East Boys Golf wins first team championship since 1986

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - At the start of the 2023 season, the East boys golf team hadn’t won a state championship in 37 years.

The T-Birds put an end to that streak in clinical fashion after they dominated the field at Powder Horn Golf Club. They held the team lead after posting a total of 319 in day one, and kicked into an even higher gear during the final round. East posted a dominant score of 306, and left with a 19 stroke margin of victory.

”We knew after the first day we didn’t play our best, and we knew with the lead--not playing our best-- we knew we were sitting in a good spot. All we had to do was just go out there and do what we do. What we did all year long. I mean we had so much confidence going into the tournament it was unreal,” junior Nash Coleman said.

Not a single player on the team posted a higher day two score than their opening round. East had three top ten finishers; junior Daniel Meyer won the individual championship with a score of 151, while Coleman and senior Tayten Zitek checked in at fourth and eighth respectively-- Coleman carded a 156 and Zitek a 158. Senior James Trask was not far behind either; he was a model of consistency scoring 80 in each round. Kael Lissman showed the greatest score improvement of anyone on the team between day one and day two; the senior was eight strokes better in his final 18.

The improvement during this year’s state tournament is a microcosm of East’s growth over time. In 2022, the T-Birds finished second to last overall.

”You know last year after thinking we could do it and almost getting dead last, you know it’s not a good feeling to end off of. But I’m glad that our four seniors were able to leave with a state [championship],” Meyer said.

“All six of us that were on the team just kept pushing each other, and each of us improved by probably two, three strokes each on a consistent basis. All of us were just pushing each other, so it was great to have that experience,” Zitek said.

Congratulations to the new 4A state champions on making East history.

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