Another chapter was added to a storybook season for the Basalt High School boys golf team on Monday, Sept. 30.
The Longhorns, including a trio of Roaring Fork High School golfers, took second place as a team at the 3A Regionals, held at the Snowmass Club, to qualify for the 3A State Championships, slated for Oct. 7-8 at Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo.
Aspen junior Houston Benvenuto won the regional championship with a round of 69 for 18 holes, leading the Skiers to the team title with a combined low score of 229.
Basalt was four strokes back at 233, led by senior Jackson Stewart, who carded a 76 to finish second, and sophomore Hudson Arnold, who tied for third with Aspen senior Ryan Rigney at 77.
Basalt freshman Parker Strelecki finished tied for 10th (80) to round out the Longhorns’ scoring. Sophomore Griffin Didier will join the team at state, despite a rough day on the course Monday, finishing 26th with a round of 88.
“Qualifying as a full team for the 2024 Colorado High School State Championships is a huge accomplishment for these young men, individually and collectively,” head coach Travis Stewart said.
“This will cap off a highly successful season highlighted by the strong senior leadership and play of Jackson Stewart, as well as the great play of the young core and future of this team,” he said, referring to Didier, Arnold and Strelecki.
Soccer downs Basalt for hoco win
The Roaring Fork boys soccer team got homecoming week rolling with a 3-1 win over rival Basalt at Rams Field on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
With a large and loud student section cheering them on, the score was tied 1-1 near the end of the first half after junior Delano Crooks scored on an assist from sophomore Cal Stone, and then Basalt answered with a goal of their own.
Rams sophomore Cristian Turcios got the go-ahead goal off a high, soft cross pass to the left side from senior Fernando Rodrigues-Candela to make it 2-1.
Soon into the second half, Stone collected a tight pass across the box from junior Salbador Vasquez and booted it in from the right side to put the Rams up by what would end up the final score.
Head coach Nick Forbes said he was most impressed with his team’s mental play, given the distractions of homecoming week and the fact that the Longhorns were seeking revenge after being shut out by the Rams 7-0 on Sept. 5 at Basalt.
“I’m just really proud of these boys for digging deep and realizing they had to rise to the occasion after Basalt came back and tied it,” Forbes said. “They did a good job of overcoming those things that can be kind of hidden traps in high school, like homecoming and rivalry games.”
The win came on the heels of a 1-1 tie to Summit at home on Saturday, Sept. 28 (goal by Rodrigues-Candela), and a 4-0 win at Grand Junction High that Friday (2 goals by senior Phillipe Huang, and one each from Crooks and Stone).
The Rams took their 5-2-1 overall record and 3-0 3A Western Slope League mark on the road to Delta on Wednesday (results not available by press time).
Girls volleyball
The Roaring Fork girls volleyball team notched one in the win column at home on Tuesday, Sept. 24, prevailing 3-2 over 3A league opponent Olathe (25-19, 19-25, 25-18, 23-25, 15-8).
Junior Nikki Tardif recorded 18 kills and five aces from the service line on the night. Junior Yakelin Nunez Hernandez had 14 kills, and senior Carley Crownhart had 31 assists.
In other action this past week, the Rams lost 3-1 (18-25, 25-22, 21-25, 20-25) at Aspen on Sept. 26, and dropped a 3-0 decision at Gunnison (22-25, 20-25, 17-25) on Sept. 28.
The Rams are now 3-9 overall and 1-4 in league headed into their homecoming game this Thursday, Oct. 3 against Grand Valley (varsity game time 6:30pm at the RFHS Gym).
Cross country
The combined Basalt-Roaring Fork cross country team was at the Moffat County Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 28, where junior Towler Scott won the boys title with an impressive time of 16 minutes, 15.3 seconds.
The girls took second place as a team with 41 points to Steamboat Springs’ 31. Finishing in the top 20 for the Lady Longhorns were senior Izzy Moon, fifth (21:11.6); junior Caroline Cole, sixth (21:31.1); junior Addison Raymond, 11th (22:31.4); and sophomore Sadie Silcox, 16th (23:03.8).
Softball
The combined Basalt girls softball team picked up a 22-12 win at home against Battle Mountain on Sept. 23, collecting 11 runs through the first two innings and eight in the fifth.
The Longhorns then lost both games of a double-header at Delta on Sept. 24, 22-2 and 19-4.
Four Roaring Fork student-athletes play on the team: Jenna and Sydney Ostberg, Zoe Kincaid and Hana Irigoyen Esquivel.
*Note: The Roaring Fork football team, which was idle this past week, hosts Grand Valley for the homecoming football game at 7pm Friday at Rams Field.
