The sun is out for the start of this week’s 4A girls’ golf tournament, but that looks to change Tuesday. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow)
CARBONDALE — The weather woes continue to be a factor for spring state championships. Though the first days of the Class 4A and 5A girls golf state tournaments will get underway, Tuesday could be a different story.
The weather forecast calls for rain and thunderstorms in both Carbondale (site of 4A) and Loveland (5A) for the second day of the tournaments which could throw a wrench into things.
According CHSAA associate commissioner Tom Robinson, who oversees golf, should the conditions be unplayable Tuesday, the first round scores will hold up as the final results of the tournament.
“We’re going to do our best to make sure we get both rounds of the tournament in,” Robinson said. “The only thing that will stop that — as what’s happened all spring — is the weather. Per our rules, if we get one round in and can no longer play, that round will determine the championship. But again, we are going to do everything possible to get both rounds in.”
The only reason the tournaments would get pushed back to Wednesday is if a team tie existed and a playoff was necessary.
CHSAANow will update this story as more information becomes available.
DENVER — The Class 4A baseball tournament, which has already been delayed once, was postponed again on Monday morning.
Both sites which were to host 4A games on Monday were left unplayable due to overnight rain, according to CHSAA assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann. The tournament’s first- and second-round elimination games were scheduled for Monday, as well as a third-round winner’s bracket game.
No makeup dates have been announced yet. Those will likely come on Tuesday. However, Thursday is being targeted as the next possible date to resume the tournament.
“We will setup a new schedule based upon what may be available in terms of facilities,” Borgmann said.
Monday’s 4A games were to be played at Bishop Machebeuf in Denver and All-Star Park in Lakewood.
The 4A schedule was already pushed back a day due to storms on Friday which delayed play at that time.
This will likely affect future dates in the 4A tournament, though nothing has been determined yet. It is very possible that 4A will be playing into next week.
“With the weather that’s supposed to come in (Tuesday), our entire weekend may be gone,” Borgmann said.
LOVELAND — Not even looming rainclouds that put a chill in the air — and cast doubt on whether play would be continued Tuesday — could put a damper on Gillian Vance’s smile after 18 holes Monday.
The Dakota Ridge senior shot a four-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead after day one of the Class 5A girls golf state championships at Olde Golf Course in Loveland.
Although the weather mostly cooperated Monday, rain is expected for the rest of the week, and if the course is rendered unplayable, Monday’s results will become final.
“We’ll make a determination (Monday) morning after conferring with course officials. Our hope is to be able to finish the tournament,” said Harry Waterman, CHSAA assistant commissioner who was acting as the site director at the course on Monday. “If not, the results of Day 1 will determine the outcome of the championships.”
The inhospitable climate Monday had no adverse affect on Vance, who took advantage of greens softened by rain to dial in her approach shots, especially on the back-nine, where she pulled away from the pack with a three-under 33.
“When it’s colder it’s usually not going to go as far, and when it’s wet, which it’s been, it’s usually not going to roll as far. So I just wanted to be aggressive because I knew the greens would be pretty receptive,” Vance said of her approach Monday. “I just decided to go for it. I was really able to get it close to the pin.”
Even when she wasn’t knocking down flagsticks with her wedges, Vance was able to sink enough putts to maintain her distance from the pack. Her final birdie, which cemented her place atop the leader board, came on a long putt from off the green at the par-four 15th.
With the uncertainty surrounding play Tuesday, Dakota Ridge head coach Levi Bartholomew said he was glad to see Vance attack the golf course early.
“With the unknowns of the weather coming up (Tuesday) the discussion (Monday) was we needed to be aggressive because it could be the only day of the tournament,” said Bartholomew. “We played today with the idea that today was the second day and she really went after it.”
According to Vance, it helped that she was playing with friend and rival Sydney Gillespie from Regis Jesuit.
“We’ve know each other since we were 10, so it’s really fun playing with her. It’s also kind of sad since this is our last year,” said Vance. “It was really great to see her do so well and it was really comfortable with her out there.”
The two friends were the only two players under par after Monday. Ashlyn Kirschner of Ralston Valley, Morgan Sahm of Grandview, and Alexis Chan of Rock Canyon are all tied for third place with a first-round score of one-over.
Regis Jesuit’s Sydney Gillespie. (Zach Marburger/CHSAANow.com)
Gillespie – who had to leave quickly after her round in order attend her graduation – shook off a bogey on her opening hole to post a two-under 70 and help the defending champion Regis Jesuit Raiders to a dominate position atop of the team leader boards after the first round.
“I’ve got to get going for graduation but I definitely will be keeping my teammates in my prayers,” said Gillespie. “They know that they have a lot of support and I know they’ll finish out strong.”
Her teammates Mary Weinstein and Jaclyn Murray combined with Gillespie for a first-round team score of five-over.
“They’ve all had a lot of tournament experience. They’ve played a ton, they’re all great players, but they’re getting really good at hanging in there and scoring well on a day where you could have scored badly,” said Regis coach George Miller. “I have three players on this team that could win this thing. I’m a very lucky guy.”
Rock Canyon and Legacy round out the team leader board with scores of 18-over and 22-over, respectively.
Vance, for one, hopes the weather holds for one final day of high school golf – even if it would put her first-round lead in jeopardy.
“I would really love to play (Tuesday) even if it’s bad weather, because it would be the same for everybody,” said Vance. “I really hope we can. It’s our last state.”
Silver Creek’s Erin Sargent attempts a par putt during the first day of the 4A girls golf state tournament. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
CARBONDALE — Kylee Sullivan’s last three holes of Thursday’s round may have been the boost Cheyenne Mountain needed.
She went one-under in those three, including a birdie on 18 to help the Indians to a five-stroke lead at the girls Class 4A state golf tournament.
Sullivan is also in contention for the individual title, sitting three strokes behind Jefferson Academy’s Jennifer Kupcho. As great as an individual title might be for Sullivan, she only has one focus for this weekend.
“The team,” she said without hesitation. “I definitely want another team title, I just think it’s big for the rest of them. An individual title would be great, but it would be fantastic to get another team title.”
Four straight groups on Thursday featured golfer from both Cheyenne Mountain and second-place Colorado Academy, which sits at 40-over as a team.
They were paced by Cassie Kneen who finished at 10-over for the day with eight pars. The important thing is that she didn’t let herself get into trouble and never scored higher than bogey.
Her teammate Kacey Godwin also placed in the top 15 for individuals and would’ve been higher save for taking a nine on the 17th hole, a hole that plagued many golfers during the day.
“They played well,” Mustangs coach Beth Folsom said. “We’re a young team and we were third last year and we were hoping we could improve on that a little bit.”
Folsom knows that her team has a lot of work to do in order to keep pace with the Indians. Cheyenne Mountain is the defending 4A champion so coach Bill Paulson has had his team in this position before. He’s confident that they can step up and make shots when they need to, even with a five-stroke lead.
Cheyenne Mountains Kylee Sullivan tees-off on the ninth hole at Red Valley Ranch Golf Club. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow)
The last thing Paulson wants is a weather issue to cut the tournament short and have the Indians declared championships without playing out the rest of the tournament.
“(Folsom) and I went to (CHSAA associate commissioner) Tom Robinson and asked what he thought about an 8 a.m. shotgun start to get everyone out there,” he said. “We’d have a better chance of getting it in, even if we have to pull them off early.”
For now, the tournament remains on as scheduled for its normal 8:30 a.m. start using a regular format.
Playing a second day would also help Sullivan, who trails Kupcho by three strokes. Kupcho birdied two of the last three holes to get to two-under par. She even came away with a birdie on 17, a hole that handed then leader Erin Sargent (Silver Creek) a triple-bogey.
“I fought back a lot today,” Kupcho said. “I had to doubles and a bogey and a lot of birdies. I was just trying to play the best I could after all the trouble I was getting into.”
The Olde Course in Loveland. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
LOVELAND — In anticipation of rain on Tuesday, the Class 5A girls golf tournament is moving to a shotgun start at 8 a.m. for the second day of competition.
The 8 a.m. start time at the Olde Course is, of course, dependent on the condition of the course in the morning. If overnight rain leaves it unplayable, there is still a possibility the second round may not be played. That decision will be made around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday. CHSAANow.com will post the latest information as it becomes available.
However, course officials are confident that the Olde Course can hold the water from overnight rain, which is also expected.
With the planned 8 a.m. shotgun start, players should be ready to play at 7:40 a.m., as they need to be transported to their holes via golf cart. The range opens at 6 a.m.
If the course is unplayable, players and teams should still come to the Olde Course as individual and team awards will still be handed out on Tuesday.
Should the second round begin, but not be completed, the first round results would hold up as final.
The 4A tournament remains as-scheduled with its 8:30 a.m. start, using the regular format. Weather, too, could be an issue there on Tuesday.
With Fossil Ridge clinging to a slim lead heading into the 200-yard freestyle relay, they needed a win. More importantly they needed a win over the team that was swimming to their right. Regis Jesuit came into the event as the favorite to win the team title, but the Sabercats had other plans.
In a race that brought competitors and the crowd to their feet, Fossil Ridge came won the relay in epic fashion. They touched the wall one hundredth of a second faster than Cherry Creek and 17-hundredths of a second faster than the Raiders. In the end, Fossil Ridge scored 297 points to win the state championship.
“We swam pretty well in the front half of the meet, but Regis was swimming pretty well too,” Sabercats coach Mark Morehouse said. “We had it projected out and we knew we needed to win one of the two free-relays. We didn’t know which one, but what we knew is that we couldn’t make a mistake.”
The Raiders looked to regain some ground in the 100-yard breaststroke, but the title would ultimately be decided in yet another relay race. The day’s main event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, gave Fossil Ridge the 34 points they needed to clinch the 5A team title.
“We just wanted to continue the momentum and see how fast we could go,” Sabercats swimmer Walter Dauksher said. “I was fortunate that my teammates worked hard to get me a lead. I’m not necessarily a swimmer but I put all I had into that relay.”
Daunter anchored both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays that were essential in clinching the championship for Fossil Ridge.
The Raiders may have fallen short in their pursuit for the team title, but they certainly had plenty to celebrate during the meet.
During the diving finals, all eyes were centered on senior Kyle Goodwin. The diver was the three-time defending state champion and was making a run at both a fourth championship, and a state record.
Regis Jesuit’s Kyle Goodwin. More photos. (Ray Chen/CHSAANow.com)
His final dive of the day scored at 167.9 to net him a total score of 611.85, good enough to break Aaron Feight’s 10-year-old state record of 608.20.
“I came in looking to get that fourth title and to get points for the team,” Goodwin said. “Although we didn’t get the team points, it still feels pretty good to come out on top for four years in a row.”
Rounding out the top five on the day were Cherry Creek (209), Boulder (177) and Fairview (149). For Boulder, it was only the second time the team has ended with a top five finish. Fairview didn’t quite come as far as they had last year (third place overall), but coach Amy Webb was pleased with the performance.
“This is kind of a young team now, but we swam out of our minds today,” she said.
Individual honors were also handed out at the conclusion of the meet. Chris Loftis from Cherry Creek was named coach of the year while one of his swimmers, Sam Coffman, was named swimmer of the year. Coffman won the 200-yard freestyle, the 100-yard freestyle and anchored the Cherry Creek team that won the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Goodwin was an obvious choice for diver of the year and setting a state record and walking away with his fourth individual diving title. Smoky Hill’s Erik Seaver was named the diving coach of the year.
THORNTON — Daniel Carr learned a valuable lesson during this spring’s boys high school swim season.
“High school swimming is so much fun,” the Cheyenne Mountain sophomore said.
After spending his freshman year training for nationals instead of swimming for his high school, Carr took a page from Missy Franklin’s playbook and stuck with his high school friends.
It paid off Saturday as Carr set a pair of state records in helping the Indians capture the team title from three-time champion Air Academy.
Cheyenne Mountain scored 354 points to outdistance the Kadets by 34.5 points. Thompson Valley was third with 199 points.
Carr set the tone in the day’s third race, establishing a new 4A state mark in the 200-yard individual medley. His time of 1 minute, 48:93 seconds bettered the old standard by nearly two and a half seconds.
Carr swam the second leg for the Indians in the finals’ first race, the 200 medley relay. They finished second to Air Academy, which shattered the state mark it had set in Friday’s preliminaries.
Cheyenne Mountain celebrates its title. (Tom Robinson/CHSAANow.com)
“It made me mad,” Carr said of his performance in the relay. After Air Academy’s Tommy Baker pulled off a mild upset, setting a 4A record in winning the 200 freestyle, Carr was up again for the IM.
Carr followed that up with a time of 44.67 in the 100 freestyle, good for a new state mark by more than three-quarters of a second.
“I knew at the beginning of the meet I wanted the 100 free,” Carr said.
The Indians capped off the meet and secured the state title by winning the 400 freestyle relay in record fashion on 3:06.60, bettering the five-year old 4A mark by more than two seconds.
Cheyenne Mountain came into the state meet with a lot of confidence, having gone unbeaten during the regular season.
“We were hoping that our (with) our depth, the fest of the guys would come in and score a lot of points,” said Indians coach Kate Doane, whose team won its first boys state swimming championship since 2002.
Doane was named the 4A coach of the year.
Air Academy’s Caleb Hicks pulled off a mild upset by winning the 100 butterfly in a 4A record time of 49.63 seconds. Teammates Tommy Baker and Hunter Doerr claimed state titles in the 200 and 50 freestyles, respectively.
The Kadets claimed their second state relay record in winning the 200 freestyle in 1:23.24, more than three seconds under the previous mark.
Thompson Valley dominated the diving competition, capturing three of the top four places – including boasting the state champion, senior Kyle Pape, who edged teammate Collin Williams by less than four points for the title.
The Eagles also got a victory from Liam Gately in the 500 freestyle and from John Thorne, who broke his day-old record by winning the 100 backstroke in 44.30 seconds.
D’Evelyn’s Daniel Graber defended his state title in the 100 breaststroke.
Niwot celebrates first and second place finishes in the 100-meter hurdles. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow)
LAKEWOOD — On the last day of the state track and field championships at Jefferson County Stadium, old powers continued to rule and new powers emerged.
The Fountain-Fort Carson Trojans, as expected going into the week, obliterated the Class 5A boys field with 94 points, more than double Cherry Creek’s 44.5. FFC has now won four of the last six state championships in the highest classification and have racked up 17 crowns in the program’s illustrious history.
Tevin Donnell, a senior who won his first individual titles Saturday in the 100 and 200-meter dashes and ran legs on the winning 400 and 800-meter relays, said camaraderie has fueled the Trojans’ success.
“We’ve been lucky enough to stay together and that’s not something that’s common in a school with a military presence,” Donnell said. “I’ve grown up with a lot of these people.”
Fountain-Fort Carson not only finished first in the 400 and 800-meter relays, but also the 1,600 relay, and scored plenty of points in the individual sprint and middle distance events. They wanted to win all four relays, but settled for third in the 3,200 relay, running a 7:55.48.
On the girls’ side, Cherokee Trail, a power in track and field in recent years with two boys championships, earned their first girls state championship in any sport with 99.5 points, holding off 2014 champion Fort Collins, who had 86.
Shayna Yon, a soon-to-be LSU Tiger, scored 30 points by herself for CT as she won a triple crown in the long jump (18-9.25), the 100 (11.79), and the 200 (24.17). Yon and her team set a new standard for the Cherokee Trail girls.
“It felt really good, because I’m the first female at my school to win any state title,” she said. “It was really nice to be able to put my school on the map, as well as be a leader for my teammates who are younger than me. I just really wanted to leave my mark here before I leave for school. I’m really excited for our girls team next year, because we are going to be just as strong.”
In 4A, Palmer Ridge, a school in Monument that was founded in 2008, finished first in four of six championship finals on Thursday—the high jump (Jordan Swango, 6-6), the pole vault (Kyle Rex, 15-0), the 3,200-meter run (Eric Hamer, 9:22), and the 3,200 relay (7:57)—and kept the momentum rolling through the rest of the weekend as Caleb Ojennes won the 200 and 400-meter dashes on Saturday. He also anchored the 1,600 relay that defended their crown from 2014.
Ojennes, who posted a 21.75 in the 200 and a 47.35 in the 400, helped the Bears tally 98 points and win their second consecutive state championship. The Classical Academy finished as the 4A runner-up with 52 points.
“I can’t really complain right now,” Ojennes said. “It’s just such a rush, because we just won back-to-back team titles.”
“Just winning the first state championship for Palmer Ridge meant a lot last year.”
The new school also triumphed for the 4A state championship in cross country last fall.
Niwot claimed their third girls state championship in a row in 4A on the strength of their relays and hurdles. The Cougars won the 800-meter relay in a new 4A state meet record of 1:41.13, they placed second in the 1,600 relay in 3:54.95, and they finished first and second in both the 100 and 300 hurdles.
Kela Fetters, the 300 hurdle champion just ahead of teammate Mackenzie Fidelak, a freshman, was proud of herself and her teammates.
“My goal going into the season was to make Niwot the best at 4A girls hurdles in the state and I think that’s what we accomplished,” Fetters said.
Niwot finished with 85 points. Mountain View was the runner-up with 59.50.
The Lutheran boys, in their first season up one class after claiming the 2A crown in 2014, won 3A with 82.5 points. They dominated the sprints and won handily over Platte Valley (63).
Eaton, after finishing as the state runner-up in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 broke through for their first state championship in girls track by snatching the 3A crown with 95.5 points. As usual, the Reds scored plenty of points in the field and on relays. Lamar placed second with 80.
As for 2A, the Lyons boys collected their fourth state championship in five years as junior distance runner Paul Roberts added to his legacy with state titles in the 1,600, 3,200, and 3,200 relay. The Lions are the power in the classification. Not much changed this weekend. Lyons tallied 111.5 points and edged out Cedaredge (100).
The Paonia girls won their third state title in a row in 2A with a monstrous 132 point total. Lyons was the runner-up with 73.5. Paonia excelled on relays and in field events, as well.
Finally, in 1A, Springfield boys conquered the crown with 109 points as Pikes Peak Christian finished with 85. Pikes Peak mostly dominated the individual sprints, but Springfield rolled over everyone in the field.
Heritage Christian and Shining Mountain Waldorf dueled in distance, but HC came through with the 1A girls state championship with 129 points. SMW scored 100, as Ginger Hutton won the 400, 800, 1,600, and 3200 in her final season.
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Notables
Tevin Donnell and Christian Lyon placed first and second for Fountain-Fort Carson in the 5A 100-meter dash finals. Donnell also won the 200.
Monarch sophomore phenom Isaac Green won the 5A 1,600 crown in 4:19.56, his first state championship.
Andrew Barlow of Monarch cleared 16-8.5 to win the 5A pole vault. The senior’s mark ranks No. 11 in the nation.
Becca Schulte of Fort Collins won the 5A 400-meter dash in 53.64, the fourth quickest time in Colorado history.
Rock Canyon freshman Emily Sloan won the 5A 100-hurdle crown in 14.11.
William Mayhew, one day after running 1:50.74 to crush the 4A record in the 800, claimed the 1600 in 4:15.
Longmont boys won the 400-meter relay in 42.08, an extremely quick time.
Thompson Valley girls shattered the 4A record in the 1,600 relay with a time of 3:50.73.
Freshman Brittany Fuchs of Calhan won the 2A 200-meter dash in 25.70.
Jenna Anderson of Lyons capped off her high school career in style by winning the 2A crowns in the 800 (2:14.86) and 1,600 (5:12.61). Teammate Sierra Tucker placed second in the 1,600 in 5:28.35.
South Park’s Kacey Buttrick won the hurdle double, the 100 and 300, in 2A.
Cedaredge girls shattered the 400-meter relay record in 2A with a 49.73.
Baca County’s J.D. Chenoweth won the 110 and 300-hurdles in 1A.
Springfield’s Andy Borunda finished first in the shot put (47-01) and discus throw (150-10) in 1A.
Freshman Zariah Mason of Kim blew past the field in the 100 and 200 to earn her first 1A state championships. Her 100 time of 12.72 was a new classification best.
