Arapahoe sharpshooter, teammates eye state title

Arapahoe’s Kate Spring leads a talented group of seniors who have their sights set on a state lacrosse title. Spring is considered the best shot on the team.
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Kate Spring’s vision is not hers alone. While Spring is an undeniable sharpshooter, the roster of skilled seniors on the Arapahoe girls lacrosse team and their coach help define that vision.

There is no denying, though, Spring’s eye for the goal, which seemingly can neither be explained nor solved.

“I don’t know what it is,” said Spring, who is fast in the open field and crafty in traffic. “As soon as I catch the ball and turn to the net, I see an opening. I know exactly where to put my shot and how to fake the goalie out.”

Regular-season competition begins Thursday and Cherry Creek is the odds-on favorite to record a third consecutive title and the program’s seventh overall when the sport’s 10th championship is decided May 14.

Still, Spring and the Warriors could interrupt the Bruins’ run.

“Our goal, obviously, is to win state,” Spring said. “But to do that, we can’t look ahead to the state game. Each game, from the first one on, is a challenge in itself.”

Arapahoe is led by five skilled and experienced seniors who have played together on the varsity since they were freshmen.

Coach Katie Peksa, a 25-year-old who played lacrosse collegiately and internationally, would not entertain the thought that there is a single standout for the Warriors.

Instead, Peksa said each senior, along with some notable underclassmen, combine their respective talents into a single force on the field.

“They are all exceptional players in their own way,” Peksa said.

Senior Channing Ahbe teams with Spring for a potent attack, Addison Rounds and Katie Gerhard control the midfield and vocal leader Hadley Bush runs the defense.

The Warriors finished 15-3 last season, losing to traditional powers Cherry Creek once and Kent Denver twice, including a 15-9 loss to the Sun Devils in the state semifinals.

Gerhard, who said that playoff loss helped open the Warriors’ eyes to what is possible, believes her team is on course to win the school’s first lacrosse championship. She also said Spring’s deadeye shot could be the deciding factor.

“I don’t want to give away any of her secrets, but she knows when to shoot and where to shoot it,” Gerhard said.

Spring, who has a 3.64 grade-point average, will attend Colorado State and play on the lacrosse and field hockey club teams. Don’t expect Spring or any of the other Warriors to look past the season at hand, though.

“Expectations are very high,” Bush said. “We are hoping this is the year we can pull it together and beat Creek.”

That is no easy task, but the symbiotic relationship among the Arapahoe seniors could make it happen.

“There is such a strong connection between all of us seniors,” Rounds said. “I can run down the field and look to either side and know that someone will be there. That’s a good feeling in tough games.”