The Fort Lewis College men’s golf team got its season off to a good start after the Skyhawks took seventh out of 13 teams at the Sam Proal Invitational Tuesday in Pueblo, while the women’s team took fifth at the Maverick Invitational in Grand Junction.
Fort Lewis finished 29-over-par 893 after three rounds. New Mexico Junior College won the event with a total of 865, four strokes lower than Colorado State University-Pueblo and Colorado School of Mines, as both teams shot an 869 and tied for second.
Junior Blake Kuzava was the highest finisher for the men, as he finished with a three-round total of 3-over-par after he shot a 219 and tied for 13th. Darren Edwards took 36th with a 10-over 226, while Brendan Boyle and Tyler Blohm tied for 37th and finished one stroke behind Edwards with an 11-over 227.
“The first round, they played like champions, but tired out a bit in the second after 36 holes on Monday,” said FLC head coach Jim Foltz. “Today, they were extremely focused on getting the job done, and they were great today. For a seventh-place finish, I’m super pleased.”
The Skyhawks will tee off next at the High Country Shootout in Ruidoso, New Mexico, on Sunday.
The Fort Lewis women finished fifth out of six teams with a 115-over 683 at Tiara Rado Golf Course.
Senior Summer Vigil paced FLC with a 16th-place finish after she shot 22-over 164. Freshman Brooke Sturtevant was 17th after she shot a 23-over, while Emilia Manntz was 19th with a 26-over. Freshman Madalen Meier of Durango shot a 44-over 186 and tied for 26th.
“Brooke has a great attitude about golf and is trying to break into the top 10, and she doesn’t give up,” Foltz said. “Meanwhile, Summer has been hitting the ball well, and I think she’ll continue to push us forward.”
The Skyhawks will compete at the Western New Mexico Women’s shootout on Monday.
Fort Lewis announced that the interim head coach tag on Brandon Crosby was lifted, and he was officially named the head football coach on Tuesday, per a release.
Crosby spent the 2018 season as the offensive coordinator and took over the program in January. The Skyhawks are 1-1 on the year heading into Saturday’s tilt against Chadron State College. Kickoff is at noon at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.
The Fort Lewis College men’s cross-country program received national recognition after the Skyhawks moved up to No. 8 in the Division II South-Central Region rankings in the first USA Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.
FLC was previously unranked but had a strong showing at the University of California Riverside Invitational last weekend in which the men took 13th, and beat a handful of Division I teams in the process.
The top four schools in the poll were from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Association, while the conference had seven teams that were featured in the top 10.
Fort Lewis College men’s soccer player Peter Byrne was named the RMAC men’s soccer goalkeeper of the week.
The redshirt sophomore goalkeeper recorded a clean sheet in Sunday’s 0-0 draw against St. Mary’s University. Byrne has two clean sheets on the year.
The Skyhawks will travel to Grand Junction to face Colorado Mesa University at 7 p.m. Friday.
bploen@durangoherald.com
