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Show C2 Wednesday, October 31, 2007 Choosing athletes of the year Vernal Express Girls cross country athlete of the year chosen i E Express Writer Choosing individual athletes to be this year's Vernal Express Ex-press Athletes Ath-letes of the Year for fall season turned into a far more monumental task then was foreseen. fore-seen. After the initial selections, the coaches were called and the conversation with each centered around team. "The team is required for those athletes to put up such high numbers," they'd say. "But I can't pick the entire team," was our reply. So we at the Vernal Express had to pick one athlete and ask (sometimes beg) the coach to comment on whomever we chose. Thus, this first awarding of the AthletesoftheYearforfall season is merely our opinion and does not reflect the opinion of the coaches or players. We congratulate every athlete who competed throughout the season this year. Our selections are: Derek Bunderson, football; Tess Murray, girls soccer; Adri-anne Adri-anne Francisco, girls tennis; Stratton Schulz, golf; Jesse Greenwood and Amber Martin, boys and girls cross country; and Kayley Poglajen, volleyball. We tried to find athletes that excelled in both the sporting and the world outside of sports. However, this was not an academic aca-demic athlete award, so we had to find athletes that had consistent success even in the pressure moments mo-ments of their sports. Comparatively, if a junior and a senior performed at the same Football Ends Continued from CI onthevergeofarally. Both teams failed to score in the third quarter, quar-ter, Emery added a little icing with a fourth quarter touchdown that the Utes failed to answer. Derek Bunderson, the Utes' leading receiver, felt the Utes' trouble completing passes attributed at-tributed to their loss. "We couldn't complete our passes towards the end of the game," he said. Harding was' proud after the It-point gap was; reached in the first quarter his Utes fought back so valiantly. "We let the big play get away from us," said Harding. "But we didn't just quit after that. It hurts to lose after playing that hard, but they should have no regrets." Bunderson added, "We knew we were better than we had played through most of the season, but we couldn't pull it together." The Utes finished the season with a 1-9 record and lost every region match up. Harding looks forward to a better year next season after his team completes an off-season program. level at each event we gave the award to the senior, recognizing the junior will have a chance to show their best again next year. Volleyball was probably the most difficult sport to choose an obvious winner. We were torn between be-tween a number of the girls, but the pendulum swung severely in Poglajen's favor when one of the other athlete of the year award winners picked her as their favorite high school athlete to watch. Although volleyball was the most difficult for us, we faced a similar situation in each of the other sports. Three or four star athletes competed at a high level during each event. It was hard to determine among those three or four who was the most impressive. impres-sive. In our opinion this is who deserves the award, the question remains: do you agree? If we were awarding a scholarship scholar-ship who's right or who's wrong might matter a little more than it does, but since we're only giving out Dragging rights and a little publicity nobody is missing out on much. But my invitation to the readers still stands, and if you feel we got it wrong let me know. My only regret for this award is that I could not attend and view the athletes during practice. I'm sure the ones chosen are among the hardest worker's in their respective sports, but I wish we could have observed their work ethic a little more. We congratulate this year's winners of the Vernal Express Fall Athletes of the Year and wish all of the athletes who competed the best of luck in future endeavors. Express Writer Amber Martin was selected by the Vernal Express as girls' cross country athlete of the year. She was always a consistent and fast runner. Head Coach Gary Galley said she always ran and worked hard throughout the season. ' Martin is a senior with a 3.8 GPA, she finished 18th during the region competition. I caught up with her last week for an interview. Q: What doyou believe earned you the athlete of the year for your sport? A: A lot of hard work and determination. de-termination. I devoted myself to spending a lot of time practicing and I only missed one meet. Q: How many hours do you spend per day practicing during dur-ing the season and out of we season? A- About an one hour and a half during the week and a half hour on the weekends. Q: Who do you look up to for inspiration? A Sara McPhie helped me push myself harder just to stick with her. .. . Q: What is your favorite sport? A Cross country. Q: Any other hobbies? A: Track, snowboarding, camping, four-wheeling, hiking and backpacking. Q: What are your plans for the future? A: Go to college. Q: Who is your professional athlete in your sport? A: I don't have one, I'm not into watching sports. Q: Who outside of you sport is you favorite athlete at the high school level? A: The soccer girls. Q: What one word best sums up the season? A: Memorable, we qualified for state and we're all really good friends. Q: Most memorable moment athletically? A: Qualifying for state, it was a good feeling to know that you worked hard enough to succeed. suc-ceed. Q: Memorable moment not related to athletics? A: The bus trips were always fun. Boys cross country athlete of the year picked By Cjuey Qpthbhi Girls volleyball athlete of the year selected Br Casey CmsTBga Express Writer The Vernal Express decided on Kayley Poglajen as athlete of the year for volleyball. Kayley led her team in assists during every game throughout the year. She was the Utes' setter and a defensive specialist. Poglajen hopes to play at the collegiate volleyball and has had a few schools that are interested in her. "She is one of the difference makers on our team. She is leader on the court and brings an intensity to the team," said Head Coach Doris Salazar. She has lettered in softball three years and maintains a 3.7 GPA. Q: What do you believe is the thing that earned you the athlete of the year for your sport? A: People that have watched me say that I never letdown and I always play to win. Q: How many hours do you spend per day practicing during dur-ing the season and out of the season? A: Three hours duringthe season. sea-son. I try to play year round. Q: Who do you look up to for inspiration? A: My mom, she always puts people belore nerseli. V Kayley Poglajen sets for her team mate, her assists helped her become athlete of the year for volleyball, but she said being a setter is not her favorite spot on the volleyball court. A: Tiger Woods Q: Who outside of you sport is you favorite athlete at the high school level? A: Justin Curtice (wrestling) he iSfStedRStrYmg aift KiMW&wtiBt Q:, What; is your favorites he tsrHe is going fot tfthis Express Writer The Vernal Express picked Jesse Greenwood as the boys cross country athlete of the year. He was a consistent runner run-ner throughout the year and continually finished in the top three for his team. Head Coach Gary Galley said that he always ran hard and worked hard during practice. Greenwood is in his senior year and has used his work ethic that helped him endure the distance dis-tance running to keep a 3.8 GPA He settled down long enough to allow me an interview. Q: What do you believe is the thing that earnedyou the athlete of the year for your sport? A: I always tried to run my hardest and work my hardest. Q: How many hours do you spend per day practicing during the season and out of the season? sea-son? A: Five miles during the season and between three and five out of the season. Q: Who do you look up to for inspiration? A Ireally enjoyed our coaches. They were always positive no matter how poorly we did. Q: What is your favorite sport? A: Outside of running, rodeo. It is something that I've always enjoyed. Q: Any other hobbies? A: Rodeo, hunting, fishing and camping. Q: What are your plans for the future? A: I want to go to college, but I'm not sure for what yet. I'm just waiting to see. Q: Who is your professional athlete in your sport? A: I don't have one. Q: Who outside of you sport is you favorite athlete at the high school level? A: The boys soccer team, they're really good. Q: What one word best sums up the season? A: Great Q: Most memorable moment athletically? A: State was my best race. I ran really well. Q: Memorable moment not related to athletics? A: One of the guys strapped a Twinkie in front of his face while he ran. J it s fl. - - ' i hel' ' Amber Martin races during the Idaho Falls Invitational. Martin looks up to teammate Sarah McPhie, who she said helped her to push herself and succeed this year. LWrd fW-7i lie y t WMMART 1851 WHwy 40 Vernal r sport? A: Volleyball, I feel the most confident at it. Q: Any other hobbies? A: Softball, anything outdoors, out-doors, drawing and music. Q: What are your plans for the future? A: I want to be a dermato-logical dermato-logical surgeon. I want to play volleyball in college. Q: Do you want to play any other position? A: Defensive specialist is my favorite. That is where I will play in college. Q: Who is your favorite professional profes-sional athlete? year. Q: What one word best sums up the season? A: Heart, I think that what won us some games. Everyone chipped in and kept playing. Q: Most memorable moment athletically? A: Playing Carbon during pre-season. It was the best game I played this season. Q: Memorable moment not related to athletics? A: Having the coach swear at us, something she never did. It was funny and took everyone by surprise. We were all in awe because she never did that. Volleyball: Crista Calder Football: Dallas 3mujn "J ir5F7 Football: Kaden Richard Cheerleading: Kaili Truman- 7ih Drill Team: Taryn Puro GE87 (Bid rtiiiiriliffliTri IJlHIiMB to 0iOnnL?rt COMPLETE UNE OF TIRES BZVSNTOFSRFOSXr PASSENQERPEFOnMANCE LIGHT TRUCKLARQE TRUCK All Toyo tires are on sale uirougn uctooer ji. wvr. sm stonior mh. 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