Wolves become the hunted

This is a story about the hunter becoming the hunted.Westminster’s football team, which has been decent in recent years, is 8-0 this season and has a target on its collective back with other teams trying to knock off the Wolves.”It’s great for the school itself,” said Westminster coach Kerry Denison. “There’s a lot of positive energy going on here. It’s been a good experience. The kids understand we have a big target on our backs. The kids are understanding that it is a good feeling to have done what we have done so far.”It’s frustrating, but nobody seems to know where the eight straight victories rank in Westminster lore. One fan sent an e-mail stating that the 1989 team, which was using the nickname Warriors, went 10-0 but lost their last two games.That was before Westminster and Ranum merged in 2009 and the new school building was built in 2010. So the 8-0 start is considered the best in school history, meaning the new school.”I haven’t been able to find anything either about the past,” said Denison. “We’re trying to keep our perfect record going. The one thing we have still missed out on is a conference championship, and our goal is a conference championship. We’ve had some decent teams, but these kids have jelled together better than the teams we’ve had in the past.”Westminster has clinched at least a tie for the Flatirons League championship and can secure the outright title with a win at home Oct. 30 against second-place Boulder.Overcoming adversityMountain Vista’s standout sophomore runner Allie Chipman has overcome adversity before and will have to do it again at the Oct. 31 State High School Cross-Country Championships in Colorado Springs.Chipman is struggling with allergies, and she has dealt with asthma her whole life. She was extremely sick with pneumonia and whooping cough last winter, which slowed her during last track season.After dominating this season in cross-country, she skipped last week’s Region 5 meet because of foot problems. But she will compete at the state meet.”I will be competing at state because fortunately my team qualified for me,” said Chipman. “The issue with my feet is a bone spur and plantar fasciitis. I am improving rapidly, and I will be able to compete at 100 percent with my ankle at state. It’s impossible to know how I will feel in Colorado Springs, but I am going to give state my best shot.”Doubling up at ChaparralAlan DiGiosio will be the new head baseball coach at Chaparral next spring. After the Wolverines lost a semifinal Class 5A game at the State Softball Tournament, DiGiosio declared he would remain as softball coach.”I am not going anywhere,” he said. “I told them I wasn’t giving up softball, and if they didn’t let me do both that I wasn’t doing baseball.”DiGiosio just completed his fifth season as head softball coach, and he has been the Wolverines baseball pitching coach for the past nine campaigns.Final week of regular seasonThere are several key football games to determine league championships as the Class 5A regular season ends.Grandview and Valor Christian are both unbeaten in the Centennial League and will clash for the loop title Oct. 30 in an 8 p.m. game at Valor.Westminster has clinched at least a tie for the 5A Flatirons crown but can capture the outright title with a win over Boulder Oct. 30 in a game at Westminster.Arapahoe plays Smoky Hill Oct. 30. The unbeaten Warriors, who have shown an amazing ability to pull out victories in a couple games that didn’t look winnable, are assured of a share of the 5A Metro League title but can avoid a tie with a win over the Buffs.Jim Benton is a sports writer for Colorado Community Media. He has been covering sports in the Denver area since 1968. He can be reached at jbenton@coloradocommunitymedia.com or at 303-566-4083.