It was only 13 months ago that the Coloradoan released its latest ranking of the greatest local athletes of all time.
The last edition took place in 2014. A lot has changed between 2014 and 2023.
What has changed in the last 13 months? Well, there was a pretty significant worldwide competition where a star from Northern Colorado had a big influence on the outcome.
So it’s time for a refresher on the all-time best Fort Collins athletes from Colorado. These are athletes who grew up in the area (CSU athletes who came to Fort Collins for college, for example, are not included).
1. Sophia Smith
Recency effect? I don’t think so. Smith helped the U.S. women’s soccer team go undefeated and win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, scoring three goals and providing two assists, including an overtime semifinal winner to keep gold hopes alive.
Smith is only 24 (her birthday was the day of the gold medal match), but already she has a resume that is more nationally (and internationally) outstanding than any other athlete we have seen to date.
The Windsor native and Fossil Ridge graduate can claim all of the following:
- Gold medalist of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
- Three goals at the 2024 Olympics (plus two assists) and two goals at the 2023 World Cup
- Highest paid player in the NWSL
- 2022 NWSL MVP
- US Soccer Player of the Year 2022
- No. 1 pick (Portland Thorns) in the 2020 NWSL Draft
- 2019 NCAA Champion, College Cup MVP
She is also one of the top marketing names for mega brands like Nike, Gatorade, Reese’s, Chipotle and more. Smith is not only one of the best American soccer players, but one of the best in the world. She has already made 55 appearances and scored 23 goals for the USWNT.
Her career still has a long way to go, but she is rightfully the new number 1.
2. Byron “Whizzer” White
White was long No. 1 in those rankings. He was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy as college football’s most outstanding player in 1937 (when he was a running back at Colorado) and a two-time NFL rushing champion. White was born in Fort Collins and raised in Wellington. He played three seasons in the NFL, leading the league in rushing as a rookie in 1938 and again in 1940 (he was twice named All-Pro) before joining the Navy to fight in World War II. White also had a .400 batting average on the CU baseball team and was a standout player on the CU basketball team that made the 1938 NIT. He later became a U.S. Supreme Court justice. White was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.
3. Gary Glick
The former star player at LaPorte High School and CSU was selected No. 1 overall in the 1956 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played seven seasons in the NFL. Glick was twice selected to the All-Skyline Conference as a defensive back and was selected to the second team All-American in his senior year.
4. Jaelin Howell
Another soccer star. Howell (who went to Fossil Ridge) has played five games for the USWNT and could compete for a spot at the 2027 World Cup. The midfielder captains Racing Louisville in the NWSL. She won the Hermann Trophy (the equivalent of the Heisman Award in college soccer) twice at Florida State, where she helped the Seminoles to two national titles. Howell was the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft. She could soon move up that list.
5. Greg Myers
The Windsor High School standout won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back during his senior year at CSU in 1995. He was the only player ever to be selected to the All-Western Athletic Conference first team four times and was a two-time All-American. Myers was selected in the fifth round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals and played 64 games in the NFL for both the Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys.
6. Jeremy Bloom
Bloom, a two-time U.S. Olympian and three-time world champion in mogul freestyle, grew up alternating between his father’s house in Fort Collins and his mother’s house in Loveland. He graduated from Loveland High and became a freshman football All-American at CU before an NCAA ruling forced him to give up the sport to accept money from sponsors for his skiing career. He was nevertheless selected in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft, just two months after competing in his first Olympics.
7. Katie Follett
Follett was named a seven-time All-American at Washington. She was an All-American in cross country at Fort Collins High School, where she won 23 of the 34 cross country races she entered and set school records in the 3,200-meter run and 5K. At Washington, she won back-to-back Pac-12 Conference titles in the 1,500-meter run and finished second in the mile at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships. She also ran on the Huskies’ 2008 cross country national championship team and set school records in the 1,500-meter run and mile run at Washington. Follett has won a USATF National Club Cross Country Championships race, won a 2017 U.S. Road Mile Championship, finished second in the 3,000-meter run at the 2018 USA Indoor Championships, and finished sixth at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Qualifiers (5,000 meters) – to name just a few of her greatest accomplishments.
8. Marco Gonzales
The left-hander was the winning pitcher in four consecutive Class 5A state championship games at Rocky Mountain from 2007-10. As a sophomore at Gonzaga, he was named a first-team All-American in 2012 and was named the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year after sharing the conference’s Player of the Year honors as a freshman. Gonzales was selected No. 19 overall by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2012 draft. Now a Pittsburgh Pirate, he has played in 170 MLB games over 10 years of his career.
9. Gaby Morris
Morris (formerly Gabi McDonald), a multi-sport star at Rocky Mountain High School, has become a star in track and field at CSU, finishing second nationally at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the shot put in June 2024. She was also named to the All-American second team in the discus at the meet and competed in the U.S. Olympic Qualifying competitions later that summer. She won a total of five state titles in throwing at Rocky Mountain and competed for a time in both soccer (she was an all-conference goalkeeper in 2019) and track and field at CSU.
10. Lauren Gregory
Gregory is another Fort Collins running star. She was a seven-time state champion at Fort Collins High School (three times in cross country and four times in track and field). Gregory was a three-time All-American in indoor track at Arkansas and finished second in the NCAA in the indoor mile, 3,000-meter run and distance relay during her college career. She ran ahead of Paris in the U.S. Olympic Qualifiers.
Other names in the race
These athletes are close to the top 10 and are listed in no particular order:
Olivia Cummins: The 21-year-old was part of the US cycling team’s team pursuit at the 2024 Olympics. They won gold despite Cummins not being used as a substitute. Nevertheless, she is a rising star who now has her sights set on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Nancy Roe: Two-time No. 1 singles state champion (1983 and 1984) at Fort Collins HS and three-time NCAA Division II champion at Northern Colorado. She won NCAA No. 2 singles titles in 1986 and co-won national doubles championships with Sandra Elliott in 1985 and 1986.
Evan Unrau: The Rocky Mountain High graduate was a star basketball player in Missouri and was selected for the WNBA draft in 2004. She played professionally in Luxembourg for two years.
Micaylon Moore: The Fort Collins High School graduate was a two-time Colorado HS long jump champion and 2019 triple jump champion. He finished seventh with Nebraska at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Triple Jump Championships and also competed in the US Olympic qualifiers in this discipline.
Jacob Greenwood: Four-time Poudre High School wrestling champion, the first four-time champion in Fort Collins history.
Trey Zuhn: The Fossil Ridge graduate has developed into an elite offensive tackle on the Texas A&M football team and is likely to be selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Jack Howell: Jaelin’s sister spent her childhood in Northern Colorado before moving to the Denver area and then to Arizona when she attended high school. He is an all-conference safety at CSU and hopes for an NFL career in the future.
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
