Lubar, Chatfield capture regional

LAKEWOOD — It was a day to remember for the Chatfield Chargers girls golf team at the 5A regional on May 13 at Fox Hollow Golf Course.

The team won its first regional championship, posting a team score of 252, 17 shots better than second-place Ralston Valley.

Also present at the regional were Dakota Ridge and Columbine, who would finish seventh and eighth, respectively, with scores of 293 and 299. While they did not qualify for state, both will send individuals who did.

“They did very well. We finished second in our league behind Ralston Valley and we knew when you have four golfers and you got a new course, you just don’t know what could happen,” Chatfield head coach Steve Schimpeler said.

Well, what happened was that three of Schimpeler’s golfers posted scores good enough to get to state. Sophomore Shannon Lubar posted a regional best score of 73. The 73 was four shots better than the second-place golfers and should set Lubar up for a solid showing at the state tournament on May 24 and 25 at Common Ground Golf Course in Aurora.

“It’s exciting, it’s an honor,” Lubar said. “I just played really consistently and it just paid off, all my hard work, so I’m happy about it. It didn’t feel like (a good round) at the time, but I look back and it was pretty good.”

Lubar will also have teammates Marina Beach and Rachel Reiling with her at state as they shot 88 and 91, respectively. Dakota Ridge’s Morgan Stitt and Courtney Rehl will represent the Eagles at state. Rehl led Dakota Ridge with an 88, while Stitt shot a 91.

“I did a lot better than I thought. I haven’t played in many tournaments this year, but it means a lot to qualify for state in my junior year,” Rehl said.

Scarlett Baseman rounded out the Eagles scoring with a 114.

For the Columbine Rebels, senior Alesha Estrada qualified for state by shooting an 88.

“It means everything to qualify because it’s my senior year, so it’s a back to back for me. I made some putts that I’ve never made from that far out before,” Estrada said.

Junior Kristin Pills came in second for Columbine with a 103 and sophomore Jenny Brownring posted a 108.

“Alesha Estrada played really well and the other girls, they struggled, but they turned in some good scores,” Rebel head coach Tim Capra said.