The Battle Mountain girls golf team took home two titles at the Vail Mountain School Invitational on Thursday at Eagle Ranch Golf Course. Makena Thayer shot a 79 to claim a three-stroke individual win and lead the Huskies to their first team victory of the season as well.

“This team effort is extremely exciting to see as we get ready for our final end-of-season push,” said Battle Mountain head coach Christopher Hoevel.

The Huskies have placed second as a team on four occasions this season, falling short to Aspen each time. On Thursday, Battle Mountain’s top three tallied a team total of 284, 16 clear of runner-up Rifle and 25 ahead of Eagle Valley in third.

“It was an incredible effort put forth by Lily Suman and Tatum Vickers, (who) were able to shoot a 102 and 103, respectively, to help us reel in our first team victory and our first win against our rival Aspen,” Hoevel said.

Suman posted three pars for a career-best eighth-place finish.

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“Lily played extremely tough mental golf during the tournament,” Hoevel said before adding that Vickers was “incredibly strong around the green.” On the second hole, Vickers salvaged a bogey by booming an 80-foot putt to within a yard of the cup before tapping in.

“This was telling of how her round was overall,” Hoevel continued. “She managed to find greatness out of tough spots. Dharma Bronsing and Callie Koellhoffer shot 105 and 132, respectively, to round out Battle Mountain’s scoring.

Eagle Valley sophomore Ella Webster notched a birdie on the par-3 15th hole en route to a 97. Her third-place individual finish propelled the Devils to a third-place team finish. Julia Borejszo (100) came in sixth and Sienna Marana (112) placed 21st to round out the scoring. Ingrid Soltvedt (121) and Ella Weisberger (129), placed 23rd and 28th, respectively, for Eagle Valley as well.

Aspen — playing without senior Brooke O’Sullivan, who shot an 85 at The Showcase Invitational in Boulder on April 29 — would finish in sixth place. Junior Lenna Persson led the Skiers, shooting an 82 to finish three strokes behind Thayer.

Hoevel said Thayer struggled with her putter at The Showcase, which was only open to top-15 finishers from the 2023 state meet. Thayer shot 88 to place 29th at the event.

“She made an effort to work on (her putter) in the the days leading up to (the VMS Invitational) with her father, Kenny Thayer, at home,” Hoevel said “The work paid off.”
After a double bogey on the 15th hole, the sophomore went par-par-bogey on what Hoevel described as “the hardest three holes of the course” to claim her third individual win of the year. Thayer was also victorious at the Gypsum Creek Invite on April 3 and the Black Canyon Invite on April 9 .

“It is this kind of solid play that gets us excited for Makena as we approach our regional tournament,” Hoevel said of his athlete’s resilience.

Both Eagle Valley and Battle Mountain will compete in the 4A Region 4 tournament on May 14 at Foothills Golf Club in Denver. The state championships are May 20-21 at the Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs.