Storm setting pace in 6A; Sartan girls lead 5A
Cleveland High sophomore Jacque Galloway in front after shooting 71
For all of the success of the Cleveland High School boys and girls golf teams, one thing they’ve not yet done is win a state championship on the same day. The Storm is halfway toward accomplishing that. The Cleveland boys own a slim, two-shot edge on Piedra Vista, while the Storm girls lead La Cueva by five shots after the first round of the Class 6A event Monday at Nancy Lopez Golf Course at Spring River in Roswell.
The boys team standings are exceedingly tight as the field returns today for the final round.
Cleveland’s team score of 305 left it two in front of Piedra vista, and just eight in front of Manzano, which is making its first state tournament appearance in 36 years. Metro champion La Cueva is fourth, 12 shots behind Cleveland and still very much in the hunt.
Storm junior Alejandro Armijo and Gadsden freshman Travis Olson — his school’s only male varsity golfer — are tied for the first round lead after both posted rounds of 71. Volcano Vista’s Ben Wells, competing individually, is a shot behind. Dylan Marsh of Manzano and Nolan Gillihan of Centennial are three shots back and metro champion Bowen Davis of Manzano is four shots out of the lead.
Cleveland sophomore Jacque Galloway has the girls’ lead, firing a 71 on Monday. Teammate Elexiss Gutierrez sits four shots off the pace in second place, with Kennedi Rose of La Cueva in third, but seven strokes behind Galloway, the defending champion.
The Storm girls are also looking to repeat. La Cueva has a five-shot lead on third-place Las Cruces.
Tee times today are split, with groups going off both sides, starting at 7:30 a.m. Team leaders are going off around 9 a.m.
Class 5A
A year ago, the St. Pius girls golf team suffered a crushing playoff loss to Artesia at the state tournament.
It appears the Sartans and Bulldogs are headed for another tense, tight finish today at The Canyon Club in Albuquerque.
St. Pius, which has never before won a girls team golf championship, shot a team score of 365 on Monday, which put the Sartans just a single shot in front of Artesia going into today’s final 18 holes.
Sartans’ junior Ashlee Garrett is setting the pace individually. She shot a round of 78 on the hilly and tight Canyon Club layout, which leaves her three shots in front of Artesia’s Josey Jackson. It is another five shots back to third place, leaving medalist honors likely in the hands of either Jackson or Garrett.
Tee times begin at 7:30 a.m., off both No. 1 and No. 10. Garrett and Jackson will be paired together at 9 a.m., going off the No. 1 tee.
The boys’ race might prove to be equally fascinating today, as Los Lunas — just as with the St. Pius girls — tries to win its first-ever state golf team title.
The Tigers have the first-day lead, seven strokes in front of Artesia.
Junior Chesten Browning from Los Lunas had an evenpar 72, giving him a four-shot lead over Aidan Thomas of St. Pius, who is competing as an individual this week. The Tigers’ Dylan Gonzales is another shot back in third place.
Class 1A-4A
At Piñon Hills in Farmington, Hope Christian’s boys and Portales are tied after 18 holes, each having shot team scores of 313.
Those two are 29 shots clear of third-place St. Michael’s, making this a two-team race today in the final round.
The best round of the day, in any of the three classifications, belonged to Portales’ Thomas Tulk, the defending state champion who fired a brilliant 4-under 68 in breezy conditions. Tulk opened up a six-shot lead on Jason Parker from Raton and Slater Sivage from Hope Christian.
The girls team race is also close. St. Michael’s has a seven-stroke lead on defending champ Silver after Monday’s opening round.
Carisa Padilla of the Lady Horsemen was the only girl to break 80 on Monday. She shot 78, and leads Lexi Lucero of Ruidoso and Miquela Martinez of St. Michael’s by three.