The boys golf program at Valor Christian has only been around since 2007. The girls golf team at Jefferson Academy will play just its fourth season in the spring of this school year.
But no matter how new the programs are to the local high school golf scene, that hasn’t kept them from producing some of the best talent to come from Colorado in recent years.
That’s been proven this past week during the early national letter of intent signing period for golf and other sports. Both Valor and Jefferson Academy had multiple players sign with college programs. Valor’s Ross Macdonald and Pierce Aichinger are going to the University of Colorado, while teammate Jake Staiano is headed to Colorado State. Jefferson Academy’s Jennifer Kupcho (pictured) signed on Monday with Wake Forest, while teammate Mariah Ehrman formally committed to Colorado Mesa University.
Well over a dozen Colorado junior players have inked NLIs since last Wednesday, including at least 12 with NCAA Division I programs. Valor was particularly a center of activity with all three seniors from this year’s 4A state championship team going to Division I programs in-state.
“There were attractive options for all three out of state,” said Jason Preeo, Valor’s boys golf coach and the individual instructor for Macdonald, Staiano and Aichinger. “But their first choice was in-state. They all got pretty much what they were looking for. It’s really important for in-state schools to make sure the top talent stays in the state. You have to own your home turf.”
Indeed, the University of Colorado men’s team, which had just six players on its roster in the fall season, landed three in-state players, all of whom finished in the top eight in the ultra-competitive 4A state tournament — Macdonald (third), Aichinger (sixth) and Cheyenne Mountain’s Wilson Belk (eighth). Macdonald, the CGA Junior Player of the Year, has won the last two CGA Junior Stroke Plays and Aichinger claimed the Colorado Junior PGA Championship this year.
As for CSU-bound Staiano, he won the 2013 CGA Junior Match Play, advanced to match play at the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur, and was the runner-up in the 4A state tournament.
It’s little wonder why Valor, which once featured Oklahoma State-bound Wyndham Clark, has won four of the last six 4A state team titles and has now produced seven NCAA Division I signees.
All four Colorado players who signed with either the CU or CSU men are currently ranked among the top 500 boys national/international players on Junior Golf Scoreboard.
On the girls side, Kupcho is ranked No. 104 nationally/internationally among girls by Junior Golf Scoreboard. Although the reigning 4A state high school champ also considered the University of Denver and Colorado State, she’s headed for Wake Forest, which is currently the No. 10-ranked women’s college program in the nation.
“It’s really exciting to have it done,” said Kupcho, the CWGA Player of the Year and three-time Junior Player of the Year at age 17. “I’ve been looking forward to this day. Finally to just get it over with and know I’m going to college is kind of exciting. To go play Division I golf is a real exciting accomplishment.”
Wake Forest has been to 13 NCAA Championship finals in the last 22 years. Laura Diaz, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour and a former Wake Forest standout, is a volunteer assistant coach for the Demon Deacons.
Kupcho cited the coaches and the climate (Wake Forest is in Winston-Salem, N.C.) as the primary reasons she chose to be a Demon Deacon.
“Obviously, I’ve always wanted to play for a higher (ranked) school so I can hopefully go play professional” eventually, said Kupcho, who finished runner-up in the 2014 HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open, a tournament that featured numerous top-level Symetra Tour players. “I would say that’s part of the steppingstone to playing professionally.”
Kupcho’s brother, Steven, plays for the University of Northern Colorado, though he’s redshirting this season. Jennifer Kupcho’s parents coach the Jefferson Academy girls golf team.
Here are the in-state players who have signed national letters of intent this month, and out-of-state players who have signed with Colorado-based NCAA Division I schools (note: this list was updated in May 2015):
BOYS
Pierce Aichinger, Valor Christian — Colorado
Wilson Belk, Cheyenne Mountain — Colorado
Li Chen, Legacy — Northern Colorado
Bretton Krantz, Windsor — Colorado Mesa
Ross Macdonald, Valor Christian — Colorado
Hayden Plewe, Montezuma-Cortez — Southern Utah
Grant Rogers, Boulder — Rice
Jake Staiano, Valor Christian — Colorado State
Taylor Rodriguez, 4A individual champ at Pueblo South — CSU-Pueblo
Jackson Vacek, Fairview — Occidental
GIRLS
Mariah Ehrman, Jefferson Academy — Colorado Mesa
Courtney Ewing, Pueblo West — CSU-Pueblo
Tori Goodman, Falcon — CSU-Pueblo
Anna Kennedy, Legend — BYU
Ashlyn Kirschner, Ralston Valley — Colorado Mesa
Jennifer Kupcho, Jefferson Academy — Wake Forest
Adara Pauluhn, Niwot — Boise State
Kylee Sullivan, Cheyenne Mountain — Oakland U.
Gillian Vance, Dakota Ridge — Colorado
Out-of-State Players Committed to Colorado Div. I Schools
Boys
Ben Bradley of Frankfurt, Germany — Colorado (eligible to compete in spring semester 2015)
Kade Crossland, transfer from Corban University in Solem, Ore. — Colorado
Tate Tatom of Gallatin Gateway, Mont. — Air Force Academy
Girls
Hanna Atkins of Phoenix — Northern Colorado
Lauryn Keating of Elma, Wash. — Colorado
Sophie Newlove of Nottingham, England — Denver
Katrina Prendergast of Sparks, Nev. — Colorado State
Janet Yeo of Los Angeles — Northern Colorado
