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Spring Brings On The East High Sports, And Then Some

Story and photos by Reid Neureiter

For the GPHN

The 2020-21 Colorado high school modified sports calendar saw the start of its fourth and final season in late April and early May. Because of the pandemic-delayed start, some of these championships will not be played until mid-June — well after the end of school.

Denver East High sports being played in this so-called “D-season” include baseball, boys and girls lacrosse, girls soccer, boys swimming, girls tennis, and track and field. Also playing for the first time in more than a year is East boys rugby, a team with six state championships to its credit but which was prevented by DPS pandemic rules from having any preseason scrimmages against other schools.

Also posing a challenge for the rugby squad, its normal supply of football players who play rugby in the spring was limited because of the move of the East football season to the early spring and the football team’s success in making it to state semi-finals (the Angels lost 6-3 to Boulder High on May 8).

East teams with strong starts to the season include girls soccer, which started the season with three straight wins against DPS competition, defeating Kennedy, George Washington, and Far Northeast by a combined score of 18-0. Also starting strong is boys Lacrosse, which won its first two matches, including an exciting come-from-behind 8-3 victory against Ralston Valley on May 4 before dropping a nail-biting one-goal loss 14-13 to Colorado Academy on May 11.