The Colorado Sports Hall of Fame has announced its Athletes of the Year, and the list includes some big names in Denver sports. The list was announced Thursday in a news release.
Denver’s duo of MVPs — Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon — are the state’s Pro Athletes of the Year. Jokic, now a three-time NBA MVP, finished 2023-24 averaging 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and nine assists per game, compiling 25 triple-doubles and shooting 58.3% from the field. MacKinnon racked up a career-high 51 goals and a franchise-record 140 points in his Hart Trophy season, leading the NHL in shots on goal (405) and even-strength points (92).
In the college category, Heisman winner and CU wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter made the list alongside CSU Pueblo basketball player Alisha Little.
Hunter finished the football season with 96 passes for 1,258 yards and a program-record 15 receiving touchdowns. On defense, he recorded four interceptions and 11 passes broken up. Hunter has already been recognized with a host of national awards: AP National Player of the Year, Lott Impact Award (for the national defensive player of the year), Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player), Chuck Benarik Award (defensive player of the year), and the Fred Biletnikoff Award (top wide receiver).
Little led CSU Pueblo’s women’s basketball team in double-doubles last season with 24 and blocked shots per game with 3.6. She earned second-team All-America honors and was the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. She was the only Division II player to finish that season with more than 600 points, 300 rebounds and 100 blocks. Little is a graduate of Grandview High School in Aurora and also played at the University of Northern Colorado.
De Beque high jump sensation Scottie Vines and Valor Christian volleyball star Chloe Elarton are 2024’s High School Athletes of the Year.
Vines is the first High School Male Athlete of the Year to hail from western Colorado since 1988, when Grand Junction’s Doug Musgrave won in 1988. Vines took home two national titles in the high jump last year, one at the Nike Outdoor Nationals and one at the USA Track & Field U20 Championships. His 7-4 1/4 mark at the Texas Relays last March, the best jump ever recorded by a Colorado high school athlete. He also owns three 1A state high jump titles. Vines is now a freshman competing for Arkansas.
Elarton helped Valor Christian to a third straight 5A state volleyball title in 2024. The Eagles finished the season 28-1. Elarton is a MaxPreps Junior All-American and was recently named Gatorade’s Colorado Volleyball Player of the Year. She finished her high school career with 3,089 assists and is committed to play for Georgia in the fall. Her father, Scott Elarton, was a CSHOF High School Athlete of the Year in 1994 and went on to pitch in Major League Baseball for a decade.
The Hall of Fame will honor Colorado Christian’s men’s golf team with the King of the Hill award after the Cougars won a Division II national championship, a first among Colorado-based college programs, regardless of gender or division. Jeff Clark, who has competed with Special Olympics Colorado for more than 30 years across numerous sports, will receive the Athlete with Disabilities Award. Clark is a recent graduate of Athlete Leadership University, a collegiate-style program for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For his capstone project, he focused on creating more opportunities for aging athletes.
All of these athletes will be honored at the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame’s 60th annual Induction & Awards Banquet on April 9 at the Hilton Denver City Center. Individual tickets are $250, and sponsor tables start at $3,000. More information is available at ColoradoSports.org or by calling 720-258-3535.
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