COMMERCE CITY | The Vista PEAK boys golf team continues to find the East Metro Athletic Conference to its liking.
The Bison moved from the Colorado 7 to their new conference prior to this season and promptly won the first South Division minor tournament by 23 strokes, then followed that up with a second place performance at Wednesday’s opening major at Buffalo Run Golf Course.
With four players in the top eight, Vista PEAK finished with a team score of a plus-40 253 to come in behind only Prairie View in a 10-team mix of North and South division teams. Coach Michael Dougherty’s Bison sit three strokes behind the ThunderHawks — who had the individual medalist in Hunter Nicholas — going into the second major tournament, scheduled for Sept. 8 at Aurora Hills Golf Course.
Nicholas paced the field with a 7-over-par 79, while he was followed by the Vista PEAK sophomore duo of Sha Jefferson (83) and Quezdon Ivey (84).
Jefferson, who was the program’s first Class 4A state qualifier last season, had seven pars and 11 bogeys in his round, while Ivey had a birdie on the par-4 Hole No. 12, had seven pars, seven bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey. Senior Luke Meier, who won the EMAC South tournament, carded an 89 to give the Bison their third score.
Rangeview finished next among Aurora teams in fourth place with a team score of 288, two strokes behind third place Northglenn.
Coach Merlin Johnson’s Raiders were paced by Chase Fuhlhage and Levi Robinson, who each shot 95.
R’Ron Fisher led seventh place Aurora Central with a 97, Luke Hoffman’s 117 set the tone for eighth-place Hinkley and Gateway in ninth place got a 116 from Saben Brooks.
The EMAC South Division — which consists of all the Aurora Public Schools programs — meets again for a minor at 9 a.m. Aug. 24 at Murphy Creek G.C.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
EMAC BOYS GOLF MAJOR NO. 1
Aug. 17 at Buffalo Run G.C.
Team scores (par 216): 1. Prairie View 253; 2. VISTA PEAK 256; 3. Northglenn 286; 4. RANGEVIEW 288; 5. Brighton 302; 6. Adams City 312; 7. AURORA CENTRAL 352; 8. HINKLEY 372; 9. GATEWAY 402; Westminster NS
Top 10 individuals (par 72): 1. Hunter Nicholas (Prairie View) 79; 2. SHA JEFFERSON (VISTA PEAK) 83; 3. QUEZDON IVEY (VISTA PEAK) 84; 4. Justin Cutler (Prairie View) 86; 5. Radien Weckwerth (Prairie View) 88; 6. LUKE MEIER (VISTA PEAK) 89; 7. Aaron Montoya (Adams City) 90; T8. BRUCE COOPER (VISTA PEAK) 92; T8. John Maldonado (Prairie View) 92; 10. Steele Dove (Northglenn) 94
Aurora team-by-team results (in order of finish)
Vista PEAK (256): Sha Jefferson 83, Quezdon Ivey 84, Luke Meier 89, Bruce Cooper 92, Jaren Lacabe 98; Rangeview (288): Chase Fuhlhage 95, Levi Robinson 95, Derrick Watson 98, Tyler Philipich 118, Keith Kutsuma 124; Aurora Central (352): R’Ron Fisher 97, Quincy Slaughter 114, Jesse Salcido 141, Joenathan Fountain 143; Hinkley (372): Luke Hoffman 117, Brandon Zabel 127, Cory Henry 128, Roberto Quintana 145; Gateway (402): Saben Brooks 116, Blake Landfair 137, DJ Wilson 149, Tanner Parsons 149, Vincente Candelaria 149
Other team-by-team results (in order of finish)
Prairie View (253): Hunter Nicholas 79, Justin Cutler 86, Raiden Weckwerth 88, John Maldonado 92, Jacob Jose 97; Northglenn (286): Steele Dove 94, Joe Patten 95, Cole Taylor 97, Alex Rangel 114, Brighton (302): Andrew Rankin 95, Tony Chavarria 101, Noah Baez 106, Jeff Bialek 108, Ryan Fukutome 112; Adams City (312): Aaron Montoya 90, Josh Zade 106, Julian Vasquez 116, Jaden Coates 139, Cameron Gandji 141; Westminster: Jeremy Yanker 120, Michael Hesskamp 124
