WINDSOR | Riding a late season surge of strong play, the Grandview girls golf team saw three players qualify for the Class 5A state tournament out of Wednesday’s Northern Region tournament.
The Wolves won the final Centennial League tournament of the season a little less than a week earlier and built off that with a third-place regional finish at Highland Meadows Golf Course.
Rock Canyon and Legacy secured automatic team berths in the 5A girls state golf tournament May 19-20 at Littleton’s Raccoon Creek G.C. by virtue of taking the Northern Region’s top two team spots, but Grandview has its own three-player team qualified in the form of sophomores Morgan Sahm and Emily Jung and junior Caroline O’Donnell.
Sahm — who won the Centennial League tournament at Broken Tee G.C. and finished second overall in the league standings — led Grandview with 7-over-par 78, a round that included 12 pars, five bogeys and one double bogey, to finish fifth individually. Sahm is headed to her second state tournament in as many seasons and is looking to improve on her ninth-place result in 2013.
Jung got off to a fast start and sat at plus-1 through the first six holes, but three straight double bogeys to finish the front nine pushed her score up to plus-7. A triple bogey on the difficult par-4 Hole No. 7 led to her finish at a plus-15 86, which tied her for 14th. O’Donnell finished two strokes behind Jung with an 88, which gave her a seven-stroke cushion in making the cut.
Both Jung and O’Donnell are first-time state qualifiers.
Grandview’s No. 4 player, Olivia Lovato, shot an even 100 to finish five strokes out of a state berth.
Aurora Central also played in the Northern Region, but none of the Trojans finished their round. One player withdrew and the other two failed to shoot low enough on the front nine to continue on the back nine.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2014 CLASS 5A NORTHERN REGION GIRLS GOLF TOURNAMENT
Wednesday at Highland Meadows G.C. (par 71)
Team scores: 1. Rock Canyon 227; 2. Legacy 230; 3. GRANDVIEW 252; 4. Ralston Valley 256; 5. Boulder 263; 6. Pine Creek 270; 7. Douglas County 300; 8. Standley Lake 317; 9. Brighton 322; 10. Horizon 338; 11. Doherty 343; 12. Littleton 358; AURORA CENTRAL no score
Top 21 individuals (state qualifiers): 1. Michelle Romano (Rock Canyon) 71; 2. Jennifer Hankins (Legacy) 72; T3. Haylee Hornick (Rock Canyon) 73; T3. Sarah Hankins (Legacy) 73; 5. MORGAN SAHM (GRANDVIEW) 78; 6. Ashlyn Kirschner (Ralston Valley) 79; T7. Mary Kate Nelson (Pine Creek) 82; T7. Reagan Ritchey (Brighton) 82; T9. Alex Jaros (Boulder) 83; T9. Ameilia Lee (Rock Canyon) 83; T11. Andrea Hoos (Legacy) 85; T11. Heather Kroll (Horizon) 85; T11. Sydney Prey (Ralston Valley) 85; T14. EMILY JUNG (GRANDVIEW) 86; T14. Aly Beeman (Boulder) 86; T14. Alexis Chan (Rock Canyon) 86; 17. CAROLINE O’DONNELL (GRANDVIEW) 88; 18. Victoria Thompson (Pine Creek) 91; 19. Jordan Remley (Ralston Valley) 92; 20. Danielle Picard (Boulder) 94; 21. Leah Perletz (Boulder) 95
Aurora individuals
Aurora Central (NS): Luisa Armas (DNF), Savella Bernhardt (DNF); Diamond Evans (withdrew); Grandview (3): 5. Morgan Sahm 78, T14. Emily Jung 86, 17. Caroline O’Donnell 88, 27. Olivia Lovato 100
