Prep notebook: Eagle County athlete named Gatorade Colorado cross-country Player of the Year

Battle Mountain senior Porter Middaugh was named the Gatorade Colorado boys cross-country Player of the Year last week, a Colorado High School Activities Association press release confirmed. The award was established in 1985 to recognize the country’s best high school athletes across all prep sports at both a state and national level.

Middaugh joins a list of previous Colorado cross-country winners that includes NCAA DI All-Americans Parker Wolfe and Cole Sprout. The 2023 Colorado girls winner, Niwot’s Addison Ritzenhein — who is the daughter of three-time Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein — was also named the national cross-country runner of the year winner after claiming the Nike Cross National title in December.

Middaugh’s season was characterized by a consistent upward trajectory. The senior clocked the No. 1 time in the country in October before finishing fourth at the 4A state meet, a race won by his teammate, Will Brunner. At the Nike Southwest Regional, he became the first Husky to individually qualify for Nike Nationals by finishing in fifth overall. Middaugh saved his most stunning effort for last, however, taking sixth at nationals on a muddy December day in Portland, Oregon.

“Look, this is a once-in-a-million thing,” Rob Parish, the Battle Mountain head coach, said after Middaugh’s Nike Cross Nationals race. The Battle Mountain runner came into the meet as the 37th-ranked athlete.

“It could be the best feat ever for a high school athlete out of Eagle County and we just need to celebrate it.”

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Middaugh’s accomplishments extend to the trail, too. He finished fourth overall representing Team USA at the 15th annual International Mountain Running Cup in Italy in 2022. He also finished as the second-best American — behind his brother, Sullivan — at the 2023 XTERRA USA championships at Beaver Creek in August. He plans to join his brother as a member of Project Podium, a USA Triathlon development program based at Arizona State University.

 “Porter Middaugh dropped a mid-season stunner by racing to the second-fastest 5K time in state history at the SWL Championships, a clear precursor to his sensational final month of racing,” Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack stated in the CHSAA release.

“Also an international-level triathlon and mountain-running talent, he emerged as perhaps the fastest-rising talent in the nation by season’s end.”

Gatorade also awards one male and one female as the overall athletes of the year. Distinguished winners of that award include Lebron James, Allyson Felix, Sydney McLaughlin and Kyler Murray. The 2023 winners were Max Clark, a baseball player from Franklin, Indiana, and Ava Brown, a softball star out of Montgomery, Texas.

Tennis notes: Blanch wins Rolling Hills Winter Classic

Vail Christian senior Daniel Blanch demonstrated sharp off-season form last weekend, winning the Rolling Hills Winter Classic in Golden, Colorado.

Blanch, the 4A No. 2 singles champion last spring, defeated Thomas Stewart IV 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals before taking down Andrew Lock 6-3, 4-6, 10-4 in the final.

“The final was what made the whole tournament worth it,” Blanch said in an email to the Vail Daily. “It felt amazing playing my best tennis against the best player of Wyoming and managing to up my level in the 10-point tiebreaker to win the match, and essentially the tournament.”

Lock won his second-straight Wyoming No. 1 boys singles title earlier this fall. He didn’t lose a match in his final two prep seasons and only dropped one in his last three. In his 2023 campaign, Lock did not even lose a set or face a tiebreaker.

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“On behalf of the homestead tennis community, Vail Christian High School and all of the players and coaches, I would like to congratulate Daniel on an amazing tournament win,” said J.D. Webster, Vail Christian tennis coach. Webster said that girls tennis is starting up this month at Homestead Court Club.

“I encourage everyone who can to come out and get involved,” he stated. “It’s so exciting to see what is happening with tennis in the Vail Valley.”

For more information, email jdwebster@vchsweb.org.

Basketball notes: Battle Mountain falls to Glenwood Springs

Both Battle Mountain basketball squads fell to Glenwood Springs on Tuesday night in Edwards. The girls lost to the defending league champions 53-19 while the boys lost 60-44.

In the latter game, the Demons scored 27-points in the third quarter to pull away. The Huskies came alive in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Demons 22-8.