COLORADO SPRINGS — Greg Lewis was at worst in a ho-hum mood as he strode up the 18th during the Cheyenne Mountain Invite on Monday.
For much of the day, the Lewis-Palmer junior had been at or under par. With the wind whipping on the 17th tee box his shot was perfect in terms of distance, but well off in terms of line. By the time he cleared the green he had made a double-bogey. He would bogey 18 to shoot a 3-over-par 74 which was still good enough to get the win.
Putting the ball in the water, while unfortunate, wasn’t a day killer. And really, he wasn’t even that mad about the shot.
“The distance was right on,” Lewis said as he strode to his ball just left of the 18 fairway. “I just pushed it a little right. Live and learn, I guess.”
On his approach to the 18th green his ball found nothing but water. So he hit another one and that too splashed short of the green.
He took an eight on the final. Double-bogey would’ve tied him for second meaning bogey or better and he would’ve ended the week in solo second.
Live and learn, he guesses.
“That moment is not only one that I haven’t gotten over, but it’s one that I learned from and I’m really trying to learn from,” Lewis said. “That was a heartbreaking moment. I had a really good string and I was making a run. Then something like that happens and it stinks. But I live and learn from those incidents.”
Lewis-Palmer’s @GregLewisGolf just needed to get on the green to put himself in position to lock up a win. He does, but 3-putts for bogey. This isn’t over yet. #coprepspic.twitter.com/2Xvq3eXogV
More than that, he uses those incidents to fuel his drive to win. He stumbled for a minute at the Doherty Spartan Invite and finished 12th but turned things around last week when he got his first win of the season at the Liberty Lancer Invite at King’s Deer. His win Monday at the Country Club of Colorado makes it two in his last two events.
This is the golf he wants and expects to play on a regular basis. Stangebye is gone from Montrose and a talented crop of 4A golfers return. Discovery Canyon’s Kaden Ford, Northfield’s Hunter Swanson and Pueblo West’s Noah Wagner all finished in the top 10 last year with Lewis and all are hoping to better their position.
But in his mind, Lewis has a bit of an edge. He knows how it feels to be in the mix and get tripped up. And the more he thinks about it, the more he’s pushing himself to succeed because of how that experience at the Bridges ended for him.
“That moment humbled me,” Lewis said. “I know I can be better that. That’s my drive that I take into every tournament. I want to be a better me and a better golfer.”
In her first year as volleyball coach at Coronado, Crissy Leonhardt had her team in the Class 4A state semifinals and was up 2-0 over eventual state champion Lewis-Palmer.
Next season Leonhardt will try to bring that instant level of success to her alma mater. She was hired as the volleyball at Manitou Springs High School, the same school she graduated from in 2008.
Athletic director Cameron Jones confirmed the hiring to CHSAANow.com on Tuesday.
Leonhardt spent time helping out the middle school volleyball program several years ago and now those players are at the high school level and contributing to the varsity program.
She also spent time as an assistant under Susan Odenbaugh at Lewis-Palmer and was on staff for two state championship teams for the Rangers.
She then took her first head coaching job at Coronado before getting the chance to return to Manitou.
“Definitely coming home and being an alumni was pretty huge,” she said. “Also, the fact that I worked with several of those kids at the middle school when I coached there for two years and I already know them. I know how awesome they are as human beings, not just athletically and skill-wise.”
The Mustangs finished 9-13 in 2019 but saw a lot of potential from their underclassmen. Freshman Avah Armour led the team with 169 kills while classmates Ayla Flett and Grace Allen also contributed on the attack.
They’ll get veteran leadership back in Mahlia Glass and graduated just two seniors who played more than 50 sets throughout the season.
With the majority of the team returning, Leonhardt is looking to get the Mustangs back to the state tournament for the first time since 2015.
“She’s going to bring a high level of competitiveness out of these girls and this team,” Jones said. “She has shown that she can take girls to the next to the next level. I think Crissy will continue to grow our program.”
The volleyball record book has been updated (and has a new look). There are a total of five new team entries, 59 individual entries, and five coaching updates. Among those are five overall records.
Sterling and Denver Christian each joined the list of teams that have had an unbeaten season with their first last fall.
Those two teams each also climbed the ranks of the consecutive sets won record. Sterling won 52-straight in 2019, while Denver Christian won 50-straight.
Individual:
Palmer Ridge’s Kyra Kisting set the season record for assists with 1,223. Colorado Springs Christian’s Kiersten Brock (5th, 1,099) and Cherokee Trail’s Sydney Cole (7th, 1,070) both also made the top-10.
Briggsdale’s Shelby Hoffman set the season record for digs with 895. Rye’s Ashlyn Romine (3rd, 809) and Wiley’s Macy Rowan (8th, 745) both also made the top-10.
Rowan set the match record for digs in a match with 75 against Cheraw on Nov. 9. She also had 63 (4th) against Cheraw on Aug. 29, 60 (7th) against Stratton/Liberty on Sept. 12, and 59 (9th) against Eads on Oct. 10.
Castle View’s Leanne Lowry set the career record for digs with 2,177. Peyton Frank of Holy Family (4th, 2,083) and Lewis-Palmer’s Gianna Bartalo (6th, 1,948) each also cracked the top-10 of the category. Notably, Wiley junior Macy Rowan is already 19th on the career list with 1,351.
Wiggins’ Avery Burdette tied the set record for service efficiency when she was 24/24 against Flatirons Academy on Sept. 14, 2019.
La Veta’s Nya Sciacca had 295 career aces, which is the second most. Pikes Peak Christian’s Kyler Sweat (4th, 284) and Denver Christian’s Anna Kaemingk (8th, 256) both made the top-10.
Valor Christian’s Anna Davis had 329 career block assists, which is the second most.
Ryley Smartt of Genoa-Hugo/Karval is second in points per set for her career, averaging 6.0673.
Sydney Cole of Cherokee Trail had 564 total serves in 2019, which is the third-most in history. She set the record in 2018 with 608.
Cole also had 3,556 assists in her career, which is the fourth-highest total in state history.
Briggsdale’s Kimberlyn Krise (5th, 581) and Highlands Ranch’s Cassie Davis (7th, 560) are now each listed for kills in a season. Krise is also fifth in terms of career kills with 1,504, and seventh in career points (1,751).
Couple of top-10 marks for assists in a match for Palmer Ridge’s Kisting (3rd, 69 against Pueblo County; 7th, 66 against Cheyenne Mountain; and 8th, 65, against Discovery Canyon); and Erie’s Jessica Amend (10th, twice, when she had 64 assists against Prospect Ridge, and 64 against Holy Family).
Belleview Christian’s Lexie Ewing had 21 aces on Oct. 8, 2019, the fifth-most in a match.
Simla’s Kaitlyn Rector and Genoa-Hugo/Karval’s Smatt each had 672 total points this season, which is the seventh-most.
Mayson Fago of Union Colony is 10th for career points with 1,624.
Rye’s Havilah Pitzer is now 10th with 149 solo blocks in a season.
Coaching:
Arapahoe’s Larry Deffenbaugh is third on the all-time wins list with 540.
Sterling’s Lisa Schumacher remains at eighth with 464 wins.
Pueblo West’s Casey King is at 16th on the wins list with 348 wins.
Lewis-Palmer’s Wade Baxter is 12th among coaches with three state championships.
Sally Moos wrapped up her 38th season as the head coach at Cherry Creek last fall — the most at one school. Her 38 years are also the most of anyone as a head coach.
The 2019-20 all-state and all-conference hockey teams are a joint project between the Colorado High School Ice Hockey Coaches Association and CHSAANow.com.
These teams were created following a meeting of coaches.
Thirteenth-seeded Summit hockey struck first in the first round of the state hockey tournament, but No. 20 Castle View’s barrage of goals led to a 5-2 win.
Jaret Curran scored twice for the Sabercats, the first of which tied the game. After that, Castle View never trailed again.
The first period ended in a 2-2 tie but 24 seconds into the second period Jackson Szmul gave the Sabercats the lead for good.
Zach Carleton and Davis Emery scored the goals for Summit.
They’ll meet Denver East in the second round of the tournament. It will be the first meeting between the two teams this year.
[divider]
(16) Kent Denver 2, (17) Lewis-Palmer 0
Sam Choi got the Sun Devils on the board late in the first period and got an assist on Thomas Corbett’s third-period goal.
With the win, Kent Denver advances to face top-seeded Valor Christian.
(9) Monarch 5, (24) Mullen 0
Sam Zis scored twice to lead the Coyotes to a first-round victory. They’ll take on No. 8 Pine Creek on Saturday at 3 p.m.
(11) Cherry Creek 11, (22) Rampart 1
Gavin Berkey’s hat trick highlighted a productive day on offense for the Bruins. They move on to face No. 6 Heritage in the second round.
