In a field that features an LPGA future star, a Denver Broncos kicker and the grandson of one of the greatest players of all-time, the Colorado kids held their own.
Doherty girls golf coach and Palmer High School alum Colin Prater leads the field of Colorado high school golf alum playing in the Colorado Open as amateurs. He shot a 7-under-par 65 to head into the clubhouse in a tie for fourth place at the event.
Regis Jesuit’s Calvin McCoy – a current University of Denver player – carded a 67 to get inside the top 15 as of Thursday afternoon. Prater, McCoy, Lakewood alum Griffin Barela and Highlands Ranch’s Kyle Pearson were all comfortably under par after the first round. Barela (a University of Wisconsin player) and Pearson (Colorado Mesa University) both shot 68.
Prater is coming off a win at the CGA’s Colorado Match Play and started his day at the Colorado Open on the 10th hole. He made three birdies through his first nine holes and four birdies on his second nine.
He went 3-under on a four-hole stretch beginning on No. 4 and was bogey-free all day. McCoy was also bogey-free on his day and played the back nine at 4-under, tied for the second best effort for the day.
Perhaps the most notable entrant into the even is Jefferson Academy’s Jennifer Kupcho. She claimed the title at the Colorado Women’s Open which will go down as her first professional win. She was invited back to Green Valley Ranch Golf Club for this week’s event.
She made a birdie on No. 2 and got to 2-under before making bogey on No. 7 and No. 8. She was paired with her brother, Steven. The elder Kupcho also played at Jefferson Academy and placed fourth at the 2010 Class 3A state championship.
Fairview’s Brennan Dolan and Silver Creek’s Jackson Solem finished their days at 2-under. Eaglecrest grad and 2017 5A champion Davis Bryant started his round by going 2-under on the front nine.
Bryant made the cut at last year’s Colorado Open and finished at 20-under which put him in a tie for 20th. His college teammate AJ Ott, a Fort Collins grad, finished last year as the low amateur at 11-under.
The second round of the tournament will take place on Friday with Bryant, Ott and those players who teed off in the afternoon taking to the course early. Prater and McCoy will be among those teeing off later in the day.
(Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics Communications)
It wasn’t long ago that Jennifer Kupcho wasa going through a list of her proudest accomplishments with her swing coach. The Jefferson Academy alum has quite the list to get through as she has won championships at several levels of her career.
She won an NCAA championship at Wake Forest in 2018. In 2019 she made history by winning the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the first organized women’s tournament to be held at the annual site of the Master’s.
As she went through her list, her coach, Ed Oldham, acknowledged that her high school state championships were every bit as important in her journey.
High school golf for Kupcho is where she started to gain momentum toward becoming the nation’s top-ranked amateur and a star in the making on the LPGA Tour.
“He told me that it was the big stepping point in getting to the national level and moving on to where I could compete in college,” Kupcho said. “I never really thought about it that way, but it’s definitely true right now.”
It was the first of many stepping stones Kupcho used to evolve into the elite player she is today. The first title came on May 20, 2014 at the Country Club of Colorado. She navigated her way around the Pete Dye design and overcame a tricky set of greens to finish the tournament at 2-over-par.
She won the tournament by 14 strokes.
(Courtesy of Mike Kupcho)
She made her way to River Valley Ranch in Carbondale the next year to defend her championship. By then she knew she was headed to Wake Forest to play for the Demon Deacons and looked every bit the part of a Division I golfer.
On the par-5 second hole, her drive landed in the middle of the fairway and she casually stepped up and knocked it on the green in two shots to give herself an eagle put. It seemed ordinary at the time, but looking back Kupcho knows that the biggest flaw in her game at that time made it crucial for her to get to the green as efficiently as possible.
“I was much more aggressive player then,” she said. “I was always going for greens and trying to make each shot as short as possible because my wedges weren’t that good and my overall short game wasn’t that good. So when I went for greens and I missed it, it was not a good combo.”
She claimed her second title with a 10-stroke win over Cheyenne Mountain’s Kylee Sullivan and tied a bow on a remarkable high school career.
(Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics Communications)
She continued making a name for herself at the collegiate level and battled her way to the individual NCAA championship in 2018.
It was an additional stepping stone on the path that had been laid out to her by Oldham. It was clear in high school that she had conquered girls golf in Colorado and now the focus started getting a little wider.
“I remember him saying to me at a young age, you’re the best in Colorado, now let’s get to the best in the country,” she said.
She worked her way up to become the top-ranked amateur in the United States.
“Once I got to the best in the country, now let’s get to the best in the world,” she added.
All indications are she’s on her way. Kupcho made perhaps her biggest historical impact last year as she claimed the first Augusta National Women’s Amateur championship.
Augusta National was long known for not allowing women to become members. That policy ended in 2012 when the club admitted Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore as its first female members.
The founding of the ANWA was intended to fuel the growth of women’s golf. The first 36 holes of the tournament were played at the Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, Georgia with the final 18 holes being contested between the top two players on the leaderboard. The two were Kuchpo and Arkansas’ Maria Fassi.
Kupcho shot five-under over the final six holes of the tournament to get the four-stroke win, forever placing her name in golf history.
“I’m starting to understand it more than I did,” Kupcho said. “Fast-forward a year, the week it was supposed to happen I was getting a bunch of media requests and I told my agent I didn’t understand why it was such a big deal, it happened a year ago.”
Her agent had to remind her that she had literally made history.
“Going through that week and reliving the day over after they replayed the event (on TV), it definitely sunk in a little bit more,” Kupcho said.
The next step was turning pro. She had earned her LPGA Tour card in November 2018, but delayed actually turning pro until she finished college. She made her professional debut at the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open.
She later made her way to France to compete in the 2019 Evian Championship which plays as a major on the LPGA Tour. In the final round of the tournament she carded a five-under-par-66 to finish in a three-way tie for second. At 13-under on the tournament, she finished two strokes behind champion Ko Jin-young out of South Korea.
But the second-place finish was just another sign of her growth as a golfer. It started when she was young, it continued when she won state championships at Jefferson Academy and hasn’t slowed down one bit.
(Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics Communications)
The preseason girls soccer rankings were released on Monday, and leading the charge are preseason No. 1 teams Grandview, Evergreen, Colorado Academy and Denver Christian.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association.
New polls are released each Monday during the regular season.
Salida 14, Manitou Springs 13, Stargate School 9, Lutheran 8, The Academy 8, Colorado Springs Christian 7, Roaring Fork 6, Eagle Ridge Academy 5, St. Mary’s Academy 5, Faith Christian 3, Basalt 2, Frontier Academy 2, Delta 1, DSST: Montview 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Denver Christian (5)
0-0
77
2
Dawson School (3)
0-0
73
3
Fountain Valley
0-0
50
4
Flatirons Academy
0-0
47
5
Crested Butte
0-0
42
6
Telluride
0-0
41
7
Colorado Rocky Mountain
0-0
30
8
Loveland Classical
0-0
22
9
Rye
0-0
15
10
Front Range Christian
0-0
12
Others receiving votes:
Ridgway 10, Del Norte 7, Belleview Christian 5, Vail Christian 5, Rocky Mountain Lutheran 2, Thomas MacLaren School 2.
As the 2019 season is set to begin, the boys soccer preseason rankings were released on Monday.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday during the regular season.
Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Arapahoe (2)
0-0-0
74
7
0-0-0
2
Boulder (2)
0-0-0
68
2
0-0-0
3
Grandview
0-0-0
65
4
0-0-0
4
Broomfield (3)
0-0-0
63
–
0-0-0
5
Legacy (2)
0-0-0
61
6
0-0-0
6
Fairview (1)
0-0-0
59
1
0-0-0
7
Arvada West
0-0-0
39
–
0-0-0
8
Fort Collins
0-0-0
33
8
0-0-0
9
Denver East
0-0-0
28
3
0-0-0
10
Cherry Creek
0-0-0
11
–
0-0-0
Others receiving votes:
Cherokee Trail 10, Mountain Vista 9, Rampart 7, Regis Jesuit 6, Rangeview 5, Rock Canyon 4, Smoky Hill 3, Aurora Central 2, Gateway 2, Ralston Valley 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Air Academy (9)
0-0-0
90
1
0-0-0
2
Denver North
0-0-0
79
6
0-0-0
3
The Classical Academy
0-0-0
61
8
0-0-0
4
Skyview
0-0-0
49
3
0-0-0
5
Pueblo Centennial
0-0-0
46
5
0-0-0
6
Glenwood Springs
0-0-0
32
–
0-0-0
7
Battle Mountain
0-0-0
26
4
0-0-0
8
Durango
0-0-0
22
2
0-0-0
9
Centaurus
0-0-0
18
7
0-0-0
10
Golden
0-0-0
17
9
0-0-0
Others receiving votes:
Skyline 15, Silver Creek 13, Kennedy 8, Cheyenne Mountain 5, Regis Groff 5, Evergreen 3, Mullen 3, Holy Family 2, Pueblo West 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Kent Denver (9)
0-0-0
99
1
0-0-0
2
Colorado Academy
0-0-0
80
4
0-0-0
3
Liberty Common (1)
0-0-0
75
5
0-0-0
4
Delta
0-0-0
53
7
0-0-0
5
Roaring Fork
0-0-0
45
3
0-0-0
6
Salida
0-0-0
36
10
0-0-0
7
Colorado Springs Christian
0-0-0
31
–
0-0-0
8
Atlas Preparatory School
0-0-0
28
–
0-0-0
9
Faith Christian
0-0-0
24
9
0-0-0
10
Jefferson Academy
0-0-0
20
–
0-0-0
Others receiving votes:
Arrupe Jesuit 18, The Academy 17, Vail Mountain 10, Peak to Peak 8, DSST: Green Valley Ranch 2, Stargate School 2, Aurora West College Prep Academy 1, Strive Prep – Smart Academy 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Crested Butte (2)
0-0-0
27
1
0-0-0
2
Denver Christian (3)
0-0-0
26
3
0-0-0
3
Dawson School (1)
0-0-0
20
4
0-0-0
4
Telluride
0-0-0
15
5
0-0-0
5
Fountain Valley (1)
0-0-0
13
2
0-0-0
Others receiving votes:
Mile High Academy 2, Heritage Christian 1, Ridgway 1.
The 2019 all-state baseball teams honor the best players in the sport as judged by the leagues and coaches. They are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of head coaches.
Player and coach of the year was also selected by a vote of the coaches.
[divider]
Class 5A
Mountain Vista’s Sam Ireland. (Tim Bourke)
Player of the year: Sam Ireland, Mountain Vista
Coach of the year: Matt Darr, Regis Jesuit
First Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Riley Cornelio
Pine Creek
RHP/INF
Senior
Sam Ireland
Mountain Vista
RHP/3B/1B
Senior
AJ Jergensen
Ralston Valley
OF
Senior
Geno Macias
Regis Jesuit
Senior
Brice Martinez
Cherry Creek
Jack Moss
Cherry Creek
Drew Stahl
Mountain Vista
INF
Senior
Jacob Thompsen
Regis Jesuit
Junior
Caden Wagner
Regis Jesuit
Senior
Second Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Justin Boyd
Legend
SS/CF
Senior
Jose Cintron
Overland
3B/2B/INF
Senior
Peter Goldy
Grandview
RHP/1B
Senior
Calvin Hunt
Ralston Valley
RHP
Senior
Cale Lansville
ThunderRidge
Grant Magill
Mountain Vista
C
Senior
Nathan Mitchell
Cherry Creek
Ryan Stohr
Dakota Ridge
RHP/1B
Senior
Patrick Strawbridge
Regis Jesuit
Senior
Case Williams
Douglas County
RHP/3B/1B
Junior
Honorable mention:
Trey Adams, Ralston Valley, INF/RHP, Senior
Simon Baumgardt, Lakewood, P/SS, Senior
Radek Birkholz, Valor Christian, P/INF, Sophomore
Zach Boone, Castle View, CF/LF, Senior
Clay Burke, Mountain Vista, RHP/1B, Senior
Jake Campbell, Rocky Mountain, P/1B, Senior
Tony Castonguay, Grandview, C/3B, Junior
Pete Chronowski, Heritage, LHP, Senior
Kellen Cox, Cherokee Trail
Garrett Crawford, Overland, OF/RHP, Junior
Clay Cutter, Cherry Creek
John Emerson, Denver East, CF/LHP/SS, Senior
Chase Esplin, Legacy, Junior
Matt Glover, Denver South, RHP/OF/SS, Sophomore
Jake Greiving, Legend, C/OF/3B, Senior
Josh Hojnowski, Grandview, RHP/3B, Senior
Ben Horwith, Douglas County, Senior
Owen Lockner, Windsor, Senior
Jayden Martinez, Grandview, OF, Senior
Braden Martinez, Windsor, Senior
Bryce Matthews, Chaparral, OF, Senior
Ryan McKown, Chaparral, OF, Senior
Mason Mitchell, Heritage, OF/RHP, Senior
Justin Moehlenpah, Horizon, LHP/OF, Senior
Ben Perla, Cherry Creek
Jaren Piepho, Rocky Mountain, C, Senior
Kevin Pipich, Rock Canyon, RHP/1B, Senior
J.C. Rodriguez, Far Northeast Warriors, Sophomore
Jacob Roybal, Chatfield, P/OF, Junior
Teddy Schoenfeld, Boulder, Senior
Macully Sehr, Legacy, Sophomore
Colby Shade, Fort Collins, OF, Junior
Derek Shaver, Grand Junction, Senior
Blake Templeton, Fort Collins, SS/RHP, Junior
Diego Velasquez, Smoky Hill, P/1B/OF, Junior
Ben Whipple, Valor Christian, RHP/1B, Sophomore
Tristan Wolf, Mountain Range
Matt Zaccaro, Bear Creek, OF/P, Senior
[divider]
Class 4A
Pueblo West’s Tyler Barth. (Bobby Stevens/MaxPreps)
Player of the year: Tyler Barth, Pueblo West
Coach of the year: Dan Sanchez, Pueblo West
First Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Lincoln Andrews
Canon City
INF/P
Senior
Aaron Arcilise
Wheat Ridge
RHP/INF
Senior
Tyler Barth
Pueblo West
Senior
Aaron Berkhoff
Cheyenne Mountain
INF
Senior
Charlie Deeds
Palmer Ridge
SS/RHP/2B
Senior
Nate Denniston
Pueblo West
Senior
Kyle Jameson
Pueblo West
Senior
Collin Kringlen
Holy Family
1B/RHP
Senior
Spencer Rich
Silver Creek
Senior
Second Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Tayler Aguilar
Northridge
CF
Senior
Brodie Blackford
Pueblo West
Junior
Jayden Cordova
Pueblo West
Senior
JP Hamer
Fort Morgan
Senior
Ben McLaughlin
Golden
SS/RHP
Junior
Brady Renck
Longmont
2B/SS/P
Senior
Jason Shuger
Lewis-Palmer
P/INF
Senior
John Thoren
Erie
Michael Wegleitner
Silver Creek
Junior
Honorable mention:
Zach Becker, Holy Family, SS/2B/RHP, Senior
Johnny Behm, Lewis-Palmer, /OF, Senior
Dominic Bronk, Wheat Ridge, 3B/RHP, Junior
Angel Carlos, Lincoln, Senior
Tyler Declusin, Pueblo West, Senior
Devin Dodson, Cheyenne Mountain, C/RHP, Junior
Tyler Dollahan, Glenwood Springs, Senior
Garrett Flaagan, Eagle Valley
Avery Fulford, Conifer, Senior
Michael Guber, George Washington, UTIL/RHP, Senior
Chris Gumeson, Longmont, RF/C/INF, Senior
Tyler Hrin, Thomas Jefferson, OF/1B/LHP, Freshman
Charlie Jackson, Silver Creek, Junior
William Kapner, Evergreen, 2B/1B, Junior
Emmert Kastendieck, Montrose, OF, Junior
Noah Lasecki, The Classical Academy, 1B/P, Senior
Isaac Linker, Fort Morgan, Senior
Cesar Loma, Greeley Central, 3B/RHP/C, Senior
Seth Lucero, Denver North, SS/RHP/OF, Senior
Nico Martin, Pueblo Central, CF, Senior
Parker Martin, Coronado, C/INF/OF, Senior
Cole Martino, Pueblo County, P/1B/3B, Sophomore
Bryce McKee, Coronado, SS/UTIL/RHP, Senior
Kolton Miller, Ponderosa, Sophomore
Adam Muniz, Pueblo Central, 3B/SS/2B, Senior
Corey Musch, Skyview, CF/LF, Senior
Cameron Nellor, Thompson Valley, SS/P/UTIL, Junior