry to win. In preparation for this year’s fall season, practice began on Aug. 11 for many local teams, as most WP squads are reeling in optimism.
At the same time, a changing of the guard has ensued when it comes to Woodland Park sports.
The Woodland Park Junior and Senior High School Athletics Office went through a change this year when they welcomed Rick Jensen as the school’s new Athletic Director/Dean of Students. And as part of a new development, all junior high school sports are now open to sixth graders. In the past only seventh and eighth graders could participate.
The following is a look at the upcoming seasons for all of the non-football sports taking place this fall. This list includes boys and girls’ cross country, boys golf, boys’ soccer, girls’ volleyball, softball and cheerleading.
Boys’ Soccer
Even though the football team last year seemed to be the talk of the town, the boys’ soccer team actually proved to be the Woodland Park High School’s most successful sports team of the ’24-’25 school year. With their 13-2-3 overall record and their 3-0 league record, the boys’ soccer team made the playoffs two years in a row. And last year, they made history by hosting two playoff games.
For their entire regular season last year, the team only lost one match. They earned the right to host two playoff matches; one of which was played in a classic Colorado mountain fall snowstorm.
The team looked great throughout the year, but when it came to possibly qualifying for the state championship, they were outmatched. They qualified for the third round of playoffs where they fell 5-0 to the 15-4-1 Jefferson Academy Jaguars. The Jaguars went on to play in the 2024 state championship match where they lost 1-0 in overtime against the Holy Family Tigers.
Now the good news: The team is returning with their head coach, Kip Schubert and several star players. In fact, last year the team only lost three players on their roster to graduation. The team’s star goalie, Noah Magestrelli, will join Jamie Urban and Myles Wiley along with a slew of other seniors on the team’s roster for the 2025 season.
The team played their first game on the road on Monday against the Pueblo Central Wildcats. The Panthers’ first home game takes place next Tuesday against the Harrison Panthers at 6 p.m. at the Woodland Park High School football field.
Softball
Last season, the Lady Panthers softball team showed vast improvements from previous years. The girls rallied towards the end of the season and just missed a chance at postseason with their 8-14 overall record and 4-2 league record.
The team is coming back this season with their same head coach, Cliff Richardson, who has played a vital role in helping to revamp the school’s softball and baseball programs. And even though the team lost five starters to graduation last year, some of their star players will be returning.
Fans are ready to see if they can keep improving as the softball players started playing matches last week. The team played in a tournament on Friday and Saturday where they challenged the Greeley Central Wildcats, the Wray/ Yuma Eagles, the Platte Valley Broncos and The Academy Wildcats.
The team jumps right into their fall season schedule with playing two matches this week. Their first home game takes place this Tuesday at 4 p.m. against the Sand Creek Scorpions. The Lady Panthers play on the road this Thursday against the Pueblo East Eagles.
Girls Volleyball
Along with the other fall sports teams last year, the Lady Panthers volleyball stars also made big improvement strides. The team squeaked out a winning record, and they just barely missed a chance to play in a playoff game.
The team had a great winning streak mid-season and they picked up some big wins. But after losing some key matches towards the end of the season, the team missed the playoffs with a 12-11 overall record and a 7-5 league tally.
The team did lose five seniors to graduation. These players were the Lady Panthers’ stat leaders in 2024. However, since the team was rather young last year, some of the team members will be returning in 2025 including junior Bella Waak and senior Alexa Boring.
Boys Golf
The Woodland Park High School links team may have been the first to get busy practicing their crafts. Most of the boys spent the majority of their summer out on various golf courses in the area, tuning up all facets of their game. Typically, the fall links season starts earlier than other autumn sports, in order to complete regional and start tournaments, prior to snow infiltrating the region.
In fact, WP linksters have already gotten a share of tournament play, and now head into the brunt of their season, which continues for the next few months.
The team is led again by Coach Reese Gutierrez. The golf team skipper also made much headway last year by starting the district’s first-ever women’s golf team last spring. Nationwide, interest in golf has grown to a phenomenal level by women players.
The coach is also doing what he can to help the team to continue practicing, even when the weather turns foul.
The boys’ have the benefit this year of being able to practice indoors with the assistance of the high school’s new golf simulator (commonly offering indoor driving range-like capabilities and even the chance to play certain championship courses and holes), which was purchased with donations last year.
To further boost its training efforts, the WP golf team will have a fund-raiser, aimed to help both the boys’ and girls’ programs, at the Shining Mountain Golf Club in Woodland Park on Sept. 12. The tournament is open to anyone in the community and features a scramble (best ball) setup. For more information, call 719-687-7587.
