David Plati, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame historian, has identified more than 2,000 memorable moments in Colorado’s sports history and has been announcing the top 150 weekly with Jim Saccomano since November 2025.
Here is a look at the ranked memorable moments tied to the Centennial State’s collegiate history leading up to the state’s sesquicentennial (150th) birthday on August 1, the date Colorado was admitted to the Union as the 38th state in 1876.
A committee with over 900 years of involvement in Centennial State sports is selecting the moments we will count down at a rate of five per week, then daily for the top 10 by the end of July. Colorado.
The Denver Gazette has partnered with the CSHOF to publicize Colorado’s top 150 sports moments. Plati and Denver Broncos icon Saccomano will unveil the list weekly on the CSHOF podcast at coloradosports.org/podcast/.
Collegiate moments recognized in the first 125 are No. 25, 26, 30, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50, 54, 57, 61, 64, 65, 67, 69, 72, 73, 74, 79, 84, 85, 86, 88, 91, 92, 103, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 114, 116, 118, 124, 126, 128, 133, 139, 143, and 150.
No. 25 – July 26, 1996, Englewood native and Colorado State alumna Amy Van Dyken won her fourth gold medal in the ’96 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the first American woman to win four golds in swimming in the same Olympiad (11 had won three prior). She claimed gold in the 50-meter freestyle, the 100-meter butterfly, and teamed with others to win the 4×100 freestyle and 4×100 medley relays. The first American woman to earn four medals in a single Olympics, she was honored upon her return with a parade in downtown Denver.
No. 26 – December 10, 1994. At one point, eight games into the season, it could be argued that the University of Colorado had three Heisman Trophy candidates – Rashaan Salaam, Kordell Stewart, and Michael Westbrook. They separated themselves late in the season, and the nod went to Salaam, who became the first Heisman winner in the state of Colorado. He won the voting easily with 400 first-place votes and almost doubled the point total over a pair of Penn State players, Ki-Jana Carter and Kerry Collins.
No. 30 – June 16, 1974. A final round 3-over par 73 propelled former CU golfer (and quarterback/ cornerback) Hale Irwin to victory in the 83rd U.S. Open. The 29-year-old was consistent over the four rounds (73-70-71-73=287, 7-over par) on the tough Winged Foot Golf Club course in Mamaroneck, N.Y. He won by two strokes over Fuzzy Fezler, with notables Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player further down the line. He cashed a $35,000 check for his efforts. The first of his three U.S. Open wins, along with in 1979 and 1990, he remains just one of six players in history to win three or more U.S. Open titles.
No. 36 – April 11, 2026. The Denver Pioneers won their record 11th NCAA men’s hockey title (and third in the last five years), defeating the University of Wisconsin, 2-1. Held scoreless for the first 47 minutes with only nine shots on goal, the DU offense came alive, with Rieger Lorenz out a rebound in the net to tie the game at 1-all. Then with 5:52 remaining, Kyle Chyzowski tipped one in for the winning score. DU’s freshman goalie, Johnny Hicks, stopped 29 of 30 Badger shots and was named the Frozen Four’s outstanding performer.
No. 37 – August 8, 1936. Simla native and Colorado A&M graduate Glenn Morris (’34) won the gold medal in the decathlon at the ’36 Berlin Summer Olympics. An assistant for A&M football coach Harry Hughes at the time, he set a new world record of 7,900 total points in the 10-event competition, leading an American sweep in winning the first Olympic medal by a Coloradoan in a track and field event.
No. 38 – February 7, 1964. It was referred to at the time as the “biggest upset in Olympic ski history.” Two Alpine skiers from Colorado won the first Olympic medals in skiing, with Billy Kidd winning the silver and Jimmie Heuga the bronze in the slalom in Innsbruck, Austria. Called “a pair of daring 20-year old American students,” they upstaged several of the world’s best skiers in the 2-3 finish. Heuga was a member of CU’s ski team, but Kidd chose to race professionally even though he, too, was a CU student; both trained under CU head coach Bob Beattie.
No. 39 – September 6, 1986. Colorado State records its first win over rival Colorado since 1958 with a 23-7 win in Boulder. The Rams took advantage of six CU turnovers with Steve Bartalo rushing for 145 yards and a touchdown. CSU built a 23-0 lead by the end of the third quarter and CU avoided being shut out, scoring with 29 seconds left in the game. CU was coming off its first winning season since 1978 and had high aspirations; CSU was 5-7 the previous year and the win was the impetus for the Rams’ first winning season since 1980. Colorado would lose its next three by a combined 10 points before rallying to win six Big Eight games, as both finished 6-5 in the ’86 regular season. Bartalo would go on to rush for 1,419 yards in 1986 and 4,813 for his career, both CSU records at the time with the career mark still first.
No. 40 – March 9, 1968. Adams State College as crowned national champions in the NAIA Wrestling Championships – the first of 69 national titles the then-Indians and now Grizzlies have won over seven different sports – the most by any Colorado university. Adams hosted the event in Alamosa and methodically pulled away from Nebraska-Omaha, winning by 31 points (108-77); the two dueled again a year later, with ASC (now ASU) winning by 14. Two weeks later, NAIA champion Nick Carollo won the 191 title at the NCAA university event, and Adams State tied for 17th at University Park, Pa. It added six more in wrestling for a total of eight, has won 25 in men’s cross country (12 NAIA, 13 NCAA Division II); 24 in women’s cross country (3 NAIA, 21 NCAA Division II; six in women’s indoor track; three in men’s outdoor track (2 NCAA, 1 NAIA) two in men’s indoor track (both NAIA) and one in women’s outdoor track. Joe Vigil coached the first 30 of those champions, with current head coach Damon Martin coaching the last 39; the Grizzlies’ most recent titles were in 2024 (women’s indoor and cross country).
No. 41 – December 31, 1985. The Air Force Falcons completed their best season in history (12-1), with a 24-16 win over Texas in the Bluebonnet Bowl, AFA’s fourth straight bowl victory. The Longhorns took a quick 7-0 lead, but Air Force zoomed ahead with two scores to take a 14-7 lead going into the second quarter and never looked back. Fullback Pat Evans was the game’s MVP, as he had 18 carries for 129 yards and a touchdown. The Falcons were co-champions of the Western Athletic Conference; Texas, the Southwest Conference runner-up, finished 8-4.
No. 44 – December 14, 1996. The Northern Colorado Bears got on a roll at the right time, as after a 5-3 start, they reeled off seven wins in a row, four coming in the NCAA Division II playoffs. After dispatching No. 7 Pittsburg State (24-21), No. 2 Northeast Missouri State (27-26), and No. 8 Clarion (19-18), the 15th-ranked Bears faced No. 6 Carson-Newman in Florence, Ala., for the Division II championship. Billy Holmes ran for 136 yards and a touchdown; Tom Beck connected with Andy Haase on a 36-yard pass for the other, and Michael Schauer kicked three field goals to lead the Bears to a 23-14 win and the title. UNC’s defense also shone, ending all five of Carson-Newman’s second-half possessions with turnovers. Joe Glenn was named the national coach of the year by the AFCA, and UNC would repeat in ’97.
No. 45 – November 24, 1928. Colorado College junior Earl “Dutch” Clark set a state college record that still stands today when, in a 48-25 win over Wyoming, he rushed for 381 yards and five touchdowns. He added six extra-point kicks for 36 points overall; he had 227 of his yards by halftime. He also completed nine passes for 207 yards, giving him the state’s total offense record of 588 yards, another mark that still stands. Both numbers still rank nationally in the top 20 but are separated by divisions; at the time, they were considered single-game records.
No. 47 – March 30-April 1, 1990. In one of the last cities to host a Final Four in a basketball setting at McNichols Arena, Duke beat Arkansas in the first semifinal, 97-83, with UNLV defeating Georgia Tech in the second, 90-81. In the championship game, UNLV routed Duke, 103-73. Coach Jerry Tarkanian’s Runnin’ Rebels averaged 95.2 points for the six tournament games and finished with a 35-5 record.
No. 48 – December 20, 2014. Just six years after coach John Wristen and devout donors resurrected the program, the CSU Pueblo won the NCAA Division II title with a 13-0 win over No. 1 Minnesota State. The T-Wolves (14-1) held the Mavericks to just 265 yards, nearly 200 under their season average. Chris Bonner threw for 191 yards and a touchdown, and Cameron McDondle ran for 113 yards to lead the offensive attack. CSU Pueblo reached the title game with three home wins in the playoffs, defeating Angelo State (52-14), Ohio Dominican (31-28), and West Georgia (10-7).
No. 50 – December 14, 2024. The second Heisman Trophy winner in the state was awarded to Colorado’s two-way star, Travis Hunter. He caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns, with four interceptions and 11 pass deflections on defense. The first player in history to be named first-team on both offense and defense on the Walter Camp Foundation’s All-America team, he followed Deion Sanders to Colorado from Jackson State in 2023. In the closest Heisman race since 2009, he bested Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty by 217 points.
No. 54 – March 7, 1954. The University of Denver won the inaugural NCAA Ski Championship, held over three days in Reno, Nev. In the final competition of the event, DU’s Billy Olson and John Cress finished one-two in the jumping, enabling the Pioneers to pull away from the pack with 384 points. Seattle University was next (349.6), followed by Colorado (348.6), Idaho (348.5), and Wyoming (347.8) in the hotly contested battle for second. Coach Willy Schaeffler’s DU teams would win the first four titles (and 13 of the first 17, finishing second in the four it did not win). Overall, through 2026, DU has won the most ski titles (24), with Colorado second (20).
No. 57 – November 4, 1989. “Things Have Changed” remained lit on the Folsom Field scoreboard through the weekend after No. 2 Colorado defeated No. 3 Nebraska, 27-21, paving the way for CU’s first Big Eight title since 1976 and the Orange Bowl berth that went with it. The Huskers scored a touchdown on their first play, the only lead they would have had all afternoon; the Buffs tied it on one of the most memorable plays in school history, a 70-yard touchdown where Darian Hagan ran for the first 40 and then pitched it to J.J. Flannigan for the remainder.
No. 61 – December 13, 1969. Though the credit for integration for Alabama and the SEC always falls to USC after it blew out the Crimson Tide, 42-21, in 1970, Bear Bryant got a taste of an integrated team in the ’69 Liberty Bowl. CU walloped Alabama, 47-33, with several black players, including a team captain, Bill Collins. In a tasteless move, Alabama sent over 40 players out for the coin toss. Not to be intimidated, the two other tri-captains, Bobby Anderson and Mike Pruett, stopped a few yards short and let Collins take the last few steps to midfield. Racist ‘Bama fans were yelling the “N” word at CU all game long, prompting the normally reserved Bill Brundige to explode at halftime, screaming in the locker room, “Did you hear what they are calling our Black brothers?” But in the end, Colorado scored 16 fourth-quarter points, Brundige had five of CU’s eight quarterback sacks, Collins was in on 14 tackles, and Eddie Crowder’s Buffs got the best of the Bryant and the Tide.
No. 64 – April 9, 2005. The University of Denver claimed its seventh NCAA hockey title with a 4-1 win over North Dakota; the Pioneers had advanced to the final after defeating rival Colorado College, 6-2, two days earlier. DU’s George Gwozdecky was named the national coach of the year for leading DU to back-to-back titles after not claiming one since 1969. It was the third time the Pioneers were crowned back-to-back champions, having done so in 1960-1961 and 1968-1969, and just the fourth repeat titlist in the NCAA’s 58-year history.
No. 65 – November 6, 1937. CU All-American Byron White single-handedly beats Utah at Salt Lake City, 17-7, in one of his greatest games ever. He returned a punt 95 yards, scored another touchdown on a 57-yard sprint, kicked a 15-yard field goal, and kicked both extra points in accounting for all of CU’s points; the previous year in Boulder, he scored 25 of CU’s points in a 31-7 win over Utah. The win prevented Utah from tying CU for the league title and vaulted CU into the AP Top 20 for the first time at No. 16.
No. 67 – March 15, 1940. The University of Colorado returned to the N.I.T. for the second time in three years, but this time won the trophy with a 51-40 win over Duquesne. CU’s Bob Doll was named the tournament’s most valuable player after leading all scorers with 31 points. The Buffaloes defeated DePaul in the semifinal two nights earlier, 52-37, to force a rematch with the Dukes, who beat CU at home, 47-45, two months earlier and advanced to the final by beating Oklahoma. Coach Frosty Cox was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
No. 69 – March 13, 1969. In the only postseason match-up of two Colorado Division I basketball programs, Colorado State defeated No. 18 Colorado, 64-56, in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Manhattan, Kan. The Rams, who earned an at-large entry, had four players in double figures, led by Cliff Shegogg with 20, while Cliff Meely scored 32 points for CU, the Big Eight Conference champion, but had little support otherwise. Two days later, in the Elite Eight, the Rams lost to Drake, 84-77.
No. 72 – November 19, 1994. Less than two years after hiring Sonny Lubick as the head football coach on December 21, 1992, Colorado State earned its first Western Athletic Conference win since joining the league in 1968 with a 44-42 win at Fresno State. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 24-3 second-quarter lead, but three touchdown runs by E.J. Watson pulled CSU even in the third quarter. A 30-yard blocked punt return for a score by Raymond Jackson put the Rams ahead for good at 31-27, and some distance was created when Antoney Hill and Paul Turner connected on a 78-yard TD pass. The No. 10 Rams improved to 10-1 with the win and are 7-1 in WAC play. CSU’s first league title since 1955 (Skyline) secured a Holiday Bowl berth opposite Michigan. Lubick was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
No. 73 – May 31-June 1, 1974. In the NCAA baseball District 7 playoffs in Greeley, Northern Colorado swept the series against No. 1-ranked Arizona, defeating the Wildcats 6-5 in the first game and 6-2 in the second to earn a trip to the College World Series. The Bears, who swept Gonzaga to reach the finals, improved to 31-11 on the season and ended Arizona’s season with a 58-6 record in one of the all-time upsets in NCAA history. Rick Thoren (7-1) scattered five hits, and UNC broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings in the series finale for Coach Tom Petroff, a 2002 Colorado Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
No. 74 – June 9, 2018. CU women’s basketball coach Ceal Barry was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. In 22 seasons coaching the Buffaloes, she compiled a 427-242 record, leading CU to four conference titles, 12 total NCAA tournament berths, with six NCAA Sweet 16’s and three Elite Eighths. Hired on April 12, 1983, to replace Sox Walseth, Barry coached her last game at CU on March 2, 2005. She was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
No. 79, March 26, 1949 – Regis won the inaugural National Catholic Invitational Basketball tournament in its only appearance, defeating St. Francis, N.Y., 51-47. Held in Denver, Regis defeated Iona (63-51), St. Francis, Pa. (66-49), and Loyola, Md. (67-60) to reach the championship game. Coached by Colorado Sports Hall of Famer Larry Varnell, Regis finished with a 34-3 record; the tournament went defunct after 1952. The first NCAA championships in any sport were held in the state when Colorado A&M hosted the 19th NCAA Wrestling Championships. Oklahoma A&M won its 16th wrestling title; the host Aggies finished 10th. A&M also hosted the 1952 event – CU tied for sixth.
No. 84 – March 25, 2000. MSU Denver upset Kentucky Wesleyan 97-79 to claim the NCAA Division II men’s basketball championship, avenging a loss to them in the 1999 finals. All-American and tournament MVP DeMarcos Anzures led the way with 32 points, and Mike Dunlap was honored as the NABC Coach of the Year as Metro finished with a 33-4 record. (Anzures was the first Division II state collegiate to earn first-team All-American honors.
No. 85 – March 26, 2026. The Colorado Mesa women’s basketball team just missed advancing to the Division II title game, falling to Indiana (Pa.) University, 75-70. The Mavericks fell behind 12-0, but rallied to tie the game at 23-all before trailing 36-29 at the half; CMU never got closer than four the rest of the way. Olivia Reed Thyne led Mesa with 34 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocked shots as the Mavericks finished the season with a 37-2 record, having won 34 in a row – the longest in state history – prior to the semifinal loss. The 37 wins are also the most-ever in the state by a college team – men or women.
No. 86 – October 25, 1986. Colorado’s 20-10 win over No. 3 Nebraska in Boulder that sunny afternoon became known as “The Turning Point” in the 13-year Bill McCartney coaching era. Not only was it CU’s first win over the Huskers since 1967, but it was also the highest-ranked opponent the Buffaloes had defeated in 14 years. The Buff defense held Nebraska to 123 yards rushing; the Huskers finished second in the nation that year with 306 per game. The fourth quarter opened with a 52-yard touchdown pass on a halfback option, O.C. Oliver to Lance Carl, giving CU a two-score lead at 17-7.
No. 88 – July 22, 1984. Boulder’s Marianne Martin won the inaugural women’s Tour de France. The 26-year-old University of Colorado graduate, who didn’t make the U.S. Olympic Cycling team, completed the 616-mile, 18-stage course in 29 hours, 39 minutes, and 2 seconds, besting Helen Hage of the Netherlands by three minutes and 17 seconds. Crowned champion in Paris, over two million people lined the course for the final stage.
No. 91 – October 19, 1968. University of Colorado track All-American and graduate Bill Toomey won the gold medal in the decathlon at the Mexico City Summer Olympic Games. He won three of the 10 events, the 100-meter run, the long jump, and the 400-meter run, for which he set a world decathlon record. He racked up an Olympic record 8,193 total points, winning by 82 over East Germany’s Hans-Joachim Walde in the 33-man field. Toomey won 23 of the 38 decathlons he competed in, including the ’67 Pan American Games leading up to the Olympics, and held the world record for the most points in a decathlon for nearly three years. He was inducted into the CSHOF in 1971.
No. 92 – July 21, 1952. Denver native and East High School and University of Denver graduate Jerome Biffle won the gold medal in the broad (long) jump at the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. In claiming the gold with a jump of 7.57 meters (24-feet, 10.03 inches), the 23-year-old was the city of Denver’s first Olympic gold medal winner and second medalist. He beat Cornell graduate Meredith Gourdine, who earlier had beaten him in the Olympic Trials, for the gold by an inch-and-a-half.
No. 103 – April 10, 2004. The Denver Pioneers won their sixth NCAA hockey title – their first in 35 years – with a 1-0 win over the University of Maine in Boston. Gabe Gauthier took a pass from Connor James and scored on a power play for the game’s only goal at the 12:26 mark of the first period; Adam Berkhoel stopped 24 Black Bear shots on goal to earn the shutout, including two in the final 90 seconds when Maine had a rare 6-on-3 man advantage.
No. 105 – May 24, 1959. The driving force behind Grand Junction’s landing the Division I Junior College World Series was Sam Suplizio, who settled there after his professional playing days. The inaugural event the year before was held in Miami, but the former major leaguer sold the Baseball Congress on relocating the tournament to Grand Junction in 1959, where it has been held ever since, and played on the field baseball congress on relocating the tournament to Grand Junction in 1959, where it has been held ever since, and played on the field that has been named in his honor. Paris (Texas) won the first one held in Grand Junction, besting Northeastern Oklahoma 14-4.
No. 106 – January 1, 1959. The Air Force Academy, in just its fourth year of existence and ranked No. 6, earned its first New Year’s Day Bowl berth against No. 10 TCU in the Cotton Bowl. On a cool, 48-degree day in Dallas, the teams battled to a scoreless tie, combined for just 458 yards of offense, and fumbled the ball 13 times, turning it over 8 times. AFA, in its first season under coach Ben Martin, finished 9-0-2 with wins over CU, CSU, and DU.
No. 107 – March 18, 1950. Colorado College won the state’s first NCAA championship as the Tigers’ men’s hockey team defeated Boston University, 13-4, in Colorado Springs. Chris Ray had six points (four goals), and Tony Frasca scored twice as CC had 10 goals in the third period. Colorado Sports Hall of Famer Andy Gambucci was a member of that team. CC posted an 18-5-1 record, scored 190 goals in 24 games, including 10 or more on nine occasions. The 13 goals remain the most in a championship game, matched just one time – by CC in 1957.
No. 109 – March 4, 1989. Heading into the final day of the regular season, Colorado State was 11-4 in Western Athletic Conference play, tied atop the standings with New Mexico and one game up on Texas-El Paso. Coach Boyd Grant, wanting to ease the tension among the team, took the Rams to a movie on Friday Night: Lean on Me. Pat Durham scored 31 points to lead CSU to an 89-72 win, though BYU led 40-38 at the half; the Rams shot 78 percent from the field in the second half (14-of-18, including six threes) to pull away for a decisive win. Later that day, New Mexico was upset at home by Hawai’i (71-70), CSU was alone in first and won its first conference title since the Mountain States in 1954.
No. 110 – August 25, 1944. One of the top athletes from northwest Colorado, Lewis “Dude” Dent, was gunned down by Nazi forces near Troyes, France in World War II. He earned eight letters combined in football, basketball, and track at Craig High School, and earned a football scholarship to Colorado A&M, where he earned all-conference honors and the Mountain States Conference “best all-around athlete” honor in 1943. Four credits shy of earning his degree in mechanical engineering, he was called up to fulfill his officer commission. He was awarded the Silver Star posthumously for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States.
No. 114 – March 18, 1961. In Hutchinson, Kan., Pueblo Junior College won the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) basketball title, completing a four-game tourney sweep by defeating Tyler (Texas), 79-66. Bob Warlick, named the tournament’s MVP, led the Indians in the tournament, scoring 86 points; he had 26 in the title game. The team was coached by the late Harry Simmons, a 1982 inductee into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
No. 116 – October 6, 1990 – Not exactly the greatest moment, but certainly a memorable one since it has occurred three times in history: CU’s 33-31 win at Missouri made major headlines. Trailing 31-27, the Buffs had a first-and-goal at the Mizzou 3. The chain crew failed to move the down marker from second to third. Mizzou’s Omni-Turf was also in terrible condition, and the correct shoe was needed to avoid slipping; MU never informed CU of that fact, and coaches documented 92 slips and falls by Buff players – 16 of which were documented and shown on ESPN’s GameDay the next Saturday. But Fifth Down was the bigger controversy.
No. 118 – November 30, 1899 – The first meeting in the series that would eventually be known as the “Border War” took place when Colorado Agricultural College (Colorado State) and the University of Wyoming met for the first time. It was the first game CSU ever played outside of the state, and it won 12-0 by forfeit after a controversial ending with the officials, who were provided by both schools. They have played 117 times, with CSU leading 60-52 with five ties. The two will be in different conferences for the first time in over a century beginning this fall, but the schools have agreed to keep the series alive – it’s the opener for both on September 5 in Fort Collins.
No. 124 – June 11, 1955. In its third appearance in the College World Series, the University of Northern Colorado recorded the first win by a state college in the event, upsetting top-ranked Southern California, 2-1. Wayne Coates doubled home, George Sage in the fourth inning, giving the Bears a 2-0 lead; Sage pitched a complete game and allowed only six hits, striking out three. UNC would then be eliminated by Wake Forest and Arizona. Northern Colorado has the most appearances of any state school in the College World Series, as the Bears have won 10 District VII and/or Regional titles to advance to the Series, the last time in 1974; the Bears are 3-20 in CWS games.
No. 126 – November 28, 1889. The first game in one of college football’s longest rivalries was played in Colorado Springs, with Colorado Mines defeating Colorado College in a Thanksgiving Day battle, 14-6.
No. 128 – May 22, 1914. Pueblo Central High grad and University of Colorado freshman pitcher Bob McGraw – a future major leaguer – struck out what remains a state collegiate record 20 batters in the Silver & Gold’s 7-1 win versus Colorado College in Boulder. In throwing a 2-hitter, McGraw also went 2-for-4 at the plate with a home run. It was the second-most strikeouts at the time in all of college baseball, and the win also clinched the RMAC title for CU. In 1917, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and became the state’s first player to reach the major leagues. (By the way, CU batters struck out 13 times, for 33 total whiffs in the game).
No. 133 – March 15, 1999. Playing in her final home (a second-round NCAA tournament game), Colorado State senior and 2015 Colorado Sports Hall of Fame inductee Becky Hammon scored 30 points to lead the Rams to an 86-70 win over Southwest Missouri State to advance to the Sweet 16. Hammon was 6-of-12 from the field and 16-of-17 from the line and had eight assists. CSU finished the season 33-3 after dropping the next game to UCLA. She scored 21 points in the 77-68 loss to the Bruins, finishing as the state’s all-time leading scorer by a woman’s collegian (2,740 points).
No. 139 – May 10, 1967. In perhaps the greatest single game in state collegiate baseball history, Air Force senior outfielder John McBroom had a career in the Falcons’ 38-7 win over Colorado College. He set what still stand as NCAA records as he batted 1.000 – going 9-for-9, the most hits in a single game and the highest 1.000 average without an out. He scored six runs and had 12 runs batted in and 19 total bases (the latter two still AFA marks). He almost hit for the cycle twice – he hit two home runs, with one triple, three doubles, and four singles. He would go on to become a flight instructor, among other accomplishments, and retire as a Major General.
No. 143 – January 5, 1982. Colorado State senior guard Kathy Lightfoot scored 45 points in a 118-54 win over Southern Colorado in Fort Collins, to date the most points in a single game by a Division I player in the state. Lightfoot had 21 field goals and made 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. The state’s collegiate best for women, across all divisions, is a 51-point effort by the late Carroll Lillie of Southern Colorado (now CSU Pueblo), in an 82-80 overtime loss to St. Mary’s of the Plains on December 3, 1979.
No. 150 – April 11, 1885. In the first intercollegiate football game played west of the Mississippi River, Colorado College defeated the University of Denver Ministers, 12-0. Early newspaper accounts never listed any stats or even most of the scoring plays, instead focusing on who played in the game and who was the stoutest. Both institutions had been around for a while, DU since 1864 and CC since 1874, as the first intercollegiate football game took place in 1869 (Rutgers 6, Princeton 4). The game methodically spread west.
