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Show C4 Wednesday, January 10, 2007 o o "5vT . o .. . x Vernal Express Uintah Utes swim in three meets in December 3"SPl Creedon Merkley (125) works on turning his man. r' piipaiiiife.: piiiii. ; December saw the Uintah Utes swim team go to three away meets. On Dec. 7th, the Utes swam Ogden and Ben Lomond at the Ogden High School Pool. Scores at this meet for the Boys Team were Ogden 336, Uintah 140, and Ben Lomond 86. Girls scores were Ogden 260, Uintah 162, and Ben Lomond 110. High points for this meet were the girls' 400 free relay, which won first place with a time of 4:48.19, more than six seconds ahead of any of the other four relays swimming. Also in the Girls 100 Backstroke event, Heather Fugal took first place with a time of 1:12.12, and Melissa Pipher took second with a time of 1:19.07. On Dec. 15 and 16, the Utes attended the Judge Memorial Holiday Classic, where they met 9 other teams from around the state. Uintah was disappointed disap-pointed to come in last at this meet, but Coach Cheryl Bruno said the team gained valuable experience swimming 4A and 5A teams. The only other 3A team at this meet was Wasatch High. Several swimmers made time improvements at the Holiday Classic. In the 200 Freestyle, Justin Allred improved his time by 3.09 seconds. sec-onds. In the 200 I.M., Scott Anderson improved his time by 5.03 seconds, and Nathan ... Boys Relay Team: Mitch Freestone, Mackay Duffin Jewett by .13 seconds. In the 50 Freestyle, Jordan Evans cut off 1.42 seconds, Annika Bruno 1.3, Jessse Jackson .49, and Jared Jensen .32. In the 100 Fly, Desi Bruno improved by 3.97. In the 100 Free, Hailee Pilcher cut off 3.52 seconds, Jordan Evans 2.18, Annika Bruno 2.92, Frank Chandler .73. In the 500 Free, Tyra Anderson improved her time by 8.33 seconds. In the 100 Backstroke, Jared Jensen improved by 1.77 seconds. In the 100 Breaststroke, Sami Meinrod improved by .74 and Greg Fugal by .32. The Utes also swam in a Wasatch Invitational on Jared Jensen, Nathan Jewett, and Dec. 19 against 6 teams. Boys scores were: Wasatch 399, Clearfield 353, Uintah 229 Carbon 132, South Summit 77, and Oakley 22. Girls scores were Wasatch 390, Clearfield 335, South Summit 158, Uintah 130, Carbon 116, Oakley 65, and Union 5. The points for Union High School were made by its sole girls' swimmer, Alyssa Hales, who practices with the Uintah team. Top points at the Wasatch Invitational were earned by team captain Nathan Jewett, who won first place in the 500 Freestyle with 6:13.48 and fifth place in the 200 I.M. with 2:30.79. Kayden Abplanalp (145) gives his opponent a vicious crossface. Wrestlers have good performance in Green River Coach Gregg Stensgard remarked that the Green River Duals was the best performance of the year for his Uintah Utes. After struggling before the Christmas break Stensgard was relieved to see his team wrestle at such a high level. The team took second overall finishing 6-1 6-1 in the dual style tournament. One outstanding highlight for the team was a win over last year's Wyoming state champion team, Star Valley. Their other notable wins came againsWRiverton, Cheyenne Central, and Greely Central. The only loss for the Utes came against Green River, the tournament tour-nament champions. Stensgard, however, was not too disappointed disap-pointed with the loss stating, Sportsman's Banquet 2007 January 25th, 2007 6:00 p.m. Vernal Western Park miwmimmii Hjainiul '"'I v S& - It Brad Harris Realtree Calling Pro ; x ' -l W a., hum tmt- Justin Todd Herod Country Gospel Featured Speakers: Brad Harris Sponsored By: Vernal First Baptist Church World Vision Assembly of Justin Todd Herod God Vernal Christian Church Dinner (Dutch Oven) Door Prizes (Including a Knight Rifle) Game Calling Music Testimonies Ashley Valley Calvary Chapel Entrance Fee $10 Kids under 5 Free Bring the whole family. Table of 8 $75 For Tickets Contact 435-789-1347 "If not for two mistakes we could have won." The Utes lost 40-29, a very slim deficit in team wrestling scores. In individual competition, Stensgard thought Justin Curtice (152) had a sensational tournament, going undefeated and beating a Wyoming state champion. Stensgard called Curtice his most "consistent wrestler" this season. Creedon Merkley (125) had what Stensgard believed to be his best tournament. Merkley went undefeated and also beat two former state champions. Jared Ruppe dropped a weight class down to 160 and finished with a perfect record. Stensgard noted that he looked "stronger, meaner, and leaner," lean-er," at 160. Kayden Abplanalp (145) finished with only one loss. Stensgard noted this as an exceptional achievement. Colby Christensen (103), Zach Reynolds (112), and Chanse Rinderknecht (130) all ended the two day tournament with two losses. Stensgard is happy to see his team getting back on track. With Ruppe returning from injury and getting back to his expected form Stensgard is optimistic about the future. Yet, he does maintain that, "there are always new road bumps to try and prepare for as best we can." '.-"-i 1 1 Alumni hockey and the present day Utes square off. Ute hockey players past and present meet on the ice The Ute hockey alumni and the present Ute hockey team squared off on New Year's day. Coach David Pipher explained that although the game was for fun, he put together a strong team to see what the high school team could do from behind. In the end a winded alum ni team triumphed 6-5. The Alumni scored 2 goals in the first and 3 in the third, while the high school team scored 4 goals in the third. For the high school Tyler Larson led the scoring with 2 goals. Drew Stewart and Jordan Thompson scored one goal each. The alumni's scoring was led by Cajun Laub who added one to his hat trick, bringing his total to 4 goals. Mitch McCarrel and David Pipher scored the remaining two goals. Pipher, who skated for the alumni, was able to see a few holes in his high school squad, and will now use the knowledge to help his team. ' Wrestlers prepare for Tournament of Champions The 33rd annual Tournament of Champions will be held Jan. 12 and 13 at the Western Park. The tournament was first held in 1974. However, it was not until 1996, under the direction direc-tion of Gregg Stensgard, that the tournament took the next step to one of the elite tournaments tourna-ments in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The tournament for many teams across these three states is beaten only by state in importance or difficulty. This year the tournament will feature ten state champions, champi-ons, including four two-time state champions. Soaring above the rest of the competition is the tournament's very first possible possi-ble four-time champion, Tucker Lane (HWT). He is ranked second sec-ond in the nation, and already won his fourth Warrior Classic Championship (1st in history) earlier this year. He is a former for-mer triple crown winner, an extremely formidable task. The Come Ice Fish Bottle Hollow Grand Prize $350 Cabella's Gift Certificate or UIT Outfitting Cow Elk Tag Length Prize $200 Basin Sports Gift Certificate Weight Prize-$200 Prize-$200 Basin Sports Gift Certificate Entry Fee: $30 Special Event Fishing Permit or Purchase of 2007 UteTribe Season Fishing Permit Competition will run 8:00 am December 18, 2006 through February 28, 2007 at Bottle Hollow Reservoir, Ft Duchesne, Utah. Grand Prize - Overall Size (Length, Weight, Girth) Prize-Length Prize -Weight For Event Entry Visit Ute Plaza Supermarket, 7750 US Highway 40 Fort Duchesne, Utah 84026 (435) 722-3282 For more information contact UIT Fish & Wildlife Department Fisheries (435)725-4816 Take advantage of our 365 day 2007 fishing permit see 2007 Fishing, Camping, and Boating Proclamation for more information. Area restrictions apply. Sponsored by Ute Tribe U&WD and US F&WS Adult Education Night School Program! Q Q 0 o Q Let the night school program help you accomplish your education goals! Adult High School Completion GED Preparation Adult Literacy English as a Second Language Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 6:30 P.M. -9:00 P.M. Ashley Valley Ed. Center 250 South Vernal Avenue Call: 781-4675 for more info. triple crown is won only when a wrestler takes first at three of the National Tournaments available in Colorado. Maybe not his equal, but close at the heel of Lane is Skip Crooks (215) of Green River, Wyo. Crooks is a two-time Wyo. state champion and recently won the Reno Tournament of Champions (any placing in the top four at Reno results in becoming an automatic Ail-American). Ail-American). He not only won, but did so in dramatic fashion, pinning every opponent he faced. Green River also brings another All-American in their 130 pounder, Eric Harris. Harris placed third at the Reno Tournament of Champions, earning his All-American title. Returning champs , of Vernal's tournament, other than Lane, include Joe LeBlanc (160) of Meeker, Colo, and J.J. Jackson (119) of Kelly Walsh in Casper, Wyo. With the amount of talent attending the tournament, nobody should have a free walk, including Uintah's own Zach Reynolds, a 2006 State Champion, who will probably square off with Dove Creek's Grant Hobbs, a Colorado state champion, in the finals. Leblanc, a two time Colorado state champion, will probably face Jared Ruppe (160) in a tough finals match. Every match throughout the tournament promises to hold something special, with the climax cli-max happening in the championship champi-onship matches. The championship champion-ship round will begin on Jan; 13 at 5:00 p.m. L |