Winter sports includes region and state championships for Catholic high schools

Friday, Mar. 13, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Two of the three Utah Catholic high schools took regional championships during the winter sports season, while Juan Diego CHS took its first girls’ basketball UHSAA 3A State Championship title  (see story p. 12). In addition, Soaring Eagle freshman wrestler John Manning won the 138-pound 3A UHSAA state championship title (see story p.  12) and  Juan Diego’s drill team was named Small Division National Champions in the small group division at the National Contest of Champions High School Dance and Drill Team competition in Orlando, Fla. (see story p. 12).

Judge Memorial Catholic High School’s Anna Shum won the girls 100 butterfly 4A State Championship title, and was the only freshman girl to win an event at the state competition. 

The JDCHS boys basketball team won the Region 10 championship and advanced to the quarterfinals in the state tournament but lost a close game to Desert Hills. 

It was a frustrating end to a season that was a success overall. 

“We finished with a record of 20-5; the 20 wins were the second highest in the school’s history,” said Drew Trost, head coach. “We also went 8-0 in Region 10; this was the first region championship for the boys since 2006.” 

Gabe Colosimo had another spectacular season while becoming the all-time leader at JDCHS in scoring, assists, rebounds, and 3-pointers made.

“Truly remarkable feats for an outstanding player and young man,” said Trost. 

The Juan Diego Cheer Team, composed of 34 members, covered over 50 football and basketball games, and several volleyball, swimming, and wrestling events. Twenty of the members of the JDCHS Cheer Team competed at local and national events and took first place at the Wildcat Invitational, third at State, and fourth at the JAMZ Nationals. 

In addition to their support of their school’s athletic teams, the JDCHS Cheer Team worked to support their community, completing over 500 combined service hours. They supported Light the Night, the Diego Dash and Primary Children’s Hospital Foundation, as well as several other service events and organizations.

Both the girls and boys swim teams had a solid season. The girls qualified five swimmers and the boys qualified nine swimmers for the state meet. The boys led the way with the medley relay team of Luke Opitz, Jordan Hendrickson, Hunter McKenzie and Connor Stolfa; they dropped a full three seconds to take second place and had four swimmers  named as first team All State.  

At the state meet, many of the swimmers posted times several seconds faster than they had swum at the region meet only two weeks before. Captain Luke Opitz made first team All State, dropping 3.5 seconds in the 200 yard individual medley.

Woodey Greer, fighting back from injuries and surgery, dropped a full second from region and made first team All State. In the 100, Greer and Stolfa made the All State team, dropping 2.17 and 1.9 seconds, respectively. The boys 200-relay team of Hendrickson, Opitz, Greer and Stolfa came in second, dropped 4.84 seconds, and established a new school record.

Opitz also broke the one-minute barrier in his 100 back and finished first team All State. The boys breaststroke event was led by senior Hendrickson, who dropped 2.5 seconds for a fourth-place finish. 

 On the girls’ side, Jackie Testone finished the 100 fly, dropping 4.7 seconds from her seedtime and finishing first team All State. Freshman Hunter McKenzie took second in the 100 fly, just .03 of a second shy of a new school record. Jess Espinoza finished fifth in the 100 yard free and made first team All State with a 1.6 second drop in time. McKenzie took sixth, making the All State team in the 500 free.

Testone scored third in the 100 backstroke and established a new school record with a 1:00.27 swim. The girls 400 free relay of Jamie Espinoza, Testone, Hope Feliciano and Jess Espinoza shocked the field by knocking off 13.5 seconds from their entry time and making the podium. The swim turned in by these girls fired up the boy’s squad to destroy their seedtime by 10.5 seconds and establish a new Juan Diego school record. McKenzie led off the relay with a 51.38, then Greer turned in a 51.46. Senior Nathan Nicolodemos swam into the record books with a best time of 53.27. Nicolodemos’ time was much faster than he had ever done, but was predicted by Coach John Moran at a workout only a few days before. The relay was anchored by Evan Stolfa, who turned in his best time, too, a 55.06.

“The season was a great success and a testament to the hard work and deferred gratification planned for,” said Coach John Moran, adding that he, along with Assistant Coach Matt Bird, is very proud of the swimmers.

In wrestling this year, “I knew that the schedule was going to be tough, but I also knew we would be able to handle the competition,” said Andrew Sedillo, JDCHS wrestling coach. “With so few wrestlers, we knew we would not compete as a dual meet team, but rather we focused on individual accomplishments. The team battled every day in every match, never getting down on themselves for losing duals or individual matches. Our line up consisted of two seniors, one sophomore, and one freshman.” 

Sophomore Connor Dumont was the most improved wrestler on the team, winning a number of matches and gaining valuable experience; “he is going to be a leader for us for the next two years,” Sedillo said.

Team captains Carter Shearer and Adam Murry had a combined win total of 25 plus matches during the season; the two qualified for the 3A state tournament in their respective weight classes. However, Carter suffered an injury that kept him out of the state tournament, while Murry competed in two matches despite suffering from the flu.   

Soaring Eagle freshman John Manning placed first at the region tournament, then went on to win the 3A Northern Regional, and also took the 3A state championship title.

The Juan Diego/Judge Memorial hockey team, made up of players from both schools and known as the Catholic Independent Griffins, participated in Utah High School Hockey this year.  

“Given the challenges of bringing the two cultures together, the inaugural season was considered a success, with students and coaches from the rival schools casting aside their differences and playing together under the Catholic Independent banner,” said Anthony Musci, the Griffins’ coach. 

The promise of the younger players was reflected in the Junior Varsity record of 8-5-1, while the Varsity squad achieved a 3-7-1 record.  In the State Independent playoffs, the Griffins’ Varsity entered as  the seventh seed but defeated two higher-seeded teams before close losses to the top two seeds in the brackets.

Standout performers included Judge Memorial seniors Andrew Aubry (forward) and Duncan Hickman (defenseman), who represented the Griffins on this year’s All-Star team, and Juan Diego senior Morgan van der Sluys, who led the team is assists.

The JMCHS freshman boys basketball team finished the year 18-2, capping the year with a win in the championship game of the 34th annual freshman basketball tournament over Sky View High School. 

The Junior Varsity also had a winning record, finishing 12-10 on the year, while the freshman girls’ basketball team defeated Sky View 41-33 in the championship game, concluding their most successful season in recent years. The pinnacle of that success was the team’s victory in the championship game of the 2015 Freshmen Tournament, the second championship since 2004 for the Bulldogs. 

“As the season turned out, this year’s freshman girls squad, comprised of 16 individuals, became a model of team effort, stingy defense and selfless sharing of the ball,” said Paul Shiramizu, the head coach. 

In varsity play, JMCHS junior Rachel Shubella was named KUTV-Channel 2 Subway “Prep Athlete of the Week” for Dec. 29, 2014. Shubella is the multi-purpose guard for the Lady Bulldogs; since her freshman year, she has provided a scoring punch for Judge, including the ability to hit the 3-pointer on demand. She is one of the leaders in assists and steals; her career stats include 500 total points, 88 rebounds, 62 assists, and 63 steals. She received the 2014-2015 Demi Candelaria Scholarship Award for girls’ basketball. 

Shubella is a leader on a squad that finished tied for third in UHSAA 4A Region 6 before losing in overtime to top seed Skyline in the first round of the state playoffs. They finished 10-10 on the season. 

The JMCHS swim teams, led by captains Victoria Berceau, Katie Hamula, Connor Morgan and Allison Witte, travelled all around the state to compete against schools two and three times their size, said Jeremy Clark, head swim coach.  At the Region competition the girls took third and the boys took seventh, with a combined team finish of fourth place. The Judge seniors who received Academic All-State nominations at region were Allison Witte, Connor Morgan, Ross Brunetti and Ian Gorrell-Brown. 

Of the 37 swimmers on the team, 12 advanced to the state championship, where the top performance of the meet was Judge’s freshman Anna Shum, who won the girls 100 butterfly. The Judge girls team took fifth at the UHSAA state meet and the boys finished 20th. 

The JMCHS top finishers were: Girls’ 200 Medley Relay – 5th; Girls’ 200 Free – Caroline Yannelli 10th; Girls’ 200 IM – Erin Morgan 10th; Girls’ 100 Fly – Anna Shum, 1st, and Marcela Vasquez 7th; Girls’ 200 Free Relay – 9th; Boys’ 100 Back – Connor Morgan 4th; Girls’ 100 Breast – Caroline Yannelli, 3rd, and Marcela Vasquez, 10th; Girls’ 400 Free Relay (Sara Shum, Marcela Vasquez, Erin Morgan and Caroline Yannelli) – 5th.

SJCHS girls basketball won the Region 18 championship with a record of 10-0 and an 18-3 overall record. At the 1A State Tournament in Richfield, they lost the first game 40-44 to Valley High School in overtime. Moving to the consolation bracket, they defeated Whitehorse and Intermountain Christian schools to make it to the bracket’s championship game, where they lost to Wayne High School. 

Amanda Higgs and Mady White made the Academic All State team for girls basketball. 

SJCHS boys basketball team fielded their best team in 19 years, winning the Region 18 championship for the first time. Their record was 12-1 in region play; they defeated Tintic High School in the championship game at West Ridge Academy, 51-43. 

The boys stepped up their game after power forward Nick Gruet was injured during the second quarter of the Region 18 game, said Alex Salvo, athletic director; he called Gruet the “star of the team.” In the first round of the state tournament, the Jayhawks were defeated by Panguitch High School, then lost in the consolation round to Duchesne High School.

“Our bench is not very deep, so that really hurt us,” Salvo said. 

SJCHS’s spirit squad “is a very popular activity during the winter in our school,” Salvo said. “Girls and boys see this team as a way to support Saint Joseph’s athletics during the winter. Our third year coach, Natasha Gruet, has done a great job combining cheer and drill (dance). The public and athletes look forward to the support of the cheer team. They also provide the half-time show for the home games. It takes an incredible amount of energy and commitment from the 17 girls and one boy.”