Another great week for the Colorado Christian Cougars! Both golf teams began the week in Goodyear, Arizona and definitely left their mark! The women's team tied for first place in the RJGA Palm Valley Classic and the men's team took third place in the Hot Desert Shootout. Both teams continue to impress as they are just getting started. The track team traveled down to Pueblo again for their second outdoor meet and had some strong performances from both men and women. Our softball and baseball teams also competed this weekend as softball took on Regis at their home field and baseball took on UCCS at their home field. Softball came away with three more wins to add to their tally and baseball snagged a win with a few more close ones against UCCS. Our athletics programs are continuing to make a name for themselves and aren't done yet!
Women's Golf Recap
Goodyear, AZ- At the completion of the RJGA Palm Valley Classic, the Cougars tied for first place with West Texas and had an amazing finish. The girls fought hard and had a great team performance along with some impressive individual performances as well.
Round 1: After the first round of the RJGA Palm Valley Classic, the women were able to come up with the lowest score in the field with a 289. With a great first day, both Mary Beth Doss and Emily Donaldson had the low score for the first round shooting 71 for one under with six birdies for Doss and five for Donaldson paired with an eagle for both. Freshman, Raya Schulz, also had an impressive first round to shoot even on the day with a 72 with three birdies and one eagle. Kiersten Bryant was right behind her teammates with a score of 75 and five birdies. Courtney Andersson closed the official round with a 78 and two birdies along with another eagle to make that four eagles respectively for the team.
Round 2: Coming into the day with a great first round, the Cougars were ready to fight hard with another great team performance. The Cougars finished the tournament with a winning score of 586 to tie with West Texas. Kiersten Bryant led the way with a score of 69 for three under and five birdies. Her low score earned her a tie for 2nd place in the tournament. Teammate Emily Donaldson followed right behind shooting a 74 with three birdies for 4th place. Raya Schulz wrapped up her second round with a score of 75 tying for 6th place overall. Finishing out the scoring for the Cougars, Mary Beth Doss shot an 82 (T40) and Courtney Andersson shot a 79 (T65).
Playoff: As the Cougars wrapped up their second and final round, they found themselves tied in first with West Texas and competed in a final playoff. West Texas collectively scored one under as the Cougars scored one over with a second place finish in the playoff round.
Makenna Brown, competing as an individual, also had an exciting two rounds as a freshman. She finished with seven birdies in the tournament to tie for 83rd.
Coach Ashlyn Kennedy said, "This was an amazing tournament for us. Not only did we break our team record low for a 36 hole tournament but we also beat 5 top teams in the nation. We tied for 1st with the number 8 team and got the chance to compete with them in playoff. We fought hard and showed can compete with anyone. This team is strong and they are doing amazing things. This only gives us more momentum to push forward and compete to the best of our abilties."
Colorado Christian continues in Arizona, now in Tucson, and will compete in the WTAMU Desert Invite April 3rd-4th at Ventana Canyon Golf Course.
Men's Golf Recap
Goodyear, AZ- At the completion of the Hot Desert Shootout, the Cougars took third place and finished strong. A great second day for the men as they fought hard with a great team performance.
Round 1- After the first round of the Hot Desert Shootout, the men were able to come up with the second lowest score in the field with a 289. Adam Duncan was the low score for the first round shooting a 68 for four under with five birdies while teammate Xavier Bighaus shot 70 for two under with two birdies and an impressive eagle. Peyton Jones and Dylan Arthur also had strong finishes scoring 68 and 74 respectively. Camron Reddell closed the official round with an 82 as the Cougars headed into the second round of day 1.
Round 2- In round two, Adam Duncan and Xavier Bighaus tied with a score of 2 over at 73. Camron Reddell was right behind his teammates with a score of 75. Dylan Arthur's three birdies for the round gave him a final score of 77, while teammate Peyton Jones finished with an 80.
Round 3- The Cougars finished the tournament with the best round of the day over all other competitors scoring an impressive 286. Xavier Bighaus matched his first round with a score of 70 for two under, followed by a solid performance from Adam Duncan to shoot even on the day with a 72. Their low scores helped Xavier and Adam tie for 6th place in the tournament. Dylan Arthur had his best round finishing with a score of 71 to go under to tie for 36th. Finishing out the scoring for the Cougars, Peyton Jones shot a 73 (T43) and Camron Reddell shot a 76 (T58).
Competing as individuals, Ben Fowler, Cole Grossl, and Cameron Sandland represented the Cougars well. Cole had an incredible finish with 11 birdies in the tournament to tie for 26th. Ben Fowler's most impressive round came on the first day shooting four under at 68. He finished the tournament tied for 39th. Cameron Sandland finished the tournament in 76th place.
Coach Mark Hull said, "I'm proud of the guys for bouncing back with a great effort today. We are in great shape moving forward and can't wait to get back out there tomorrow."
Colorado Christian continues in Arizona and will now compete in the RJGA Palm Valley Classic Monday, April 3rd-4th at the Palm Valley Golf Course.
Women's Track and Field Recap
PUEBLO, CO- CCU headed south for their second invite of the Outdoor season at the CSU Pueblo Invite. Colorado Christian had some strong performances as they continued the outdoor track & field season.
Hannah George began in the 100m, running a 12.25 in the sprint. George also took part in the 200m, posting a time of 25.39 in the event. In the 400m, Tara Smoker ran to a second place finish with a time of 57.30. Zanzie Demco and Michelle Kuipers ran the 800m, posting times of 2:15.37 and 2:19.09 respectively. Freshman Reagan Boling also took part in the 800, running a time of 2:22.68.
Lucy Pidek led the Cougars in the 1500m, posting a time of 4:57.08. Callie Ketner followed with a 4:58.86, while Nora Thompson ran a 5:11.21. Molly Miller led her team in the 5000m with a time of 18:50.22 to take eighth. Kuipers followed just behind in ninth with a 19:00.03. Ashley Vil took part in the long jump, posting a mark of 5.04m.
The Cougars will now head to Kansas to take part in the KT Woodman Classic April 7-8.
Men's Track and Field Recap
PUEBLO, CO- The Cougars continued their outdoor season at the CSU Pueblo Invite on Saturday. The team saw a multitude of strong finishes as they geared up for some upcoming out of state meets.
Tyler Bradley began the meet strong, claiming a win in the 100m with a time of 10.47. He continued with a second place finish in the 200m with a mark of 21.15. Dawson Hancock and Nate Johnson ran in the 400m, posting times of 52.51 and 54.04 respectively. In the 800m, Mateo Luna ran a time of 1:58.32.
Luna also took part in the 1500m, running a time of 3:59.08. Chase Bracher came in with a time of 4:00.98 in the event. The 5000m featured three CCU runners, led by Luke Meyer who claimed fourth with a run of 15:28.42. Klay Grant followed with a tenth place finish at 15:57.68. Isaac Roberts closed with a time of 16:19.71.
CCU closed the meet by competing in the 4x400m relay. The team of Johnson, Hancock, Jacob Marker and Mason Gansz posted a time of 3:39.98 in the event.
CCU now will head to Wichita Kansas as they take part in the KT Woodman Classic April 7-8.
Softball Recap
4/1 DENVER, CO- The Cougars headed to nearby Regis University as they played the Rangers in a doubleheader on Saturday. The two teams split the pair of games in a couple of hard fought battles.
GAME ONE
The offense got rolling early in the first game of the day, as Miki Berg put her team ahead in the third on a two-run double. Kayla Middleton then singled Berg home to make it 3-0. Regis responded with two runs in the fifth, but another Cougar run came across in the fifth as Berg scored on an error to make it 4-2.
The Rangers took a 6-4 advantage in the fifth, but CCU did not go down without a fight. Logan Menzies began the rally in the sixth with an RBI single, and Leah Garcia picked up a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Kenzie Middleton gave her team a 7-6 lead in the seventh with a single, but the hosts plated two runs in the bottom half of the inning as they claimed an 8-7 victory and snapped the Cougars' 34 game win streak.
Kali Crandall pitched 5.1 innings, while Samaria Roope went 1.1 innings. Berg led the offense with a pair of RBI on the day.
GAME TWO
The Rangers got on the board first in the third inning, but CCU immediately responded. Kenzie Middleton blasted a solo home run in the fourth, and Savannah Tourville notched an RBI single to give her team the lead. The next inning, it was Middleton again with a two-run blast this time to extend the lead to 4-1. Regis brought it back to a 4-2 game, but that was as close as the hosts would get.
Mikayla Oaks slammed a solo homer in the sixth, and Taylor Olsen continued the run scoring with an RBI single before Menzies made it 7-2 with a single of her own. A run in the final inning from regis was not enough as the Cougars got back on track with a 7-3 victory.
Abrie Castillo dazzled in a complete game victory, her 12th win of the season. Kenzie Middleton powered the offense as she sent a pair of balls over the fence in the game.
Colorado Christian will close their series with Regis on April 2 with a doubleheader at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. MST.
4/2 DENVER,CO- After a split the day before, Colorado Christian made sure they were in control from start to finish of their series finale doubleheader. A 9-0 and 4-1 victory got the Cougars back on track as they now sit at 27-1 in RMAC play.
GAME ONE
From start to finish, CCU was in command as Logan Menzies got them on the board with an RBI single in the first inning. Kenzie Middleton then walked with the bases loaded in the second for another run. Sami Edwards made it 3-0 with an RBI single before Taylor Olsen singled in another run. Middleton picked up another RBI with a rare sacrifice foul out, and she notched another RBI in the fifth with a single. Savannah Tourville got in on the action with a sacrifice fly out before Kayla Middleton singled home the ninth run of the game. The game ended in a 9-0 victory for CCU as they controlled play from the start.
Kali Crandall picked up her 18th win of the year as she struck out 8 batters while only allowing 4 hits in the shutout. Kenzie Middleton led the offensive effort with 3 RBI in the game.
GAME TWO
The Cougars jumped on Regis early in the series finale, starting with a double from Olsen to score Sami Edwards. Berg then reached on an error to score Olsen and make it 2-0. The Rangers tallied a single run in the second, but that would be their last of the game. Olsen continued a stellar day with a solo homer in the third, and Edwards singled home the games' final run as the Cougars claimed a 4-1 victory to claim the series 3-1.
Abrie Castillo notched win number 13 on the year, striking out 4 batters and allowing 5 hits on just one run.
Baseball Recap
4/1 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO- After a reschedule moved games planned for yesterday in their series with UCCS, the Cougars got back into action with a doubleheader in Colorado Springs. The two teams split the twin bill as they battled for positioning in the RMAC standings.
GAME ONE
Jordan Medina immediately got his team on the board with an RBI double in the first. Major Maydon then made it 2-0 in the same inning with a run scoring single. From there, the hosts took over the game as they rattled off 10 straight runs en route to a 10-3 victory in the first contest of the day.
Robby Caro, Chaz Graham and Jonny Tewinkle all saw action on the mound during the game, combining for nine strikeouts.
GAME TWO
Similar to the first contest, CCU got on the board quickly as Gabe Ramos doubled in a run in the first inning. The Mountain Lions got two runs in their half of the first, but Aaron Morgan scored on a wild pitch to tie things up at 2-2 in the second. Facing a 3-2 deficit, the Cougars got to work beginning with a Boedy Flores two-RBI single to take the lead. Caden Walton then was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score another run.
Heading to the fourth, the score stood deadlocked at 5-5. Flores then notched another RBI with a line out to right field. Saxton Sorenson then picked up an RBI single before an error allowed him to come around to score. Morgan then scored on a passed ball as the mistakes began to pile up for UCCS and the score stood at 9-5 in favor of the visitors. Flores capped a strong game with a solo home run to left center as the Cougars closed out a 10-7 victory to split the doubleheader.
Jake Gimbel secured the win with six complete innings pitched, while Boedy Flores powered the offense with four RBI.
4/2 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO- The Cougars closed their series at UCCS with a doubleheader on Sunday. In a pair of high scoring affairs, Colorado Christian dropped both games to the hosts in two tough battles.
GAME ONE
The first contest saw fireworks offensively from both teams throughout. Major Maydon started the scoring for his team by drawing a bases loaded walk, and Russell Cruz doubled home another two runs to give his team the 3-1 lead. Boedy Flores then came through huge, blasting a grand slam to left center in the third to extend the lead to 7-1 in the third.
The next inning, Caden Walton doubled home a run, and Gabe Ramos then smashed a two-run homer as the lead grew to 10-1. Heading to the sixth, the hosts clawed back to within 10-6. Luke Thompson singled home another run, and Flores then doubled home two more runs. UCCS tied things at 13 apiece heading to the seventh, but the Cougars struck back in the seventh. Frankie Shearn started with a single before Jordan Medina notched an RBI with a sacrifice fly. Ramos then blasted his second homer of the game, another two-run shot to make it 17-13. A Thompson solo blast to right field pushed the lead to 18-13 Cougars. The Mountain Lions were able to draw within one run in the seventh, and they ended up blasting a walkoff two-run homer in the ninth to pull off a 19-18 win in a wild affair.
Boedy Flores led the offense with an impressive 6 RBI in an 18 run offensive explosion from the Cougars.
GAME TWO
Flores stayed scorching hot at the plate in game two, crushing a solo home run in the second. Shearn tripled home another run the next inning, and Caden Walton singled him home to make it 3-1. UCCS exploded from there for 15 runs, and solo shots from Aaron Morgan and Cruz in the seventh was not enough in a 16-5 defeat.
The Cougars notched three more homers in the second contest, totaling seven long balls on the day.
Next Up: The Cougar Athletics programs have a busy week ahead of them again! Both golf teams are still in Arizona and are both competing today and tomorrow, so be sure to follow along on our website! The track team will take on another meet in Wichita, Kansas at the KT Woodman Classic April 7-8th. Softball continues play at home April 6th against Black Hills State with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. MST. at All Star Park. Last but not least, baseball now heads to Montana State University Billings for a non-conference four game series, beginning with a doubleheader on April 7 with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. MST.
