COLORADO SPRINGS — After a shaky first round, the Cheyenne Mountain girls golf team delivered a state championship performance Tuesday at the Country Club of Colorado.
The Indians, who were in third following the first day, fired a second round 250 to beat Montrose by 15 strokes to capture their second consecutive Class 4A state title at their home course.
“We just focused and played like we were capable of (Tuesday),” said veteran Cheyenne coach Bill Paulson, whose team trailed Montrose by three strokes after the first round. “(Monday) we shot way above what we normally shoot and I think (Monday) was all about nerves and feeling the pressure of being on our own golf course.”
Cheyenne Mountain finished with a 520 total on the challenging par-72 course. The Indians were powered by Kylee Sullivan (168), Kelly Kruse (173), Samantha Weber (179) and Rachel Knobbs (208).
“It’s crazy, I can’t believe it happened again,” said Kruse, the team’s lone senior. “I’m just so thankful. It’s awesome that it happened on our home course.”
(Bethany Brookens/CHSAANow.com)
Sullivan admitted her team changed its mindset on Tuesday.
“We tried to forget (Monday) and we knew we had to fight back and win,” said Sullivan, who shot a team-best 81 Tuesday. “There was a lot of pressure on us. A lot of people think it should be easier to win on your home course, but this course wasn’t easy for anyone. It was a tough, tough course and it was a great state course. So to win her is just awesome.”
Montrose finished the tourney with rounds of 267 and 268.
Individually, Jennifer Kupcho coasted to her first state crown. The Jefferson Academy junior fired a 2-over-par 146. Valor Christian’s Andrea Ballou was second with a 160 total.
This state title was three years in the making for Kupcho, who had rounds of 72 and 74 at the Country Club of Colorado. She finished third at state as a freshman and was second a year ago.
“I had a good round Monday and I just came out and played consistent (Tuesday),” said the 5-foot-4 Kupcho, who has already verbally committed to play at Wake Forest University. “I’m really excited to be a state champion. I’m really happy.”
Last year, Kupcho was runner-up to Montrose’s Kala Keltz by two strokes.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Near state championship misses are something Jennifer Kupcho knows well.
The Jefferson Academy junior finished third at state as a freshman and was second a year ago.
On Monday, the junior made a statement in the first round of the Class 4A state tournament to try and eliminate any heartbreaking drama this year.
Kupcho fired an even-par 72 at the Country Club of Colorado course to take a commanding nine-stroke lead over her teammate Mariah Ehrman and Valor Christian’s Andrea Ballou.
“I had a good round,” said Kupcho, who had only two bogeys. “I struggled with my putting at the beginning, but I was hitting the ball very well. The greens were kind of slow and bumpy, but the rest of the course was really nice.”
The final round concludes Tuesday at the challenging Country Club of Colorado course.
Jefferson Academy’s Jennifer Kupcho. (Tracy Renck)
A year ago, Kupcho was runner-up to Montrose’s Kala Keltz by two strokes. Her freshman season she was one stroke back of Pueblo South’s Bryce Schroeder and Kathleen Kershisnik of Regis. Schroeder won state in a playoff.
“I’ve been really close to winning before and (Monday) I just went out there and played like I know how to play and I didn’t worry about anything else,” said the 5-foot-4 Kupcho, who has a career-best round of 67. “That worked out pretty well and I want to do the same thing (Tuesday).”
In team race, Montrose leads with a 267, followed by Cheyenne Mountain (270), Valor Christian (271) and Estes Park (272). Cheyenne Mountain is the defending state champion.
Although only a junior, Kupcho has already relieved herself of the stress of deciding on where to continue playing golf in college.
“I have verbally committed to Wake Forest,” said Kupcho, who is likely going to major in business. “The weather is really nice there (in Winston-Salem N.C.) and I really liked the coaches. They have a really good golf program.”
Heading into the game, we knew it essentially would be the difference between hosting a 5A district this Saturday because of the way the Wild Card point standings were set up. But we thought the loser would end up as No. 9, or thereabout.
Instead, ThunderRidge dropped all the way to No. 12 the night of the game, and wound up as the No. 11 seed in the 5A tournament. That’s because, in the end, teams Nos. 9-12 were separated be a mere 0.158 points in the final Wild Card standings. So the Lobos will play at home as the No. 7 seed, while ThunderRidge must travel to No. 6 Arvada West — a tougher road for the defending champions.
That district — it’s District 8 — could be among the most entertaining in 5A. The potential title game matchup between T-Ridge and Arvada West is an interesting storyline.
On one hand, you have Arvada West, winner of eight games in a row. I saw the Wildcats in early April during a 9-1 loss to Fairview, and they didn’t look like a team that would host a district. Needless to say, A-West has come a long way since then and is at this point a different team.
On the other, there’s ThunderRidge, the early favorite and a mainstay at No. 1 in CHSAANow.com’s poll for much of the early part of the year. But the Grizzlies had a rough week — three losses in four days — in late April which changed the complexion of their season. So this district is really their chance at redemption, of sorts.
Other interesting storylines in baseballs districts, which are this Saturday:
How will Chatfield respond to the criticism thrown its way about to the Chargers getting 5A’s No. 1 overall seed? Seems like a good source of motivation. Chatfield, for what it’s worth, has never won a baseball title, though it has appeared in two championship games.
What will Montrose do? The Indians are 4A’s No. 1 seed — but the program hasn’t reached a title game since 1959, and its last championship was 1952.
Either Eaton or Holy Family have played in 3A’s title game for each of the past seven seasons. Will that trend continue? Fittingly, Eaton is 3A’s No. 1 seed; Holy Family is No. 2.
Which of the non-hosts can emerge from a district? Will there be a, say, No. 23 seed making the Final 8 in any of the classifications? That was Cheyenne Mountain in 4A during the 2011 postseason — those Indians went on to win a title. Last year, Mountain View won 4A as the No. 27.
Spring weather bothers soccer, but no issue for tennis
The NAAC saw its share of weather on Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss)
Much of 4A girls soccer’s postseason was interrupted by a major storm moving through parts of the state Wednesday night.
At the NAAC, Wheat Ridge and Discovery Canyon had to suspend the start of overtime roughly an hour and a half because of lightning and golf-ball sized hail. That pushed the start of Green Mountain-Longmont to close to 9 p.m.
Up north, Windsor and Palisade actually had to suspend their game with 32 minutes left in the second half to 11:30 a.m. Thursday. There were reports of softball-sized hail in that area.
All that had our office worried about Thursday’s start to the 5A girls tennis state tournament. Rain was in the forecast, and the area was soaked with an overnight drizzle. It was 45 degrees when players began to arrive.
But the tournament kicked off on time Thursday morning — after workers squeegeed any remaining water off the courts. By 11 a.m., the sun was out and the jackets were off. Such is life in this state.
Update:Alas, the rain did not hold off forever for 5A girls tennis. Some first-round matches were delayed to Friday. 4A was also affected by rain.
St. Clair moves to Rampart
J’on St. Clair has resigned as Cheyenne Mountain’s boys basketball coach, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. He was 57-20 in three seasons, and led the Indians to the 4A final four this past season.
Update: Later Thursday afternoon, Rampart announced it had re-hired St. Clair. The veteran coach headed that program from 2004-10 before leaving to take the Doherty girls job for one season and then eventually landing at Cheyenne Mountain.
In St. Clair’s final season at Rampart (2009-10), the Rams went 23-3 and advanced to the 5A Great 8.
Short stuff
Girls golf’s regionals started on Monday, and it meant the return of live scoring via a partnership with iWanamaker. Live scores, a hit during the boys postseason in the fall, will also be back for the state meet.
2A’s Sedgwick County baseball came up to Greenwood Village to scrimmage 5A’s Cherry Creek last Friday as both teams prepared for the postseason. It’s something Cherry Creek has done in recent years — the Bruins scrimmaged 2A’s Rye last season.
Denver Public Schools has been planning to field a hockey team next season. Now, that district program has a home: Denver East. The Angels will play in the Peak Conference, essentially replacing Bishop Machebeuf, which dropped its program.
Grandview’s boys basketball job, briefly accepted by Arapahoe’s Dan Snyder before he stepped away from coaching, has been reposted. Candidates should apply through the Cherry Creek School District website.
A rule change for boys and girls basketball, beginning next season: During free-throw attempts, players in marked lane spaces can move into the lane once the shooter releases the ball. Previously, players couldn’t move into the lane until the ball hit the backboard or the rim.
Erie hired Bill Giampietro as its girls basketball coach, replacing Noel Potter, who resigned. Giampietro is an alum, and has been an assistant there. The school had 16 applicants for the job. “He is dedicated to our school and basketball program,” athletic director Richie Wildenhaus said. “Those are just some of the factors that set him apart from the rest of the field. Bill is a great motivator of young people, and his high energy and positive approach will be a great fit for our program.”
Dayspring Christian Academy is looking for a boys basketball coach, as well as a girls basketball assistant. Info is available via athletic director Harley Lowe: hlowe@dayspringeagles.org.
Former Rampart football coach JJ Owens has landed a job at Dallas’ Woodrow Wilson High School. Owens, who resigned in November, will teach and be an assistant for the Wildcats, who are coming off a 10-2 year in which they won Texas’ 4A Region II District 12. The team returns eight players on both offense and defense. Sounds like a great situation for one of the better guys in the coaching ranks.
Chatfield is the No. 1 seed in 5A baseball’s district bracket. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
AURORA — Chatfield, Montrose and Eaton are the top seeds in their respective classifications for baseball’s district rounds.
The 32-team fields for 5A, 4A and 3A were released on Wednesday. In 4A and 5A, seeds were determined in large part by the final Wild Card point standings. Class 3A has a seeding committee.
The district format has the top eight seeds in each classification hosting four-team pods. Each district will play three games this Saturday, with the championship at 3 p.m. Winners of each district move on to their respective state tournaments.
Chatfield had been at the head of 5A’s Wild Card points for much of the season. The Chargers will host No. 32 Doherty, No. 16 Pine Creek and No. 17 Central (G.J.).
Regis Jesuit got 5A’s No. 2 seed, Fairview is No. 3, Columbine is No. 4 and Mountain Vista is No. 5. Also hosting districts are No. 6 Arvada West, No. 7 Rocky Mountain and No. 8 Cherry Creek.
Like Chatfield, Montrose has been atop 4A’s Wild Card points most of the year. The Indians are set to host No. 32 Coronado in the first round. No. 16 Erie and No. 17 Palmer Ridge will play in that district’s other first-round game.
4A’s other district hosts are No. 2 Windsor, No. 3 Valor Christian, No. 4 Delta, No. 5 Pueblo East, No. 6 Wheat Ridge, No. 7 Durango and No. 8 Evergreen.
Eaton heads the 3A field. The Reds draw No. 32 Denver Science & Tech in the first round, and will also host No. 16 St. Mary’s and No. 17 Brush in their district.
Also hosting in 3A are No. 2 Holy Family, No. 3 Faith Christian, No. 4 Lamar, No. 5 Bayfield, No. 6 Cedaredge, No. 7 Sterling and No. 8 Alamosa.
Regis Jesuit is No. 1 in this week’s 5A baseball ranking. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
For the second consecutive week, there’s a new team atop CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A baseball ranking. This time, Regis Jesuit has ascended to the top.
The Raiders, now 14-3, went 3-0 last week — including a 7-5 win over then-No. 6 ThunderRidge. They are now 9-0 in the always tough Continental League, and are riding an 11-game winning streak.
Fairview actually received the same amount of first-place votes (six) that Regis Jesuit did, but remained at No. 2 with 125 overall points to the Raiders’ 137. The Knights are now 16-1 — 13-0 against in-state teams.
Arvada West jumped into the rankings at No. 6, just behind No. 5 Chatfield and No. 4 Mountain Vista.
ThunderRidge dropped to No. 7, Rocky Mountain is No. 8 and Chaparral is No. 9. Cherry Creek rejoined the poll at No. 10.
There are also new teams atop the 3A and 2A polls. In 3A, Eaton received nine of the 10 first-place votes to overtake Holy Family, which dropped to No. 2. In 2A, Resurrection Christian got five of the seven first-place votes and took over for Swink, which also fell to No. 2.
Windsor retained its spot atop the 4A ranking, and Stratton held firm atop 1A.
The 4A poll added Pueblo East at No. 9, and also saw Lewis-Palmer move from No. 5 to No. 3, and Evergreen go from No. 7 to No. 4.
3A added Bayfield (No. 8), while 2A added Limon (No. 9) and Lyons (No. 10).
With the regular season ending Tuesday, these rankings will serve as the final poll of the regular season.
Chatfield is the No. 1 team in this week’s 5A baseball poll. (Pam Wagner)
Chatfield, 13-0 to start the 2014 season, has taken over atop this week’s Class 5A baseball poll from CHSAANow.com.
The Chargers moved up from No. 3 and received seven of the 15 first-place votes. They had 131 total points to top the ranking.
A total of six teams got first-place votes, including former No. 1 ThunderRidge, which dropped to No. 6 following its loss to Mountain Vista last week.
Fairview got two of those first-place votes and is No. 2 this week. Columbine, which plays Chatfield on Wednesday, is third, and Regis Jesuit is fourth. Mountain Vista rounds out the top five.
After ThunderRidge, Arapahoe is seventh and Ralston Valley is eighth. Chaparral is No. 9 this week, and Rocky Mountain is No. 10.
The 4A ranking also got a new No. 1 team this week when Windsor overtook Montrose. The Wizards received six of the 13 first-place votes, and had 115 overall points.
Montrose dropped to second this week, and is followed by No. 3 Niwot. Wheat Ridge bumped up one place to No. 4, while Lewis-Palmer is No. 5 after 3-0 week which included a win over then-No. 10 Palmer Ridge on Saturday.
Longmont is the lone newcomer to the 4A poll, joining at No. 10.
The other No. 1 teams held firm atop their respective rankings. Holy Family continued to lead 3A, Swink remain atop of 2A and Stratton continued to lead 1A.
Wild Card points help determine the postseason fields in 3A, 4A and 5A, with 4A and 5A also using them for seeding. Find a more detailed breakdown here.
Baseball’s Wild Card point standings for April 17 are below.
