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Prep notebook: Thayer wins again as Huskies place second in Glenwood Springs Lady Demons Invitational

Battle Mountain took second place as a team, and Makena Thayer took the individual win, at Tuesday's Glenwood Springs Lady Demons Invitational at River Ranch Golf Club.
Christopher Hoevel/Courtesy photo

Makena Thayer is two-for-two as a high school varsity golfer. The Battle Mountain freshman, who shot a 77 to win the Wildcat Invite in Fruita a week ago, shot 84 at River Valley Ranch Golf Club to win Tuesday’s Glenwood Springs Lady Demons Invitational. The Huskies finished second as a team with 288 points, just nine back from Aspen in the eight-team field.

“Winds gusted upwards of 60 mph today at River Valley Ranch. The Huskies had to really bear down and play under the wind and putt extremely well,” coach Christopher Hoevel stated on the team’s social media page afterward. Thayer had six pars and a birdie on the front nine, where she shot a one-over 37. She opened the back nine with three straight bogeys, but was able hold on for the win. Keely Sego and Tatum Vickers shot a 96 and 108, respectively, to round out the Huskies scoring.

“Our brightest moments today came directly after adversity, which is what it takes over the span of 18 holes,” Hoevel continued. “Great job to every player on handling these conditions. Strong minds, strong team.” 



Glenwood Springs Lady Demons Invitational scoreboard

Team scores

  1. Aspen 279
  2. Battle Mountain 288
  3. Fruita Monument 297
  4. Glenwood Springs 310
  5. Palisade 316
  6. Rifle 317
  7. Vail Mountain 334
  8. Moffat County 369

Individual (top 10)

Makena Thayer, FR, Battle Mountain – 84

Logan Nobrega, JR, Vail Mountain – 86

Brooke O’Sullivan, JR, Aspen – 87

Lenna Persson, SO, Aspen – 90

Jadyn Petree, JR, Rifle – 95

Keely Sego, SR, Battle Mountain -96

Jocelyn Cutshall, SR, Fruita Monument – 978

Kadence Ulrich, SO, Fruita Monument – 98

Shea Satterfield, SR, Palisade – 100

Zoe Laird, JR, Glenwood Springs – 100

Vail Mountain School’s Logan Nobrega shot an 86 to place second individually and Christina Fitzpatrick and Samara Hitt shot 113 and 135, respectively, to lead the Gore Rangers to a seventh-place team finish. Eagle Valley’s Sophie Weisberger shot 110 to finish tied for 19th, and Julia Borejszo shot 126 to place 35th, but the Devils didn’t produce a team score.

Tennis notes: Blanch wins USTA U16 tournament

Daniel Blanch took the win at a USTA U16 tournament in Parker, Colorado over the weekend. He’ll be a junior on the Vail Christian boys tennis team next fall.
JD Webster/Courtesy photo

Vail Christian boys tennis player Daniel Blanch won a U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) U16 tournament last weekend in Parker, Colorado, coming from behind in multiple matches for the title.

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“Daniel has been working extremely hard for this moment,” head coach JD Webster said. “We are so proud of him. It’s exciting to see Daniel inspiring a new generation of tennis in our valley.”

Blanch, a sophomore No. 3 singles player on the Saints team last year, spent some time playing in Spain — where his family is from — over the off-season. In the tournament, which featured 5A competition, he defeated Jackson Gilliland 4-6, 7-5, 10-4, Marcus Magno 6-0, 6-1 before a three-set (6-4, 6-7, 11-9) quarterfinal victory over Will Moses. In the semifinals, he dispatched Kai Trujillo easily, 6-1, 6-0 before coming back on Justin Son 1-6, 6-3, 11-9 in the championship.

“I was down 5-2 in the second set, I came back up so many times,” Blanch said. “My mental game was great. Even when I was down triple match point I managed to battle my way back.”

His ability to fight from behind made his parents a little nervous.

“There were three games we thought he wasn’t going to make it through,” his mom, Melissa McDermott said. Fran Blanch, his dad, added, “I want to encourage young people to come out and play tennis. Daniel has only been playing tournaments for one year.”

Lacrosse notes: Battle Mountain girls fall to Roaring Fork, Eagle Valley loses to Aspen

Molly Kessenich scored three goals and tallied an assist and Anne Hilgartner scored for the Huskies as well, but Battle Mountain couldn’t stay with Roaring Fork in Tuesday’s road league battle. The Rams won 11-4 to remain undefeated (5-0) in the 4A Western Slope. It was Battle Mountain’s first league loss of the year.

The Huskies (8-3 overall, 6-1 league) have a quick turnaround, traveling to face the third-best team in the league, Aspen (5-3 overall, 4-2 league) Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Eagle Valley boys traveled to face Aspen on Tuesday falling 10-9 in overtime. The Devils got out to a 2-0 lead, but the Skiers retaliated with five second-quarter goals to even things up, 5-5 at half.

The Devils fell to 4-7 overall and 3-6 in the league, where they’re ranked sixth. Aspen (7-2 overall, 6-2 league) sits tied for second with Vail Mountain School, while Steamboat Springs, at 6-1, remains at the top of the 4A Western Slope.


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