BROOMFIELD >> Nearly a year after finishing as team runner-up at the Class 4A state tournament, it seems Holy Family girls golf isn’t yet done bringing the heat.

On a bright and sunny Wednesday afternoon on Broadlands Golf Course, the Tigers dominated in the fourth Granite Peaks League match, stringing together 322 collective strokes to beat out second-place Monarch, which ended its day with a cumulative 361.

The Tigers placed all six of their golfers in the top 10, led by junior Peyton Mraz (first, 78) and followed by sophomore Acadia Curtis (third, 79), junior Steffi Heitz (sixth, 82), senior Finley Holmes (seventh, 83), senior Fiona Holmes (eighth, 84) and sophomore Danikka Nielsen (10th, 87).

That’s been the theme of the entire season for Holy Family, who was ranked No. 4 in Class 3A according to its collective scoring average at 272 strokes per round. Mullen, so far, has taken the lead in the classification with 245 strokes on average.

It’s presented as a bit of a good problem, as the Tigers still don’t know who their top four representatives will be at regionals next month.

“On any given day, I think any of them can finish one or six and anywhere in between,” head coach Heikke Nielsen said. “It makes it really challenging from a player standpoint, because you have to really stay present and in the moment with each shot to shot, hole to hole, tournament to tournament. Over nine tournaments, they have to establish themselves in that top three, and then the fourth seed will be determined in those last two tournaments in a playoff if necessary.”

Wednesday was Mraz’ day to rocket to the top of the leaderboard, and she did so by shooting 6-over par alongside Legacy’s Chloe Hartojo, who tied her for medalist honors. Mraz said she’s been relying on her long game to carry her forward, and that the pressure of competing with such a strong team has only helped her improve her own game.

The course wasn’t forgiving.

“It definitely is (a difficult course),” she said. “It depends on where you miss — like if you miss in certain places, it’ll just fall right off the green. There’s a lot of water in play as well, so you got to be very selective on where you hit your shots.”

Fresh in the spotlight

Holy Family may have stolen the show in the team race on Wednesday, but Hartojo turned plenty of heads herself. Although she’s new to the high school game, Hartojo has been making plenty of appearances on the U.S. Kids Golf and Colorado PGA Juniors circuits.

So far, she says she’s liking the team-centric high school game but will look to improve upon her putting after three lip-outs at the Broadlands.

“Practicing together and talking about our bad shots together, I think that makes it a lot more fun and makes me more motivated to go out to the range and practice, too,” Hartojo said. “I think usually, it’s my irons that I am pretty good at. I’m not the longest hitter, so usually I can get my irons onto the green pretty well and I still end up in around the same place as longer hitters.”

She hopes to stay in the 70s for regionals as she attempts to qualify for her first state tournament.

Continuing her rise

Niwot’s Wendy Cheruiyot may only be a sophomore, but by the time everything was set and done at the Broadlands, she solidified herself as the fifth-best player in attendance. Her score of 81, at 9-over par, was just a continuation of all of the hard work she’s put in since her debut season with the Cougars.

Once averaging scores in the 90s, she’s now chasing marks nearly 20 strokes lower, and she showcased her maturity on the greens by overcoming a rough first nine holes with her putting and chipping.

“There’s a lot of bunkers, there’s a lot of water,” she said. “That is a challenge for me, but it kind of put me to the test to see how my bunker shots are or how I could recover from going into the water.”

She passed the test with flying colors and hopes to drop into the 70s by the time regionals roll around. She spent much of the offseason taking lessons to improve her putting and her driver, and has been pleased with the results so far.