Standout golfer at Valor Christian signs with University of Montana

BY JOHN RENFROW JRENFROW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

For senior Elle Higgins, the grass is always greener when she’s on the fairway. It has treated her well at Valor Christian High School and now provides a unique opportunity to shine in college. Last month, she narrowed down her options, and chose the University of Montana as her new home.

Now, she re ects on her past and looks to her future at once. It’s a mixed bag of emotions when beginning a new chapter, but she’s more excited about the challenge than anything.

“I’m really excited to take it to the next level because I want to take golf as far as I can, even after college,” Higgins said. “I want to try to go on (pro) tour, if I can. So I’m excited to get more competition and more experience out there. I love Valor, and the golf program has been amazing. It’s sad to leave them.”

It’s easy to understand not wanting to let go of Valor Christian golf. For one, the Highlands Ranch-based program continues to see consistent success. It won back-to-back 5A Jeffco League Championships in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, four Eagles were named rstteam, all-conference golfers, including Higgins. Valor Christian enjoyed the largest margin of victory ever with 179 strokes in a shortened 2022 season.

Now, Higgins is sad to leave teammates, especially her sister, Brenna, (a current sophomore and all-conference golfer in her own right). e duo enjoyed two years of memorymaking and record-breaking golf on the green, but now that Higgins is graduating, she is looking to Brenna to lead the team. No one is more prepared or capable, she said, though a sibling rivalry burns deep.

“Obviously, playing with my sister on the same team is a blessing because we’re both pretty good. So, we drive each other’s competitive nature,” she said. “We also like to go against each other (through individual competitions).”

But who’s the better golfer?

“Well…,” Higgins said, laughing. “If you ask me that, I would say me. If you ask her that, she would say her. But I say that I’m handing [the torch] o to her.”

Growing up, the sisters would golf with their father, but Higgins said she never envisioned golf taking her so far. In fact, she said she never even took the sport seriously until her sophomore year. She was a soccer player, track runner, and mogul skier until she tore her ACL and had to rethink her options. Now she’s a Division I golfer, ready to win for the Grizzlies in Montana.

“It was pretty much everything I wanted: a school not too big, but also not small. It had a lot of the same things I grew up doing,” Higgins said. “It’s close to skiing and other outdoor stu , and everyone there had a really chill attitude, which is how I am. I loved the team. It was my favorite one out of all the [colleges] I talked to before. I just loved everything about it. I’m still speechless, really. I just never thought it would come to this point, but I’m glad it has.”

According to the NCAA, only about 2.8% of women playing high school golf go on to play at the Division I level.

Higgins is going to miss Valor’s coaches and guidance during tournaments, the practices with teammates, and lifting trophies. But she anticipates success at the next level with room for improvement, like focusing on her bunker play. Head Coach Justen Byler said Higgins is the epitome of a Valor Christian student athlete, especially considering injuries and COVID-19 derailed her rst two seasons. dition to baseball, he was the head girls’ volleyball coach for 20 years. Wise also was a football and basketball referee. He was an adviser and developer of coaches and had a widespread impact on baseball in Colorado. roughout his years he was involved with three semi-pro teams, the Englewood Redbirds, e Arvada Dons and the Littleton Pioneers.

“Elle is one of those rare athletes that combines a true competitive spirit with the ability to grow in terms of her leadership,” Byler said. “And it’s a testimony to her determination, her grit, her competitive spirit, but also her humility to be able to understand what it was going to take to get back to the type of level that would allow her to play at the college level.” She did it the hard way, battling adversity and making the necessary sacri ces, he said. Now, it’s paid o .

With Je co League Tournaments coming up on May 3, 9, and 11, Higgins has another month or so to stamp more to her legacy at Valor. But the future’s calling, and Higgins is eager to answer the bell and continue to do what she’s done since she committed to golf: win.

Can’t get enough prep sports? Subscribe to theSportsland newsletter today for a free, weekly rundown of the best in the area.

Wise is a two-time inductee to the University of Northern Colorado Hall of Fame. Once as a player individually and then as part of the 1949 baseball team. He is also a member of the Colorado Coaches Hall of Fame.

“One time I mentioned to him, I said, ‘Harry, I want to get you in the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame,’” Summers said. “And he said, ‘Well, really the [Colorado] Coaches Hall of Fame means the most to me.’”

In the 1990s, Wise, known for his meticulously-groomed baseball eld, continued to work on the baseball and softball elds for the Englewood Recreation Department. During this time, he also served as a scout for the Yakama Hawks.

As much as Wise is known for his commitment to baseball and sports, he was a dedicated family man. He was married to his college sweetheart Lois for over 60 years. ey had three children: Deborah, Mike and Lori, and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“He de nitely dedicated his life to not only baseball, but the Englewood community. He was the epitome of a player’s coach and none of us even knew his baseball history,” Jones said. “What he accomplished, personally, he never shared any of that. I think visiting him as he aged, you could just see his commitment to family. His wife, Lois, had passed, and that’s all he wanted to talk about at that point in time.”

Wise is currently a nominee for a lifetime award from the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. As a longstanding, but humble, titan in the Englewood sports arena, he stands tall, even among mountain views that decorate the Front Range where he raised a family and followed his passion.

“In a nomination for the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, I made the comment, ‘Everyone who knew Harry Wise, has a Harry Wise story,’” Summers said. “I recall a former student saying he told them his initials ‘HG’ stood for ‘Highly Gifted.’ at was certainly true, along with being highly unique and leaving his mark on a game and the lives of many.”

On May 6, the community will celebrate Wise and Englewood baseball around a baseball diamond. First pitch of the doubleheader is at 10 a.m.Wise’s son, Michael, expressed how grateful he is for the celebration, and said it is well-deserved for his father. “It’s just who he was. He helped anybody. It’s nice that they appreciate that and remember him for that,” Michael Wise said. “I’m de nitely grateful, but I really do feel like he deserves to be honored that way.”