Catholic high schools win region titles, one state title

Friday, May. 29, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — In spring sports, the Saint Joseph Catholic High School girls golf team won the 1A UHSAA State Championship and the Region 18 title (see sidebar), while Juan Diego CHS won 3A Region 10 titles. Although Judge Memorial CHS teams had a good season in most sports, the school is finding its niche competing with larger 4A high schools.  

 SJCHS boys golf – The SJCHS boys golf team went undefeated in the regular season and won Region 18, with Nick Gruet taking first place at the regional tournament, shooting an 81 at Rose Park Golf Course. 

The Jayhawks struggled a little on the first day of the UHSAA State tournament at St. George Golf Club May 11-12, which was disappointing, said Cameron Wood, SJCHS golf coach. 

“They had a case of nerves going into the round, but once they settled down on the second day they shot the second lowest round of the day,” he explained.

Gruet tied for fourth place at state and was named All-State 1st Team, as was Danny Donlevy. In girls golf Mady White, Kristen Carney and Amanda Higgs were named All-State 1st Team.

“Overall we did very well in golf ,with the girls winning the state title and the boys winning region,” said Wood. 

SJCHS boys tennis – The team was third in Region 18, with a regular season record of 7-3. At region, the #2 doubles team of James Carrington and Masen White took first place, the #1 doubles team of Justin Ly and Josh Alomy took second place, and #3 singles player Ian Armstrong took third place, while #1 singles player Steve Yi placed fourth.

 This is the first time in the past 10 years that the boys tennis team has made it to the state tournament, said Alex Salvo, athletic director. They finished in sixth place at the state tournament. 

Six of the seven varsity players on the boys tennis team qualified for the state tournament, and both doubles teams made it to the semi-finals, said Batina Armstrong, boys tennis coach. 

“The second doubles team lost three sets, getting close to the finals, which was an awesome achievement,” she said. “I’ve been tracking the records for St. Joseph for the past six years and these teams have gone further than any other teams for the school. Only one person qualified two years ago; last year there were three. We have a solid team and I am building the team; I started coaching them in junior high.”

SJCHS track and field  –  The team had a successful year despite having a small number of athletes, said Joe Loffredo, head coach. The team won the Region 18 Championship and were ranked ninth in the state tournament.

Chris O’Brien won the 800 meter and 1600 meter, participated in winning the 4x400 meter relay and took second place in the 3200 meter. Danny Donlevy won the high jump, and took second place in the 100 meter and the long jump and fifth in the 200 meter. Jared Wright won the 400 meter, participated in winning the sprint medley relay, third in the 100 meter and the 200 meter.  Sean Letendre was on both of the winning relay teams and finished fifth in the 1600 meter and 3200 meter.  

Jackson Buttschardt was on the winning 4x400 meter relay team, finished second in the 800 meter, third in the 1600 meter and 4th in the 3200 meter.  Josh Stoker was on the winning sprint medley team, third in the 800 meter and 400 meter. Christian Bartel was on the winning sprint medley team. 

“These athletes performed these events in the rain and cold weather without complaining and won our first Region 18 title since 2011,” said Loffredo.

During the state championship tournament, Chris O’Brien finished second in the 1600 meter and third in the 800 meter and 3200 meter. Jared Wright finished sixth in 400 meter and eighth in the 200 meter.  Danny Donlevy finished fourth in the high jump. 

The four SJCHS track and field girls finished in second place in Region 18 and sixth place in the state championship.

Meghan Clare was first in the 800 meter, 1600 meter and 3200 meter, and was on the winning sprint medley team. Kathleen Tomon won the shot put and was on the winning sprint medley team, second in the discus and fourth in the javelin. Victoria Barrerra won the high jump and was on the winning sprint medley team, finished fourth in the 200 meter and fifth in the long jump.

At the state championship tournament, Tomon finished second in the discus and shot put and was on the fourth-place sprint medley team; Clare finished third in the 800 meter, 1600 meter and 3200 meter, and also was a member of the sprint medley team. 

Judge Memorial CHS 

JMCHS girls golf – The team ended the season on a high note, said Nate Olson, girls golf coach. 

“The girls made up 14 strokes from the first day of the tournament, putting them in fourth place for the tournament,” he said. “Grace Nakamura shot a team low score of 85, followed by Caroline Holyoak, who shot 89. I am so proud of the team for grinding through the intense environment and putting up a great score.” 

JMCHS baseball team – The Bulldogs finished their season going to the state tournament, after having only seven wins in the previous season, said Zach Barnard, the new head baseball coach.

The Bulldogs had six wins in a row to finish 9-5 and clinch the third seed in Region 6. The team was led by seniors Skyler Ramsey, Nate Higley and Sam Robinson and junior Nick Cline, who each were selected first team All-Region. Second team selections were Mikey Saltas, a senior, and Austin Candelario and Connor Stone, both juniors. 

The Bulldogs baseball team also had 75 percent of students who maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher during the season, including two with a 4.0 GPA. 

JMCHS girls lacrosse – This season was a learning curve for the Lady Bulldogs, “not to mention we had a very young team who stepped up to play at the varsity level,” said Kaely Kernan, head lacrosse coach. “We all knew this season would be a challenge, with two new coaches and a different, stronger team dynamic.” 

JMCHS boys tennis was led by Marcus Corbett, first team singles; Tony Robinson, second singles and Jim Devereux at third singles. Ben Jones and Aiden Armstrong played first doubles and John Schwarz and Michael Ayers played second doubles early in the season. Later in the season, Armstrong paired with Schwarz, making it to the state championship with a 7-2 record at second doubles, but lost in the first round of the state championship. 

The Bulldogs finished with a record of 4-2. 

JMCHS track and field –  The 2015 season started off with Judge alumna Damara Walker coaching the hurdles and Josh Pike helping head coach Mele Vaisima coach the shot put, discus and javelin. 

Junior Bapa Falemaka qualified for state in three events: shot put, discus and javelin, while sophomore Vanessa Austin qualified for state in the shot put, and sophomore Mayree Ellis qualified in the shot put and discus. The Boys 4x100 relay team of Kayden Millburn, Xavier Price, Giir Daw and Rihan Deng also qualified for state. 

The Region 6 championships highlights were: Bapa Falemaka took first in the shot put, first in the discus and second in the javelin. Mayree Ellis took first in the discus and second in the shot put; while Vanessa Austin took third in the shot put. Katie Scott qualified for state in the 800 meter and Kate Kranz qualified for state in the 100 meter and 200 meter.

The girls 4x100 team of Anna Lower, Kate Kranz, Skylar Lister and Rachel Shubella and the girls 4x400 relay team  of Shubella,  Scott, Kranz and Victoria Stevens qualified for state. 

Noah Elliss and Tofa Faingaa also qualified for state in the shot put by placing second and fourth, respectively. 

Also qualifying for state were the boys 4x100 team of Xavier Price, Kayden Millburn, Christian Elliss and Rihan Deng; the boys sprint medley of Price, Millburn, Eric Heideman and Edwin Juang; and the boys 4x400 team of Josh Ballard, Price, Juang, and Deng. 

Price also qualified for state in the 100 meter and 200 meter. 

Shubella qualified individually for state in the 400 meter, while Lister qualified for state in the 100 meter hurdles and 300 meter hurdles, and Cicely Foley qualified for state in the long jump. 

At the state championships, Falemaka placed first in the shot, throwing 54-0, and first in the discus, throwing 151-8.

JMCHS lacrosse – the team’s overall record of 14-4 had more wins than the past two seasons combined, said Chuck Gosselin, head lacrosse coach. The big wins were against Juan Diego Catholic HS, along with a win in the first round of the state playoffs against Olympus HS. JMCHS lost to Skyline HS in the state quarterfinals. Braden Pelly was named All-State 1st team player. Douglas Gosselin, Zach Gill and Noah Hill all were named All-State honorable mentions. 

Juan Diego CHS 

JDCHS track and field  —  Juan Diego track and field team senior Monique Mills, first team All-State, finished second in the 100 meter and 200. Her twin sister, Dominique Mills, competed at state in four events; in her main event, the 100 hurdles, she finished third and received first team All-State honors. Monique Mills and Dominique Mills were Region 10 Champions in their respective events and “it is a testament to the great athleticism of both girls to compete at the level they do when track and field is a secondary sport to basketball,” said Salt.

Senior Adam Murry was a Region 10 champion in boys discus and “competed in a torrential downpour, which most of his competitors did not have to endure,” said Salt. 

Senior Cathy Gonce qualified for state in the javelin and like many others ran into a combination of a deep field and bad weather. She just missed the finals at state, but is leaving her high school track career with a personal record.

Junior David Fenton was the Region 10 champion in the 110 hurdles and finished sixth overall at state. 

JDCHS soccer – The team had a successful season, reaching the semifinals of the state tournament, said Scott Platz, head coach. The record was 13-3-1 overall; they won the Region 10 title with a 7-0-1 record. 

JDCHS was led by five seniors: Chris Ward, Andre Alves, Christian Jouvin, Jordan Hendrickson and Jose Rivera. Alves led the team in scoring with 12 goals and also recorded seven assists to share the team lead in that statistic with David Hurtado and Jered Mariani. 

Juan Diego’s defense allowed only 10 goals all season, led by goalkeeper Jordan Hendrickson’s eight shutouts. Julien Williamson, Woodey Greer, Michael DiGeronimo, Chris Ward and Alex Saunders contributed to the best defense in 3A and one of the best in the state overall. 

Juan Diego’s midfield was also one of the best in the state, with Brandon Sands, David Hurtado and Garrett Albright controlling the center of the field. Freshman Jered Mariani was recognized by MaxPreps and the NSCAA as the “Player of the Week” for Utah for the week of April 6. Juan Diego has now won consecutive Region 10 titles and made consecutive state semi-final appearances. 

Next year the team will compete in Region 11.

JDCHS baseball – “Despite a season ending with injuries to senior pitchers Stephen Kelly and Dillon Delgado, the Soaring Eagle baseball team was in the thick of the Region 10 race,” said Chris Long, JDCHS athletic director. 

The Soaring Eagle recorded pre-season wins over 5A Copper Hills, 4A Orem, California’s Menlo High, and Abbottsford from Canada. Senior Sam Brzowski led the team in home runs, Kaylin Kimmell led the team in hitting and, according to veteran coach Troy Davis, “With Ryan Hughes, Eli McQuillan and Pudge Davis in the outfield, any ball that was hit in the outfield was going to be caught.” Junior Josh Glenn started all 23 games at catcher, as well as Connor McNulty and Alex Hoffman at third and first, respectively. 

JDCHS boys tennis – the season culminated with the State Runner-up trophy.  The state title came down to the #2 singles final, where Connor Kempin took on a player from Snow Canyon HS, said Chris Long, JDCHS athletic director. 

“Both teams were tied for the championship,” Long said. “Connor had a difficult semi-final three-set match, and playing for over two hours took a lot of energy from him. His final, a mere one-hour rest period later, was not enough for him to recover and beat his opponent. He was also Region 10 champ at #2 singles.  Older brother Ryan Kempin was the state champ at #1 singles as well as the Region 10 champ.” 

Ben Agrilius was the State champ at #3 singles.  Rex Alley and Lucas Castro were Region 10 champs and semi-finalist at the state competition. Tyler Osha and Alex Smith took 3rd at region and played in the first round at state.

JDCHS girls golf – Under first year co-head coaches Clay Jones and Will Trentman, the Juan Diego girls golf team enjoyed one of its best seasons in several years and qualified for the state tournament in St. George at the Saint George Golf Club. 

Led by low scorer junior Katie Growe, the team looks to be even more improved next year when it moves to Region 11 with all members returning, said Chris Long JDCHS athletic director.