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Show Thursday, November 20, 2008 Sports The Gunnison Valley Gazette Page 7 Academic All-State Carson Lund by MITCH PETERSON After a great season, some Gunnison Lady Bulldog soccer players are getting post-season recognition for their efforts, including a first-team all-state honor for senior co-captain Meseret Deskins. The statewide Deseret News newspaper announced their 2008 all-state team last week, with Meseret earning 2A first-team honors. That makes Meseret the first player in the history of the program to achieve that status. Freshman Sarah Nilsson, the Bulldog’s leading scorer, was a second team D-News all-state pick, while juniors Fekirte Deskins and Megan Jensen earned a well-deserved honorable mention. I can’t confirm it, but “sources” tell me that Meseret and Fekirte will also be named to the Salt Lake Tribune’s soon-to-be-announced 2A allstate second team. It was Meseret’s leadership on and off the field that earned her the post-season awards. She was the team’s second leading scorer with 9 goals and added several assists. She lead the team through a great regular season and their first ever post-season. In the team’s first ever playoff game on the road at Grand, she scored three goals of her own and provided the assist on Nilsson’s game-winning goal in the 4-3 victory. Meseret’s accomplishments are even more amazing considering she missed most of last season with a severe knee injury and that knee still isn’t back to 100 Carson Lund was awarded the Academic All-State in Golf by the Utah High School Activities Association and the Deseret Morning News. He received this award during the high school’s “Lettermans” assembly. Carson also took 3rd place at the region golf tournament in Moab earlier this fall. This is his fourth year on the golf team. Carson is the son of Julie and Kim Lund of Centerfield. Mitch Peterson/Gunnison Valley Gazette Gunnison forwards Sarah Nilsson (l) and Meseret Deskins (r) break away for a scoring chance, a common sight for Bulldog fans this past season. Nilsson and Deskins each received all-state honors from the Deseret News. percent healthy. Nilsson had a fine freshman season, leading the Bulldogs with a school record 15 goals. Her speed and skills created havoc for opposing defenders and goalkeepers. She had just three goals in the first eight games of the year, then exploded for 12 in the last ten games to finish 10th overall in 2A. The more goals she scored, the more other teams tried to stop her, but she’d still find room. Her biggest goal of the season was that playoff game-winner in Moab. Fekirte was valuable to the team everywhere on the field, breaking up plays on defense, or moving up to provide an offensive spark. She earns the all-state honors despite missing the last four regular season games and both playoff matches with a bro- ken arm. Playing mostly in the midfield and as defensive sweeper, Fekirte still managed to score five goals, including the team’s first goal of the season way back on August 16th in Mt. Pleasant against North Sanpete. Jensen had a great year as the Bulldog’s goalkeeper, with regular season shutouts against Richfield and Grand. The shutout against Richfield was the first in school history. Her aggressive play stopped a lot of opponents’ scoring chances before they could get a shot on goal. The Bulldog defense was really good this season, but when there was a breakdown, they could count on Jensen to bail them out with a great save. The Bulldogs started the year with eight straight losses, then won five and lost three down the regular season stretch to climb from 8th place in Region 12 to 6th place, earning the team’s first-ever playoff spot in the process. The Bulldogs then traveled to Moab and upset Region 12’s fourth place Grand County Red Devils 4-3 in the first round of the playoffs, earning a spot in the 2A quarterfinals. Three days later, the Bulldogs’ 2008 season ended in Ogden with a loss to eventual 2A state champions St. Joseph Catholic School. They finished the season with an overall record of 6-12-0 for 18 total points. All of the Gunnison soccer players contributed to the team’s success, but it’s nice to see some statewide recognition for these Lady Bulldogs. Congratulations to everyone on a great season. Gunnison Youth Basketball Registration Monday November 24 5 to 6:30 Gunnison Middle School or at Gunnison City Hall until December 5th For Boys and Girls in grades 3 - 8 BODY BARN Mon - Sat 5 am - 10 pm Closed Sundays 62 South Main Gunnison 435-528-5955 MEMBERSHIP PRICES Roughly 40 girls from the valley have been participating in the North Sevier recreational volleyball program over the last couple of months. The girls are students at Gunnison Valley Middle School and Gunnison Valley Elementary. The girls were split into four teams. Three of the teams were made up of 6th through 8th grade girls and the forth team was made up of 4th and 5th grade girls. This is the second year in a row that we have been invited to join North Sevier in their 6 week program. (Thanks Brady Edwards of North Sevier Rec for the invitation!) The 4th and 5th grade team, the Bulldogs coached by Misty Higgins and Carilee Sorenson, made a trip to Salina each week and played against other teams made up of 4th and 5th graders as well. They had an amazing season and finished with a record of 5-1. Congratulations Bulldogs!! The girls from the Middle School were even luckier. They were able to play most of their matches right here in Gunnison. (Thanks Mr. Larsen for the use of the gym and equipment!!!) There were two teams in this age division from Manti as well. North Sevier had five teams for a total of 10 teams hoping for a first place title. All of the Gunnison teams were able to play five of their six matches in Gunnison. They took turns traveling to Salina for the other match. The girls were again taught fundamentals of volleyball. They learned such skills as serving and passing and a little bit about setting and hitting. It was a very successful season for all of the girls. Each one of them improved greatly in just a short Single Adult 19 & Older 16 - 18 year old 13 - 15 year old Couples Family (4) 62 & older Members of one of the Gunnison Volleyball teams. time. It is programs like this that will greatly benefit the future of High School Athletics. It is absolutely necessary to teach these girls fundamentals at an earlier age so when they reach High School they are more prepared to play competitively. Hopefully, in the near future, our valley can have a program similar to this to facilitate this type of activities for our kids. The three teams made up of Middle School girls were called: “Gunnison” coached by Shelle Christiansen, the “Bulldogs” coached by Lynn Bown and Aaron and Vikki McClaskey and the “Rebels” coached by Tom and Candice Sorenson. Each of these teams had a very successful season! Gunnison finished the regular season with a 5-1 record. The Bulldogs record was 3-3 and the Rebels record was 4-2. Congratulations to all of the teams. A single-elimination tournament was held in Salina on Thursday November 13th. All of our teams played hard and looked really good! It was a long night for the “Gunnison” team. After some pretty intense matches, they were able to make it to the championship match which didn’t start until 9 p.m. They played against the Templar team from Manti. They played a very tough game. They were able to shut down the Templars in the first game with a final score of 257. Janna Hall served the last 16 points with 14 of those being aces! They moved right into the second game. Each player on the team played a contributing role with several really great plays resulting in another win for Gunnison with a final score of 25-15. Congratulations Gunnison on a First Place Title!! Courtesy Photo Monthly $20 $15 $10 $35 $50 $15 Yearly $200 $150 $100 $350 $500 $150 The Gunnison Valley Gazette can address, stamp and mail your invitations for less than it will cost you just to mail them! Call for details 528-5178 Pizza • Calzone Breadsticks • Salad Free Delivery (Limited Area) 528-3792 57 South Main • Gunnison Happy to Serve You Specialty Pizza’s: Chicken Alfredo• Philly Steak & Swiss• BBQ Chicken • Chicken Bacon Ranch Stix of all kinds: Bread Stix • Cheezstix • Pepperoni Stix • Hawaiian Stix • Cinnastix • Yummy Stix Lunchtime Special: Pizza by the Slice Lotsa Motsa Sports Calendar Boys Basketball Wed Nov 26 • North Sanpete @ Gunnison • 7 pm Girls Basketball Thurs Nov 20 • Meet the Team Night • 6:30 Wrestling Tue Nov 25 • Bi County @ North Sevier |
