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Show Thursday, February 8, 2007 Page 8 0 R E M TIMES prep COMMUNITY SPORTS. PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR FUN Stete Orem boys Jeff Mathewson Schedule ;i M') assembly immediiitelv i VI it ion for a statue of ( o;i h Dan Miller in front ol the school. Iri the cel-ebralion cel-ebralion bem at Orem Hitfh S( hool. Ie anse it just won a stale ( hampionship ( hem reached the pinnacle of success Saturday night, overcoming a tough Mountain ( rest team to win its first-ever Ixivs swimming state title at the Richards Huilding at BYU. Helot e the Tigers could take the victory plunge into the pool, however, they needed to over take a tough Mustang s()iiad to capture 4A state swimming's lop prize. I hanks to strong performances perfor-mances in Ijoth its individual and relav races, the Ixiys in blue and vellow did just that. "It's great for our school and it is the IxM leeling in the world," said hem's Xach Miller. A strong first day of com-M-lition made it possible for the Tigers to overtake Mountain Moun-tain ( rest on Saturday as the ( )i em Ikivs put themselves ahead of high expectations. ( )rem ended the first day in second place behind Mountain ( rest going into Saturday's action. But what really put a hop in Orem head coach Dan Miller's step was the point differential dif-ferential at the top. "We were suposed to be down 20 points alter Day Sky's the limit for Russ Lyman ', !, ;M It almost sounds too good to le true, a (i-foot-5 post player who has a )ersonal bust of (i-ti in the high jump. T hrow in the fait that he's coachable, a hard worker and a good teammate and you have a coach's dream. Unlikely as it may seem, that's exactly what Timpanogos has in Tyler Ashworth Ashworth, who can be described as something of a late bloomer with regard to basketball, has been an integral part of his team's success this season. Not coincident ally, his recent three-game surge in which he has averaged 13 points and over six rebounds, re-bounds, has coincided with Timpanogos' improved play of late. Ashworth's good play was culminated recently re-cently in the T 'Wolves' first region win on Friday over Mountain View. Ashworth finished that game with 12 points and t rebounds. "He's really starting to play well for us, we've needed need-ed an inside presence and he's giving it to us now," said Timpanogos coach Clay Anderson. "The last three games he's been as good as anybody in the league." After a tough start to his basketball career warming the bench on the freshman team, Ashworth has dedicated dedicat-ed himself and made himself into what he is today, name- r ELM VZCQJlUJElJSDM MEXICAN GRILL CNIMICHANCAS TZ33 , QUESADILLAS I SUPER NACHOS I EC 34 NStateStreet, Orem DO IT YOURSELF Experience A New Way To Shop. Cook, Freeze, Wash & Dry Before You Buy. store.9 PARTS - SALES - SERVICE earn 4A state 1, but we were only down three," Miller said "A lot of our guys dropped times. We had some great swims." The Tigers started off the finals the fx'st way possible, winning the first lxys event of the day, the 200 freestyle medley relay. Doug Miller, Hi ady Wells, Andrew Ballejos and Brady llafen combined to hold oil second-place Mountain Moun-tain (rest Wells also claimed the top prize in the 200 IM, finishing in 1:57:04, two seconds ahead ol the next swimmer. Two other Tigers placed second in their respective events. Zach Miller just missed first place in the men's 200 freestyle while Andrew Ballejos took second in the always-exciting 50 freestyle to cap off the night. Orem went into the final day with 114.5 xiints, just lehind Mountain Crest's 1 17 points. for the girls, Timpview is second place with 1 l(i points, 15 points behind East, but the 1 hunderbirds may have a tough road ahead of them. On Day 2, Miller got things started quickly for Orem, defeating de-feating East's Evan Mumford by a mere six-hundredths of a second to win the title in the boys 100 freestyle race. "I got off to a good start and was able to hold my lead," Miller said. "My whole body was hurting, but I just kept kicking and thinking to my Timpanogos' Tyler Ashworth has Timberwolves' improved play ly the primary post scoring threat and defensive stopper for the T'Wolves. "I've worked hard from that point to now," Ash- ti ENCHILADAS FAJITAS , super Feat RIB I 7 I' . ' swim title self to get there." Andrew Ballejos was also crucial in the Tiger victory, defeat de-feat ing his competition w ith a time of :52.42 to take the crown in the boys 100 butterfly. "I pushed myself as hard as I could and found something, then went for it." Ballejos said. "I couldn't have dont it without my teammates. We all moved up together and that's huge because it can bring a state championship." The Tigers showcased their team chemistry in both of Saturday's relay races, winning win-ning the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. However, with the title on the line and its team trying to surpass the Mustangs, Orem turned its attention toward the 100 breaststroke and its workhorse, Brady Wells. Wells jumped out to a quick start and set a blistering pace early, leading by as many as two full lengths in the race. Wells finished as strong as he started, nearly eclipsing the state record (:57.47) with a time of :57.95 and, more importantly, impor-tantly, all but sealing the deal for the state championship. On the girls side, the much-ant much-ant icipated battle between Timpview and East took center stage, but even with its solid start, Timpview couldn't find enough firejxwer late and finished fin-ished second. However, the night belonged be-longed to the Tigers, and no- Timpanogos Ashworth MARIO RUIZ'Morth Count, been a key factor in the of late. worth said. "My motive was just not wanting to sit the bench cause I'd worked hard so I wanted to actually play-" Welding Auto Darkening f $39.95 Shades 9 to 13 Light-weight METAUfiaf M t 1 A I N O HO 181 South 1200 East Lehi Peace of Mind i rv Let Us Insure Your Automotive Meeds "OOC lull 'II MARIO RUIZNorth County Orem's Zach Miller celebrates after taking first place in the 100 xut d five ul the state 4A championship meet Saturday at BYU. The Tiger boys won the state title. body was happier than Orem head coach Dan Miller. After nearly 25 years at the helm of Orem's program, Miller Mill-er has decided to call it quits, and Saturday night, his team gave him a fairytale ending for his storied career. "It's a nice way to go out and has been a great run," Miller said. "It's great for the school, but is not about winning or losing; it's about working with the kids." Miller relished in the moment, mo-ment, accepting hugs and congratulations con-gratulations from his swim Not only did Ashworth work hard to earn varsity playing time, but he has also garnered the respect of teammates and coaches alike by maintaining his work ethic on the court. "You know you're going go-ing to get 100 percent until he can't go any more, and when he can't go anymore, he'll take a quick breather and then go again," Anderson Ander-son said. "There's never a time when he's not giving 100 percent, ever, and you can't say that about too many high school kids." Ashworth's effort has helped make him someone his teammates can look up to. "He's somebody that they naturally look to in tough situations, because they know he's going to give it all he's got." Anderson said. "He's not an outspoken leader, lead-er, he's more of an example leader." Even though Ashworth has his motor running almost al-most nonstop during basketball basket-ball season, once track season sea-son comes around, he keeps it going. Track is probably his best sport and he plans to fully dedicate himself to it for his senior season. The fact that Ashworth will be working harder in track this year than he has in the past is a scary proposition propo-sition for his rivals considering consider-ing what he has already accomplished ac-complished in the high jump. His personal best of 6'6" was good enough to attract Supplied Deluxe Welding Cloves $3.95 ea Red Firepower Welding Rod KV'" - 6011 18" $59.98 (50 lb box) IM Boxes AnH. 70 11 -18" $63.95 OttwtosAvjiL (50 lb Box) 768-3332 Call for a Free Stock Price List Store Hours: M-F8-5- SAT 8 -NOON with i 1 1 r i 1 1 ii 1 1 1 i 4 t 'PT i i m m H Kli If; r mers and friends. "The hardest thing will be leaving these kids," he said. "That is what it is all about. They're wonderful." Before Miller put the clipboard clip-board away for good, there was one thing left for him to do. Moments after accepting the championship trophy and cheering with his team, Miller took a victory swan dive into the pool, bringing his state champions along with him. I Jordan Christiansen contributed to this report. the attention of UVSC which offered him a scholarship he plans to accept. The sky literally is the limit for Ashworth Ash-worth when it comes to his high jumping potential and he has set lofty goals for himself as he hopes to reach 6'8" or 6' 10" this year. While some high school athletes have the perception that focusing on multiple sports prevents them from reaching their full potential in one, Ashworth believes that his dual interests benefit ben-efit each other. "Basketball has helped me with track by making my legs stronger," Ashworth said. "And Track has helped me with basketball by helping help-ing me jump higher." Considering Ashworth's jump out of the gym ability, abil-ity, it's no surprise that the strength of his game is on the defensive end. While it's clear that he has a knack for rebounding and blocking shots, he also does a lot of his team's dirty work. "He's a great jumper, really re-ally quick, and he's probably the best at taking charges in the league," Anderson said. "I don't know if there's another an-other way to say it besides: He just gets the job done because he's always where he needs to be." By being where he needs to be, Ashworth has helped get the T'Wolves on track to getting back where they need to be, which is winning games once again after a tough start to region play. SAVE Thousands! r Rebecca Johnson, RN, MSN 'S- DryCreek aa Family Practice T Certified Family "7CC.I911 Nurse Practitioner OO 44 IH v- 3300 N. Running Creek Way 1 - a Most insurance Plans Accepted t- J Jake Fredriclison Mountain View High School Heightweight: 5-foot-3, 103 pounds Sport: Wrestling Class: Sophomore GPA:4.0 Restaurant: Outback Steakhouse Book: Never Stop Pushing by Rulon Gardner Movie: Gladiator Band: Bon Jovi Hobby: Hunting Pet peave: People offering me food when I'm trying to cut weight After wrestling is over I will: Go to Golden Corral Person who has most helped my career: ca-reer: Elite wrestling club coach Greg Williams Future goals: Go to college on a wrestling wres-tling or academic scholarship Coach's quote: "He's just a good kid and a really hard worker. He's the only kid that has not missed one practice or match due to injury. He really wants to do well in wrestling." Bruin coach Robert Stoddard Buzzer-beater sends T'Wolves past Bruins Russ Lyman HERALD CORRESPONDENT Skyler Halford was flat out unstoppable. un-stoppable. The Timpanogos point guard had already poured in 29 points, so with the game tied at 59-all and five-tenths of a second left on the clock, the ball had to be going to him, right? That's what Mountain View thought, too. Halford, who had taken eight of his team's last nine shots, cut across the floor to the corner with a swarm of Bruin defenders in pursuit. In Halford's wake was a wide-open Ryan Clarke underneath the basket. Nate Henshaw inbounded the ball to Clarke, who converted a short-armed layup to cap the 61-59 T'Wolves win in thrilling fashion. "We told them they would be looking for Skyler. We ran that on purpose, hoping everybody would suck to him and it worked out perfectly," said Timpanogos coach Clay Anderson. "It was a well-played game; that's what high school basketball should be about." Although the play worked out perfectly, Clarke still had to convert con-vert the layup. "I was so wide open, I knew I was going to get the ball," Clarke said. "Even before I caught the ball I was like 'don't miss,' 'dont miss.' " The rivalry game could not have been more evenly matched. Going into the game, the teams had identical region records. During Dur-ing the game, there were seven ties, including three in the final two minutes, and the 59-all tie in the final seconds. After a Bruin turnover, Timpanogos controlled the ball during dur-ing the final minute until Anderson called timout with 18.7 seconds remaining. Halford's shot with three seconds left bounced off the back of the iroa A tip-in attempt fell short and the ball rolled out of bounds as the regulation clock expired. Both teams were expecting expect-ing overtime; however, the referee awarded the ball to the T'Wolves and put five-tenths of a second back on the clock, which made the last-second excitement possible. Despite the heartbreaking loss, Mountain View deserves a lot of credit for making the game close. The Bruins took a one-point lead into halftime, but the next 10 minutes min-utes belonged to Halford. Halford sparked an 18-7 Timpanogos run that opened up See T'WOLVES, Page 10 FREE Trials bketttHrt,IC.HISa Call Today! |