Strange things happened in the team race at the Class 5A boys golf state tournament last fall at Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins.

First-day co-leader Arapahoe had its top player, Steven Moore, withdraw after breaking his hand. He had shot 71 and was in second place.

Cherry Creek, which had tied Arapahoe on Day 1, with a 220, came apart with a second-day total that ballooned by 35 shots.

Regis Jesuit, the Continental League powerhouse, never got it done, shooting 249-238 and finishing second-to-last among 11 teams.

Douglas County, which improved toward the end of the season, played decently but shot 456, two short of champion Fairview.

"It's a funny thing," Douglas County coach Jeff Riley said. "Regis beat us all year long and they didn't do well at state. Two years ago, we won the Continental League, beat ThunderRidge by 57 strokes and they still won state."

Douglas County enters this season No. 1 in the rankings, as the Huskies return their entire varsity squad. No. 2 Fairview graduated one key contributor.

"I think this is going to be a better year," Douglas County senior Derek Fribbs said. "Everybody (at DC is) playing well, so we have a good chance."

Fribbs placed 18th at state last year with a 36-hole total of 155. Other contenders for the Huskies include Cody Kent, fourth at state, with 147; Bryan Fickle, 14th, with 154; and Taylor Wild, who totaled 178.

Kent, a junior, went national to expand his golf game, playing in a number of tournaments across the country.

"I feel I traveled every week this summer," he said late last month. "This was my first time playing in a lot of (American Junior Golf Association) tournaments."

Some of the travel paid off, as Kent shot 139 to win a qualifier for the U.S. Junior Amateur tourney. And he took second at an AJGA tournament in Iowa with a three-day total of 217.

"I just kept my consistency and changed my mental approach and got my head figured out this summer," Kent said. "I was really focusing on letting shots go and not worrying about them. In the past, I'd go bogey, bogey, bogey after hitting one bad shot."

Fribbs also has experienced highs and lows. He was state runner-up as a sophomore but had a hard time last season at Collindale.

"He had a rough first day," Riley recalled. "After seven or eight holes, he was 9 over. The second day, he had a 75. He kind of went into a slump last year and finally came out of it, but too late."

Fribbs also worked hard on his game and had an even-par 71, good for fifth place, at a recent tournament at the tough Denver Country Club.

Douglas County also has Fickle, who shot under 78 at every tournament but one last season, and Wild, who, last August, fired a 67 in his second high school tournament.

"Listening to coach Riley talk about it, the first goal is to get through regionals and then to win state," Kent said. "We messed up the last couple of years, so we'll have to get it done this year."