AURORA | Last season, the Cherokee Trail and Cherry Creek boys golf teams finished in a tie for second place at the Class 5A state tournament.
A year later and with nearly the same lineups, the same programs battled it out for the top prize over two days at CommonGround G.C., with the victory eventually going to the Bruins, who held off the Cougars by three strokes when Tuesday’s final round concluded.
The Cherokee Trail foursome of senior Christopher O’Donnell, juniors Dalton Sisneros and Brayden Forte and sophomore Anthony Chen played blistering golf on the second day of the tournament, but couldn’t catch a steady Cherry Creek team, which finished 3-under-par.
Coach Ryan Stevens’ Cougars were 6-under as a team on the final day, which was the best for any team in the tournament on either day and three strokes clear of the Bruins and third-place Fossil Ridge for the best showing in the final round.
Leading the way this was for the Cougars as Sisneros, who tied for 14th as a sophomore, but played both of his rounds under par to finish in a three-way tie for third place. Sisneros shot a 2-under 69 in the opening round and was a shot better in the final round to gain three spots in the standings and finish in a deadlock with Fairview’s Miles Kuhl and Columbine’s Alex Lest. Castle View’s Gavin Amella claimed the title followed by Grandview senior Michael Rosman (see story, here).
Forte — who tied for second place at last season’s state tournament at Collindale G.C. in Fort Collins — carded a 1-under 70 on the final day that coupled with his 73 in the opening round and placed him 15th in his third state tournament appearance.
O’Donnell finished 52nd as a freshman, 62nd as a sophomore, 25th as a junior and tied for 28th to cap his career. He finished three places lower than in 2023, but with the overall improvement of the field, had a two-day score of 146 that was seven strokes better than the previous season. O’Donnell’s final career state round was a 2-under 69 that moved him up from 52nd coming into the final day after he shot 77 to open.
Chen also shot 77 to open and made it 4-for-4 for Cherokee Trail players to shoot better scores in the second round as he carded a 73 that put him in a tie for 41st. That marked a one-place improvement from 2023, though his score was nine strokes better.
Cherokee Trail’s performance led the three Aurora area program that qualified to compete in the state tournament as teams.
Next in the standings came Regis Jesuit, which dropped 10 strokes in the second round to finish in ninth place in a tightly bunched field.
Pacing coach Craig Rogers’ all-senior team was Sam Walker, who tied for 28th at state after winning a regional championship the previous week. Walker shot a 1-under 70 on the final day to go with a 76 for a two-day total of 146, which was seven strokes better than in 2023, when he placed 25th.
Ryland Doolittle and Anthony Lore were next for the Raiders as they finished in an Aurora-dominated five-way tie for 41st (which also included Cherokee Trail’s Chen) with two-day totals of 150. Doolittle shot 75 in both rounds of his only career state tournament appearance, while Lore made a 10-stroke improvement on his state showing from 2023 (when he tied for 49th) with rounds of 76 and 74.
Roland Thornton represented Regis Jesuit at the state tournament for the fourth time in his career and he finished in a tie for 53rd with a two-day total of 154. Thornton shot 73 in the final round of his career at state, at which he tied for 49th as a freshman, 44th as a sophomore and 40th as a junior.
Grandview made it to state as a team for the first time since 2021 — when it tied for sixth place in the tournament at Colorado Springs County Club — and finished 11th.
Coach Kurtis Bailey’s Wolves were led by Rosman, the individual runner-up and only player with previous state experience, and shot 12 strokes better as a team on the second day.
Senior Andrew Sinar shot 74 in the second round to follow a 79 that put him in a tie for 49th, while freshman Sam Silver shaved seven strokes off his opening round score with a 78 in his final round to place 74th and sophomore Dominik Fedotov shot 82 after an 85 that put him 79th.
Eaglecrest junior Gregory White tied for 15th as the best result among the Aurora area’s three individual qualifiers (see story, here).
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 CLASS 5A BOYS STATE GOLF TOURNAMENT FINAL RESULTS
Oct. 7-8 at CommonGround G.C.
Team scores (par 213-213 — 426): 1. Cherry Creek 213-210 — 423; 2. CHEROKEE TRAIL 219-207 — 426; T3. Fossil Ridge 222-210 — 432; T3. Valor Christian 215-217 — 432; 5. Fairview 220-213 — 433; T6. Chatfield 221-215 — 436; T6. Erie 216-220 — 436; 8. Heritage 219-224 — 443; 9. REGIS JESUIT 227-217 — 444; 10. Columbine 216-229 — 445; 11. GRANDVIEW 231-219 — 450; 12. Legend 224-232 — 456; 13. Lakewood 221-243 — 464; 14. Mountain Range 239-263 — 502
