| Mountain Vista High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Colorado, United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | public high school |
| Established | 2001 |
| Founders | |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Number of students | 1949 [1] |
| School Color(s) | green and gold |
| Athletics | CHSAA 5A Continental League |
| Mascot | Golden Eagles |
| Website | Mountain Vista High School |
Mountain Vista High School is a secondary school located in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. The school is a part of the Douglas County School District.
Contents |
Initially designated "High School No. 4" in School District's long-range plans, Mountain Vista High School was named such in 2000. "Golden Eagles" is the school's mascot. The state of Colorado already had several schools whose mascot was an Eagle, but as none of them were "Golden Eagles," the mascot is unique to Mountain Vista. [2] The school opened in August 2001 and saw its first graduating class in 2005.
Mountain Vista High School participates at the 5A level in all sports. Athletic offerings include soccer, cross country, baseball, softball, field hockey, basketball, football, volleyball, gymnastics, track, swimming, diving, wrestling, tennis, cheerleading, poms, and lacrosse. The varsity baseball, women's soccer, and women's softball programs have all advanced deep into their respective playoffs in recent years and are consistently rated near the top of their respective divisions. Both poms and cheer were in the top 10 in nationals in 2006. And poms was in the top 5 at nationals in 2008. The field hockey team, with members from many schools in the area, won the state championship title in 2010 in a game against reigning state champion Kent Denver.
Mountain Vista football had success in 5A and continued to have success when it was moved to 5A for the 2005 season due to increased enrollment. Mountain Vista maintains a rivalry with local ThunderRidge High School in all sports. After losing for the first time in the 2006 season to Chaparral High School, Mountain Vista rebounded by defeating defending state champion Douglas County High School 7-6. The Golden Eagle victory ended a 20-game winning streak for the Huskies. Their season was then ended by the Huskies in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs.
Mountain Vista also maintains a combined rugby union team with local ThunderRidge High School. The team known as the Greagles had its best season in 2007 when it lost twice and tied once during its 10 game season. The team was seeded 14th out of 26 by ERRFU but lost one of its games in the state qualifier.
In 2005, Mountain Vista girls soccer team defeated Arapahoe High School for the 5A state title.[3]
In 2006, Mountain Vista cheer and poms both took state championship titles on December 1, 2007. This is the first time in CHSAA history that one school simultaneously held both cheer and pom state titles.
In 2007, Mountain Vista Cheer won Back to Back state championships in the 5A Varsity division. This is their first back to back championship.
Mountain Vista also fields nearly half of the participants of the Highlands Ranch Coop Swim and Dive Team (includes ThunderRidge, Rock Canyon & Highlands Ranch as well) which took 5th in State(2008).
In 2008, Mountain Vista poms team won 5A state championship on December 5, 2008 making it the second state title for the poms team.
In 2009, Mountain Vista poms team won 5A state championship making it the third state championship for the poms team.
In 2009, the Mountain Vista varsity baseball team advanced through the playoffs all the way to the state championship game, where they lost against Rocky Mountain High School.
Mountain Vista's men's swim and dive team combined with Rock Canyon, Highlands Ranch, and Thunder Ridge, placed second at the 5A Men's Colorado High School State Championships in 2009.
Mountain Vista Field Hockey also went to playoffs (semi finals) in both 2007 and 2008 ranking in the top 4 teams in CO in 2008.
Mountain Vista won their first male state championship in the year of 2010. The men's swim and dive team combined with Thunder Ridge, Rock Canyon, and Highlands Ranch High Schools ended Regis Jesuit's 15 year state championship run. The team won the state title by scoring 373 points, Cherry Creek got second with 341.5 points, and Regis got third with 277 points. Mountain Vista's key contributors were seniors Cole Hackney and Eric Finger, Juniors Ian Woon, Kevin Stoddard, and Mark Repella, and Sophomore David Fraser.
The Vista Nation Cross Country team finished the 2010 season with a 3rd place finish for the boys in only their second appearance at the meet in school history. Its coach was Johnathan Dolby. He is a middle school teacher at Mountain Vista's middle school, Mountain Ridge. They were led by Stephen Chipman, who took 4th that year.
The Mountain Vista men's basketball team did well in 2010-2011. They went on to the state playoffs in which they loss to Boulder High School, who would become the state champions. That year, their biggest achievement was beating Thunder Ridge in a thrilling last minute rivalry game.
In the spring of 2011 the Mountain Vista women's soccer team won the 5A state championship. They beat Dakota Ridge 3-1. This was the second State Title for the women's soccer team. Their record for the 2011 season was 17-0-2. At the finish of the season, the women's soccer team was ranked second nationally.
The Vista Nation Cross Country team appeared again at the 2011 state meet where they just got better. That year the boys took second place to Fort Collins High School. They lost by only 12 points. Though it was heart breaking, they had there heads held high. They are expected to do well in the future also. Mountain Ridge Middle School has been taking running seriously, as for the first time ever, they made a running club. Coach Dolby went on to become the 5A coach of the year.
Mountain Vista High School provides one of the highest ranking academic programs in Colorado. Vista is one of the few public high schools in Colorado to receive a greatschools.net rating of 9/10 [4]. The average ACT score for the class of 2008 was four points higher than the average for the state of Colorado. In the class of 2008, three students were National Merit Finalists. The vast majority of graduates attend four year colleges, and many students go to out of state schools