Jake Anderson, baseball, Grand Junction Rockies

Anderson, a 2021 graduate of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, is in his first season with the independent Pioneer League club. A multi-positional player, he batted .294 through his first 46 games this season. Grand Junction is competing with the Boise Hawks for a playoff spot. Anderson enjoyed a solid collegiate career. Primarily a first baseman for the Mountain Lions, he batted .427/.860/1.368 with 15 home runs in 43 games for UCCS last spring. He led the Mountain Lions to the RMAC Tournament title. UCCS earned the No. 4 seed in the Division II South Central Regional Tournament, the program’s first appearance in the regional tournament in history. The Mountain Lions came within one victory of advancing to the Division II College World Series.

Jasper Lester, hockey, Air Force Academy

Lester, 19, a native of Colorado Springs and former star player with Monument-based Colorado Rampage, recently committed to playing hockey for the Air Force Academy. Lester (5-foot-11, 175 pounds) most recently played 97 games of junior hockey over two seasons for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the North American Hockey League. A defenseman, he had 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists) in 49 games in his first season in 2019-20, and had 23 points (7, 16) in 48 games in 2020-21. Lester also played in the 2018 NAHL 18U Top Prospects Tournament for one of the Tier 1 Elite League teams, an event that Air Force attended.

Jake Anderson

Jake Anderson

Jasper Lester

Jasper Lester