LOVELAND – The rising Montezuma-Cortez girls golf program has raised the bar another notch.
The Panthers placed eighth overall in the team results at the 3A state championships Monday and Tuesday at The Olde Course in Loveland. The Panthers placed two golfers in the top 20 for the program’s best finish.
After Day One of the 36-hole event, the Panthers found themselves right outside the top five, then battled on Day Two to maintain their status as a top-10 team. All four competitors earned their best state results in their high school careers, putting together a collective effort that brought the best from second-year head coach Travis Wright’s team.
Sophomore Amita Crowley paced the Panthers with a strong tournament, shooting a combined score of 173 (+29) over the marathon. Senior Chesnie Patrick followed with a 16th-place effort (177, +33), four strokes behind Crowley, in her final and highest finish of her four state appearances.
Sophomore Afton Unrein worked consistently through the tournament, taking 49th with a score of 200 (+56). Junior Erin Lawrence – the lone Panther making their state debut – bounded up the leader board on Day Two to finish with a score of 223 (+79).
Crowley came out of the gate with a scorching start to her opening nine holes, carding four pars and a birdie to go out in 40, before closing out the back half with an even-keel 41 to post an 81. Crowley sat inside the top 10 individuals after Day One and teed off on Day Two in one of the final groupings. On Day Two, the course set up with an additional 600 yards of length, prompting more difficult scoring conditions, as Crowley battled to a score of 92, including a closing par to hold on to her top-15 spot.
Patrick collected plenty of pars as well, tallying 12 overall – seven on Day One – to fire nine hole scores of 44, 45, 43, and 45 for rounds of 89 and 88 for her last contribution as a Panther. The senior added a birdie on the second hole of her Day Two round to ensure that she improved her individual finish in each of her four years on the state stage.
Unrein’s 36 holes included five pars, four of which came on Day Two, as she closed with her best nine holes of the tournament with a 48. It wrapped up scores of 99-101 as the sophomore made a big jump in the state rankings from her freshman season.
Lawrence made her first state appearance memorable – taking nine strokes off her Day One score with a round of 107 on day two. Her card included two of her three pars coming on Tuesday, including one of the par-5 17th hole as part of her best nine holes of the tournament on the back nine of Day Two.
Their team score of 550 knotted the Panthers with Berthoud in a tie for eighth, just 13 strokes outside of the top five. Prospect Ridge Academy won the team title with a score of 501, led by junior Hope Torres (150, +6), who won the individual title on a playoff hole against two-time defending champion Maddy Bante of St. Mary’s Academy. Colorado Academy (517), St. Mary’s (522), Aspen (528), and Peak to Peak (537) rounded out the top five.
