Spring sports end with many state appearances
SALT LAKE CITY—As school lets out for the summer, athletes at all three Catholic high schools are looking back at strong showings in spring sports this season.
Judge Memorial CHS
Judge clinched a state win in soccer over Morgan (see "Bulldogs claim state soccer title").
At state competition, the girls golf team of seniors Sophie Gross, Sofia Clark, Erica Magelette and Vic Garcia with sophomores Hannah Gose and Gabbie Parker finished third. After the first day of play, Judge was leading play by five strokes. Morgan came back and made up those five strokes the second day, resulting in a tie for second place with Judge. At the playoff hole, Judge fell to Morgan by one stroke.
Judge had previously come in second in region behind Morgan.
In track and field, the Bulldogs finished sixth overall at state. Sophomore Kaya Heideman took second in the 200 meters and third in 100 meters. Sophomore Madi Tartaro took fourth in 400 meters and fifth in 800 meters. Junior Allison Ryan placed eighth in the 3200 meters and Bella Jones placed ninth in the 400 meters.
In sprint medley, senior Jenessa Jimoh and sophomores Kaya Heideman, Bella Jones and Tartaro placed second. The 4x4 relay team of Jimoh, Tartaro, Jones and Ryan placed fourth, while the 4x100 meter relay team of junior Jill Nelson, along with freshmen Asnica Lloyd, Audrey Sparano and Ariceli Blake, placed fifth.
In long jump, senior Sophia Overfelt placed fourth, while sophomore Emily Malous took third in shot put.
The lone boy Bulldog at state, senior Frederick Okongo, took second in boys long jump and ninth in 100 meters.
“It was a good year, especially for the girls’ side,” coach Mele Vaisima said. “Although our numbers are small, we have great, high-quality athletes. This is a good step for a championship year next year.”
The boys tennis team had two singles players, sophomore Luke Pearson and senior Tony Robinson, advance to the semifinals in state competition. In that round, Pearson lost to eventual state champion Lansing Jenkins of Waterford. Robinson defeated players from San Juan and Price in the first two rounds, then was beaten by Shilp Shah of Waterford.
The first doubles team of sophomores Simon Briesacher and Carter Titmus qualified for state but was eliminated in the first round.
In boys lacrosse, the Bulldogs had a solid year, winning 10 games and advancing to the second round of the state tournament after defeating Timpview 8-7 in the first round. In the second round they were knocked out by Viewmont in a 5-2 game.
In the double-elimination state tournament, the Judge baseball team won games against Delta (6-2) and Grand County (9-7) before losing to Juab and Union.
The Bulldogs finished 15-11 overall. Seniors Seiji Nagasawa and Jack Boomer received 4A All-state Honorable Mentions.
Juan Diego CHS
The Soaring Eagle baseball team defeated Mountain Crest, Orem and Desert Hills in the first three rounds at state and then went to the semifinals before being defeated by Dixie. This was the team’s highest placing since coach Kellen Carsey came to Juan Diego in 2013.
While the team started the season off slow, losing its first four games, it won 20 of its last 21 games to finish out the regular season. Infielder senior Dawson Stiefel was named Region 11 MVP and junior Cooper Rust was named to First Team All Region.
“The kids went out and performed really well,” Carsey said. “We have a lot to be proud of in what they accomplished and how they worked.”
In boys lacrosse, after a strong season the Soaring Eagle team, which is ranked fifth in the state, made it to the state semi-finals. After defeating Highland and American Fork in the early rounds, Juan Diego lost to #1 seeded Park City, the eventual state champions, 10-8 in semifinal play. The team finished with a 13-8 record.
Robert “Bo” Caldwell (defense) was named a 2018 U.S. Lacrosse All-American. Jonathon Castor (midfield), Hunter Easterly (defense) and Caldwell were named to the UHSLL All-State first team. Andy Schuman (attack) received second team honors and Sam Burbank (attack) received an honorable mention. Several players were named all-region: Gavin Haines (defense), Zach Hoffman (midfield), Deven Baker (attack), Michael Herman (midfield), Andrew Ballman (defense) and Dominick Fabry (attack).
In track and field at the state meet, senior Kyle Abundo took third in the shot put, senior Angelina Todaro took sixth place in girls javelin, and seniors Conner Thompson qualified in boys javelin and Chinonso Opara qualified in shot put but did not place.
In tennis #1 singles region runner-up sophomore Sam Nelson qualified for state but was eliminated in the first round of play.
St. Joseph CHS
In boys soccer the Jayhawks took second in region and went to the quarter-finals at state, defeating Gunnison Valley 5-4 in the first round. In quarter-final play St. Joseph’s lost to Rowland Hall St. Marks 2-0.
The girls golf team of Emma Dulaney, Kathleen van Hoffman, Delaney Willie, Cecilia Sepulveda, Emma Lare and Camryn Ingram took second in region and came in fourth at state.
In track and field, junior Virginia Toman was named the state champion in discus and took second place in shot put. Junior Madeline Holl placed third in both 100-meter hurdle and 300-meter hurdles. She also took fourth in the high jump. Abby Belko, a sophomore, finished fifth in the 300-meter hurdles and eighth in 100-meter hurdles.
A team comprised of Holl, Belko, junior Anne Davis and sophomore Katy Hurst finished fourth in 4x100 meters relay.
“They are a great bunch of kids,” coach Joe Loffredo said. “They worked hard and it paid off for them.”
The Jayhawks track and field team went into the state meet seeded eighth but jumped to fourth seed by the end of the competition, Loffredo said.
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