Most WP Teams Catch Postseason Action
Trevor Phipps
With the high school spring sports season ending this week, local fans have plenty to celebrate.
Several athletes, on almost every team, were successful enough to earn the chance to compete in the playoffs or the state championships.
The most successful spring sports group this year proved to be the newly added girls’ golf team. Out of the team’s five golfers, three of them earned the right to play in the state championship tourney.
In addition, the baseball team ended with a good enough record to hopefully see some postseason action. The girls’ soccer team also got a taste of the playoffs.
Here are some of the highlights from the 2026 Woodland Park High School spring sports season:
Lady Golfers Try Their Luck in State’s Big Tourney
After a highly successful regular season, the girls’ golf team won their league during their second year in existence. Over half the team fared well enough to compete in the state girls’ golf championship tournament that takes place early this week.
Since they sent three golfers (juniors Adysen Shreeve, Brandi McCorkell and Evie Gutierrez) Woodland Park earned the right to represent at the state level as a team. This means that the girls golfing team can qualify for team awards. This is the first time in school history that lady golfers earned this accolade.
Head team coach Reese Gutierrez credited Rich Weston, a golf professional in the area, for making the difference by volunteering to help the girls work on their swings. The new assistant coach really helped the young golfers dial it in, noted Gutierrez. The team members’ scores dropped dramatically.
“Coming into the year, Brandi (McCorkell) and Ady (Shreeve) were probably shooting into the 115-120s,” Gutierrez said. “And both of them shot down in the 90s this year. Evie (Gutierrez) is a multi-sport athlete; she is doing track and golf at the same time. So, she didn’t get the opportunity to work with Rich (Weston) as much because she was doing track practice most of the time. But she was consistently in the mid to upper 90s all year. So, she improved from last year. Last year, she only broke 100 once.”
The 2A girls’ golf tournament, which takes place at the Lone Tree Country Club in Littleton, started last Sunday with a practice round. The girls then competed against the best of the best in Colorado on May 18 and 19.
Girls Soccer Stars Snag Playoff Spot
The Lady Panthers this year made bounds to improve their game over the 2026 season. In the end, the girls finished with a 7-7-2 overall record. But they did earn the chance to play in the postseason due to their second-place finish and their 2-0-1 3A Tri-Peaks League record.
The team earned a postseason match on May 7 during which they played against the 10-3-2 Delta Panthers. Unfortunately, the ladies were eliminated from the state championship brackets after falling to Delta 3-0.
When it came to scoring, freshman forward Haddy Wiley led the team with 1.5 goals per match, 86 total shots, 24 goals and 53 points. Senior midfielder Sophia Wiley was right behind the other Wiley in just about every statistical category. The older Wiley fared the best in assists.
Freshman goalkeeper Aura Vindiola got the most play in front of the net during the season. She ended the season with a 2.112 goals against average, 38 saves and 2.7 saves per match. Junior goalkeeper Hadassah McRoberts picked up 3.1 saves per match, 28 total saves and a 2.490 goals against average.
At press time, the official results for the 2026 high school baseball season had not yet been finalized. The WP baseball team was having a stellar season until they encountered a rough slump during the end of the year and experienced some difficult losses in league play.
Still, the team did finish their regular season with a 13-8 overall record and a 3-5 league tally giving them a seventh-place finish in their 3A/2A Tri-Peaks League. According to the MaxPreps website, the Panthers were ranked 29th statewide in 3A baseball. The top 32 teams in the state earn a playoff spot, but sometimes the official CHSAA rankings can be different from what MaxPreps comes up with.
Senior center fielder/pitcher Link Bryden proved to be the best at bat performer when he finished the regular season with a .377 batting average, 23 hits, 21 RBIs and 20 runs. Fellow senior catcher/pitcher Gavin Strouse was right behind Bryden with a .373 batting average. He also proved to be the quickest on his feet with 14 stolen bases.
During the 2026 regular season, six Panther pitchers saw action on the mound. Junior pitcher Cody Becker fared the best on the team with a 4-2 record and a 3.41 ERA. Sophomore short stop/pitcher Nathan Vieux was the next best with a 5-2 record and a 3.46 ERA.
If the Panthers are successful in the postseason, they could get a chance to play in the state championships that takes place May 29-30 at the Butch Butler Field in Greeley.
