Boys' golf Peak Performers: All-area team and coach
Everything is a teaching moment to Dick Castle. It doesn’t matter if he’s in front of his honors chemistry classes, on the golf course or on the basketball court.
He’ll find a way to educate.
“Coaching is really teaching,” Castle said. “It’s just in a different arena.”
Under Castle’s direction, Pine Creek surged to its third league title in the past four years. The team’s top three were set with Arden Bevere, Garrett Frye and Brent Whiting, but the bottom spot was a revolving door of freshmen and sophomores that Castle molded into contributors while keeping a cohesive team.
He’s not oblivious to his good fortune of heading a program at the affluent school — “Obviously we have good players at Pine Creek. That’s first and foremost.” — but the teacher in him is more interested in molding character than golf swings.
“I guess the best thing is the game itself is a game of integrity,” Castle said. “One of the things we talk about is the integrity of the game, in the classroom and in all we do. And it’s not just about the individual but about the team as well. Integrity, hard work and team-first.”
Others have taken note of Castle’s approach.
“He’s a great guy,” Palmer coach Jason Kohl said. “A great basketball coach (at Vista Ridge), too. Just great demeanor with his players. An appropriate coach of the year selection.”
The boys' golf Peak Performers honorees from the 2012 season:
FIRST TEAM
Cole Anderson
Sophomore, Cheyenne Mountain
Won the 4A PPAC title with a per-round average of 72. 19th at state
Daniel Belk
Senior, Cheyenne Mountain
Fourth in the PPAC, third at regional and 14th at state for area’s top team
Wilson Belk
Sophomore, Cheyenne Mountain
Second in the PPAC (72.5 avg.), regional champ and 12th at state
Isaac Petersilie
Freshman, Coronado
Won 4A Metro by 13 strokes and had area’s fifth best score at state
Colin Prater
Senior, Palmer
Capped career with third 5A Metro title (by 25 strokes) and fourth trip to state, where he was fifth
SECOND TEAM
Arden Bevere, Pine Creek
Dylan Hall, Vista Ridge
Trevor Hunt, Manitou Springs
Ben Tarasiewicz, Rampart
Justin Watson, Sand Creek
HONORABLE MENTION
Anthony Augelli, Doherty; Braden Bentley, Mesa Ridge; Cale Brandt, Palmer Ridge; Caleb Cole, Florence; Marcus Fenimore, Lewis-Palmer; Alex Freimuth, Cheyenne Mountain; Garrett Frye, Pine Creek; Alex Gumper, Palmer; Dean Hall, Vista Ridge; Kyle Jenson, Palmer Ridge; Michael Kerr, Canon City; Brandon Klemeneic, Vista Ridge; Kyle Kleckner, Coronado; Lucas Lichina, Manitou Springs; Andrew Martinez, Rampart; Drew Mendoza, Manitou Springs; Christian Monett, Florence; Wes Moran, Coronado; Tyler Nolan, Liberty; Zack Pape, Air Academy; Jacob Patch, Florence; Steve Pattee, Fountain-Fort Carson; Lucas Rockwell, Air Academy; Tyler Samek, Liberty; Noah Shin, TCA; Jason Siegel, Discovery Canyon; Dwayne Skolsk, Canon City; Nate Starke, Widefield; Evan Straight, Liberty; Matt Tim, Widefield; Jacob Trujillo, Discovery Canyon; Matt Vogeney, Air Academy; Brent Whiting, Pine Creek
