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Show Vernal Express Wednesday, April 14, 1993 19 Best of the best TOW ireDw Academic by Eric Pye Sports Writer Three students at Uintah High School recently received recognition recogni-tion at the state level for their accomplishments ac-complishments in the classroom and competitive field. y Amy Merkley in drill team, Amanda Wixom in basketball and James Jaussi in basketball were all honored by being named to the State All-Academic team. To be named to the team, students must have received a varsity letter in their activity. Administrators and coaches then submit senior students who have maintained a high grade point average throughout their high school years, with those averages Ladly Uties stiiirag Wasps by Eric Pye Sports Writer The Lady Ute fastpitch softball team played two very tight, close games at home in the past week with different results. Last Wednesday the team took on Wasatch in what Head Coach Ken Yama termed a "flat" effort, but still managed to pull out a 10-9 victory. "It was almost as if the kids were just going through the motions," Yama said. "I think it was a combination combi-nation of being overconfident and having a lot of distractions. In other words, we were not focussed on our game."- '., The entire game seemed to reflect the coach's assessment In the first inning, with ace Neyca Johnson on the mound, after the Lady Utes had recorded 2 outs, the girls seemed to relax. Wasatch took advantage by scoring 3 runs on 3 Ute miscues. In the bottom half of the inning, Uintah scored 2 runs on an inside the park home run by Lori Mansfield with Misty Poglajen on base. Neither team scored in the 2nd or 3rd innings. In the bottom of the 4th, the Lady Utes seemed to wake up, scoring 3 more runs as Poglajen, Amorette Johnson and Brandi Staley all doubled dou-bled followed by a Mansfield triple. "It was almost as if when we really real-ly needed to perform, we did," Yama exclaimed. Uintah led 5-2 after af-ter four. In the top half of the 5th, with two outs, Wasatch scored again. The Lady Wasps scored 3 runs on 2 errors er-rors a walk and two singles to tie it up at 5 all. First in a series Academics vs. athletics? by Eric Pye Sports Writer Concerning the issue of school funding, one thing should be made abundantly clear; it is not, or should not be, an issue of academics versus activitiesathletics. The two disciplines disci-plines go hand in hand in the United States school system. Together they offer a growing both physically and mentally human being the most well rounded education in the world! . It is true, certain education systems sys-tems offer stronger programs in one area or the other. Russian and Chinese youngsters are picked at an early age for grooming in a particular particu-lar activity, which they excel at. But listen to those young students when they grow older and every one of them express regret and sorrow for missing out on so much as they were growing up. The Japanese have a very rigid and disciplined education system where studcnls spend between 10-12 10-12 hours a day on academic learning learn-ing as do several European Countries, Coun-tries, but docs that mean their system sys-tem is better? What those countries arc begin- compared to seniors from all the other 3 A schools. This was Amy's 3rd year in drill team. Along with being a competitor, competi-tor, Amy was also the Vice-President Vice-President of the team and has accumulated accu-mulated a 3.97 GPA out of a possible possi-ble 4.0 (straight A). Her outside interests in-terests include dance, piano and "anything in the sun." Amy plans on pursuing a career in business. Amanda Wixom is a 4 year letter-woman letter-woman with a 3.93 GPA. She was also recognized as the Co-Region VII MVP, All-State basketball and All-State volleyball this year. She enjoys spellunking and anything outside and plans on pursuing a career ca-reer in nursing. Amanda will attend BYU on a full ride basketball scholarship. The Lady Wasps struck for 2 more runs in the 6th with 2 more hits and another error but Uintah responded with 2 of their own as Mansfield singled, Dixie Wiseman doubled her in and then scored on a Neyca Johnson single. The game came to a wild finish when a Wasatch batter smacked a home run over the fence for a 9-8 lead going into the bottom half of the seventh inning. Brandi Staley and Amorette both walked and stole second after advancing ad-vancing on a fielder's choice. See Lady Utes pg. 20 .-tfc'iiitifiiiriitrrVliirlViiiliiiilrll iffniillnii' LADY UTE thirdbaseman Lori Mansfield makes the play and then guns the Wasatch runner down at first. TPQkb (DlhmttqcBD? IBcdz ning to discover is that the students burn out at a young age. Stress related re-lated problems have increased at. such an alarming rate that a serious reconsideration is being given to the way in which academics should be taught and learned. Countries that have just one or the other have also developed an elitist society concerning training and recreation. Youngsters are channeled chan-neled at a young age into either an academic, general education or vocational vo-cational path, which is very hard to reverse once the course has been established. es-tablished. I wonder how many of us began to appreciate the value of an education before the age of 12? Because most of these countries offer such a limited venue, recre James Jaussi is a two year letter-man letter-man in basketball with a 3.98 GPA. James was also named to the All-Region All-Region football team and enjoys mountain biking, repelling and just about all outdoor activities. He will also pursue a career in business. "As far as I am concerned, these young student athletes represent the best of the best," Uintah High School Principal Ted Taylor stated. "Too often the academic achievements achieve-ments of our students get overlooked over-looked or they do not receive their due recognition, which makes this honor even more special. It is very unusual for three students from the same school to receive this honor in the same season which speaks highly high-ly of our entire senior class and school." mmmmihiiiim if" - hiwi i I ' " i ' w mm i m j ALL FIVE Lady Ute starters received recognition from either state or region. L-R: Amanda Wixom, Brooke Richins, Monique Reidhead, Kari Christensen and Dea Madsen. ; -i ,"- yA I'M 'mnrrr i"tt ' Mjt'.Amii ation often times is limited to those who can afford it. Every community has club teams, but people must pay to play. Often that means you must also join a club before trying out for the program. Even after joining, youngsters many times have to compete against adults . to make those teams, which means many don't get to participate until a much older age. Presently, our education systemlike sys-temlike the rest of society is faced with some tough economic challenges and choices. There are those among us who might leap to conclusions without considering every ev-ery available option first Reaching a conclusion such as cutting activitiesathletics this early in the game without first studying all available options is near sighted in the least and possibly tragic. Every available study ever conducted con-ducted has shown the benefits activities activ-ities lend to academic achievement, including graduation and pursuit of higher education such as college or trade school. Let us walk this challenging poth slowly, with thoughtful consideration considera-tion for each step so that we may emerge as well rounded and prepared pre-pared as possible on the road of life. HL,..xs!.wiM.r'as,.. , , I,,,, riMinrMmwilwniBMMm XL-Jl ' " Ll ..jj AMY MERKLEY, Amanda Wixom and James Jaussi display plaques they received in recog If You Have Any Upcoming Sports Events or Happenings Contact the Vernal Express 789-3511 Team improves to 3-0 coir by Eric Pye Sports Writer The Uintah soccer team is on a roll and the Carbon Dinos were the latest conquest, falling 2-1 at the Ute lair last Thursday afternoon. Despite the victory their fifth straight, Head Coach Ed Browning found plenty to be concerned with. "We are doing a lot of good things in our games, that much is obvious from the record. But there is plenty of room for improvement also. The things we do well, we have been doing do-ing well in all our games. But the parts that need work, still need a lot of work." The game against Carbon was a case in point. Uintah totally dominated domi-nated the contest, controlling the pace and flow, but still trailed 1-0 at half. Uintah took 13 first half shots against goal while allowing the Dino's only 7, yet still trailed. Finally, the Ute offense controlled the ball close to 30 of the 40 first half minutes, but still trailed. "Offensively, the team continues to pick up our ball control scheme very well. We are passing and controlling con-trolling with more ease every game," Browning stated. 'The kids have created great scoring opportunities opportu-nities for each other, but that is were one of our biggest short falls occurs." oc-curs." Coach Browning is referring to the fact that despite the many wide open shots his team gets each game, the players arc not taking advantage of their own hard work. "It's a combination com-bination of over kicking and showing show-ing off," Browning explained. "We have the opening and then instead of hitting it, we try to blast the ball in, which translates into blocked shots by opposing goalies." nition of their academic and Six Lady Utes receive Region and State recognition by Eric Pye Sports Writer The Uintah High School girls' basketball team received outstanding outstand-ing recognition recently from two different sources. The 3A coaches recognized four of the five Lady Ute starters for their talent by naming Amanda Wixom to the 1st team All-State and Kari Christensen, Monique Reidhead and Brooke Richens to the 2nd team All-State. Amanda and Monique are both seniors while Brooke and Kari are juniors. Amanda was also chosen to play in the 3A4A All Star game and will play for BYU on a full ride basketball basket-ball scholarship. Region VII also recognized all four players along with Dea Madsen as All-Region selections. One other Lady Ute Lori Mansfield, received Honorable Mention recognition. Amanda and Monique were bestowed one further honor by being named as the Co-MVP's Co-MVP's of Region VII. PATRICE BAUMEL (background) (back-ground) chases down opponent to help out defensively. During the first half of the Carbon game. Coach Browning became so upset with his team, he pulled the starting forwards and mid-fielders with about six minutes left in the half and played his J.V. the remainder remain-der of the period. During the half, Browning let his players know in no uncertain terms how he felt about the situation and what was expected. expect-ed. The Utes scored twice in the second sec-ond and should have made it three, if not for a missed penalty kick attempt. at-tempt. Meanwhile, defensively, it was the same story. The Ute defense played solidly, allowing only 12 shots on goal for the entire game. The only time they were in trouble Geamro r 55 n LI - Academic All State selection for athletic prowess. Not to be forgotten, Head Coach Frank Barker was recognized as Regten VII Coach Of The Year. "This was my most enjoyable and fulfilling year as a Coach at Uintah," Barker stated. 'These kids were such a pleasure to work with. They truly deserve all the honors given them." Another aspect Coach Barker is proud of is the academic achievements achieve-ments and standards the team has kept up. Amanda was named to the All-State Academic team with a 3.93 GPA and the olher starters have maintained at least a 3.8 cumulative cu-mulative GPA with Dea Madsen maintaining a perfect 4.0. "If people understood how much sacrifice, dedication and work it took for these kids to accomplish what they did on the basketball court and keep up their high grades at the same time, they would be awe struck," Coach Barker stated. The Lady Ute basketball team was Region VII champions this year and finished third at the 3A state championships. was when a player played the ball instead of the man. "We teach the kids to mark up," Browning explained. "What that means is our player should keep a cushion of 3-4 feet between himself and the opposing player and attempt to force that player into the strength of our defense. But we still get anxious anx-ious every once in a while and go for the steal. When we do that and are not successful, it gives our opponents op-ponents a much clearer avenue to the goal. Which is exactly what happened hap-pened when Carbon scored." Uintah scored with 15 minutes gone in the second half on a nice move by Chad Luck to get free and score. Troy Reynolds put the Utes ahead for good with 9 minutes left when he beat Carbon's J.V. keeperwho keep-erwho had been brought in to replace re-place their starter after he feigned an ankle injury to keep the Utes from scoring on a previous play. Stats for the first three region games bare out how well Uintah is playing. The team has taken 68 shots on goal compared to their opponents op-ponents 36, making 8 goals while giving up only 4. That figures to 23 shots per game and 2.7 goals while allowing 13 shots per game and 1.3 . goals. The Utes face Morgan today (Wednesday) at Morgan in what Coach Browning terms a critical match. "We'll find out how good we are today. Morgan has a strong program pro-gram and are always tough. They and Lehi were the prc-scason favorites." fa-vorites." The coach feels his team needs to be more patient with their shots on offense and concentrate on the man instead of the ball defensively. |