SALT LAKE CITY— With prep sports tournaments in full swing, members of all three Cache Valley high school tennis teams gathered at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City Friday and Saturday with the same goal in mind – to win a state title.

But the Grizzlies, Mustangs and Bobcats all ran into the same problems as Timpview overcame mother nature and a tough field of competitors to sweep the tournament, winning all five individual titles on its way to the overall team title.

“Everybody eventually ran against Timpview in the state finals, and Timpview’s just too strong for everybody,” Logan head coach Dave Reynolds said. “Give them their credit. They came through and played well.”

Members of the Logan squad saw the most success over the weekend, but the Grizzlies were unable to stop Timpview from becoming the first team in history to sweep the 4A tournament. The Grizzlies No. 1 doubles team of Hunter Ballam and Jordan Larsen were the lone Cache Valley representatives in any of the five finals.

But the duo hit a wall in the championship match against Timpview’s Brett Jaynes and Rendell Burghart, suffering a 6-4, 6-1 defeat. Ballam and Larsen started strong, as each team held serve through the first four games before Timpview sparked and ran away with the second set.

“They just outplayed us,” Larsen said. “We didn’t play terrible, they just came out, smashed, and played better than we did. A couple missed volleys and shots by us, they took advantage of our mistakes. Our goal was a state championship and we fell short, but we’ll be back next year.”

Jaynes and Burghart also eliminated Sky View’s No. 1 doubles team of Matt Bladen and Nathan Duncan in the second round in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, while Mountain Crest’s Ben Elgan and Luke Dance were also ousted in the second round.

At the No. 2 doubles position, Logan’s Dustin Hicken and Andrew Hopkins were the only valley team to make it out of the first round, and had Timpview’s Josh Harrison and Jacob Jensen by the ropes in the second round before falling to the eventual champions.

Logan’s duo won the first set 6-2 and led 5-2 in the second set before Harrison and Jenson came storming back, winning five straight games for a 7-5 victory. The Timpview duo then went on to take the third set 6-4 on their way to winning the title two rounds later.

“We should have stopped Timpview in our second doubles at least,” Reynolds said. “We had that and didn’t do it, but we’ve had a great season. These kids have worked hard, haven’t sluffed off. Sometimes you get to that goal, sometimes you don’t.”

Logan players lost to the eventual champion in four of the five brackets – both doubles teams as well as No. 1 singles player Andrew Hugie and No. 2 singles player Jake Stevenson, who each lost in the second round.

Other noteable valley performances included Mountain Crest’s Mitchell John and Sky View’s Austin Jeppson – both in the No. 2 singles bracket. Both survived the first day of competition with first and second round victories before falling on Saturday in the quarterfinals, with Jeppson losing to eventual title winner Matthew Pearce of Timpview.

“Chemistry,” Timpview head coach Rob Sperry said of this year’s history making Timpview squad. “They did everything they were asked. They’re all best buddies on and off the court and the chemistry came together. When that happens that’s something special that can’t be duplicated.”

Story by Curtis Lundstrom
Photos by Timothy R. Olsen

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curtislundstrom@gmail.com 

Cottonwood Heights— Appearing in its first ever state title game, the Mountain Crest lacrosse team showed no championship jitters as the Mustangs defeated three-time title winner Waterford 11-10 Saturday at Brighton High School.

“We couldn’t expect anything more,” MC head coach Cody McKee said. “The jitters usually set in about five minutes before we get started, the whistle blows and they go away in a hurry and it’s game on. The kids handled it pretty well. I didn’t notice any. I’m sure there were some there but they played through them.”

The Ravens – who haven’t won a title since 2007– struck first, but the Mustangs were un-phased, answering a minute later as junior Taylon Niederhauser found the back of the net. In a back-and-forth period, Waterford went ahead 3-2 before Mountain Crest took over, winning a majority of faceoffs and controlling possession.

Mustang attackman Dallin Bindrup knotted the game at 3-3 with less than three minutes left in the opening period, and the Mustangs took their first lead of the game when goalkeeper Bryce Hatfield found midfielder Tomas Ditton behind the Raven defense in the attacking third.

One-on-one verses the goalkeeper, Ditton put the Mustangs on top, easily slipping the ball into the net past Thomas Stockham with 45 seconds left in the first.

Mountain Crest stretched its lead to three midway through the second quarter on goals from senior Brady Lowe and junior Erik Smith, and the Mustangs went into the intermission with a 6-4 advantage after a late goal from Waterford’s Ben White.

“We came out and decided to change up the offense a little bit and see if we could catch them off guard,” Lowe said. “We wanted to play our game and come out hitting hard and go at it.”

The Ravens clawed their way back, outscoring the Mustangs 5-0 during a six-minute stretch of the second and third quarters to take an 8-6 lead midway through the third. Stockham made five consecutive saves during the stretch to keep Mountain Crest from scoring and help Waterford seize all of the momentum.

Desperate to make something happen, the Mustangs caught a break on a Raven miscue in their own side of the midfield line, and Niederhauser was in the right place at the right time to pick up the loose ball and score on a breakaway.

It was the spark Mountain Crest needed and ignited a 3-0 Mustang run over the course of 1 minute, 45 seconds. The run was highlighted by back-to-back goals from Smith 25 seconds apart.

“We just kept playing defense,” Lowe said. “We waited until that little run stopped and then got our run back and gained the lead again and tried to hold onto it. Taylon’s breakaway was huge.”

The run gave Mountain crest a 9-8 advantage heading into the final period, setting up a 12 minute showdown for the state title, and in the end, it was the Mustangs that came out on top.

Lowe scored his third goal of the game to give Mountain Crest a two goal advantage with a little more than nine minutes left, and the Mustangs held on down the stretch.

“It feels so good,” Niederhauser said. “We came out here expecting nothing less. It’s so great to win. It’s the best feeling in the world right now.”

The Ravens got back within one with 4:55 to play, but the Mustangs continued to attack instead of sit back and kill the clock. Niederhauser, Smith and Lowe each finished with three goals for Mountain Crest, and Niederhauser’s third put the Mustangs up two with less than a minute to play.

Waterford mounted one last assault, but fell short as time ran out after the Ravens scored with less than ten seconds remaining and the celebration was on.

Having finished with a 14-1 record en route to both the conference and state championships, Mckee said it only left the Mustangs wanting more.

“We graduate a lot, but we’ve got a good, strong solid base that we’ve been building on,” Mckee said, “I think we’ll have a pretty good year again next year and keep the run going. We’ll just keep developing and try and build this program.”

Story and photo by Curtis Lundstrom

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curtislundstrom@gmail.com 

PROVO— If Friday served as the appetizer for the 4A State Track & Field Championships, then Saturday certainly was the main course. Sky View’s Brenna Porter won two of her three events and set a state record in the 300-hurdles, while the Mountain Crest girls came in second overall.

The day started off early with the 2-mile run, and all of the valley schools represented in that event. Logan’s Jerrell Mock came in second with a time of 9:17.75, while Sky View’s Connor Mantz came in third at 9:18.56. In the girl’s 3200-meter, MC’s Mirana O’Very finished third with a time of 10:56.20.

Karlee Kartchner continued her solid competition this year as well. The senior placed fourth in the high jump and fifth in the 100-meter dash, to follow up her first place finish in the long jump Friday.

However, it was Porter who was the star of the day Saturday. The junior started off her day well, taking first in the 100-meter hurdles. She followed that performance up with a state-record run in the 300-meter hurdles – the fastest time in any state classification in the event.

Porter’s bid to sweep her events came up just short in her final event of the day, the 200-meter dash. Despite taking first in the qualifier Friday, she was unable to edge out Timpview’s Lauren Baxter as she lost by 0.06 seconds (24.93 to 24.87).

Sky View also had personal record performances by Elise Maddox who took sixth in the 300-hurdles, Seth White who took fifth in the shot put, and Jared Lambert who finished second in the javelin throw. As a team, the Bobcat boy’s scored 37 points to finish sixth in the state in 4A, while the girl’s tallied 31 points and finished 10th. Combined, the Bobcats finished in ninth place with 68 points.

Despite not fielding any state champions Saturday, it was Mountain Crest who posted the highest team finish. The Mustangs were led by thrower Silas Wells, who finished second in the shot put with a toss of 49-feet, 4.5-inches. Jessica Jensen (4th, 100-hurdles), Braden Fuller (6th, 300-hurdles), Tori Parkinson (6th, 800-meter dash), and Brookayla Nelson (8th, 800-meter dash) all scored points for MC.

The Mountain Crest girl’s finished with 62 points, 13 behind State Champion Orem, while the boy’s finished in a tie for 18th with 11 points. As a team, the Mustangs scored 73 points to finish sixth in the 4A Standings.

Along with Mock’s performance to start the day, Jake Cazier paced the Grizzlies. Following up a third place finish in the discus Friday, Cazier finished sixth in the javelin and seventh in the shot put for Logan. The Grizzlies also had the only pole vaulters from the valley to finish in the top 10 Saturday, as Skyler Valdez (5th) and Cameron Violette (7th) jumped 11-feet and 10-feet, 6-inches, respectively.

Logan finished with 26 points from the boys (12th) and just one point from the girls for 27 total points total and an 19th place finish in the 4A state standings.

Story, photos, and video by Timothy R. Olsen

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tim@cachesportsmedia.com 

PROVO— Mother Nature threw out some curveballs Friday morning, but high school track and field teams from Cache Valley paid little mind on day one of the State Track & Field Championships at Brigham Young University.

Mountain Crest’s Karlee Kartchner won a state title and Sky View’s Brenna Porter qualified with the top time in thee events, as multiple athletes from Logan, SV, and MC performed well on the day.

“She’s amazing, I don’t know what to say. She’s a fighter,” MC head coach Rob Thomas said of Kartchner’s win. “That’s exciting for her, I’m thrilled for her.”

The Sky View boy’s team scored 10 points on the day and performed particularly well in the 1600-meter (mile) race. Tyler Roberts took second and finally broke the 4:20 barrier with a time of 4:18.97. Freshman phenom Connor Mantz wasn’t far behind in seventh place with a time of 4:22.52.

“That was really exciting,” SV coach Missy Stuart said. “He broke that 20, he’s been wanting to get under the 20. He was really excited.”

Another event that was decided on Friday was the girl’s long jump. After jumping what she thought was 18-feet at the recent BYU Invitational (the jump was later ruled six inches shorter), Kartchner left no question at the State meet. The senior blew the competition away with a leap of 18-feet, 5-inches – more than a foot further than her closest competitor.

“It really fired me up, and fired her up, obviously. They said there was an error in the calculation,” Thomas said. “To say the least, she was pretty fired up about it and she was pretty set about getting that 18 again.”

For the Grizzlies, Jerrell Mock broke the school record and took fifth in the mile with a time of 4:21.35. In the field, Jake Cazier took third in the boy’s discus for the Grizzlies with a throw of 144-feet, 4-inches. Dallin Dahl also scored points in the discus for the Grizzlies with a personal record (PR) of 135-feet, 1.25-inches that shattered his old record.

“Jake did really well – considering the conditions, I think he did extremely well,” Grizzly head coach Erik Bates said. “Dallin Dahl, he added quite a bit to his PR, and that was a real highlight for me, for him to be coming on like that.”

Most events held qualifying runs Friday, and that includes the 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles, and 200-meter dash – all of which Porter took first in. Kartchner also qualified for the finals in the 200, as well as the 100-meter dash. Joining Porter in the 300-hurdles is Bobcat Elise Maddox, while MC’s Jessica Jensen and Emily Moore qualified in the 100-meter hurdles.

“She was really excited, she got a couple PR’s in the 300 (hurdles) and in the two (hundred yard dash),” Stuart said of Porter’s performance. “That Timpview girl (Lauren Baxter) will be her main competition, and that (Baxter) will be ahead of her, so she’s excited about that. She’s feeling really good about going into the finals.”

Also qualifying on the day was the MC Girl’s Medley team of Jensen, Miranda O’Very, Bailey Lamborn, and Cortney Labrum. The medley team took second in the qualifying leg, while the freshman O’very brought home a fourth place finish in the mile earlier in the day.

One down note on the day was the disqualification of the MC girl’s 4×100 relay team. A strong event for the Mustangs all season, Mountain Crest dropped the baton on its first exchange and was disqualified from the event.

“That’s too bad, that’ll hurt us a little bit, but we’ve made up for it I think in some other places,” Thomas said. Hopefully we can step up and finish well (Saturday).”

The Finals will kick off Saturday morning at BYU.

Story and photos by Timothy R. Olsen 

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tim@cachesportsmedia.com 

OREM— Coming off of a thrilling overtime win against Hillcrest in the first round of the 4A State Tournament, the Logan boys soccer team suffered a heartbreaking end to its season Friday, falling to Mountain View, 2-0.

“I’m happy with the effort,” Logan head coach Tod Martin said. “I hoped we would have risen to the occasion. We lacked a finishing touch and effort. I think we ran out of gas. Our legs got tired in the second half.”

The Bruins came out strong on their home turf, putting a shot-on-goal less than one minute in from point-blank range. Junior Alec Wooley made a nice touch pass to senior Chris Reyes, but Logan goalkeeper Sean Lyne made a great save to prevent the early goal.

Wooley and Reyes tested Lyne often during the first 10 minutes of the match, with Wooley recording three shots and Reyes two.

The Grizzlies had a quality opportunity in the fourth minute off of a counter-attack when senior Jameson Hartman crossed a ball into the penalty box for fellow senior Benji Bonilla, but Bonilla was unable to redirect the ball into the net.

Logan had another opportunity four minutes later off of a corner kick as senior Ace Phillips corralled the ball in the middle of the penalty box and rifled the ball past the Bruins’ goalkeeper, but the ball hit the right post and bounced back into the field of play.

“We certainly had our opportunities, we just couldn’t put it in the back of the net,” Martin said. “Mountain View is a good team. Reyes makes them a dangerous team. He’s one whale of a player, he’s an amazing soccer player.”

After a back-and-forth half, Reyes broke through for the Bruins with less than 30 seconds left on the clock. Mountain View’s leading scorer, took a long ball on a counter attack and dribbled to the top-left corner of the penalty box before curving a shot across the box and into the bottom-right corner of the net past the outstretched arms of Lyne.

Despite having a 5-1 advantage on corner kicks in the first 40 minutes, Logan was outshot 11-4 by Mountain View and went into the intermission down, 1-0.

The Bruins wasted little time stretching their lead in the second half, as Reyes struck again in the 47th minute, rifling a shot from the middle of the 18-yard-box into the back of the net.

With plenty of time left on the clock, Logan fought back and created opportunities, but solid marking by the Bruins prevented the Grizzlies from getting open looks at the net. Bonilla found himself in some open space with a shot at the net in the 68th minute, but the ball sailed just left of the goal.

“(An early goal) would have changed everything,” Logan senior Mychal Millburn said. “We would have had momentum with us, they would have had their head down and we would have kept with it. It was tough, we tried our best, but they were lucky enough to get that goal.”

Logan mustered just four shots in the second half despite controlling possession for most of the final 25 minutes.

The Grizzlies finish the season with a 12-5-1 record overall, including and 8-2-0 record in Region 5 play where Logan tied with Roy for first.

“It’s been awesome,” Millburn said. “We’ve had great seniors on this team, we worked as a team. We worked hard this whole season and got our little kinks out. That’s how we got here.”

Story by Curtis Lundstrom
Photos by Timothy R. Olsen

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curtislundstrom@gmail.com