Cross Country and Soccer teams win state titles

Intermountain Catholic

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Saint Joseph Catholic High School Girls Soccer Team wins the 2008 State Championship. They were good and they had team chemistry said Coach Alexis Salvo. Photo courtesy of Alexis Salvo

OGDEN — Saint Joseph Catholic High School Girls Cross Country Team won the 2008 State Championship title Oct. 22, at Sugar House Park for the second year in a row. The girls were Region 17 Cross Country champions.

"We had a really big team to start out with," said Lisa Reed, Saint Joseph Cross Country coach. "The girls trained hard over the summer. Then when fall came, three or four girls were injured. Two of the top girls were injured most of the season, so we ran a lot of meets without our full team. The other team members stepped up and it was good for them because it pushed them to do a little bit better than they may have. They had to move up into the top spots. They improved as a result.

"By the time we went to the Region playoffs, we had our whole team back," said Reed. "We ended up doing really well."

Sophomore Andrea Chavez was a State and Region champion. She was also the State 1A Athlete of the Year. She ran an amazing time of 18:48.9.

Sophomore Alex Shaw, who was injured for most of the season, ended up behind Chavez in second place. Sophomore Tauna DeHaan finished in fourth place.

Sophomore Michelle Howe placed 10th in the Cross Country event. Junior Melissa Frogh placed 11th in the event.

"We had five girls place in the top 11. Four of them were All-State runners," said Reed. "Sophomore Nelida Navarro and junior Erin Trout both did very well.

"They are a very good team. They are very close even though they are competitive with each other," Reed. "They encourage each other, and that really helps. A lot of them play other sports such as volleyball and soccer. We train at 5:45 a.m. three days a week, and after school two days a week."

Reed said the girls try to come as many mornings as they can. They also try to practice in the afternoons if they do not have other games or important practices. The other sports are team sports, so they have to practice plays with their other team members. We try to work together as coaches and arrange our practices to help each other out. We are a small school and only have so many girls for the various teams. We play four sports in the fall, tennis, track, soccer, and cross country.

"We know they are working out in the other sports, and so they are still training and that is what is important," said Reed.

Saint Joseph Girls Soccer Team won the 2008 State Championship tournament Oct. 24-25, at Alta High School.

Coach Alexis Salvo said in the semi-finals, St. Joseph beat Beaver High School 10-0, and in the Championship game they beat Millard High School 8-0. Salvo is also St. Joseph’s athletic director.

The girls only lost one pre-season game all season against Bonneville High School, who went on to become the State 4A champions.

"In region play, we beat all our opponents. They did not score a single goal against us," said Salvo. "The girls beat 3A and 4A schools as well. Since the first day, I realized this was going to be a special season. During the regular season play, they scored 122 goals. There were only six goals scored against them. During the state playoffs, they scored 30 goals, and no goals were scored against them.

Salvo said this was a very good team and a very young team.

Freshman Ivee Barton scored 36 goals during this season. She was named the State Most Valuable Player by the Deseret Morning News.

Salvo said the defense was incredible. Molly Porter, goal keeper had 16 shut-outs, which was the best in the state.

"The leadership by the three captains was essential," said Salvo. "They were Megan Brandt, Jennifer Beaudoin, and Molly Porter.

"We were a very good team and we had team chemistry, and you need both," said Salvo.