Last spring, Sara Christensen won Thomas MacLaren’s first state championship, in the 2A 100-meter hurdles. 

On Tuesday, the senior helped the girls’ soccer team win its first playoff game in program history. In rainy conditions, no less. 

“I think she’s the best female athlete in the Springs,” first-year Highlanders head coach Chad Bregg said of Christensen. “She is a great leader, and always has a positive attitude.”

Two goals from Christensen on No. 12 Thomas MacLaren’s home field gave the Highlanders a 2-0 win over No. 21 Banning Lewis (7-9) to advance to the second round of the 2A state playoffs. The win was Thomas MacLaren’s (13-3) eighth in a row and was the team’s seventh shutout in 16 games. 

The Highlanders will face No. 5 Frontier Academy on Saturday in Greeley. 

“When I first started playing here, we were really bad; we were just playing for fun,” Christensen said. “Now we’ve built something. The community we have leads to the winning, which was shown today. We were just having fun and played so much better.” 

In addition to soccer and track, Christensen also plays volleyball and basketball for the Highlanders, and took up flag football for Coronado in the fall. She has excelled in all of them. 

Christensen’s first goal came in the 14th minute off assists from sophomore Claire Leibold and junior Eve Michalowski, and the second came in the 53rd minute in the second half. Christensen’s second goal was her 25th of the season; Leibold leads the team with 29. 

Still, Stallions’ senior goalie Caroline Fee kept the Thomas MacLaren offense at bay with 13 saves on 15 shot attempts. Banning Lewis fell to the Highlanders 6-0 earlier this season. 

Thomas MacLaren’s historic win in front of a loyal home crowd comes after a buildup of hard work and pushing through adversity. After a three-game losing streak in early April, Thomas MacLaren overcame a first-half deficit to take down a Manitou Springs team that beat them 4-0 the year before. 

“We bounced back and haven’t lost since,” Bregg said. “That game showed how good we could be.”

Christensen has a big week ahead with soccer playoffs and state track on the horizon. The forward is committed to running track for Division I program Southern Utah University and plans to defend her state title at JeffCo Stadium. 

To balance both, Christensen is taking it one day at a time. Still, she is enjoying each game with her teammates, many of whom are also multisport athletes. In fact, the friendships built from countless hours together across sports have been an important piece of the Highlanders’ build. 

“This season has come from hard work, most importantly, everyone gets along,” Bregg said. “There is no negativity on the team, so we play together. The most important thing for me is to play together through everything.”