Every youngster has a set of blocks.
Place one on top of the other. Etc., etc., etc.
See how high things can go.
Eisenhower girls’ golf coach Jerry Griesbeck and his players are a little old to be playing with blocks.
Still, they can certainly grasp the concept.
The Eagles finished second to Lutheran North at the 2017 county meet. There is only one block left to go, right?
The county meet will be held at Cherry Creek Wednesday. It will be a shotgun start with a tee time of 9 a.m.
Eisenhower returns reigning county champion Ariel Chang. As a freshman at the 2017 county meet, she shot a 69 at Cherry Creek. That was three under par on the 4,924-yard course.
Eisenhower qualified for the 2017 Division 1 state meet, the first time in school history that a girls’ golf team has qualified.
The Eagles went on to finish 13th on the course at Grand Valley State University.
“As a group, they all enjoyed last year’s success, they really did,” said Griesbeck. “We tied (for second) in regionals and qualified as a team to go to states. It is the first time we’ve ever gone as a team. We’ve had individuals go a couple of times, but never before as a team.
“It was a mammoth accomplishment. Even better, they were all a determined group of girls. They all liked one another and they all had a lot of fun together,” continued Griesbeck.
That fun continued at Grand Valley. The five players stayed together in a hotel’s hospitality suite.
“They enjoyed it a lot. We all went out to dinner together. The players all sat at one table, while the coaches and parents sat at another,” said the Eisenhower coach.
Here is where the block analogy comes in again. Three of the five players who went to states are back. Those players are Chang, junior Allison Gottschall and Alexis Sharplin, a sophomore.
Chang finished sixth at the 2017 state meet.
Other key players include senior Lindsay Valentine, junior Hannah Dunn and Nicole Sands, another senior.
This year’s captains are Valentine and Sands.
“Nicole and I want to follow up what our captains from last year, Isabel (Wallace) and Emma (Shewall), did. They did an amazing job,” said Valentine. “They had a bunch of team-bonding activities. They had parties at their houses. They scheduled a lot of things like team dinners. All of that made us much closer.
“My first year on the team as a sophomore, I didn’t even really know who the captains were. Emma and Isabel were leaders. They both kind of cheered me on and helped me get better by pushing me,” she continued.
Second at the county meet. One more block equals first place. It won’t be easy. The defending champions will be back. Dakota also has a strong team.
Thirteenth at the Division 1 state meet. If Eisenhower qualifies again, who knows how many blocks the Eagles can possibly pile on there?
Maybe blocks aren’t just for kids.
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