Preps: Aspen’s Persson sixth at state golf to cap off storied prep career

Aspen High School senior Lenna Persson capped off her impressive prep career on Tuesday by finishing sixth in the Class 2A girls golf state championships, played at Pueblo Country Club.

Persson, a South Dakota State golf signee, shot 16-over 160 for the two rounds. She shot 10-over 82 in the first round on Monday before recording a 6-over 78 on Tuesday.

Colorado Academy freshman Sophia Lee, who edged out Persson in the regional tournament, won the 2A championship by shooting 2-over 146 for the two rounds. She shot even-par 72 on Tuesday to close out her wire-to-wire win.

Manitou Springs sophomore Addison Dorsey was second with 151, followed in third by Salida senior Kyndra Johnson (153). In fourth was Prospect Ridge senior Hope Torres (157), and in fifth was Sterling senior Macie Doherty (158).

Fueled by Lee’s strong play, Colorado Academy also won the team championship, shooting a collective 507 over the two rounds. The Mustangs won by 18 strokes over runner-up Salida (525) and cleared third-placed Denver Christian (538) by 31 strokes.

Aspen finished ninth as a team, shooting a collective 582.

After Persson, the Skiers’ best rounds came from senior Madison Nelson, who tied for 30^th overall with rounds of 95 and 105 (56-over 200). AHS junior Josie Cole was 60^th (78-over 222), and freshman Palmer Elston tied for 65^th place (83-over 227).

This was the first year there was a 2A classification in girls golf.

Lacrosse

The high school boys lacrosse season ended on Monday with No. 2 seed Dakota Ridge beating No. 4 Air Academy in the Class 4A championship game, 12-7. It was the Eagles’ first title as a program, while it was the first title game appearance for the Kadets.

Aspen, the tournament’s top seed, lost to Air Academy in the state semifinals on Saturday, falling 10-3 for the Skiers’ only loss of the season.

Top-seeded Evergreen won the girls 4A lacrosse title, beating No. 2 Green Mountain in the final, 19-6. As the No. 8 seed, the Aspen girls lost in the state quarterfinals to No. 1 Evergreen, 18-9.

Baseball

Coal Ridge will represent the immediate region at the Class 3A state baseball tournament, which begins Friday in Greeley.

With a 22-2-1 overall record, the Titans have the No. 2 seed entering the double-elimination tournament and will face off against fellow Western Slope power Delta in their first game at 9:30 a.m. Friday. The Panthers (18-7) are the No. 7 seed.

The other first-round matchups include No. 1 University vs. No 8 Valley; No. 4 Resurrection Christian vs. No. 5 Montezuma-Cortez; and No. 3 Eaton vs. No. 6 The Classical Academy. Eaton is the four-time defending state champion and was the team to oust Basalt in the regional final this past weekend.

Coal Ridge has never won a state championship in baseball. Delta has twice won a state title in baseball, but the most recent was in 1964.

acolbert@aspentimes.com

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