Last year’s 5A girls state high school championship produced one of the most tightly packed leaderboards in recent seasons, and the pieces are in place for a potential encore.
All of the top five finishers at state in 2011 — and nine of the top 11 — will be in the field when this year’s 5A championship is contested Monday and Tuesday (May 21-22) at Aurora Hills Golf Course.
Meanwhile, the 4A state tournament will feature six of the top 10 finishers from a year ago. The 4A meet will be played at Boomerang Golf Links in Greeley, also Monday and Tuesday.
Senior SeungHa Choi of Overland will defend her 5A title, but the 2011 CWGA Junior Match Play champion figures to face a formidable challenge at Aurora Hills. After all, the top five finishers at state last year were separated by only three strokes.
Also in the field this time is 2011 CWGA Junior Player of the Year Allie Johnston (pictured) of Rock Canyon. Johnston is coming off a stellar year in which she won the CWGA Junior Stroke Play by eight shots, captured an AJGA title in Texas, placed second in the prestigious Mary Cave Cup and qualified for two USGA championships.
Another contender figures to be Shinwoo Lee of Cherry Creek, who’s finished second or third in three previous 5A state tournaments. Meanwhile, Patricia Lee of Highlands Ranch has been a 5A runner-up the last two years.
Calli Ringsby of Cherry Creek could also challenge for the title after finishing tied for second last year and later placing second in the CWGA Stroke Play Championship as a 15-year-old.
Other returning players from the top 10 in the 2011 5A state meet are Shannon Lubar of Chatfield (seventh), Claudia Davis of Arapahoe (ninth) and Hannah Wood of Arapahoe and Taylor Buck of ThunderRidge (tied for 10th).
Several of those players have signed to play Division I college golf, with Johnston headed to Texas-San Antonio, Patricia Lee to Georgetown and Lubar to the University of Denver.
Cherry Creek and Arapahoe, who have finished 1-2 in the last two 5A state meets (with each winning a title), figure to be the teams to beat again.
In Class 4A at Boomerang, the field features two players who have been regulars in the top five at the state tournament in recent years.
Bryce Schroeder of Pueblo South was the 4A runner-up last year and finished fifth in 2010. And Regis’ Kathleen Kershisnik placed second in 2009, third in 2010 and fourth last year. Schroeder will play college golf at Wichita State and Kershisnik at Wyoming.
Other returning top-10 finishers from 4A state in 2011 are Taylor Dorans of Broomfield (sixth each of the last two years), Shannon Spinuzzi of Pueblo South (sixth), Katherine Kemp of Cheyenne Mountain (ninth) and Alex Briggs of Broomfield (10th).
Pueblo South, Broomfield and Regis, who finished a close 1-2-3 in the team race last year, likely will battle it out again next week.
For Monday’s tee times, CLICK HERE for 5A, and CLICK HERE for 4A.
