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Show AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Thursday, August 30, 2007 'A COMMUNITY SPORTS, PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR FUN Danielle West American Fork High School Region play begins for local soccer teams Page 4 r il lfr vy Beky Beaton I lie f'MJtbiill teams hiive a coup!.' of pP'M'iisoii panics under their tx'lts now .Hid mosi vollrybiill learns have played mi one or more tournaments plus a dual mail h or two, out things don't get serious seri-ous lor any of them lor a lew weeks yet. In ilietrirlssora.T jftnK llmulUhe hit tire is iv iw. I spile tl lad lliat sclnxil his only Ixi.-n in session i 'Jit (Lis s. it's time fr Region 4 uxot ti miiis to gd stjirtedonthrirksiguesecisons. I he teams have played a variety of opponents in the preseason so records can be a little deceiving, but the region re-gion is ((Hiking as strong as it ever has i his year across the board. forward 1 lere's a peek at the matchups for the first week of competition. Today I Pleasant Grove at American Fork (4 p.m.): The Vikings (0-3-2) do not seem to be quite at the level of the other teams in the league, but they still have enough ability to be dangerous if overlooked. The Cavemen (2-4) started the season with one of the schwl's most talented and experienced squads ever, but they've been bitten hard by the injury bug. They can still be counted on to play hard, so this one could be a real battle. I Lehi at Lone Peak (4 p.m.): The 12th-ranked 12th-ranked Pioneers (()) have finished the preseason with a perfect record. Though they have yet to play any 5A teams, they did beat the top two teams in 3A. The fifth-ranked Knights (5-1), on the other hand, have split with two of the top three 4A teams by one poll and have beaten everybody else so far. Lehi remains young but returns nearly everybody from the 200(5 team, while Lone Peak is still grooming players to replace last season's talented tal-ented senior class. This match promises prom-ises to be an intriguing opener for the region as a whole. I Timpanogos at Spanish Fork (4 p.m.): These two teams have identical 4-2 records, but the T'VVolves have played the tougher schedule by far and they've l(K)ked so g(xxl doing it that they've been ranked in the top five in the state. The Dons return some experience from a squad that struggled last year and will have their hands full with a young but aggressive Timpanogos team trying to bounce back after last week's tough one-goal losses. Wednesday, Sept. 5 I Timpar 090s at American Fork (4 p.m.): This will be a tough match for the Cavemen unless they get some of their injured players back. I Pleasant Grove at Lehi (4 p.m.): Entering Enter-ing this match, the Pioneers will either be brimming with confidence or eager to redeem themselves, depending on what happeas Thursday. Either attitude is likely to be bad news for the Vikings. I Spanish Fork at Lone Peak (4 p.m.)-This p.m.)-This game shapes up about the same as the one between Pleasant Grove and Lehi. Whether the Knights are glad or mad, they'll give the Dons all they can handle. Cavemen expect to challenge for title in more balanced league Jared Lloyd NORTH COUM! I'or the past two years, Region 4 has turned into a broken record: I.one Peak on top on its way to the 5A slate title game with Timpanogos just slightly behind. But coaches around the league believe be-lieve 2007 will be different. "I think the region is a lot stronger than last year from top to bottom," said Knight head coach Mike La llar-goue. llar-goue. "The lower teams are making up the gap and the middle teams are making up the gap." T hough Lone Peak is still a force to be reckoned with, the loss of eight starters from last year makes everyone every-one else believe that they have a shot to get the crown. "T he interesting thing about this region is that you never know exactly who is going to turn out to be the team to beat," said Timpanogos head coach Natalyn Lewis. "You have to come out and play every game. The team that does that will take region." Adding to t lie intrigue Ls a young but talented Lehi team that moved up from Class 4A. fioneer head ctxtch Brett I?erg-holm I?erg-holm said it will be a tough challenge but he has a team that can handle it. "It's a bit frustrating because every ev-ery team in our region and that we saw at state last year said they'd hate to play us this year because we only lost one starter," Pergholm explained. "I think we'll still do well this year but we haven't seen as many of these teams." Toss in an American Fork team that surprised a number of people last fall and now has another year of experience, expe-rience, and the stage is set for a wild and crazy couple of months. Pleasant Grove and Spanish Fork V ) M -."""Vs. "-.li. . M-'): : f . ill.: , JERONIMO NISANorth County American Fork's Nikki Ybaria (16) defends the ball from Mountain View's Chelsea Kocherhans (5) during the first half of the game at Mountain View on Aug. 7. might not be quite ready to go for the title but they might be the deciding factor in who ends up getting it. "I think it's anybody's region," Lewis Lew-is said. "It comes down to whoever will step up and take it." I lere's a brief look at each of the six teams (with their preseason records): Contenders LONE PEAK (5-1) The Knights may be lacking some of the names they've had in years past but don't expect them to be lacking firepower. The question is getting everything ev-erything on track. "In other years, we've been where we wanted to be (when region play started)," said La Hargoue. "This year we just need time. We're tightening the defense but us being able to score goals is really the next step." Leading the way will be the league's top scorer in 2006, senior forward Shantel Flanary, and she'll have help from Lora Katzenbach. Midfielder Mindy Vawdrey and defender de-fender Carissa Henley will play big roles in anchoring their respective positions. TIMPANOGOS (4-2) The Timberwolves have shot out of the gate thanks to the strong play of a number of underclassmen, beating Orem and giving Riverton and Brigh- See PREVIEW, Page 5 Parents: Terry and Susan West Year: Sophomore Age: 15 Sport: Cross country Position: No. 2 runner on the varsity girls cross country team Favorite sports team: BYU Cougars Favorite food: Jello salad Favorite restaurant: Cafe Rio Favorite book: The Edge Chronicles Favorite movie: Transformers Hero: Austin West Favorite career moment: Finishing eighth in the Footlocker races in California Cali-fornia last year. Future plans: To make it in the top three at the state cross country race this fall. American Fork cross country coach Bruno Hunzikersaid: "Danielle's a winner. She has an oustandingly good attitude. She's a true competitor. competi-tor. She gives 110 percent at practices and meets. She was in the top four in the mile at the state track meet last May. She loves to work harder, so she can get her times down." rewind. AF varsity girls finish fifth at Grass Relays Dean Von Memmott SPORTS CORRESPONDENT At the 12th Annual American Fork Grass Relays Saturday, the Cavemen finished fifth in the varsity varsi-ty girls division. However, the team came up a baton carrier short in the varsity boys relay, costing them a chance to place in that event. "We were in second place in the varsity boys relay, but our No. 5 runner didn't compete in the race," American Fork boys coach Timo Mostert said. "He had been sick all week. We didn't find about his decision de-cision to stay home today until just before the varsity boys race." Even though the Cavemen couldn't officially finish the race, they still had two teammates among the top 15 fastest baton carriers in the race. Ben Felix finished eighth at 10:49 and Robby Lee was 1 1th at See REWIND, Page 5 FEATURED PROPERTY 11 !.- Act Fast CaJ 830-ZOZO I For Pricing ''j," ''''''' ' '"a "" 11111111 1 Utah County's Real Estate feafore5 BYU Approved lor Men LCSQCrS Immaculate Condition Ti .. . New carpet Beautiful Tile Floors ESS T 1 J TOW NOW V,. i Furnished find learter Coixh) Walk To BYU Garage Parking T0RN0WS & ASSOCIATES, INC l i I i Easy Clean Feature Lifetime Guarantee Energy Efficient ! Quality Installation 10 WINDOWS UISTALLfcu H I I ! . jffit rsi LIMITED TIME OFFER s z I I No Payment,., S . ... , , I No interest wasatcn vinyi troaucrs i Lrtb.e??)7077.922-7283 1 " nr 733-5633 . ..,,! expires onirvf X 'Some restrictions ipply. 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