One Day in May, Two State Championships for CA Girls

Many expected a repeat for No. 1-seeded Colorado Academy, defending champions in the Class 3A Girls Soccer State Championship contest on May 20, 2025. And that’s just what happened: The team claimed the State Title for a second year in a row—the Mustangs’ seventh overall—in a commanding 3-1 victory over the Timnath High School Cubs at Switchbacks Weidner Field in Colorado Springs, where last year CA defeated Jefferson High School for the title by the exact same score.

 

But what wasn’t in the forecast was another 2025 State Championship for CA the very same day: For the first time in six years, CA’s Girls Golf squad won their own Class 2A Title in competition at Pueblo Country Club, on the strength of performances by State Individual Champion Sophia Lee, a Ninth Grader who turned in a near-perfect 36 holes at two over par, and teammates Senior Avery Lent (+35), Sophomore Jordan Slutzky (+38), and Sophomore Siena Welsh (+105). This win, too, was the seventh State Championship for the Mustangs.

 

The cherry on top of the day of CA wins was Slutzky’s remarkable play in both Championship contests. After finishing up her two rounds of golf with a score of 182, the Sophomore made the hour’s trip to Weidner Field to help lead the Mustangs to victory as a starting forward.

According to CA Athletic Director Jon Hill, Slutzky’s Varsity two-sport season is rare enough; being part of two Championships on the same day is likely unprecedented in Colorado high school athletics, he surmises.

Notes Assistant Athletic Director Hunter Worthley, “It takes a special school to encourage its student-athletes to go after anything and everything they want to be a part of. Sure, sometimes their plates get a little full; but sometimes it works out like it did yesterday.”

Longtime P.E. teacher and Coach Bob Ulrich, who’s remained integral to CA’s Athletic Department despite his attempted retirement in 2023, adds, “Our girls programs have always been strong—incredible kids, a healthy culture, a play-to-win mentality. But it’s also due to our coaching. Others might have said, ‘No, I don’t want to share one of my Varsity players between two sports,’ but both Sean Stedeford (Girls Soccer) and Beth Folsom (Girls Golf) agreed, ‘It might be challenging, but we’ll make it work.’”

For these two CA coaches, “making it work” applies to more than just one student-athlete’s competitive ambition. 

Folsom, who has been a physical education instructor and coach at CA since 1999 and has been named the Metro League’s Coach of the Year multiple times, has been at the helm for all of Girls Golf’s seven Championships, a tally which began the year after she took over coaching duties. What she enjoys most about the program at CA, she says, is “the fact that everyone feels welcome—those who are just learning the game, and those who have significant tournament experience. We love helping kids learn the sport and develop as players.”

“I would hate for somebody to leave here as a Senior and be the best they’re ever going to be,” she continues. “In golf, it takes a lot longer than that. And in a school like ours, it takes more than just great players to make a program successful: It takes athletes who are willing to share their knowledge with the less experienced to build the next generation.”

 

Named by United Soccer Coaches as the 2024 Girls Independent School National Coach of the Year, Stedeford agrees, “It’s never about this one team at this one moment. It’s about contributing to something that’s bigger than yourself. The stars the girls wear on their jersey sleeves? They represent playing our game, focusing on getting better, and building a legacy.”

Playing their game

But for this one team, repeating as Girls Soccer State Champions is definitely one moment that will be remembered. Senior Loghan Meisner, who was responsible for the first two of the Mustangs’ three goals, attests, “Going out with a bang, with this group of girls, is so great.”

 

The Championship match began with CA indeed “playing their game,” as Stedeford notes. The girls largely controlled the field against Timnath, with the precise ball movement, patience, careful spacing, and coordinated attacking that is typical of the Mustangs. They relentlessly pressured Timnath’s defenses throughout the first half, and 20 minutes in, a shot on goal by Meisner finally found the back of the net after an assisting pass from Junior standout Lyla Kocher. It was Meisner’s 11th goal on the season and, amazingly, Kocher’s 21st assist.

CA wrapped up the first half with just that one goal on a total of seven shots, a testament to their opponents’ solid defending and goalkeeping. As the second half began, it looked as if the Mustangs’ relentless pressure at Timnath’s end might continue, but the Cubs were able to strike first with an equalizing goal. The 1-1 tie didn’t last long: The threat of a close game spurred Meisner to put a second shot in the opposing net just 16 seconds after Timnath’s goal, assisted again by Kocher. The season’s top scorer with 28, Kocher followed soon after with her own 25-yard goal, sealing CA’s 3-1 win.

Meisner was “a catalyst for everything that we were doing down her side of the field,” says Stedeford. With a tremendous Senior season to her credit, he adds, Meisner is just one example of the growth and maturity this team has demonstrated at every level.

Another key presence on the front line, according to Stedeford, was Junior Bella Torres, whose understated play belied her consistent ability to do “the dirty work—breaking tackles, moving back to defend when necessary. We would have looked very different this year without Bella on the line.”

For their part, the girls speak of a rock-solid team bond as the winning factor two years in a row. Explains Senior Anna Baumbusch, a Varsity player since Ninth Grade, “Playing together for all these years, we’ve gotten so close as a team. That bond was really strong last year, but I think it’s been even stronger this season—we all just love each other so much.” Some important Senior contributors to last year’s Championship run may have graduated last year, she says, but “I think we knew that we were still capable of doing it again. Our motto this year was ‘Fight for it,’ and I feel like we were all committed to the idea that we could find our own way to win.”

Adds fellow Senior Meg Stanitski, “Even when we were feeling the pressure after Timnath’s goal, we trusted each other so much that we knew we could reset and relieve the pressure. A lot of Coach Stedeford’s advice to us is to play our own game, and we’ve been really intentional about that.”

The culture of trust and focus starts in Ninth Grade, explains Meisner. “You come into the Athletic Center for the first time, and you see those Championship trophies and banners hanging up. You immediately know that every year you’re in contention for the State Title. We all have the same shared goal from the very beginning.”

“It’s kind of a gift that we have,” notes Baumbusch. “It makes it hard to think about leaving; we as Seniors are genuinely a little sad to move on.”

Focusing on the bigger goal

For Senior Golf team leader Avery Lent, as well, moving on after her final season as a Mustang offers a chance to look back with gratitude.

 

“Having an incredible group of women to compete with here at CA has really helped my game,” she says. “And the best part of our program is that it’s approachable: We have all different skill levels, and this year especially I’ve seen so many of our younger players really develop a love for the game and want to keep getting better.”

Of course, having young stars such as Lee is also a huge bonus for the Mustangs. According to Folsom, “Sophia is so talented, with amazing tournament experience already. We’re lucky to have athletes like her and Avery who are so willing to share what they know with our developing players. That builds a bond.”

 

Says Lee, “I’m so grateful for the individual title, but even more for the team championship, because we have such a great group of girls. It honestly makes me sad that Avery will not be here next year, but it was really special this year to win with her and the team. It’s nice to send her out with a trophy.”

Lent, who will play golf next for Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., observes, “Golf is sometimes overlooked at this level; it’s not something spectators can easily see on campus. So not everyone understands how challenging and rewarding the game can be. A 400-yard drive counts the same as a two-inch putt; it’s different from any other sport.”

“When you’re playing tournament golf,” Lent continues, “you might be out there for five or six hours, give or take. You’re not playing alongside your teammates, and your only spectators might be your parents. It’s a long time to maintain focus through the ebbs and flows of the game. A lot of what I talk about with the girls is developing the ability to grind through it. You may feel isolated out on the course, but quitting isn’t an option. What you do in those five or six hours is what contributes to the team win. You have to constantly remind yourself of the bigger goal and fight as hard as you can.”

In the same way, Folsom and Stedeford and their fellow CA coaches are always mindful that a given year’s win isn’t necessarily the big goal. “As a coaching staff, we’re excited about having younger players taking the field. Teams change; outcomes may be different. But what remains the same is playing for those stars on our sleeve. Regardless of whether we’re a State Title contender or not, every season our job is to make them feel like they are.”