Region titles for Catholic high schools in spring sports

Friday, Jun. 09, 2023

Utah Catholic Schools teams continued their winning ways during the spring sports season. Both Juan Diego Catholic High School and St. Joseph Catholic High School brought home state trophies in soccer, and all three high schools had region wins. In addition, several athletes broke state records. Highlights of the season follow.

JDCHS boys soccer took home the state 3A championship (See story in the May 26 Intermountain Catholic.)

The Soaring Eagle Track and Field team had a stellar season, winning region titles and placing third overall at state with 103 points. At the state meet May 19-20 at Brigham Young University’s Clarence Robison track, Juan Diego had its moment – in fact, many of them – in the sun. Both teams had their best placement ever at state: The girls finished second with 73 points, while the boys came in seventh with 30 points.

“It was an excellent season, any way you look at it,” coach Joe Elliott said. “A lot of teams that we’ve been looking up to for years we ended up ahead of, and we feel pretty good about that. We had a really good combination of experienced seniors who have worked for years, and then some young talent that stepped up at the right time.”

“It was a pretty magical state meet,” he continued. “The girls getting second and getting a trophy especially felt really satisfying, that we get to put all those seniors’ names on the trophy and put it in our Great Hall, and it gets to hang out at the school until they tear the place down.” 

The girls’ team of Catherine Stevens, Nyrvanah Crockett, Isabella Pickers, Hayden Pettit, Addison Pettit, Oi Ling Stevens, Lily Edwards and Mia McCaskill took second in sprint medley; the team of Stevens, Hayden Pettit, Addison Pettit, Olivia Young and Domiona Marine came in third in the 4x400.

Among the outstanding individual performances was that of junior Oi Ling Stevens, who took third in 3200 meters, fourth in 600 meters and fifth in 800 meters. 

“Stevens is kind of a grizzled vet on the team at this point and really went out in all events and got points for us every single time out, and ran a huge leg in the 4x4 as well to put us ahead of Canyon View at the end of the meet,” Elliott said. 

Freshman twins Addison and Hayden Pettit were “a real straw that stirred the drink this season,” Elliott said. Addison Pettit took second in 400 meters, while her sister Hayden finished eighth in the same race. “When they joined up, I knew that we had a really good 4x400, just really good distance, and that’s where we got most of our points on the track,” he said.

Senior Emmalyn Jacobs took second in javelin and fifth in discus. “She had a great state meet,” Elliott said. “The one that was really clutch was disc. She was seeded 13th and she just had a great day throwing disc.” 

In the long jump, Crockett, a senior, came in third. “She really had a fantastic season overall and a fantastic state meet; she’s a true competitor,” Elliott said.  

On the boys’ side, senior Dalen Kennedy came in second in shot put and Etu Kaumatule, also a senior, came in third in discus. “Our boys’ throws, in particular, really carried for us this season including and up to state,” Elliott said. “We had a clutch of senior boys with Dalen, Etu and Kione [Mataele].”

The Soaring Eagle were region champs in girls lacrosse, finishing 3-1. Ten of this year’s players were new and had “never touched a lacrosse stick until mid-February,” coach Shaun Judd said. 

With just 18 players including three exchange students from Japan and one special needs player, the Soaring Eagle ranks were thin, so “every one of my players played every game almost 100 percent,” Judd said.

In the state quarterfinals on May 20, JDCHS beat Ridgeline 20-15 at home. They went on to play Mountain Crest on May 23 at Westminster in the semifinals, but they narrowly lost 14-13. In that game the sparse ranks hindered Juan Diego, Judd said. “We were well-matched against them,” he said. “I think at the end we just ran out of gas.”

 In that match sophomore Olivia Prosper scored eight of Juan Diego’s 13 goals. Prosper, who is ranked 11th in the nation, was first in the state for goals at 129 and fourth in the state for assists.

“We believe in team sports; we want to build a family and we want to play as a team,” Judd said. “Winning is important, but more important is we give a positive environment for the girls, and they work together. They really did that in the last five games.” 

Seniors Julie Holly and Annette Rodriguez were great all-round players who contributed significantly this season, Judd said. First-year goalie Hannah Haney, a freshman, averaged over a 50 percent save rate, which is unheard of, Judd said.

JDCHS finished the season 10-4 overall.

The Juan Diego boys were also region co-winners, finishing 3-1. In the May 20 state quarterfinals, they lost to Green Canyon, the eventual state winners, 8-7 at home. The Soaring Eagle team finished the season 9-7 overall.

The Soaring Eagle girls’ golf team of senior Cabria Walters, juniors Lindley Whittaker, Ashley Cutshall and Grayson Gagnon, sophomore Kesyn Worrall and freshman Isabella Werner finished third, with a +90 score, at the state tournament held May 10-11 at Glendale Golf Course.

Baseball 

The Soaring Eagle boys baseball team went all the way to the state finals May 13 at Kearns High School, but were defeated by the Wasps 7-4. In the double-elimination state tournament, the Soaring Eagle team beat Richfield 12-2 in the second round of state play May 6 at home after a first-round bye. They lost to Canyon View 7-0 at Canyon View later that day. In the third round, JDCHS beat ALA 16-0. Junior Caden Fenger pitched the shutout, adding his name to the short list of Utah prep players to achieve this feat. Only 12 perfect games have been recorded in UHSAA history.

The Soaring Eagle then went up against Summit Academy, but lost 9-4. In the quarterfinals they beat Manti 6-1 and Canyon View 5-3. They went on to defeat Carbon 5-2 before the final game.

Several Juan Diego players made it to the state tournament, but lost in the first round: Adam Williams, Hunter Chamberlain, Tanishk Dhru, Aidan Mulligan and Minh Hang.

After not competing in the 2022 season because only 12 boys showed up for tryouts, Bulldog boys lacrosse came roaring back in 2023, fielding 35 players and both a varsity and junior varsity team. Nineteen of those players were freshmen; there also were 10 sophomores, three juniors and three seniors. At the varsity level, eight freshmen, one sophomore and one junior started. 

“We were by far the youngest team in the state,” coach Jeff Brzoska said. 

Despite that, the varsity team was co-region champs with Juan Diego CHS. In 4A state play, the Bulldogs made it to the semifinals after beating Bear River 13-11 in the quarterfinals at Bear River on May 20. In the May 24 semifinal game at Westminster, they lost to Sky View 15-10. 

“Unfortunately, bigger, stronger, faster and definitely older [Sky View] got the best of us,” Brzoska said. 

The Jayhawks finished the season 9-8 overall.

The Bulldogs came in second in region with a 6-2 finish. In state play, after a first-round bye, they beat Emery 5-0 in the second round, then lost to Ogden 3-2 May 6 in quarterfinals at Ogden. They finished the season 8-5 overall.

Several Judge players made it to the 3A state tournament at Liberty Park May 12-13. In singles play, Diego Garrido won the first round, beat Gunnison’s Nate Stewart in the quarterfinals 6-3, 6-4, then lost to Rowland Hall’s Jaiden Handlon, the eventual state champion, 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals. 

Other Jayhawks who played at state but lost in the first round were John Witt, Rhys Runnel, Chance Voorhes and Henry Krauss. Judge Memorial placed 10th overall out of 22 schools with nine points.

The Jayhawks won the state tournament (See story in the May 26 Intermountain Catholic).

Senior Sarah Snell broke the 2A state record in javelin at the May 19 region meet at the University of Utah, throwing 139’1”. 

“I was happy because it felt like a lot of the hard work I was putting in was finally going right,” Snell said of that achievement. “Most of the season I hadn’t seen the marks I wanted to see, so I was very happy with it.”

At the state meet held May 18-20 at BYU’s Clarence Robison Stadium, Snell, who began throwing her sophomore year, came in first in javelin throwing 1 34’ 3.75.” Snell will be a member of the track and field team at the University of British Columbia this fall.