GRAND JUNCTION – All too often in golf, it’s a Tiger that dominates the final round of a big tournament. The final round of the Class 4A girls golf state tournament was no exception. A Tiger cub distanced herself from the pack and a streak of Tigers that captured team gold and potentially ignited a dynasty.
 
Freshman Hadley Ashton followed up her low round of the day from Wednesday at Tiara Rado Golf Course with a 2-over-par 73 to clear the field by four shots to win the individual title. Her round, along with solid rounds from sophomore Logan Hale and sophomore Kait Park gave Erie a 14-stroke win which resulted in their first team title in program history.
 
“It’s hard to describe because you grind so hard and put so much time into the program that it becomes emotional,” coach Brandon Bird said. “I’m lucky because these girls are the best and I’m just kind of along for the ride.”
 
What a ride it was. 
 
Knowing that she had better scoring chances on the back nine, Ashton played the front with the simple goal of shooting even par. She made her lone bogey on that side on the par-3 third, a hole that claimed many victims because of a tricky left side pin placement, and recovered with a birdie on No. 7. 
 
“I wasn’t trying to get too aggressive and get too down,” Ashton said. “I was saving a bunch of pars which boosted my confidence going into the back nine.”
 
Then she started scoring. She made birdies on 10 and 12 before a bad three-putt double-bogey on 13. She got back under par for the round with birdie on 15 before giving it back on 16. But by that time, she was seven shots clear of Windsor’s Macy Kleve, who sat in second place at the time.
 
By the time she got to 18, a dry tee shot all but guaranteed the individual championship. But she still tried to make the hole as interesting as possible. With adrenaline flowing, her second shot sailed long of the green, giving her a downhill lie where she was shortsighted to the pin.
 
“I’ve been in similar situations,” she said. “But playing for something else, playing for a team, just made me so nervous. I just wanted to par the hole and get it over with. That didn’t happen, but that’s okay.”
 
By the time the ball found the bottom of the cup, she had made a triple-bogey, but still won the tournament by four strokes. She’s the first freshman to win a state title since 2018 when Eaglecrest’s Emma Bryant won the 5A tournament. But she looks back a little longer to the player she wants to match – and exceed – in the next three years. One of her best friends is Holy Family alum Hailey Schalk.
 
Schalk won state as a freshman in 2017 and likely would have won four titles if it hadn’t been for the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
“That’s one of my biggest inspirations for this tournament,” Ashton said. “I knew she couldn’t do it and she wants me to do it. I feel really happy about it. I’m going to text her right after this.”
 
This could be the start of a dynasty for Erie as the entire team will return next season. And what helps is that both Ashton and Hale are capable of finding their way to the top of the state championship leaderboard on any given weekend.
 
Hale was in the mix for the 3A title last year and was hovering at the top of the leaderboard all week at Tiara Rado. She certainly felt a difference this year as she also found herself playing for the team.
 
“With the whole team here, parents, friends, sisters, family, my coach’s family, it was just a different kind of support,” Hale said. “I wasn’t just playing for me. I was playing for my principal, for my teachers. Really just for all of Erie.”
 
Next year will be another battle as seven of the top 10 finishers returns. Ashton and Hale will be joined by Riverdale Ridge’s Alex Remaklus (T5), Discovery Canyon’s Emily Cheng (T5), Cheyenne Mountain’s Ava Schroeder (T7), Mullen’s Kaitlin Zingler (9) and Kleve (10).
 
Mullen finished as the team runner-up and will return three of its four players next season, giving them a good shot at overcoming Erie.
 
But a lot of times, when it comes to golf championships, successfully hunting Tigers is a rare accomplishment.  

Pos	Team	R1	R2	Total
1	Erie	237	243	480
2	Mullen	255	239	494
3	Discovery Canyon	255	242	497
4	Windsor	248	252	500
5	Niwot	280	253	533
6	Cheyenne Mountain	287	272	559
7	Golden	281	284	565
8	Durango	286	282	568
9	Riverdale Ridge	288	285	573
10	The Classical Academy	299	298	597
11	Holy Family	294	310	604
12	Dakota Ridge	326	302	628

   

Pos	Team	Player	R1	R2	Total
1	Erie	Hadley Ashton	74	73	147
2	Mullen	Sofia  Choi	79	72	151
3	Eagle Valley	Kylee Hughes	77	77	154
3	Mead	Timbre  Shehee	78	76	154
5	Riverdale Ridge	Alex Remaklus	83	72	155
5	Discovery Canyon	Emily Cheng	79	76	155
7	Cheyenne Mountain	Ava Schroeder	79	77	156
7	Erie	Logan Hale	76	80	156
9	Mullen	Kaitlin Zingler	81	76	157
10	Windsor	Macy Kleve	75	83	158
11	Niwot	Alena Kasanicky	85	74	159
12	Windsor	Gabrielle Krebs	83	79	162
13	Discovery Canyon	Lauren Jaworowski	86	78	164
14	Golden	Jessica Morrissey	81	92	173
15	Niwot	Sydney  Rothstein	89	86	175
16	Steamboat Springs	Kaitlyn Grommeck	92	84	176
17	Erie	Kait Park	87	90	177
17	Fort Morgan	Lexys Siebrands	94	83	177
19	Discovery Canyon	Anna Mettler	90	88	178
20	Air Academy	Kya Shatzer	88	91	179
21	Windsor	Paige Bretz	90	92	182
22	Windsor	Aubree Heinsma	93	90	183
23	Centaurus	Julia Love	89	95	184
23	Golden	Mollie Todd	96	88	184
25	Northfield	Makaela Swanson	95	90	185
26	Mullen	sammy yates	95	91	186
27	Canon City	Abrianna Lippis	87	100	187
27	Mesa Ridge	Sarah Bentley	97	90	187
29	Longmont	JuliAnne Herrmann	92	96	188
29	Thornton	Melody  Sandoval	95	93	188
29	Durango	Zayda Mestas	95	93	188
32	Durango	Natasha Walcott	95	94	189
33	Battle Mountain	Catherine Dawsey	96	94	190
33	Discovery Canyon	Mena Song-Lew	92	98	190
35	Durango	Ellie White	96	95	191
36	Holy Family	Ansley Schnelle	92	100	192
36	Palmer	Piper Garrett	98	94	192
38	The Classical Academy	Trinity  Anderson	96	97	193
39	Montrose	Grace DeJulio	97	97	194
39	Conifer	McKenzie Dolph	102	92	194
41	Dakota Ridge	Bella Kith	101	94	195
41	The Classical Academy	Madeline Fontana	101	94	195
43	Eagle Valley	Anna Gill	96	100	196
44	Montrose	Kendyll  Bernatis	102	95	197
45	Denver South	Gillian Volz	100	98	198
45	Mullen	Riley Sullivan	100	98	198
47	Cheyenne Mountain	Karsyn Hulen	107	93	200
47	Niwot	Kate Jones	107	93	200
47	Pueblo Central	Sofia Contreras	102	98	200
50	George Washington	Julia Maes Farone	101	102	203
50	George Washington	Natalie Brammer	109	94	203
52	Holy Family	Finley Holmes	99	106	205
52	Cheyenne Mountain	Isabel Verruso	103	102	205
54	Mead	Jodean Amen	96	111	207
55	Pueblo West	Gianna Nardini	112	96	208
55	Holy Family	Liesel Heitz	104	104	208
55	Niwot	Mina O’Dell	106	102	208
55	Riverdale Ridge	Natali Solis-Franco	102	106	208
55	Golden	Olivia Dorland	104	104	208
60	The Classical Academy	Morgan  Mullins	102	107	209
61	Riverdale Ridge	Alexis Yono	103	107	210
62	Holy Family	Fiona Holmes	103	109	212
63	Northfield	Elaina Phiel	112	101	213
63	Cheyenne Mountain	McKenna  Martin	105	108	213
63	Erie	Sydney O’Connor	100	113	213
66	Dakota Ridge	Melissa Garis	109	105	214
66	Frederick	Zoe Millard	105	109	214
68	Silver Creek	Brielle Hickman	108	109	217
69	Battle Mountain	Keely Sego	109	109	218
69	Pomona	Riley Kinsella	104	114	218
71	Dakota Ridge	Avery Wagner	116	103	219
72	Palisade	Ally Seriani	109	113	222
73	Coronado	Sofia Nesvold	108	115	223
74	Falcon	Ashlyn Koenke	117	107	224
75	Palmer Ridge	Hannah Hermann	115	112	227
76	Pueblo County	Alexis Roblek	124	109	233
76	Frederick	Makayla Miller	110	123	233
78	Pueblo East	Gracie Soto	114	123	237
79	Dakota Ridge	Cadence  Stubblefield	120	119	239
80	Ponderosa	Lexi Goettling	111	133	244
80	Pueblo County	Samantha Hansen	117	127	244
82	Air Academy	Liv Carr	122	124	246
83	Pueblo West	Kylie Sergejev	143	124	267
84	Roosevelt	Abbie Winterbottom	138	144	282