The NCAA Division II national track championships are among the sporting events bringing visitors to Pueblo this May.More than 1,000 athletes and their families will be in Pueblo to compete May 19-24.The economic impact of sports tourism is expected to hit $3 million this month as visitors stay in Pueblo hotels, shop at local businesses, and dine in Steel City restaurants.Four major championship sporting events from collegiate track to high school girls golf are bringing more than 1,000 athletes and their families to Pueblo this month, filling hotels and providing an estimated $3 million economic impact on the community.

This week’s events kicked off May 19-20 with 84 of Colorado’s top high school girls golfers for the Class 2A championships at the Pueblo Country Club. 

“The country club parking lot was packed today because there is such a high attendance of spectators,” Cara Siegel, community and engagement coordinator for the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, said May 19.

As the week rolls on, 800 collegiate track and field competitors will converge on Colorado State University Pueblo for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II National Championship May 22-24. That event alone is expected to bring 2,500 spectators to the stands at the ThunderBowl.

“That facility is gorgeous and it’s always fun to show it off,” Siegel said. “This is the second time Pueblo has hosted — 2023 was the last time and we are super excited to have this competition back in Pueblo.”

Another 200 athletes will be up to bat at Runyon Sports Complex for the high school Division 2A baseball championships. Eight teams will face off May 23-24 and the top four teams will return May 30-31 for the finals. “That’s on top of the Region 9 Junior College Baseball tournament that brought eight teams, with a roster of 35 per team, to Pueblo for four days earlier this month. May has been a crazy month for sporting events,” Siegel explained.”Because Rye was the only local team in the girls high school golf championships, most of these visitors are bringing in tourism dollars. We estimate 6,500 room nights will be booked in Pueblo just this week,” Siegel explained.”Every hotel room in Pueblo is booked out for a week and we are sharing the love because some of these visitors are staying at hotels on the southern end of Colorado Springs,” she said.”We are excited to show off our Pueblo hospitality to all of these out-of-towners,” she said.Why sports tourism is so important to PuebloIn May of 2023, the Pueblo Chamber and Visit Pueblo rolled out a sports tourism division in an effort to bring a different kind of tourism to the city. The effort involves bidding for a chance to host a wide variety of sporting events.”We are trying to elevate it and pave the way for Pueblo to become a sports tourism destination. The sporting facilities here are absolutely amazing and they make it easy — we are very lucky,” Siegel said.Tickets to the NCAA Division II outdoor track and field events are available daily for $15 for adults or $10 for students and seniors, or an all-session pass costs $35 for adults or $20 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased online at gothunderwolves.com.

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via X at x.com/tracywumps. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain atsubscribe.chieftain.com.

HOULTON, Maine (WAGM) – The Northern Maine Lacrosse Club was founded in 2017.

Since then, the program has been developing lacrosse talent starting at the 1st grade level.

Eight years later and the NMLC is seeing that talent play at the varsity level.

Sarah Howe, senior at Houlton High School said, “I’ve played since I was in 3rd grade so this will be my third year, I’m one of the OG’s for our program here.”

“How long have you been playing lacrosse?” asked Joseph Lemelin.

Ava Whited, senior at Central Aroostook High School replied, “I’ve been playing 8 years.”

The varsity lacrosse team is in their third year of MPA play.

Ken Ervin, the founder of the Northern Maine Lacrosse Club is in his second year coaching the girl’s team.

“Each year we’re developing, we’re getting better, our numbers continue to increase and what’s great is to see and watch the players that started when they were in 3rd and 4th grade to be where they are now. And I think what you find is that not only are the girls developing but they continue to grow as a team,” said Ken Ervin, founder of the NMLC and head coach of the girls’ lacrosse team, “Believe it or not, of the 14 girls they represent six different school districts. Houlton, Hodgdon, GHCA, Southern Aroostook, Central Aroostook, and home school. I’ve been able to coach them when they were younger, so when they started in third or fourth I was their coach. That’s really an advantage that our program has, we start them young under one umbrella and they all understand the same philosophy, same coaching techniques, same drills, so they just keep coming up and coming up and I think that’s really starting to pay off.”

Ava Whited is a senior that attends Central Aroostook High School.

“It’s been great to see this program build and develop and new girls coming every year you never consistently have the same girls and every year we gain new schools and its great,” said Whited.

“It’s great having many different people from all over the place we’ve really bonded as a team this year,” said Howe.

They have had lots of time to bond as their closest away game is in Bangor.

“We’ve had a lot of Monday games so it’s every Monday we’ve been driving down past Bangor and we have a lot of Saturday games this year too, most of those ones are home thankfully, but we keep busy,” said Howe.

“It’s quite ironic when teams come up here and they’re like gosh this is so far away and we’re like you’re only doing it once, we’re going down 5,6, 7 times,” said Ervin, “There was a week where we went down to Waterville three times. Students sometimes don’t mind getting out of school early but then we get home late so we’re used to it now and I think whether we play first or second doesn’t really matter, we show up ready to play.”

In the last 8 years many athletes have been a part of the club.

One in particular has inspired the younger generation.

“I’d be remiss If I didn’t mention Megan Peters, she’s playing for Bates and she graduated last year. Our team was able to go down and watch them play at Colby and it was a great opportunity and atmosphere and we have some girls on our team who want to play after high school so to be able to see that and be inspired to want to get there and that shows in their effort here,” said Ervin.

The athletes appreciate that they have a strong leader who cares about their future.

“He’s been great, he knows all the ins and outs of every position, he knows how to handle a situation if something comes up and he’s just a good coach he knows everything about lacrosse he knows how to help us if we’re going through a hard patch of the game, I don’t know he’s just good,” said Howe.

With two games to go it’s looking unlikely that the team will make their first playoff berth this year, but the future is looking bright for the Northern Maine Lacrosse Club.

Copyright 2025 WAGM. All rights reserved.

BAY CITY, MI – A look at the high school girls sports scene in Bay County for May 20, 2025. Bay County coaches are asked to submit results, highlights and comments the night of each event by emailing lthomps2@mlive.com. Be sure to also check out our boys sports roundup.

SOFTBALL: NOTHING FAZES SPARTANS

Late-game pressure doesn’t seem to faze Pinconning.

The Spartans look at the final inning as just another chance to succeed.

Working its last-chance magic yet again, Pinconning swept Sanford Meridian 4-3 and 14-13, winning its final at-bats in both games.

“Our team’s resilience is why we keep finding ways to win these tight games,” Pinconning coach Kayla Gauthier said. “We are a young team, so we’ve had our fair share of mistakes. But these girls never seem to hang their heads.

“We stay positive, work hard, trust each other and keep fighting.”

The Spartans (17-18, 10-9) displayed that in Game 1, finding a way to win despite collecting just four hits. The game stretched into extra innings before freshman Kailee Rugenstein roped an RBI double to score the game-winning run. Layla Foco pitched all eight innings, striking out seven for the win.

Game 2 was a different kind of battle but played out in similar fashion. Meridian rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 13-13. But Pinconning turned singles by Elley Shoultes and Emma McQuarter and a throwing error into the walk-off win.

Rugenstein came up big again with two home runs and a double, knocking in five runs in the game. Ella Hunter drilled three hits for four RBIs while Shoultes and Laken Gibala each added two hits. Hunter pitched a complete game for the win.

SOFTBALL: GLENN WINS IN EXTRAS

In a scheduled six-inning game, John Glenn was seven innings strong.

The Bobcats stormed back to score three sixth-inning runs then added three more in the seventh to stun Tawas 10-7 in Game 1 of their non-conference doubleheader. Tawas returned the favor in Game 2, rallying for five runs in the sixth inning to snare a 9-8 victory.

“We got the breaks in the first game, Tawas got the breaks in the second game,” Glenn coach John Busch said. “Both were exciting games to watch and be part of.”

Glenn (17-13) showed some spunk in the opener, winning in come-from-behind fashion. Kate Cataline drove in three runs and Hadley Keister homered to lead the way. Dani Weiss notched the win with four strong innings of relief.

Glenn got three hits apiece from Drue Busch and Olivia Duprey in Game 2. But an 8-4 lead got away in the final inning.

SOFTBALL: DUKES HIT 20-WIN MARK

Essexville Garber powered past Bridgeport 17-1 and 15-0 in a Tri-Valley Conference Red sweep, hitting the 20-win mark for the 11th consecutive season.

Meredith Krauseneck slammed two home runs in a three-hit, six-RBI performance in the opener for the Dukes (21-12, 8-4). Ella Kokaly added three hits to back winning pitcher Delenya Charbonneau.

Kokaly drove in three runs and Kara Kotenko tallied three hits in Game 2. Kotenko notched the victory for the Dukes.

SOFTBALL: TOUGH TASK FOR CENTRAL

Bay City Central ran into trouble in Grand Blanc, dropping 12-1 and 6-0 contests in Saginaw Valley League action.

Central (13-17-1, 8-12) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of Game 1 only to see Grand Blanc plate the next 18 runs on the day. Kallie Kaczmarek rapped three hits for Central while Maleah Russell added two and Eli Maciejewski tripled. Grand Blanc blasted four home runs.

Grand Blanc’s Kayla Blumenschein faced the minimum 15 batters, firing a perfect game with 11 strikeouts in the five-inning nightcap.

SOFTBALL: STANDISH CAN’T SLOW CLARE

Standish-Sterling didn’t have an answer for No. 1-ranked Clare, dropping 15-3 and 6-0 decisions to the Jack Pine Conference leader.

Jaylynn Yenna hit a home run and drove in two runs for Standish-Sterling (15-13, 9-8) in the opener while Ava Briggs added two hits. Madison Jones struck out 10 for Clare (30-1).

Game 2 saw Clare’s Kyley Wyman throw a masterpiece, striking out 14 batters in a no-hitter. She also came through at the plate with a home run.

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