OCR Text |
Show • N E W S Spanish Fork B12 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2008 Covering what matters most Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News DEFENSIVE STAND-OUT: Sarah Clark flies in to clear the ball against Juan Diego. Salem Hills finishes third in Region 8 SF Cross Country competes at Region Dave Boyack / Spanish Fork News DEFENSIVE STAND-OUT: Sarah Clark flies in to clear the ball against Juan Diego. On Wednesday, Oct. 8, Region 8 leader Juan Diego traveled to Salem Hills. In an electrifying first half, the Lady Skyhawks took it to Juan Diego. The Skyhawks put pressure on Juan Diego and held their own defensively. The girls were excited, the bench was excited and the fans were excited. It was a wonderful final home game for the players, especially the seniors. The ladies held Juan Diego to 1-0 at half with the lone goal being scored in the 39th minute of the half — 60 seconds away from a shutout half. Juan Diego continued the attack jn the second half, taking advantage of small defensive mistakes defensively to put the game away, 5-0, and secure the region championship with a perfect 8-0 record. Lindsay Stevens and jSarah Clark were MVPs for the game. Super-subs jwere Stacey Tuckett and jKallee Wilson. j Saiem then traveled to Carbon for their final reion game, Friday, Oct. 10. e Lady Skyhawks were blaying for a playoff seeding. The region standings e so close that the Skyawks could have ended up anywhere from second to fourth place. This was a new situation for these ladies and ithe added pressure caused jextra mental tension. The ladies started out nervous and jittery. Carbon was hungry for a win, and were playing for similar stakes. The first half ended with the teams tied 0-0. The second half saw the ladies play some of their best soccer of the season Lady Dons qualify for State Dave Boyack STAFF WRITER Kate Jar man / Spanish Fork News MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Rachel Simons was an MVP in the Skyhawks' final regular season game. — as a team. The more relaxed play allowed Salem to develop more of a flow in the game. The Lady Skyhawks outplayed Carbon throughout the next 40 minutes. Kari Turner, our stability at center mid, found the net in about the 70th minute with a shot from outside the 18-yard box that the keeper could not handle. The pressure mounted for the ladies to maintain the lead through the remaining minutes. The Skyhawks did so, despite five extra minutes of stop- page time, a hostile crowd, rough play from Carbon and questionable calls. Sam Bigler earned her second shutout of the season. The Lady Skyhawks earned a well-deserved victory, and secured third place in the region. MVPs for the game were Kari Turner, Lindsay Stevens and Rachel Simons, with super-sub Alyssa Stones. The Skyhawks will take on the Waterford Ravens Wednesday, Oct. 15 in their first state playoff game. Spanish Fork's boys and girls cross country teams competed in the Region 4 championships Saturday, Oct. 11 at Pleasant Grove High School with hopes of qualifying forthe state cross country meet on Oct. 22. When the dust had settled, the Spanish Fork girls accomplished what they set out to do. Running their best race of the year, the Lady Dons placed three girls in the top 12 to earn their trip to the big race. On a cold wet morning, sophomore Ashley Phelps finished in the medal group with a ninth place overall finish and a time of 20:27 on the tough Pleasant Grove 5K course. Bethany Carson was close behind in 11th place at 20:34 with Ashley Shelly also very close in 12th place at 20:35. Jenn Lowe and Jenn Youd also ran very well, with times of 22:39 and 22:47 to round out the Spanish Fork scoring. Leading the way for the boys were Spencer Hansen and Brandon Poulter with 14th and 18th place finishes. The boys team came close, but finished just 12 points out of a state-qualifying spot. The Lady Don's will wrap up their season Wednesday, Sept. 22 at the state meet at Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City. Wilson: From BYU • B l it was like a young child who enters Baskin Robins for the first time having to decide between 31 flavors. Wilson enjoyed this process with many colleges, taking a handful of recruiting trips before making his final decision. Of all the top-notch schools, including Stanford, Tennessee, Miami and LSU, it came down to a chess match between BYU and LSU. "It was pretty neck-andneck the whole way," said Wilson. "LSU won the national championship and is a dominant powerhouse Sn the SEC. I've enjoyed the relationship with their ALL WEATHER: Brandon Poulter runs at the Region 4 meet in Pleasant Grove. Poulter finished 18th overall, despite cold, wet weather conditions. SF football: coaches, so it made it hard to turn them down, but it's what's best for me." By staying in Utah, family and friends will have more opportunities to attend his games and follow his college career more closely. But even though family and friends close by are added incentives, it wasn't the deciding factor in his choice of schools. Wilson mentioned from a football standpoint why he chose the Cougars over the Tigers. "I would probably say the use of their tight ends," he said. BYU has had a rich tradition of producing great tight ends in All-Americans such as Gordon Hudson, David Mills, Chris Smith, Itula Mili, Chad Lewis and Jonny Harline among others. Besides that, the Cougars haven't fallen short with their All-American candidates of signal callers which are even on a longer list. But with all of the attention received, the SF standout has included many friends and teammates to make them feel like they are just as responsible for him reaching such an elite status as a high school athlete. It has been a challenging decision but Wilson hasn't let it become a distraction from the teams' goals either. "The decision was always in the back of my mind," he said. "It didn't distract me but now I can just focus on SF Dons. It won't be like, 'Where am I going to go?' or 'Where will I sign this February?' It was just kind of nagging at me in the back of my mind, but never a distraction." After contacting Assistant Head Coach Lance Reynolds with his decision to commit to BYU, Wilson received a phone call from Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall. "[Mendenhall] said he heard I had some news for him," said Wilson. "I just told him, T m ready to be a Cougar.' He was really excited and fired up about this class (2009 recruits) and he's excited for us to get over there and begin working out this summer." And so is the rest of Cougar Nation, Richard. The Vikings came back with a long kick return and a 40-yard Lefire after a 9-yard Breck Shaun Johnson touchLewis keeper on fourth down run to make it 56and six saved the drive. 27. Then Spanish Fork The Dons advanced 20 dished up an impressive yards in both of their touchdown of its own, next two plays, and then a 46-yard Breck Lewis Lewis tossed to Rich- pass to Travis Still that ard Wilson for a 17-yard cut Pleasant Grove's lead touchdown, which was to 22, 56-34. called back because of an But despite a defenoffensive pass interfer- sive stop and another ence penalty. This didn't valiant offensive effort seem to phase Lewis, that saw the Dons reach however. From the 32 the PG six-yard-line, yard line he found Chase Spanish Fork couldn't Loftin downfield, and the score, and the Vikings Dons quickly got back held on to win the game, the six points they'd lost 56-34. from the penalty. It was Breck Lewis passed for 49-27, Pleasant Grove, 303 yards and rushed for after a failed PAT. 159. From COMEBACK • B l I |