Fall sports end the season with championship football games

Friday, Nov. 21, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — In a season crowned by the Judge Memorial Catholic High School Bulldogs taking the 3A UHSAA State Football Championship title (see story, this page) teams from all three Utah Catholic high schools had state championships, region championships, or individual state titles, as well as Academic All-State and region team players. 

 

Several Soaring Eagle team members earned individual honors this fall: Brenna Connelly, a JDCHS sophomore and member of the Silver Line Drill team, was named to the First team All-State drill team; Cole Stratton, a junior and golf team captain, was named to the First All-State golf team; and freshman wrestler John Manning had a second-place finish in the pre-season national championship tournament.

The Juan Diego Soaring Eagle football team took second in the 3AA South Region and needed an onside kick to make it to the semi-final championship game, but lost in an upset against Hurricane High School. 

“The team played well,” said John Colosimo, JDCHS head football coach. “We had some good players, good wins and good games. Our record was 5-5. We had some tough non-region games. I’m not at all disappointed about our record; our goal is to always try to do as well as we can in region play.”

The statistical breakdown for Juan Diego’s season was 27.2 points per game. Senior Gabe Colosimo, the starting quarterback, had eight touchdown passes and is a leader in passing in the 3AA Division. Rushing leaders are Carter Campbell, with seven touchdowns; and Ryan Baker, with four touchdowns.

This year’s Soaring Eagle cross country team was small, especially on the girls’ side, with only six competing, said Christine Petrone, JDCHS coach. “We had a very good season, however. Freshman Kelly Shearer and senior captain Olivia Causse took many medals.” 

Shearer in particular had a good season, finishing first at the home region meet, the Pre-Region 10 meet and the inaugural Catholic School Cross Country Classic.

At the Catholic School Cross Country Classic, “Our girls won the meet and we took home the traveling trophy for the year. Judge Memorial won on the boys’ side,” Petrone said. 

The girls took 4th place in the Region 10 Championship at Morgan; Shearer took second place.

At the state tournament, Shearer finished 12th (out of 118 runners) with a personal record of 19:34 for the 3-mile course at Sugar House Park. Causse finished 50th with a personal record of 21:21. Sophomores Gentry Christiansen and Anna Schlehuber, junior Emily Crawford and senior Jean Glasser completed the team this year.

The boys cross country team had 12 runners this year, adding five freshmen to the team, said Petrone. “The boys finished 5th at region, sending our top three fastest to state. Freshman Turner Crooms had a personal record at state (18:36), junior Andrew Zinman a PR of 19:56 and senior captain Kevin Hemmersmeier ran 22:05. Both Crooms and Zinman finished in the top 10 at the Catholic School Classic, finishing 3rd and 10th respectively. We are looking forward to improvement next season as the freshmen train more.” 

This year’s mile club recipients were Kevin Hemmersmeier (400 miles), and Andrew Zinman and Olivia Causse (350 miles). Petrone received the 500 mile club. Each recipient ran those miles between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and received a golf-style shirt with their name and miles run.

Juan Diego girls soccer had a successful season, finishing 12-5-2.

“We scored a total of 58 goals and only allowed 12; were finalists in the Rio Tinto Cup and made it to the semi-finals of the state tournament,” said Myriah Fankhauser, JDCHS girls head soccer coach. “However, what defines our program are the young women on our team. They are young ladies of character who support one another like family. They are service oriented and strive to be examples of Christ on and off the field. We are graduating four wonderful seniors who had very successful careers at Juan Diego. Next year we anticipate having a strong team and competing for a state championship.”

Juan Diego girls tennis team featured three freshmen, two juniors and two seniors, finishing with wins over Bear River, Waterford and Ben Lomond.  

“The girls fought hard and had many close matches that went the full three sets,” said Arthur Miyazaki, JDCHS girls tennis coach. “The team had only three varsity members; the other four were new to the line-up this year.”  

Nominated for UHSAA Academic All-State honors was senior Amber Wolff.

The Soaring Eagle girls volleyball team had an overall record of 5-13 this year, and was 0-8 in conference. Senior Kenzie Nickles was “our best hitter with a .204 attack average over the season, 2.5 kills per set, and 147 kills over the season,” said Stephanie Jones, JDCHS volleyball coach. Senior Dani Beatty was “our best defender with 1.7 digs per set and 101 total digs over the season,” said Jones.

Nominated for UHSAA Academic All-State honors was Danielle Beatty. 

 

St. Joseph Catholic High School  

The Saint Joseph Catholic High School girls tennis team won the UHSAA 2A Tennis State Championship Oct. 3 at Liberty Park as a 1A division school. This is the fourth tennis state championship in the school’s history. Amanda Higgs, a senior, placed first in 2nd Singles against Rowland Hall. Christiana Behnken and Ali Koehler, both seniors, placed first in 1st Doubles against Manti High School; Margy Maher and Kaili Kashiwaeda, both juniors, placed second in 2nd Doubles against Rowland Hall.

“This team is particularly special to us because several of these girls we taught to play tennis,” said Cindy Reinhard, SJCHS tennis co-coach. “That was something we thought of during the finals.” 

In girls tennis, the Academic All-State Team included SJCHS seniors Amanda Higgs, Cristiana Behnken and Ali Koehler.

Both the SJCHS boys and girls cross country team won the Region 18 championship and advanced to the state championship finals at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City, where the team finished third in the state. Sophomore Meghan Clare had the best girls individual finish in third place; junior Chris O’Brien finished in ninth place for the boys best individual.

“The team worked hard and was dedicated, running throughout the summer and into the fall, which helped the athletes perform,” said Jenna Favero, SJCHS cross country coach. “We’re excited because we didn’t lose team members and we will have a promising team next year.” 

St. Joseph girls volleyball team was co-Region 18 champion with Intermountain Christian School. All-Region players were White and senior Cydni Myers, sophomore Kathleen Tomon, junior Elisabeth Schmelling. White also was an Academic All-State player.

In the 1-A state tournament, the team won its first match before falling in three sets to Piute in the quarterfinals at Utah Valley University, said Ray Franklin, SJCHS girls volleyball coach. The team’s record is 17-6, for a “pretty good season,” said Franklin. “We had a young team and somewhat inexperienced team, but we were still able to be quite successful.”

SJCHS plays fall boys baseball because the school doesn’t have a football team, said Steve Mendez, a SJCHS 1998 graduate. The team was a co-Region 18 champion and advanced to the state championship as the number 1 seed. Nick Gruet, a junior, was an All-Region 18 champion; as were sophomores Mat Morton, Danny Donlevy, Masen White; and freshman Luke Rahe. The team had no seniors; Mendez expects all 17 players to return next year. 

During the championship, “We played Valley High School and lost 9-1 in a good game, we just couldn’t get our offense going,” Mendez said; Valley High School won the state title. 

The SJCHS girls soccer team finished fourth in Region 18 and advanced to the first round of the state championship playoffs, but lost in a shootout to Miller High School. The Academic Allstate players were seniors Amanda Higgs, Cristiana Behnken, and Ali Koehler.

“Overall, with one state championship and two Region 18 championships, the SJCHS Jayhawks had a very successful season,” said Alex Salvo, SJCHS athletic director and dean of students. “We are very proud of the students and the effort, not only because of their quality, but also because of the quality of our coaches.”

On the Judge Memorial boys golf team, junior Max Butcher qualified for the UHSAA 4A State Tournament held at Riverbend Golf Course in Riverton. Butcher had to shoot 80 or better in the two-day tournament to make the cut to play in the state tournament; he shot 84. JMCHS took fifth overall in Region 6. 

“This was one of our most competitive years; the scores in this region are much lower than in the other regions,” said Nate Olsen, JMCHS golf coach. “Out of 20 players, we will lose three seniors, so we should have a strong team next year.” 

Seniors nominated for UHSAA Academic All-State honors were Paul Oliver and Hale Rogers.

 

Judge Memorial Catholic High School  

The Judge Memorial girls soccer team completed the season with a 5-7 record, placing sixth in Region 6. 

“We were a little more positive this year, winning one more game than we did last year in 4A,” said Asha Richardson Hesketh, JMCHS girls soccer coach. “We competed a lot better this year. We have 13 seniors who will graduate this year, and 11 juniors and 18 freshmen who will return.” 

Seniors nominated for UHSAA Academic All-State honors were Francesca Botto, Caroline Holyoak, Caroline Pribble, Madison Ravarino, Lindsay Ryan and Mikaela Schmiett.

Qualifying for the UHSAA 4A girls tennis state tournament, held in mid-October at Liberty Park, were  Mira Thompson, 2nd singles;  Sarah Lewon and Jessica Jenny, 2nd doubles;  Emily Rougelot, 3rd singles; and alternates Sarah Beth Anderson and Annalise Hodge. The alternates did not play. 

New this season in girls tennis was the assistant coach, Tracey Valentine, and the facility the Salt Lake Tennis Club, where they played. The head coach is Dave Todoroff. 

“We had a bit of a rebuilding year, but it was pretty good looking forward,” said Valentine. “We had 23 girls play and more than half of them were freshmen and sophomores, or they were new to tennis. Our two junior team captains, Emmi Koszinowski and Mira Thompson, did a great job helping the girls get used to high school tennis and competitive tennis. The girls played well at tournaments in St. George and Logan this year. We had a little trouble against the bigger 4A high schools, but everybody improved significantly this year.”

The Judge Memorial cross country team finished 16th in the UHSAA 4A Region 6 Cross Country meet and earned a Second Team All-Region honor. In the state championship, junior Rachel Shubella represented the team and finished 16th in the cross country meet; she earned a Second Team All-Region honor. Joseph Stokes was nominated for UHSAA 4A Academic All-State.

In girls’ volleyball, sophomore setter Maddie Bradshaw was named the “Utah Player of the Week” Sept. 20 by MaxPreps and the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The Lady Bulldogs concluded their regular season with a win over Woods Cross to finish in second place in Region 6. 

During the state championship tournament at Utah Valley University, Judge Memorial was defeated in the first round of the consolation bracket. 

“We had eight seniors, one junior and three sophomores who were our starting varsity players,” said Matt Carlson, JMCHS volleyball coach. “Judge was third highest in digs per set in the state, and we were known for defense. Although we didn’t finish how we wanted to at state, this was a successful season for the Lady Bulldogs in terms of improvements and building new players.” 

Seniors nominated for UHSAA Academic All-State honors were Erin Malooly and Lauren Naatz.

Nominated for UHSAA Academic All-State honors in football were seniors Maxwell Barnett, Nathan Higley, Michael Kearns and Jesus Salazar.