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Show -N E W S- Spanish Fork B2 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008 iiwooue Sports Talk Sports Talk Mike Norris As far back as I can remember, I have always loved sports. It doesn't matter what sport, except maybe soccer - 1 am still trying to gain an interest in that one - 1 have always enjoyed playing, watching or just even talking about sports. Some of my favorite memories growing up have been centered on sports. From playing T-Ball to watching Atlanta Braves games with my Grandma. In my house the dinner scheduled revolved around what time Dale Murphy and the boys were coming on. I remember how we laughed so hard when my grandmother tried to yell at Bruce Benedict and Chris Chambliss that their names would come out sounding like something off the periodic table of elements. I can still vividly remember watching, former NFL tight end Wesley Walls hit a towering home run over the centerfield fence to beat my Franklin County High Bulldog baseball team in the state championship game. I still quietly rooted against the guy every time he suited up in the NFL. What is it about sports that gets people so emotionally involved? Is it the pure adrenaline of watching someone trying to score from second on a ground ball hit to the outfield? Is it that split second between the time that the buzzer goes off and the ball is still in the air? Is it that final snap with no time left on the clock and the pigskin spiraling through the air? I am sure almost everyone can remember a time that they have either been apart of or witnessed one of these scenarios. Who can ever forget the courageous and heroic times that sports have given us in the past? Whether it was Kurt Gibson hobbling around the bases after hitting the home run off of Eckersley in the game one of the 1988 World Series, John Stockton's buzzer beater against the Houston Rockets to send the Utah Jazz to the NBA finals for the first time or of course Sid Breem sliding into home ahead of Barry Bonds throw to give the Atlanta Braves the 1992 National League Pennant. Sports have the knack of bringing out the emotions in all of us. They also has the power to unite a country as it did in the 1984 Olympics when the USA Hockey Team beat the giants from the USSR. We live in a community that is crazy for its sports. I have spoken with many people in Utah who know Spanish Fork specifically because of its reputation of being a sports-crazy community. With this column I will try to touch upon the topics in sports that bring out these emotions and also try to introduce you to some people in our community that are doing amazing things in and with sports. Like the great Yogi Berra said, "You can observe a lot just by watching." This column will try to give you observations on great games and participants that make sports such a beloved part of our culture. Covering what matters most Track teams off and running Mtke Norris STAFF WRITER The Spanish Fork High School track and field teams finally got the chance to stretch their legs and compete on March 11, 2008 in a three-team meet against Lehi and Lone Peak. Both boys and girls teams came away with the team titles. Several athletes also posted great individual performances. The girls' team scores were Spanish Fork in first with 80 points, followed by Lone Peak with 60 and Lehi at 16. "We had a lot of our normal big point-getters in the field events missing," said Head Coach Dave Boyack. The slack was picked up by the track athletes with the girls either taking first or second in every race. Natalie Stewart led the girls by winning the 100, with a quick early-season time of 12.12 seconds, and the 200 meters in a time of 25.55. She took second behind her sister, Nachelle — who ran 58.02 in the 400 — finishing at 59.88. Leah Walters also posted a good time in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.58. Kirsten Sly had a good meet, winning the 3200 meters and taking ON TARGET: The Lady Dons took first second in the 1600 meters distance races. The long distance races were points with a throw of 30'4" in the littered with Spanish Fork runners. shot put that was good enough for In the 1600, eight of the top ten second place. runners were off the Lady Dons On the boys' side, Spanish team. Fork came away with the team The girls also swept the relays, title amassing 88 points followed winning the 4x100, the 4x400 and by Lone Peak with 63 and Lehi the 4x1600 medley relay. with 14. The boys dominated the The field events didn't let the competition by winning every race runners have all the glory. Breanna except for the 3200 meters, in which Wilding won the javelin with a Tyler Gebert took second. throw of 96* 10.5" and was followed "Our boys team,had a great meet byKelliRoachat91'2". and posted some real fast early Nola Iketau also scored some season time,"*said Boyack. Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News and second in the javelin, along with winning the team title on March 11. Chris Norris won the 100 and 200 meter dashes with great early season times of 11.02 and 23.18 respectively. Jason Anderson won the 110 meter hurdles and posted a great time of 50.72 in winning the 400 meter dash. The distance runners were strong as well, led by Spencer Vance, who won the 1600 with a time of 4:55, and David Nester with a victory in :< the 800 meters at 2:09. " The bb,ys relay teams also had a good meet taking second and third in the 4x100 and winning the 4x400 and the medley relay. The field athletes weren't to be outdone. The Dons posted victories in the javelin and shot put. Mitch McMullin won the Javelin with a throw of 162'4" with Spencer Fausett throwing 145' 1.5" to second place. The Dons swept the first three places in the shot with ..Tevita Vaithohi in first at 40*9", T flicker Thurgood second at 4034" and Sifa Vaithohi, 39'7". Dons win Sunshine Tournament: From BASEBALL • B l championship game. The packed house of SF and Springville fans watched as Duke's 91 mph fastball, along with a inside breaking curveball, fanned eight Red Devils. Duke's performance left little doubt that he was the tournament's most outstanding pitcher. Gentry Mitchell, Devin Nelson and Adam Duke all had a great tournament. Mitchell is the Dons' most consistent hitter. He consistently comes through, and this tournament was no different. "I was trying to think opposite field," Mitchell said. "I think against Snow Canyon we were just thinking too much. We need to just go out there and hit it." Nelson and Adam Duke earned their alltournament team honors on the mound. Duke tossed a gem of a game against a scrappy Box Elder team, while Adam Duke got an impressive win against Orem. Also playing great were Damon Ward and Michael Hayes, who easily could have been named to the all-tournament team. At the beginning of the championship game, Coach Shoe was honored by the Dixie Sunshine Tournament for his recent Coach of the Year honors from the National Federation of State High School Associations. While agreeing that the tournament championship was great to win, Shoe was more concerned about the Dons' hitting performance. "Our pitching was good; our defense was good; but our hitting is still inconsistent. We came down here to see what we needed to work SAM'S PREP OF THE WEEK Tyler Hanks Senior Baseball Pitcher/Infield Senior Tyler Hanks was named Sunshine Tournament MVP for his stellar play on offense and defense over the course of the tournament. In four games, Hanks went 10-11 at the plate. He hit three triples, a double and had three RBIs. On the mound, he tossed a complete game shutout against Dixie. Hanks said the tournament was exciting and it felt really good to be named MVP, but he misses the weather in St. George. His parents are Kristie and Jason Hanks of Spanish Fork. the Oil Change m 552 N. Main • 798-7877 on and now these kids have seen for themselves what I have been telling them all year," he said. Interestingly enough, the current players on the baseball team have never experienced a Sunshine Tournament loss. Four in a row is quite impressive. Spanish Fork 4 Box Elder 2 The opening game of the Sunshine Tournament paired a Spanish Fork team and a scrappy team from Box Elder team. The Bees wasted little time getting started as they scored two runs in the first inning. It would be the only two runs they would get off of the talented Spanish Fork pitcher, Devin Nelson. Nelson struck out eight and allowed eight hits while picking up the complete game victory. The Bees threatened again in the final inning when they had runners on first and second with only one out. However, the threat was short lived when the next batter hit a line drive that was caught by second baseman Tyler Hanks who alertly doubled off the runner at first. The Dons countered the Bees two first inning runs with three of their own. Junior Brett Grover got things started with a single and moved to third on a home run called ground rule double hit by Tyler Hanks. Fans seated on the other side of the center field fence said that Hanks ball obviously cleared the fence, but the outfield umpire saw it different. The bases were loaded when Brock Duke was hit by a pitch. Hot-hitting Michael Hayes came through with a two RBI single to right field. Fellow senior Kirt Daley hit Duke in with a single of his own. In third inning, Tyler Hanks hit a single and later scored on a Michael Hayes single. Hanks and Hayes were both 2-2 on the day while Hayes recorded three ofthefourRBI's. Spanish Fork 11 Dixie 0 The second game of the tournament was played at Flyer Field, home of the Dixie Flyers. Dixie was listed as the home team on the Scoreboard, but if you were judging by which team had the most fans in attendance then there was no question that the Spanish Fork Dons were the home team. With 75 percent of the fans in attendance rooting them on the Dons made quick work of the actual hometown team in a five-inning mercy rule win. The one-man wrecking crew of this game was Tyler Hanks. Check out this amazing stat line — complete game shutout with seven strikeouts, allowing five hits, and going 4-4 with two RBIs at the plate. The only real threat that Dixie had was in the fourth inning when they had the bases loaded with only one out. Hanks eliminated that threat fast when he punched out the next two batters. The Dons got on the board in the first inning when Damon Ward and Brock Duke both walked and Tyler Hanks got his first hit of the day. With the bases loaded Gentry Mitchell drilled a twoRBI double, followed by another two-RBI hit from Michael Hayes. Mitchell and Hayes were at it again in the third when Mitchell hit a single and moved to third on past balls. Hayes knocked Mitchell in with his second RBI hit of the day. In the fourth Tyler Hanks hit a single. Running for Hanks was speed-up runner Nate Binks who came around to score on an RBI double from Brock Duke. The nail in the Dixie coffin came in the fifth. It all began with a lead-off double from Kade Christensen, who was relived by pinch runner Hadley Thorpe. Thorpe wasted no time scoring when Dixie misplayed a sacrifice bunt from Tagg Lunceford. Speedster Trevor Randolph beat out a bunt and quickly stole second to put runners in scoring position. This set up Hanks to deliver again when he drilled a triple to the gap to score two more. Hanks later scored on a past ball. A Brock Duke walk and Gentry Mitchell single set Michael Hayes up again for an RBI. Hayes delivered with a double to score another making the score 11-0. Spanish Fork 9 Orem 1 Adam Duke has a flat out wicked curveball. The Orem Tigers could not find an answer for the talented sophomore pitcher. Duke fanned four batters while inducing many harmless fly and ground balls. Duke allowed only three hits during his six innings of work. The final inning was thrown by junior Chase Castleberry who ended the game with a strikeout. The Dons got on the board in the fourth inning when Tyler Hanks led the inning off with a hard hit tripe to the right center gap. Hanks scored when Michael Hayes hit into a fielders choice. The Dons added four more runs in the fourth. Kirt Daley and Tyler Hanks led the inning off with singles. Pinch runner Trevor Randolph scored on a Brock Duke sac fly. Gentry Mitchell then drilled a single, which allowed Michael Hayes to get an RBI on a fielders choice play. Mitchell then snuck home when Orem attempted to throw Hayes out stealing second base. The final run of the inning came from a sharply hit RBI single from Devin Nelson. In the seventh, Gentry Mitchell hit a single to advance Tyler Hanks who had walked. Hayes came through again with an RBI single of his own. Mitchell scored again while Hayes stole second. Another RBI hit from Devin Nelson gave the Dons more than enough runs to win the game. See BASEBALL • B12 i |