An individual girls golf state championship hadn’t come home with a player from an Aurora area program since 2018, but that drought nearly came to an end this season.
Smoky Hill freshman Sophia Stiwich waged a 36-hole battle with Valor Christian’s Brenna Higgins over two days of the Class 5A state tournament at Black Bear Golf Club before errant tee shots on the first playoff hole forced her to concede.
Stiwich headlines the 2023 Sentinel Colorado All-Aurora Girls Golf Team, which is based in results from the 5A and 4A state tournaments. Joining Stiwich are two Cherokee Trail players in sophomore Kaleigh Babineaux and senior Bead Boonta, plus Vista PEAK freshman Sophia Capua and Grandview junior Caroline Ryan.
Stiwich arrived at Smoky Hill midway through the school year, which she began at Lemon Hills High School in Englewood, Florida. She finished sixth in that state’s Class 2A state tournament, then came to Colorado, where golf is played later in the school year.
As the only golfer for veteran coach Laurie Steenrod — who called Stiwich by far the best player she’d had in nearly a quarter century with the Buffaloes — Stiwich fit in well among the best players in the Centennial League. She won the nine-hole league tournament at Meadow Hills G.C. and finished no lower than third in any tournament during the regular season or at regionals.
Stiwich then proceeded to shoot a scorching round of 5-under-par 67 to open the 5A state tournament (a round that included eight birdies). She and Higgins (who shot 66 in the first round) both slowed a bit in the second round in terms of scoring, but both shot 1-under 143 over two rounds to force the playoff. Two out of bounds drives ended Stiwich’s title hopes.
Babineaux improved by 30 spots in her second trip to the state tournament as Aurora’s only other local placer in the top 10. She secured her second straight All-Aurora team spot.
Part of a Cherokee Trail team that won the Northern Regional championship — by 20 strokes over eventual 5A runner-up Castle View — and finished second in the final Centennial League standings, Babineaux had several highlights to her season. She won the league tournament at Saddle Rock with a 2-under par 70 and tied for first in the league match at Kennedy G.C. cut to nine holes by weather.
Babineaux then collected five birdies on her way to a 66 to win the Northern Regional title and tallied a two-day total of plus-11 155 that put her eighth in the 5A standings after she was 38th (without breaking 90 in either round) last season. Babineaux’s second round 74 was the second-lowest among any Aurora player over two days behind only Stiwich’s opening round 67.
Babineaux will not return next season to Cherokee Trail as she is moving to Texas.
Coach Justin Jajczyk’s Cougars also lose Boonta, who finished with three All-Aurora selections in three seasons.
Boonta won the Centennial League tournament at Aurora Hills G.C. and tied with Babineaux atop the nine-hole league match at Kennedy, while her season-low score of 70 (2-under) came in a runner-up finish at the Denver East Invitational.
Sixth at state as a sophomore in 2021, Boonta finished 11th as both a junior and senior, as she shot plus-15 159 over two days in her final tournament.
Capua made headlines while in eighth grade when she qualified for the national finals of the annual Drive, Chip & Putt competition held at venerable Augusta National Golf Club. She made a sparkling debut for Vista PEAK as a freshman.
During the regular season, Capua won two City League tournaments (one by 14 strokes) and placed second in the other four, while she was also runner-up at the 4A Region 4 tournament at Bookcliff G.C.
Capua became the first player to represent the Vista PEAK program at the state tournament since 2019 and once there, shot rounds of 79 and 80 at Thorncreek G.C. to tie for ninth, though a quadruple bogey on her final hole kept her out of the top five.
Ryan made the All-Aurora first team for the first time with a two-day total of 163, which put her in 17th place in the 5A standings. She shot seven strokes better in the second round with a 78 that was fourth-best among city players in the field and helped her greatly improve on her 2022 finish, which was 38th place.
In the regular season, Ryan’s top finish was third in a nine-hole Centennial League meet at Meadow Hills and fourth in regionals, where she helped the Wolves earn the second spot in the final standings to send the entire team to the state tournament.
NOTES: Eaglecrest senior Savanna Becker, a three-time 5A state qualifier, came up just short of a second straight All-Aurora first team honor as she finished two strokes behind Ryan in 19th in the final standings. It marked a three-place improvement from her 2022 state finish. In between Ryan and Becker on the leaderboard was Regis Jesuit sophomore Audrey Whitmore, who shot 83 and 81 to finish with a two-day total of 164 in her second state tournament. It was a big jump in place between seasons for Whitmore, who went from a tie for 45th as a freshman to 18th. Another big rise in finish came for Whitmore’s Regis Jesuiti teammate, senior Caitlin Neumann. In her third state tournament appearance, Neumann earned a tie for 20th place after she tied for 48th in 2022. Aurora’s other returning state qualifiers all improved their places from the previous season in Grandview senior Courtney Ladymon (36th vs. 42nd in 2022), Cherokee Trail sophomore Haylee Clark (tied for 37th vs. tied for 58th in 2022), Regis Jesuit senior Georgia Meysman-Sharpe (49th vs. tied for 62nd in 2022) and Grandview senior Allie Arritola (tied for 60th vs. tied for 78th in 2022).
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 SENTINEL COLORADO ALL-AURORA GIRLS GOLF TEAM
First team: Kaleigh Babineaux, soph., Cherokee Trail; Bead Boonta, sr., Cherokee Trail; Sophia Capua, fr., Vista PEAK; Caroline Ryan, jr., Grandview; Sophia Stiwich, fr., Smoky Hill
Honorable mention: Allie Arritola, sr., Grandview; Kate Anderson, jr., Grandview; Savanna Becker, sr., Eaglecrest; Haylee Clark, soph., Cherokee Trail; Paige Furgason, soph., Regis Jesuit; Sofia Johancen-Walt, sr., Cherokee Trail; Courtney Ladymon, sr., Grandview; Georgia Meysman-Sharpe, sr., Regis Jesuit; Caitlin Neumann, sr., Regis Jesuit; Audrey Whitmore, soph., Regis Jesuit
