{"id":38378,"date":"2022-09-18T19:31:28","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T01:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dove-creeks-hickman-saving-her-best-for-last\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:43:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:43:52","slug":"dove-creeks-hickman-saving-her-best-for-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dove-creeks-hickman-saving-her-best-for-last\/","title":{"rendered":"Dove Creek\u2019s Hickman saving her best for last"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez high School softball senior Rylee Hickman plays shortstop in a contest against the Aspen Skiers at Englehart Field in Cortez. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

With graduation coming up in the spring of 2023, Dove Creek senior Rylee Hickman doesn\u2019t want to leave anything on the table.<\/p>\n

The multisport standout \u2013 shortstop for the Montezuma-Cortez softball team, point guard for Dove Creek basketball, and track and field dynamo \u2013 has added at least one more pin to her letter jacket.<\/p>\n

With some cajoling from Dove Creek volleyball head coach Lacey Murphy, Hickman added volleyball to her autumn pastimes, helping a dominant Bulldog program to an unbeaten start at the halfway point of the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided I wanted to play all the sports I possibly could my senior year,\u201d said Hickman of her four- or five-sport high school career finale.<\/p>\n

Hickman\u2019s career has in no small way contributed to a heyday for both the Panthers on the diamond and the Bulldogs on the hardwood. Her video-game-esque .564 batting average and 1.800 OPS, combined with a steady glove in the field, stirs a team that averages better than 15 runs per outing.<\/p>\n

\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Rylee Hickman digs the ball in a match against Ignacio at Dove Creek High School. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Rylee Hickman has split time between the DC volleyball squad and M-CHS softball team in her senior season. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019re a really competitive group,\u201d said Hickman of her softball team\u2019s success, building a 10-1 record after a league sweep of Aspen, \u201cand our success has been based off our ability to back each other up.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s seemed like the offense never takes a day off for the Panthers, as M-CHS continues to rake at a collective .505 batting average \u2013 as M-CHS makes another push for a state tournament run. Three out the last four seasons have seen the Panthers among the final 16 teams in the 3A state tournament, and this year\u2019s squad has a chance to continue the trend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been more of the same, keeping our eye on the ball,\u201d said Hickman of her team\u2019s offensive proficiency, \u201cand our coaches have been working hard to put us in position to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s what you want in a leader,\u201d said M-CHS softball head coach Anthony \u201cHippo\u201d Frost of Hickman\u2019s developing role on the team, \u201cshe brings out the best in her teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly after closing out the Skiers in a 17-0, 22-6 doubleheader sweep, Hickman makes the jaunt back to Dove Creek High School, trading the orange-and-black for the blue-and-yellow as she joins her alma mater for weekend San Juan Basin League volleyball matches against Norwood and Ignacio.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still haven\u2019t figured out the practices,\u201d admits Hickman, recognizing the challenges of splitting time between two successful programs, \u201cbut I\u2019ve been able to get in enough time before matches to make sure I know the game plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Softball has always been No. 1, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been my happy place,\u201d says the senior out on Englehart Field, \u201cand getting to play with both my classmates at Dove Creek as well as teammates from M-CHS, Dolores, and Mancos \u2013 it\u2019s nice to have the different dynamics between the two teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"M-CHS
M-CHS softball senior Rylee Hickman plays shortstop in a contest against the Aspen Skiers at Englehart Field in Cortez. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
M-CHS softball senior Rylee Hickman talks with head coach Anthony \"Hippo\" Frost while standing on third base in a contest against Aspen. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)
M-CHS softball senior Rylee Hickman talks with head coach Anthony \"Hippo\" Frost while standing on third base in a contest against Aspen. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Hickman finds her spot within the fold of the Bulldogs volleyball program, which searches for another deep state run in October and November, knowing that she won\u2019t be the primary source for kills and aces, but using her athleticism to make an outstanding team even better.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a natural athlete,\u201d said Murphy of Rylee\u2019s adjustment to volleyball, in spite of not playing since middle school and limited practice opportunities, \u201cand she\u2019s got the mentality and positive attitude that allows her to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps things might quiet down with only one sport to focus on during the winter \u2013 where Hickman utilizes superior court vision to spearhead the Dove Creek offense on the basketball court. Much like the rest of Dove Creek athletics, the Bulldogs enjoyed a sensational 2021-22 season, and will turn to Hickman for leadership heading into another league and state tournament push.<\/p>\n

The now-senior has seen significant innings and minutes on the floor ever since stepping onto the scene as a freshman \u2013 and she\u2019s looked up to some of the best Bulldogs and Panthers in the past four years. Now, heading into her final seasons at the high school level, Hickman is the player that the younger generation hopes to emulate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that there\u2019s a lot of pressure because a lot of people look up to me,\u201d reflected Hickman with a smile, \u201cbut I\u2019m here to have fun and enjoy the time that I have.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bulldog senior splits time between M-CHS softball, Dove Creek volleyball<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,36,29,596,345],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-newsletter","tag-softball","tag-volleyball"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38378"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84010,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38378\/revisions\/84010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38378"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}