Both the men’s and women’s Fort Lewis golf teams have changed coaches over the last year. Shea Sena now leads the women’s team and Sean Griswold leads the men’s team. Both coaches look to move up the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference hierarchy with a strong group of returners and some key newcomers.
The women’s team struggled last spring and finished in last at multiple tournaments. Sena brings back five players and adds two freshmen and a transfer with local roots.
Dimery Plewe is a junior who transferred from Idaho State University. She grew up in Cortez and went to Montezuma-Cortez High School. Plewe and her parents have known Sena for a long time and Sena used to train Plewe.
Plewe was in Hungary for a two-year mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Her parents reached out to Sena before he became the coach of Fort Lewis for help with finding a new place for her to play golf. Then Sena became the head coach at FLC and while Plewe was in Hungary, she committed to being a Skyhawk.
“She's very strong both in the gym and on the golf course,” Sena said about Plewe. “So she really can bomb it out there. She's definitely going to be one of the longer kids out there playing. She's very levelheaded and extremely competitive but has a very good head on her shoulders. She seems to take bad days and not make them too much worse. She can capitalize on those good days and shoot some nice scores.”
Another addition to the Skyhawks women’s golf team is Plewe’s sister, Kiselya Salcedo, who is joining the team as an assistant coach. Salcedo played at Division I Weber State University and Sena described her as very energetic and intelligent with great golf smarts.
Another is freshman Peyton Gibby from Gilbert, Arizona. Gibby was a four-time state qualifier in high school and she reached out to Sena with interest in FLC. Gibby’s sister goes to FLC and she has FLC alumni in her family.
Sena liked how Gibby improved throughout her high school career and she impressed Sena with her character. Gibby is a very good putter and has a good short game from what Sena has seen. She’s not a super long hitter but she keeps it straight.
The other freshman on the team is Elina Beyer from Scottsdale, Arizona. Sena hasn’t had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with her and she signed with FLC before Sena became the head coach. She’s a hard worker who has room for improvement, according to Sena.
Sena’s excited to see all three of his newcomers compete with the returners once practice begins on Aug. 26. As of now he thinks Plewe and Gibby can compete to be in the top three or top five on the team.
Griswold has brought in two new players for the men’s golf team. Max Fisher is a freshman out of Phoenix and went to Horizon Honors Schools. He signed before Griswold became coach and he is excited to get to FLC and compete.
The other newcomer is senior Tyler Tyson who is originally from Arvada. He went to CSU Pueblo and was at Regis University last before Regis cut its golf program.
“He's had a great summer,” Griswold said about Tyson. “All the kids are playing in the Colorado amateur today. He actually took second and lost in the finals of the Colorado match amateur match play. He played against Division I athletes and beat them. We're excited about getting them in town and him competing.”
Griswold is excited for this group to be more competitive in the RMAC and he wants the Skyhawks to be a top 25 team in Division II in the future.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
