Utah's Catholic high schools take state championship, region titles in spring sports

Friday, May. 30, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — For the spring sports season, Juan Diego Catholic High School won a back-to-back state championship in boys tennis, while Judge Memorial Catholic High School had a Presidential Scholar and a Best Female Athlete in track and field, and Saint Joseph Catholic High School joined the other schools with a number of All-State players.

The Juan Diego boys tennis team “easily won state by winning three of the five categories and by being semi-finalists in the two doubles positions,” said Arthur Miyazaki, boys tennis coach. “Brendon Kempin will win his 4th consecutive MVP award at Juan Diego; sharing this award for the second time is his brother, Ryan Kempin, and senior Brenton Reyner. All three players won state titles, and the coaches could not separate them and choose just one MVP.”

In the Region 10 Tennis championship, the boys swept all five positions: three singles titles and two doubles titles. The team placed in all five of these positions going into the semi-finals. “Juan Diego is the only school in 3A to do so,” said Miyazaki.

Brendon Kempin defended his No. 1 singles title this year and was undefeated in the season. Ryan Kempin and Reyner also repeated as state champions, at No. 2 Singles and No. 3 Singles, respectively, this year. 

Having such leadership from his older brothers, freshman Connor Kempin and his partner Ben Agrelius won the Region 10 No. 1 doubles title, while Ryan Lowe and Rex Alley won the Region 10 No. 2 doubles title.

Senior Dillon Zeiger played Varsity in 11 of the 12 matches and, with his dedicated play, was awarded the 2014 Spirit Award, given by the coaches.

The Juan Diego boys lacrosse team was the Region 10 champions, with a 6-2 record. In the Boise Invitational Lacrosse Tournament in March they defeated defending champions Idaho State. During the first round of the state championship playoffs, the Soaring Eagle defeated Judge Memorial 13-7, but lost in the second round.

Carter Mannix led the team in honors, being named U.S. Lacrosse All-American as well as Boys Lacrosse Division I South All Conference First Team and Position Player of the Year for Boys Division I All State First Team.

Other individual honors in Boys Lacrosse Division I South All Conference First Team went to Austin Roberts, Ryan Green, Bo Long and Parker Carson. Earning Second Team honors were Jack Maddox, Alec Meyer, Tyler Stevenson, Tristan Courtney, Ryan Baker and Brendan Roberts, while Sean Edwards earned Honorable Mention.

Also named Boys Division I All State First Team were Ryan Green and Parker Carson; Austin Roberts and Bo Long were named Second Team.

The Juan Diego soccer program, with a 14-4 record during the regular season, won the Region 10 Championship with a 7-1 record and won their first REAL Cup with a 2-1 win over Sky View in the semi-final and a PK shootout (penalty shootout) victory over Alta in the championship game. The shootout went to 16 shooters, with Woodie Greer hitting the winning PK for the Juan Diego title. In going 7-1 in Region 10, Juan Diego had two overtime wins, with Andrew Montoya scoring the winning goals. The team qualified for the state tournament and advanced to the semi-finals for the third time in four years. 

The soccer team scored 67 goals in 18 games. Montoya scored 21 goals and had 6 assists, while sophomore David Hurtado led the team with 15 assists and 3 goals.

Of the eight girls on the Soaring Eagle golf team, “we had a First Team All-State player, a Region 10 champion, and five girls who received letters,” said Mike Howard, girls golf coach. “The team placed 10th at state.”

Senior Justine Connell finished third in the state golf tournament and lettered all four years; she will play college golf at Dixie State University.

On the Juan Diego girls lacrosse team, coached by Dave Mullholand, there were two All-American Honorable Mentions.

Junior Mara Gronseth was the 2014 league MVP, 2014 All State First Team, 2014 All Conference First Team and three-year letterman.

Senior Maddy Mullholand was the 2014 All State 1st team, 2014 All Conference First Team, team captain. She is the first girl at Juan Diego to captain two years for a lacrosse team; she lettered all four years.

Senior Markie Wright was a 2014 All state Second Team, 2014 All Conference 1st team, and lettered all four years.

Junior Ashley Tack was a 2014 All Conference Second Team and three-year letterman.

“Juan Diego had a great year in softball for a young team,” said Paul Archuleta, softball coach. “They were ranked in the top five of Class 3A all year with a record of 18-10-1; beating some 4A and 5A teams, taking it to the last region game to decide the region title.”

Among the highlights: Jaici Bishop was named “Salt Lake Tribune Prep Player of the Week” and Prep Magazine’s MVP softball Player of Week 30. Four players were in the top 10 in the state doubles, triples and pitching all year. 

During the track and field championship, Senior Cole Nelson ran the 100 meter and finished 6th with a personal record of 11.24. In the Girls 4x100 meter relay, the team of Monique Mills, Dominique Mills, Becca Curran, Bailey Leonard and Anna Ewoniuk set a record at 50.52 and improved from 8th to 4th place. 

After a controversial starting violation and subsequent disqualification in the girls 3A 100 meter trials, junior Monique Mills took the baton exchange from sophomore Bailey Leonard and turned the DQ into a first place finish. 

In the final, with a number 4 seeding, the girls held their ground and finished 4th. 

Monique Mills also made the finals in the long jump and finished 7th, falling short of 17 feet. In the 200 meter, she qualified in the number 1 spot and set a new record at the BYU Invitational, running 25.55.   

Junior Dominique Mills qualified for the finals in the 100 hurdles and had her best run of the year with a time of 15.73, and a 6th place finish and 1st team All-State honors. 

Freshman Becca Curran qualified for four events at state “and for a freshman, that is a very rare occurrence,” said Sam Salt, Juan Diego track and field coach. “In her first event, the hurdles, Curran sprained her ankle during warm-ups on the track and still ran the race. Instead of scratching the next three events, Becca ran the 100 meter, and was part of the run for the girls 4x100 relay team.  After that, the swelling was too much and she was scratched from the 300 hurdles.”  

In the disc and shot, junior Andrew Markosian came into the season with a wrist injury, but at the end of the season, he finished 4th at region in the disc. 

Judge Memorial claimed the Region 6 championship title in both girls golf and girls track and field.

Judge senior Allyson Dugan was accepted as a Spring 2014 Presidential Scholar applicant, one of only 53 students from the State of Utah to be so honored.

To earn this nomination, Dugan served as student body president and was on the student council all four years. She also was named to the Academic All-State team for UHSAA 4A girls’ soccer, and was a member of the girls’ lacrosse, cross country, track and the state math team. She reports for the Bulldog Press, and was a school finalist in the annual Poetry Out Loud competition and is also a member of the Environmental Club and the Book Club. 

At the 2014 Golden Sprint Challenge indoor meet, senior Julia Wheatley was named the Best Female Athlete of the competition. 

“She had a remarkable 5-second personal record in the 400 meter sprint. At a time of 1.00.49 seconds, she has raised the bar,” said Jeremy White, track and field coach. “Literally running on fumes by the last event in the 200 meter sprint, Wheatley ran shy of her personal record, finishing at 28.17 seconds.

“After intense training, Wheatley went from an average 3A sprinter to a 4A state contender in six months,” said White.  “At the UHSTCA Invitational Championships held at the Salt Lake Olympic Oval, Wheatley was in the top 10 in the 200 meter dash with a time of 27.29.” 

Judge sprinter junior Gabby Paul also took 5 seconds off her personal best in the 400, finishing third overall at 1.03.43. The junior finished fifth in the 60 meter sprint final before withdrawing because of a tweaked ankle.

In girls’ tennis, Katie Iwasaki was an individual state runner-up.

Individual Region athletic champions were Marcus Corbett, boys’ tennis; Katie Iwasaki, girls’ tennis; Gabby Paul, 100 meter run, 200 meter run; Julia Wheatley, high jump, 100 meter hurdles; Girls’ Sprint Medley was the region championship team of Gabby Paul, Anna Lower, Julia Wheatley and Ally Dugan.

Individual Region athletics runners-up were Julia Corbett, girls’ golf; Bapa Falemaka, discus and shot put; Sisi Falemaka, shot put; Kailie Quinn, javelin; Julia Wheatley, 300 meter hurdles; and the Girls 4x400 team of Rachel Shubella, Ally Dugan, Katie Scott, and Kenya Clark.

Student-athletes with “Prep of the Week” honors were William Cisneros, boys lacrosse (twice); Braden Pelley, boys’ lacrosse; and Gabe Rechsteiner, boys’ lacrosse. 

The girls golf team won Region 6 in girls golf for the first time in Judge history, then finished fifth in the state tournament in class 4A.

For the track and field team, the girls won region. 

The boys tennis team turned midway when interim coaches Peter Mallet and John Collins stepped in; the boys finished 5th in region and sent three groups to the state tournament, who advanced to the semi-finals. 

For the Judge Memorial baseball team, junior Sam Robinson finished second in home runs for the State of Utah in 4A, tied for first in doubles, had the second highest slugging percentage, and was fourth in RBI’s.  

In boys soccer, coach Kelly Terrill coached his last season and the Bulldogs finished the season 4th in region. In the state playoffs, they lost 2-0 to Skyline High School. 

Assistant Coach Kolby Wheeler will be head coach next year.  

Boys lacrosse made it to the state playoffs for Judge Memorial, then fell to Juan Diego in the first round. 

Head lacrosse coach Dave Allen has retired after 20 years of coaching Judge lacrosse. 

The Academic All-State athletes at St. Joseph this year were David Donlevy in baseball and golf; Nicholas Palmer, baseball; Ali DeGrauw, girls soccer; Rachael Sutherland, cross country; Keyanu Tate, boys soccer and tennis; Audra Thurston, track and field and Nick Yonkee, tennis. 

The boys soccer team placed 4th in the Northern Division of Class 2A, and continued on to the quarter finals of the state championship. 

“They lost in a heartbreaking 2-1 over-time game to Delta High School,” said Alex Salvo, athletic director. 

The boys golf team were the Region 18 champions; senior David Donlevy won the individual championship in Region 2. 

The team traveled to St. George for the state championship and finished in 5th place; Donlevy finished 7th place overall. 

The girls golf team finished second in Region 18; junior Mady White was the individual champion in Region 18. 

In the state tournament, the team finished in fourth place, with White finishing in 2nd place. 

Named 1A All-State Boys were Nick Gruet and David Donlevy; Mady White was named to Girls All-State.

The Jayhawks boys tennis team placed 3rd in the 2A Northern Division Region 18. In the state championship, Steve Yi qualified for No. 1 singles, while Wesley Armstrong, a senior, and Robert Joseph, a sophomore, qualified for the No. 2 doubles. Both lost in the first round. 

In track and field, both the boys and girls Jayhawks teams finished second in 2A Region 18; at state, the boys finished in 12th place and the girls finished in 8th place. 

The Medley team placed first. 

The following received special recognition: Erin Almony, long jump; Elizabeth Tomon, shot put; Kathleen Tomon and Elizabeth Tomon, discus. 

State recognition went to Elizabeth Tomon, All-State in discus, who set a school record of 116-01.25 feet.

Will Carrington, All-State 400 meter, medaled in the 200 meter (6th place) and finished 8th in the 100 meter.

Meghan Clare went All-State in 1600 and 3200 meters and finished 7th in the 800 meter. 

Chris O’Brien medaled in the 800 meter (6th place). 

Kathleen Tomon medaled in the discus (4th place). 

Erin Almony finished 8th in the 100 meter.