Coming into Tuesday — the second day of the 6A state tournament at The Ridge Golf Course in West Valley City — the Davis Darts had their work cut out for them, trailing defending state champion Lone Peak by five strokes.
As the Darts began to approach their final four holes of the tournament, they found themselves still in a similar position as they trailed Corner Canyon by four strokes and second place Lone Peak by two strokes. When the bright hopes of a state championship seemed to be growing dimmer and dimmer, that’s when the Darts kicked things into gear.
“Those last four holes, our No. 1 and No. 2 (Castro and Hansen) just dug deep. Looking at the livestreamed leaderboard I was going crazy there at the end, and our kids just came through.” — Davis coach Lori Salvo
Bogeys and miscues from Corner Canyon and Lone Peak over the final few holes opened a window for the Darts and they capitalized. Davis’ lone senior Victoria Castro and junior Cheyenne Hansen each recorded birdies on the 17th hole to help the Darts snatch the lead at the end and secure their first state championship in six years.
Davis finished with a two day score of 648, just one stroke ahead of Corner Canyon and Lone Peak, who went to a sudden death playoff for the rights to second place, which Corner Canyon won.
Davis head coach Lori Salvo was praiseworthy of how her girls closed out the tournament.
“Those last four holes, our No. 1 and No. 2 (Castro and Hansen) just dug deep,” Salvo said. “Looking at the livestreamed leaderboard I was going crazy there at the end, and our kids just came through.”
Castro, who has played in Davis’ top four since her freshman season, said that she knew all throughout the final round that the tournament was going to come down to the wire between them, Corner Canyon and Lone Peak
“I knew when I was playing with (Corner Canyon’s) Savannah Romney that she was going to pull out a better score than before, and I knew I was going to have to stay steady with her,” Castro said. “I knew Corner Canyon was going to have their comeback, but we just had to see what they were going to shoot.”
Salvo accredited the late surge to the mental toughness and positivity of her team.
“That’s what it’s about in golf. It’s about what’s going on between their two little, cute ears. Because they’ve got the skills, they put the time in and they practice, but to have that was key,” Salvo said.
Herriman junior Millie Terrion maintained her Day 1 lead to take home the first place medalist finish with a score of 144, which was the only score in the tournament that wasn’t over par. Terrion was followed by Lone Peak senior Berlin Long and Westlake senior Cassidy Denning, who shot 145 and 152 respectivel
y.
For the Darts, Hansen had the lowest score with a score of 154 for 10-over par, which was good for fourth place individually in the tournament. Hansen was followed by Castro who shot a 157, Hannah Karras with a 167 and Quinn Shupe rounded out Davis’ top four with a score of 170.
Shupe shot a 39 on the back nine which played a huge role in Davis’ comeback.
Castro said that the depth of the Darts led to strong competition amongst teammates, which in turn helped them improve to the point where they were good enough to be crowned state champions.
“Our girls all try to beat each other, and when you all try to beat each other you start to get better and better and that helped us win this state championship today,” Castro said. “We challenge each other because we’re the best in our region and we are the best in the state, and that’s why we won.”
Davis had come close to winning in each of the past three tournaments, with two second place finishes and a third place finish.
Although finally finishing on top after coming up short the last few tournaments felt good, Castro said that it was the coaching she and her team received that makes the title so sweet.
“We have incredible coaches that will do anything for us,” Castro said. “They do so much and spend all this time just to make sure that we’re happy. They didn’t even care about the scores today, they cared about our well-being. That’s what made this state championship so special was our coaches.”
Salvo, who has coached high school sports for 40 years, was considering retirement from coaching golf after this season, but she says that the championship and the youth of Davis’ team have forced her and her assistant coach Cyndie Fox to potentially reconsider stepping down.
“Fox and I are thinking, ‘Oh my gosh now we’ve got to come back because we’ve only got one senior and we can come back with all these cute juniors,’” Salvo said with a smile. “It’s in the works. We’ve talked about it and just if I’m up for it. I’m getting tired in my old age.”
If this is the final season for Salvo, she said she couldn’t think of a better way for it to end.
“I couldn’t even believe it. I’ve been real emotional,” Salvo said, choked up by tears. “To end with a state championship is pretty cool, you know? Even if we do come back or not, we can say alright our work is there and it’s done. But we will see, we will see.”
Class 6A state tournament
At The Ridge Golf Course
Team scores
1. Davis, 648
2. Corner Canyon, 649
3. Lone Peak, 649
4. Herriman, 687
5. Pleasant Grove, 704
6. Weber, 706
7. American Fork, 724
8. Riverton, 731
9. West, 734
10. Jordan, 738
Individual results
144— Millie Terrion, Herriman
145— Berlin Long, Lone Peak
152— Cassidy Denning, Westlake
154— Cheyenne Hansen, Davis
157— Victoria Castro, Davis
159— Savannah Romney, Corner Canyon
160— Victoria Romney, Corner Canyon
163— Rachel Stewart, Lone Peak
164— Kaylie Mumford, Jordan; Jane Olson, Riverton; Carly Belliston, Lone Peak
165— Tia Dudley, Pleasant Grove; Ellie Whitehead, Corner Canyon