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Show ports presented by Covering what matters most c/> WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2008 • B l Chad Carter / Spanish Fork News SWING! Kade Christensen steps up to the plate against Lehi. Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News LEGACY: SFHS Golf Coach John Bingham stands in front of some of the numerous golf trophies his teams have brought won over the years. Dons start Region with two victories John Jackson STAFF WRITER Bingham to retire as SFHS golf coach Chad Vest STAFF WRITER John Bingham has been a math teacher and golf coach for nearly 25 years. He learned to love and respect the game of golf as a young teenager and later graduated from SF High in '71, where he starred in football and his first love, golf. Bingham then pursued a bachelor's degree at BYU and majored in chemistry. After graduating from the Y, Bingham began working at Geneva Steel in Orem, which helped him provide for his young family. But the steel company shut down in the early '80s, so he decided to go back and get his teaching certificate. Upon completion, he found an opportunity to teach at the SF Jr. High in 1983, when he was 30 years of age. During his two year stint, he coached the ninth the state, and it will be near imposgrade golf teams and even coached sible to break or even tie that streak some basketball. In 1985 he was in golf or any other sport. Bingham moved down to the high school to also collected three state championcontinue his teaching profession ships, and his teams played for the and help then head golf coach, Bob slate title in five consecutive years. Backman, as an assistant. In 1988. But even with all of the success Backman retired from coaching and and trophies, Coach talked about soon after, Bingham was named his the number one lesson he'd like his successor. This past fall marked his players to remember him for. 20th year at the helm of an amazing "Golf is one of the few games program. However, the coach who that is played with a lot of honor, won 14 straight region titles dating honesty and integrity," said Bingto last fall, recently retired as the ham. "It's not politically motivated. Dons' golf coach. You have to go out and compete to Fourteen consecutive region shoot the scores to win. I've tried championships is a school record. to really instill in everybody about In 20 years he has amassed many honor, honesty and integrity and match-play victories, but even that's why golf is such a great game. more mind-boggling is his .700 Those are great attributes I think winning percentage of taking home the region crown. It is definitely See BINGHAM • B14 among the elite records throughout The Dons started off region on the right foot by sweeping the series with Lehi Pioneers, a team projected to finish last in region IV. In his pre-season projections. Coach Shoe said that one of the keys to winning this tough region would be to beat the teams that you are supposed to beat. The Dons had little trouble with the Pioneers, out-scoring them 22-3 in the two game series. Tyler Hanks was absolutely amazing. His two game line reads 6-6 with a single, four doubles, a triple, and four RBTs. Brock Duke was just as impressive on the hill. Duke tossed a five inning no hitter on the Dons home field. It's not fair to ask these two to continue at this pace, but if they continue to stay hot, along with the others continuing to play consis- tent, good things will happen to this team. The Dons also got some help from Lone Peak. Lone Peak split their series with Timpanogos, a team projected to finish first in the region. The Dons are now in control of their own destiny. Spanish Fork 9 Lehi 3 (at Lehi) Going into the top of the fourth inning, the Dons actually found themselves trailing 2-0. Adam Duke had been tossing a gem of a game, but a walk and an error in the third inning allowed Lehi to get two across the plate. The Lehi lead was short-lived as the Dons came together for three runs in the fourth inning. Kade Christensen got on base with a walk, which was followed by consecutive doubles from Selby BrumSee DONS • B14 Boys and girls track teams win at Utah County meet Mike Norris STAFF WRITER As the mercury in the thermometer started to rise for the final day of the Utah County Invitational, so did the performances by the Dons Track and Field Team. For the fourth time this year the girls and boys teams took home the meet team titles. The girls rode the performance of the Stewart sisters to a convincing 76-point victory. The girls once again showed that they are on of the teams to beat at this years 5A state meet by scoring 167 points compared to second place Timpanogos at 91 points. Natalie Stewart set a new state record in the 200m with a time of 24.18, besting her twin sister Nachelle's record of 24.35. The sisters then teamed up with Jenn Youd and Sonja Ponis to set a new state record in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:50.92. That time eclipsed the record set by Kearnsin 1999 at 3:53.37. That was sweet redemption for the girls who had actually broken the record in 2007 but could not count the time because of a technical difficulty with the timing camera. The girls also had strong performances from girls that have been giving the team points meet after meet. With Kelli Roach taking first in the Javelin (121-3) and Liz Meinhart taking gold in the long jump (16*4.75"), both state qualifying marks, the girls got all the support they needed from the field events. Other girls with strong performances were Natasha Sanborn in the Discus (1046) and the Javelin (89'2'), Jo Jullian in the long jump (16\25"), Breanna Wilding in the Javelin (96'8") and Mallory Denning in the high jump with a mark of 4' 10". They also received valuable points from the always consistent Kirsten Sly in the 3200m (11:28.22) and the 1600m (5:18.53). The Medley Relay team also walked away with a first place finish with a state qualifying time of 4:19.21. The boy's team also posted their third straight invitational team victory by edging Region 4 foe Timpanogos 88-84. With every point being precious, the boys were once again up to the task as they had 13 different athletes placing and winning points for the team. Caleb Prior came into the 110m hurdles looking strong and came away as the meet champion with a great time of 15:51. Caleb also ran well in the 300m hurdles finishing 3rd (41.52). Chris Norris posted state-qualifying times in the 100m (11.36) and the 200m (22.54). The 200m race featured the best field of the year as See TRACK • B3 Steve Hardman / Spanish Fork News RECORD-BREAKING: Natalie Stewart, above, set a new state record in the 200m and then teamed up with her twin sister, Nachelle Stewart, Jenn Youd and Sonja Ponis to set a new state record in the 4x400 relay. |