5A girls golf: Higgins, Valor Christian in the lead after Day 1 at state

LOVELAND – A torn ACL she suffered from an awkward landing coming off a jump while competing in mogul skiing last year eliminated any chance of her golfing for Valor Christian as a sophomore.
 
But Higgins is back and healthy, and she’s making the most of her long-awaited state championships debut.
 
On Tuesday at The Olde Course at Loveland, the Eagles junior battled a tough course better than anyone else on a gusty day before the rain and wind rolled through in earnest in the afternoon. Her round included a run of three straight birdies – four in six holes – on the back nine to finish at even par and will head into the second day on Wednesday as the leader.
 
“It feels good. It was definitely a rocky start, but it’s good now,” Higgins said. “I just kept staying in it and I felt like I was more relaxed, more than in the past. I just kept making putts, so that’s all I can do.”
 
With Higgins in the lead, the Valor Christian team will also begin Day 2 in the lead. The Eagles, who are seeking their program’s first title, finished Tuesday’s opening round with a combined score of 233. Eagles freshman Brenna Higgins carded a 79, fellow freshman Bella Eide shot a 72 and junior Carmen Carpinelli scored an 89.
 
Defending champion Loveland finished the day in second place with a score of 246, giving the Valor Christian a considerable lead over the field.
 
“Anything can happen on Day 2,” Higgins said. “But that’s certainly a good position for us to be in right now. We’ll just have to see how things go tomorrow.”
 
In third, Cherry Creek scored 250, Mountain Vista had a 258 and Cherokee Trail finished with 260 strokes to round out the top five.
 
Prairie View’s Lily Nelson, who was runner-up last season, finished in second place with a 2-over 74. Defending champion Katelyn Lehigh of Loveland carded a 75 and sits in third.
 
Chaparral sophomore Brooke Hudson shot a 77 and sits in fourth place, two strokes ahead of Brenna Higgins. Abby Aeschleman of Mountain Vista, Jenna Bistline of Rampart and Fossil Ridge’s Olivia Steen, who placed third in 2021, all sit in a three-way tie for sixth place at 80.
 
Ralston Valley’s Brooklyn Mueller and Cherry Creek’s Caitlyn Chin will open Day 2 tied in ninth place.

Pairings and tee times for Day 2 will be released Tuesday night.
 

 

Pos	Team	Player	R1	Total
1	Valor Christian	Elle Higgins	72	72
2	Prairie View	Lily Nelson	74	74
3	Loveland	Katelyn Lehigh	75	75
4	Chaparral	Brooke Hudson	77	77
5	Valor Christian	Brenna Higgins	79	79
6	Mountain Vista	Abby aeschleman	80	80
6	Rampart	Jenna Bistline	80	80
6	Fossil Ridge	Olivia  Steen	80	80
9	Ralston Valley	Brooklyn Mueller	81	81
9	Cherry Creek	Caitlyn  Chin	81	81
11	Valor Christian	Bella Eide	82	82
11	Cherry Creek	Kate  Cowser	82	82
13	Rock Canyon	Ashleigh  Wilson	83	83
13	Cherokee Trail	Chunya Boonta	83	83
13	Fossil Ridge	Ellie  Barry	83	83
13	Legend	Talia Wilson	83	83
17	Rock Canyon	Amira Badruddin	85	85
17	Fairview	Ava Hickey	85	85
17	Loveland	Maryn  Harlow	85	85
17	Arapahoe	Molly Stratton	85	85
21	Highlands Ranch	Joie Chun	86	86
21	Lakewood	Kayla Wong	86	86
21	Loveland	Reece Bandemer	86	86
24	Cherokee Trail	Devin Gilbreath	87	87
24	Broomfield	Hampton Traylor	87	87
24	Cherry Creek	Maddie Li	87	87
27	Legacy	Ayla Milan	88	88
27	Rampart	Madison Brown	88	88
29	Mountain Vista	Ava Staver	89	89
29	Arapahoe	Brynn Dzengelewski	89	89
29	Valor Christian	Carmen Carpinelli	89	89
29	Mountain Vista	Shae  Maiorana	89	89
33	Regis Jesuit	Ella Denslow	90	90
33	Legend	Jocelyn  Barrus	90	90
33	Cherokee Trail	Kaleigh Babineaux	90	90
33	Eaglecrest	Savanna Becker	90	90
37	Fruita Monument	Cierra  Noetzelmann	91	91
37	Grandview	Courtney  Ladymon	91	91
37	Heritage	Kayla Robinson	91	91
37	Rocky Mountain	Samantha Orr	91	91
41	Grandview	Caroline Ryan	92	92
41	Columbine	Ella Dailey	92	92
43	Regis Jesuit	Caitlin Neumann	93	93
43	Castle View	Sydney McCord	93	93
45	Rock Canyon	Alexis Murphy	94	94
45	Cherokee Trail	Haylee Clark	94	94
45	Castle View	Haylee Von Behren	94	94
45	Chaparral	Joey  Jung	94	94
45	Arvada West	Olivia  McCandless	94	94
45	Legacy	Peyton McLeese	94	94
51	Heritage	Claire Robinson	95	95
51	Castle View	Shelby  McCord	95	95
51	Lakewood	Sumin Kim	95	95
54	Loveland	Jordyn  Bandemer	96	96
54	Castle View	Melana Pszanka	96	96
56	Grandview	Allie Arritola	97	97
56	Regis Jesuit	Audrey Whitmore	97	97
56	ThunderRidge	Avery Basler	97	97
56	Denver East	Jasmine  Linkenheil	97	97
56	Rock Canyon	Katie Fleming	97	97
56	Brighton	Kaylin Leydon	97	97
56	Pine Creek	Megan  Carlson	97	97
64	Legend	Paige Carlson	97	97
64	Arapahoe	Evie Rogers	98	98
64	Doherty	Lauren Kachel	98	98
66	Monarch	Lexi Girton	99	99
67	Regis Jesuit	Georgia Meysman-Sharpe	100	100
67	Arvada West	Makenzie Sproles	100	100
67	Douglas County	Payten Baca	100	100
71	Brighton	Raleigh Puzio	100	100
71	Broomfield	Brooklyn Davis	101	101
71	Legend	Delaney  White	101	101
73	Smoky Hill	Caroline  Garland	102	102
73	Mountain Vista	Kellie Hare	102	102
75	Chaparral	Hanna Ryel	103	103
75	Legacy	Kalianna Boglino	103	103
77	Horizon	Ella Neuhauser	104	104
77	Heritage	Kaylee Macias	104	104
79	Prairie View	Maddie Klink	105	105
80	Broomfield	Mia Huerta	106	106
80	Arapahoe	Peyden Gobble	106	106
82	Columbine	Emory Crawley	108	108
83	Pine Creek	avery valdez	113	113
84	Grand Junction	Stefani Mendez	114	114