Pine Creek remains in the hunt at Class 5A golf tournament

Class 5A

At Aurora: Thanks to standout performances from Mike Vogelsong and Ben Krueger, the Pine Creek golf team has its sights set on a title.

Vogelsong and Krueger are tied for second after carding 2-over-par 74s — four off the pace of Overland’s Jonathan Park — on Monday in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament at Saddle Rock Golf Course.

“Ben tripled the last hole and Mike bogeyed two of the last three, so if we could just take off those last few holes, maybe we can do even better tomorrow,” said coach Dick Castle, whose team is third and four shots back of Regis Jesuit. “The rain and fog made the greens a little softer, so hopefully our putting will come through.”

Pine Creek’s Beau Bazja and Garrett Frye shot 13 over and 15 over, respectively, but will be essential in Tuesday's team score.

“Beau and Garrett were both a little disappointed today, but I think we can see some scores in the seventies tomorrow,” Castle said.

Air Academy’s Tyler Steigerwald and Cameron Harrell are seven back heading into the final round of the event.

Class 4A

At Highlands Ranch: Mitchell’s Graham McCoy is tied for seventh after shooting an even-par 72.

“He played the back nine at 3 under, and then he bogeyed and doubled the last holes,” coach John Laxson said. “The weather was deteriorating by then, but I think if he strikes the ball the way he did today, he’ll be doing well tomorrow.”

Cheyenne Mountain is tied for sixth and Lewis-Palmer and Palmer Ridge are tied for 10th.  Adam Vasilakis was 2 over and Kelly Cobb shot a 75 to lead the Indians.

After suffering from momentary lapses on Monday, the Indians are looking to stay focused through today’s entire round.

“Jack (Stimple) just needs to finish and putt well, and Kelly and Adam basically just had only one or two bad holes,” coach Bill Paulson said. “There’s no way we could contend for a state title at this point, but if we could be in the top five or so, that would certainly be a strong finish."

Class 3A

At Trinidad: St. Mary’s junior Andrew Cornella is tied for second and three shots back after shooting a 7-over 79 at the tricky Cougar Canyon Golf Course.

“Some of those gusts were up to 40 mph, and there were times the ball went longer and ended up in a trap or something,” coach Bill Percy said. “His ball actually started blowing away on one green, and we of course couldn’t move it back.”

Cornella will tee off in the top foursome today just before 11 a.m.

Colorado Springs Christian School is currently 10^th, led by Alex Riehl’s 93.