Schreibeis named Gatorade POY

Laramie sophomore earns more honors

By Wyoming Sports.org

The Gatorade Company, in partnership with RISE Magazine, recently announced that Laramie High School’s Ariela Schreibeis as its 2007-08 Gatorade Wyoming Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

According to a press release, the award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Schreibeis as Wyoming’s best high school girls’ soccer player. Schreibeis is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year award to be announced in May.

The 5-foot-5 sophomore midfielder scored seven goals and passed for 14 assists, leading the Lady Plainsmen to a 13-1-0 heading into Thursday’s Wyoming State Soccer championships in Laramie. A returning First Team All-State selection as named by the Wyoming Coaches Association, Schreibeis is a former member of the United States Soccer Federation Under-14 Girls National Team player pool.

Schreibeis has maintained a 4.0 GPA in the classroom and is ranked first in her class. Her school’s student council vice president and an active member of Laramie Choice, a school-based organization founded to combat alcohol and drug abuse. She volunteers as part of multiple community-service initiatives on behalf of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Spanish Honor Society in addition to donating her time as a youth instructor for the Laramie Blizzard Soccer Organization.

“She’s a dynamic ball distributor,” said Laramie head coach Anne Hawley. “Her greatest strength is her ability to control the ball. If she has the ball at her feet, she’s not going to lose it. She gets out situations like no one else in the state. And she’s a great passer. She makes passes that make other coaches say, ‘Wow.’ I’m glad she’s on my team. That’s for sure.”

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls’ volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls’ basketball, boys and girls’ soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field. The selection process is administered by RISE Magazine, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Schreibeis joins recent Gatorade Wyoming Girls Soccer Players of the Year Crystal Umphlett (2006-07 and 2005-06, Cody) and Dawn Storie (2004-05, Campbell County) among the state’s list of former award winners.

For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit gatorade.com/playeroftheyear.

Laramie Rangers Prep team prepares

Richard Anderson photo
Veteran Laramie youth baseball coach VerDon Hoopes talks with his team in a recent Laramie Rangers Prep practice at Cowboy Field. At bottom, assistant coach Armando Casas works with a young pitcher.


Making the adjustment

By Richard Anderson
Wyomingsports.org

Playing for the first time at spacious Cowboy Field is an adjustment.

It’s not only a modification for the two Laramie Rangers American Legion Prep coaches, it is especially a big alteration for the 14 13- and 14-year-old players.

Last Wednesday, the Rangers Prep team was set to open its inaugural season against the Fort Collins Hawks at Cowboy Field. Earlier in the day, Laramie manager VerDon Hoopes, a longtime Laramie Little League coach, drove up to the baseball field to see the conditions. He drove to the Little League Complex by habit.

“I just thought, ‘what the heck am I doing?’” Hoopes said with a laugh. “I had to make the run back over to this field (Cowboy Field) and check it.”

As it turned out, the game was later postponed because of snow. The Rangers Prep team will try again Saturday at Cowboy Field when it hosts the Fort Collins Storm in a doubleheader beginning at 11 p.m.

For the young Rangers, Cowboy Field is much bigger than what they are used to. At Cowboy, the base paths are 90-feet apart and the pitching mound is 60 feet from home plate.

The 13-year-olds are going from 60-feet base paths and from 46 feet from the mound to home plate.

“Those 13 year-olds have never played on a big field before and only a few of them have played in leagues where there have been intermediate fields, which is about half that big,” Hoopes said. “It’s a big difference. You see them trying to make throws from third base; it’s a tough deal for some of these kids to do.

“The other night we were hitting the ball to the outfield and we were using double cuts just on regular stuff because they were getting little sore arms and tired. It is a new thing. We’re looking forward to the growth of it. All of the games in Fort Collins will be on an intermediate field and all games here will be on Cowboy Field. We’re going to get a little mix there and kind of get our younger kids in that, getting used to the bigger field as they go.”

The intermediate field is 55 feet from on the pitching mound and 75 feet between the bases.

The biggest problem for the younger players will be arm strength, Hoopes said.

“Being able to throw the ball across the infield, being able to pitch from 60 feet, those are the biggest changes those kids will have early on,” he said. “And quite honestly, about four of those 13 year olds are little guys. They are good baseball players, but they don’t have a lot of upper body strength right now. That will just have to come as time goes.”

For the new Rangers, who will play in the five-team 14-year Fort Collins Baseball Club League for about half of the season before taking on other Wyoming competition, just getting out on the baseball field in early April is a big adjustment. Normally, Little League and Junior Babe Ruth tryouts are just beginning.

“Little League has it tryouts tonight, so this is about when we would usually just get started,” Hoopes said Tuesday afternoon.

The young Rangers have been practicing for a little over a month, mostly inside. They’ve had just a handful of outside practices.

“It’s miserable when it is cold, but it’s still fun to get out and run around a little bit,” said Hoopes, who is assisted by fellow longtime Laramie Little League coach Armando Casas. “This group of kids seems real excited. We’ve had all 14 of these kids almost every night when we would be indoors. They’ve been working quite a while and are really progressing along. We’re way behind with the outside things, but they seem to picking it up. We know the kids and they know us, so our drills come pretty easy for them.”

And for the young Rangers, playing on Cowboy Field is what it is all about.

“Cowboy Field still has that mystique about it,” Hoopes said. “The kids are excited about that, playing where the big boys play. We’re practicing on the same day that the UW club team is practicing, and then the Colts will be here in June. They’re playing where the big guys are playing, and it is pretty fun for them.”
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Laramie Rangers Prep Roster
14-year-olds
Taylor Boggess, Kevin Dooley, Tyler Warren, Dylan Watson, Craig Welniak, Hunter Wick
13-year-olds
Tommy Burger, Abel Casas, Sam Feldman, Alex Jordan, Tommy Johnson, Tyler Loose, Brady Olson, Casey Stangle.
Laramie Rangers Prep Schedule
April 19 -- Fort Collins Storm, dh, 11 a.m.
April 21 -- at Rocky Mountain Titans, 6:15 p.m.
April 26 -- at Cheyenne, dh, 2 p.m.
May 1 -- at Fort Collins Storm, dh, 5:30 p.m.
May 10 -- Longmont Vipers, dh, noon.
May 16 -- at Longmont Vipers, 6 p.m.
May 31 -- Rocky Mountain Titans, dh, noon.
June 11 -- at Fort Collins Hawks, dh, 5:30 p.m.
June 16 -- Rawlins, dh, 5 p.m.
June 28-29 -- Fort Collins Baseball League Tournament, tbd
July 9 -- at Scottsbluff, Neb., dh, 5 p.m.
July 12 -- Scottsbluff, dh, 2 p.m.
July 17 -- at Rawlins, dh, 5 p.m.
July 22 -- Wheatland, dh, 2 p.m.
July 23 -- Cheyenne, dh, 1 p.m.
July 26 -- at Cheyenne, dh, 5 p.m.
Aug. 1-2 -- Wyoming State Tournament, at Sheridan, tbd.