BROOMFIELD – For the first time in the school’s history, the Riverdale Ridge girls golf team is the state champion.
On Tuesday at The Broadlands Golf Course, the Ravens wrapped up the two-day Class 4A girls golf state championship tournament with a combined team score of 500 to claim the state title on a tough, windy day.
“It’s our first state title for the girls and it’s a great accomplishment,” Riverdale Ridge coach Wade Balliet said. “Our school has been around for I think seven years now, so it’s a great accomplishment starting a program and getting to this point. We got a really good team of players. They’ve got a great camaraderie and they’re dedicated to playing some great golf.
“They’ve gotten better all year and we practice in a lot of this windy weather and I think that helped us a lot. The wind came up today and we changed our strategy to going more for pars and bogeys instead of playing more aggressively for birdies. I think that helps us a lot.”
The Ravens – Brynn Balliet (160), Karina Panyavong (170), Leah Johnson (170) and Rylynn Fuss (234) – handled the 20-mph wind as well or better than any other team.
Durango (513) was runner-up and Ponderosa (529) finished third.
Individually, Air Academy freshman Landry Frost took home the title, entering Day two with a two-stroke lead and finishing with a combined two-day score of 151 to hold off Ponderosa’s Kaylee Meyering by one stroke.
“It was for sure a grind,” Frost said. “I think that just trusting my process and my plan was huge, and just staying within myself and staying positive even through the hard holes was important. This was my goal but actually doing it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It’s crazy that it actually happened.”
Windsor’s Macy Kleve, who finished runner-up as a junior last season, placed third at 153. Brynn Balliet (160) and Vista Peak’s Sophia Capua (160) tied for fourth. Niwot’s Wendy Cheruiyot (166) was sixth. Monarch’s Pippa Cooper (169) and Durango’s Ellie White (169) tied for seventh.
Dakota Ridge’s Nora Hogan (170), Johnson (170), Durango’s Ramie Brant and Panyavong (170) all tied for ninth.
(Brad Cochi)
