Saturday, March 28, 2009

Preseason Finales

Timp Sports Weekly
March 31, 2009


Publisher's Message

With Region Four games coming this week for northern Utah County teams, this issue will be looking at final non-league baseball and soccer games played by American Fork and Lehi teams. We will also look at a three-way track meet held at Lehi March 24. With that said, let's get to those stories.

Dean Von Memmott
Publisher
deanmemmott@hotmail.com

Lehi Kickers End Preseason Play With Home Win Over Payson
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Lehi Pioneers finished their preseason soccer schedule by a lopsided win their Astroturf football field March 24. Lehi drenched the Payson Lions, AKA the Kitties, in the Saturday afternoon game by a score 5-0.

As former University of Utah Chronicle sportswriter Natalie Dicou would say, Lehi had an easy time wiping their carpet with the Kitties from southern Utah County. Lehi Coach Steve McMurdie said, "Our focus was to concentrate our speed on our attacks. We wanted to be quicker on our attacks. We were that today. We're now going to be preparing PG Tuesday. We'll be playing them in a night game. They're a really good team."

For a little while, Lion goalie Mike Tobler kept Lehi at bay. A successful shot by Spencer Gray sparked the Pioneers' control of the game. The Pioneers didn't rest long on their 1-0. Ryan Curtis kicked in a goal to fuel Lehi's scoring spurt. With Gray putting in another goal shortly before halftime, Payson looked exasperated as not knowing how to keep Lehi from hopping all over it.

Early in the second half, Lehi scored another two goals via shots from Curtis and Ian Ramos. Tobler, aided by sweeper Ben Jones, didn't the Pioneers make any further goals, but the Lions couldn't stage a comeback. Lehi goalie Riley Anderson didn't let a single shot get past him. Payson received its best chance for scoring when the Pioneers drew a foul inside their penalty area late in the second half. Payson's Joe Sosa attempted to score on the ensuing indirect kick, but a wall of Lehi defenders kept the shot from flying over their heads.

Earlier in the week, Lehi suffered a 3-1 loss on the Alta Hawks' home field. McMurdie said, "We had a 1-0 lead until the last 20 minutes of the final half. We then gave up three goals to them. We were pushing for a 2-2 in the last minute when they broke away and scored their final goal."

Two of the goals were made by Alta's Colby Tanner.

AF Cavebatters Win 2 Home Games to Finish Non-Region Baseball Schedule
By Dean Von Memmott
Timps Sports Weekly Publisher

The Awesome American Fork Cavemen finished their preseason baseball schedule with two straight wins at home last week. They are now going to be doing mainly Region Four games through all of April.

In March 24 action, American Fork defeated the highly ranked Cottonwood Colts 13-5. To defeat those ponies from Salt Lake County, they got Josh "The Hanger" Mooney to hit two doubles and Ben Beddes one double. Through getting those three doubles, the Cavemen never looked back.

For the March 27 game against the Northridge Knights, alias the Iron Studs, American Fork took firm control in the first inning.

On two outs in the top of it, Gavin Farr and Chris Abbot got on base via walks. When Mikey Goodrich hit a center-field single to load the bases, Northridge seemed certain of pulling off a two-out rally. It didn't happen, however, for No. 6 batter Dakota Combe struck out.

In the bottom of the inning, Cavemen Jake Miller and Stu Duersch got on base via a walk and a single respectively. One-run singles from Mooney, Beddes. Bo Fisher sparked a five-run rally for the Cavemen. They picked up a run in the second.

Aided by Dominique Taylor's home run, Northridge attempted a comeback. The Knights score a run in the third, three runs in the fourth, and a fifth run in the fourth. American Fork kept Northridge at a distance through picking up a run in the second, one in the third, one in the fifth, and one in sixth.

During the contest, Mooney hit a double while Ryan Evans devastated Northridge with a triple.

LP KNIGHTS WIN TRI-MEET AT LEHI
By Dean Von Memmott
Sports Correspondent


Often referred by American Fork High students as the Loners, the Lone Peak Knights won both sides of a three-way track meet at Lehi March 24. The meet's boy scores read Lone Peak 73, Lehi 54, and American Fork 39. The girls' team scores read Lone Peak 75, American Fork 55, and Lehi 26.

Angie Kaplar opened Lone Peak's domination of the meet with her winning the girls' 100-meter hurdles in a time of 15.22. Knight Spencer Carter won the boys' 110-meter hurdles in 16.4 and boys' 300-meter hurdles in 44.08.

The Knights swept both divisions of the 100-meter dash. Elana Hanssen won it in 15.12. Knight Quade Chappuis' winning time in the boys' version of that event was 11.20. Defeating American Fork's Clayton Young by four-tenths of a second, Lone Peak's Steve Morrin won the boys' 1,600-meter run title in a time of 4:46, and he finished seventh in the boys' 3,200-meter run. Taryn Toolson won the girls' 400- and 200-meter races.

Megan Smith leaped her way to a first-place finish with a mark of 15'04" in the long jump. Knight Cami Richin flung herself to a high jump championship with a 4'10". Knight Eric Turbiville won the boys' javelin with a throw of 133'8"

The Knights won three of the meet's six relays.

The other two schools produced their share of champions during the cold, windy afternoon.
By winning the girls' 1,600-meter run, Alexis Laws opened the way for an American Fork sweep of that event's first four places. Among the other Awesome Cavewomen to place in the top four of the girls' 1,600-meter race, Jamie Lux took second, Lakin Lux third, and McCall Harward fourth. American Fork also swept the first three places of the girls' 800-meter run. During it, Laws took first, Harward second, and Dani West third. Young won the boys' 800-meter run.

In the boys' 3,200-meter race, American Forkers Caveman Robby Lee finished first and Brian Vawdrey second.

Cavewoman Melissa Roberts won the girls' discus with a toss of 97'1" while teammate Hanna Dehmel posted 85'8" to win first place in the girls' javelin.

Kristy Warren won the girls' 300-meter hurdles after having finished third in the girls' 100-meter hurdles.

Lehi's Amber Rice won the girls' 3,200-meter run. The boys' 200-meter champion turned out to be Pioneer Jake Brydson in a time of 23.22. Lehi won the boys' 1,600-meter relay in a time of 3:43. Though the Knights' dominated the boys' 400-meter run, Pioneer Preston Yardley won it in a time of 54.28.

The Pioneers dominated the boys' field events. Pioneer Jesse Tyson won the boys' high jump, Dave Thompson the boys' discus, and Jose Galindo the shot put.

Lady Cavebatters End Preseason Softball Schedule With Shutout Loss to Brighton's Bad Ol' Puddy Tats
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Brighton Bengals deserve to be called the Bad Ol' Puddy Tats for good reason. In a March 24 game at American Fork, they ripped apart the Awesome Cavewomen 12-0 in five innings.

"We played one of the worst games last Tuesday," confessed American Fork Coach Duke Sorensen. "We made lots of errors, and we couldn't make any good hits. Brighton had an inning where they made lots of hits. That inning did us in."

American Fork led Brighton 6-3 in errors during the March 24 game.

The inning in question was the third one. Spurred on by two Shelbi Everett doubles, the Bengals scored seven runs to put the game away. Until that inning the score read 3-0. After the third inning, Brighton never looked back. Umpires called the game after the fifth inning.

American Fork opens Region Four play at home against Pleasant Grove March 31, then play a make-up game at Lehi April 1.

Lehi Suffers Stinging Loss at Wasatch
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Lehi Pioneers suffered a stinging loss on the Wasatch Wasps' Heber City diamond March 24. Wasatch's Cody Ramond hit in four runs to enable the Wasps to win 10-8 over Lehi. Ed Day smacked a double and a triple for the Pioneers for the heartbreaking defeat.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

BaseballSoccer

Timp Sports Weekly
March 24, 2008

Publisher's Message

The themes for this week's issue is going to be about cats and no respect. Two of the stories cover northern Utah County teams playing the Payson Lions, Pine View Panthers, and Orem Tigers. I do confess that prefer to call the Lions Kitties, the Panthers Kittens, and the Tigers Tiggers. A third story covers the Lehi Pioneers' heartbreaking loss at home to the Skyline Eagles. A fourth story deals with the Awesome American Fork Cavemen's battle to earn respect as a baseball powerhouse. The fifth story deals with the start of the American Fork track teams opening their season with a quad meet that they had hosted at home. Let's get to those stories right now

Dean Von Memmott
Publisher
deanmemmott@hotmail.com

Payson Has Nothing to Meow About in Baseball Loss at Lehi
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Payson Lions, alias the Kitties, had nothing to meow about during a non-league baseball game that they played on the Lehi Pioneers' field March 17. Eager to avenge an 8-2 loss that they had suffered on the Provo Bulldogs' home field March 16, the Pioneers silenced Payson 12-4.

The game was the Lions' first loss of the season. Payson's record is now 5-1. The win gave Lehi the momentum it needed to go on to keep the Tigers from bouncing all over them in a non-league game on Pioneer Field March 18. Lehi took down Orem 9-2 in that game.

Now in regards to the March 17 game, the Lions looked as though they would rip Lehi apart during the top of the first inning. With one out and two Lions on base, No. 4 Payson hitter Brady Loveless hit a three-run homer off pitcher Bronson Anderson. Soon, Payson's Stevie Clark and Hadley Spivey each hit a two-out single off the Lehi hurler. The Pioneers kept Payson from building upon its 3-0 lead.

Lehi rallied back in the bottom of the first. Capitalizing on an error, Palmer Page slugged a one-out double which brought leadoff hitter Tanner Martin home. Jordy Hart homered three runs to put Lehi out in front 4-3.

Through the next five innings, Lehi kept the Lions from capitalizing on hits. In the top of the second, for example, Kyler Figgins and Jace Harmon both ended up stranded on base after each of them had slugged a single. Spivey contributed a second single and a sixth-inning double to go 3-3 at the plate, but Lehi kept him from doing any damage. A Harmon double in the fifth couldn't switch things around to Payson's favor either. By the time Lion Spencer Smith had singled Spencer Gabbitas in for the fourth Lion run of the game, Payson had no hope whatsoever for rallying back.

After T.J. Russon had hit a one-run single to open a five-run stampede for the Pioneers in the second, the game became a contest over whether Lehi would be able to 10-run the Lions by the end of the fifth. An Ed Day double sparked a four-run rally for Lehi in the third. The Pioneers received two chances to put the game away by the top of the fifth, but a stubborn Lion defense kept the game going until the top of the seventh.

Lehi Coach Pat Gleave said, "We were happy with Bronson Anderson's pitching. He's just a sophomore, but he's been throwing very well on the varsity level. We had big hits from T.J. Russon and Jordy Hart."

Looking back on the Orem game, Gleave said, "Orem was leading us 2-1 in the sixth when we went on an eight-run rally in the bottom of the inning. We ended up winning the game 9-3."

In the March 21 preseason action at home, Jake Miller emerged as the winning pitcher while he registering a two-run, seventh-inning single that gave Lehi a 3-2 win over the Skyview Bobcats, alias the Bobkittens.

Cavekickers Finish Preseason Play With Unbeaten Record

By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Awesome American Fork Cavemen finished their non-league soccer schedule with a record of two wins and one tie.

After having won 2-0 on the Payson Lions' home field March 13, American Fork won 3-0 at home over the Pine View Panthers in a March 20 contest.

American Fork Coach Barkley Chile said, "At Payson, Jordan Jacklin scored our first goal 30 minutes into the game. Trent Burch scored the next goal shortly before halftime. We had our chances to make more goals, but we narrowly missed some good shots. We played really good defense. In the second half, Payson took only one shot on goal."

In the Pine View game, the Panthers had sweepers Danny Garcia and Jordan Mendez perform as the backbone for their defense. Goalie Jose Aguire managed to keep the Cavemen scoreless for much of the first half.

However, the determined efforts of Caveman players, such as Burch, Quinton Hull, and Steve Bean, eventually paid off for the home team. Twenty-five minutes into the contest, Caveman Austin Mansfield broke the scoreless deadlock with a successful shot that he took from inside the Pine View penalty box. American Fork went on to win the game on successful shots from Parker Harrison and Jordan Jacklin.

Pioneer Kickers Lose Close Game at Home to Skyline
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Lehi Pioneers' home season opened on a disappointing note for them March 18 when the visiting Skyline Eagles came from behind to defeat them 2-1 in a non-league game.

Lehi Coach Steve McMurdie said, "We knew Skyline was on a roll. They had won two of their first three games this year. We weren't attack-minded this year. Our biggest problem was that we weren't mentally tough. We need to change that attitude during our preseason game against Mountain Crest."

The loss game in the aftermath of the Pioneers' 2-0 win on the Northridge Knights' Layton field March 13. In that game, Iam Ramos and Ryan Curtis each scored a goal for Lehi.

In the Skyline game, Lehi led the entire first half. Ten minutes into the contest, Curtis scored the game's first goal. However, Skyline goalie Matt Kershaw smothered the Pioneers' efforts to stretch their 1-0 lead. With his swiftness, the Eagle goalie did not let another Lehi shot sneak past him during the rest of the game.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Skyline's Greg Wight evened the score at one on a breakaway play. Defensive efforts by Lehi's Devin Davis and goalie Riley Anderson kept the Eagles from breaking the tie until the clock read 2:58. At that time, Scottie Nelson scored the goal gave the Eagles the win.

Cavebatters Pick Up 4 Wins in Battle for Earning Statewide Respect This Baseball Season
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The 2009 high school baseball season is now two weeks old in Utah, the Awesome American Fork Cavemen have already become this year's Rodney Dangerfields in 5-A ranks. None of the daily newspapers, such as the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune, have bothered to place them as being among the 25 strongest teams in the state.

This past week, the Cavemen set out to prove why they deserved to be ranked. They knocked two state-ranked teams and swept a doubleheader at home against the Bonneville Bees of Idaho Falls, Idaho.

In a home season opened against the Judge Memorial Bulldogs March 19, American Fork fixed the Salt Lake City team 9-3. In the top of that game's first inning, Cort Zollinger hit a two-single that sent Judge charging out to a 3-0 lead. However, American Fork didn't let the Bulldogs make any more runs in the game. American Fork Coach Jarod Ingersoll said, "Bo Fisher and Josh Mooney each hit a home run for us that lifted us to our 9-3 win over Judge."

After trimming the Bulldog lead to 3-2 in the second inning, American Fork tied the game at three in the third. In the fifth, the Cavemen went on a five-run rally to put the game away.

"For the Jordan game, [Jim] Davis pitched very well for us," Ingersoll said.

Played at Salt Lake Community College March 19, the contest saw two American Fork coaches and two Caveman players get tossed out of the game. The ejections didn't stop American Fork from clobbering the Jordan Beetdiggers 16-6 in the seven-inning affair. The two teams battled to a 1-1 tie in the first inning. After American Fork took a 5-1 lead in the second, the Cavemen never looked back.

In the first game of the Bonneville doubleheader, the Bees took a 2-0 lead on a Tyson Della Silva single and Porter Clayton's theft of home plate.

Aided by a Jake Miller walk in the bottom of the first, the Cavemen loaded the bases on no outs, and Ben Beddes singled in two runs to open a six-run rally, climaxed with Evan Wright's two-run triple.

In the third's top half, Bees Jordan Rapp singled in a run while Trey Handled doubled in Brandon Craig to cut the lead to 6-4. Though Miller's fourth-inning triple led to American Fork picking up its seventh run, the Cavemen almost got stung in the fifth's top half Della Silva's triple led to Rapp and Dylan Kowitz each slugging a one-run single, pushing Bonneville within 7-6.

Ryan Hall's theft of home plate in the bottom of the fifth, opened a four-run rally that gave American Fork the 12-6 win.

In the bottom of the second game's first inning, Hall singled in two runs, opening a five-run rally for the Cavemen. They picked two runs in the third, three in the fourth, and two in the fifth. Bonneville got on the board in the top of the fifth, but the Bees became done for when Fisher doubled in Stu Duersch. Beddes knocked in a run to end the game."

Cavetrackster Open Season With Four-Way Meet at Home
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The American Fork Cavemen and Cavewomen opened their 2009 track season with a four-way meet at home March 17. American Fork hosted the Timpanogos Timberwolves, Spanish Fork Dons, and Park City Miners.

"Both Timpanogos and Spanish Fork are among the best teams in 5-A," said American Fork Coach Art Taylor. "The meet gave us a chance to see how we could do against them. We're a young team this year."

Dani West won the girls' 400-meter dash while teammate Taylir Garrison jumped her way to a first-place finish in the girls' high jump. Robby Lee won the boys' 1,600-meter run.

In the girls' discuss, Melissa Roberts took second and Ilo Mansun third. Alexis Laws took fourth in the girls' 1,600-meter run. In the boys' 3,200-meter run, Austin West took third and Jeff Nelson fifth.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Start of Spring Sports

Timp Sports Weekly
March 17, 2009


Publisher's Message

Not much waiting had to be needed for the arrival of this year's high school spring sports seasons. They got underway within days after the state boys' 4-A and 5-A basketball playoffs had ended.
For this issue, we'll be looking at outcomes of Lehi and American Fork games played this week. With that said, let's get to those results.
Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher
deanmemmott@hotmail.com

Snow Comes Out on Top in Soccer Game Between AF, Mountain View

By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Awesome American Fork Cavemen's soccer season opened with a loss to Old Man Winter during a home game against the Mountain View Bruins March 2.

A heavy snowfall prompted the referees to declare the game over after the two teams had played only one period of it. Neither the Cavemen nor the Bruins could score a goal during the snowstorm.

During the one half, the Bruins led American Fork 5-1 in shots on goal. However, Caveman goalie Chris Pineda did not let one Mountain View shot sneak past him. Also, the Caveman defense kept ruining Bruin right wing Sam Hickman's chances of putting indirect shots into the goal net.

Cavemen like Caleb Garlick, Zach Plitt, Quinton Hull, and Jordan Jacklin constantly kept stealing the ball from Bruin Jake Parkinson before he could put it into the net.

While American Fork couldn't post a W in the March 9 game, American Fork Coach Barkley Chile was still pleased with his Cavemen's efforts. He said, "They put a lot of pressure on Mountain View's defense. They were talking a lot more on field, and they stayed well organized on defense."

Springville Red Devils Dry Up Lehi 5-1 in Softball Opener
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Publisher

The hot Springville Red Devils dried up the Lehi Pioneers 5-1 in a softball season opener at Lehi March 11.

In the fifth inning, Whitney Cook doubled in Kellie Jo Jenkins for the only Pioneer run of the game. That RBI went down as one of four hits made by Lehi in the game. While Shelby Lund smacked two singles for the Pioneers, Aly White and Cook contributed a single to the cause.

Springville's Nikki Brailsford shocked Lehi with a sixth-inning home run that ended the afternoon's scoring. It opened with Springville scoring three runs in the first. The Red Devils scored a fourth run in the fifth inning.

Red Devil pitcher Aria Agli struck out 10 Lehi batters during the two-hour contest.

Lehi Coach Leslie Warr said, "I was pleased with how Arial and Ashley Zimmerman pitched. Ashley threw first. She did good in the first inning; however, we made errors that allowed Springville to score their first three runs."

AF Lady Cavebatters Drop 2 Home Games in 1st Week of Softball Play
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Awesome American Fork Cavewomen opened their softball season with two straight losses at home last week. On March 11, the Jordan Beetdiggers smothered them 12-1, and on March 12, the Timpview Thunderbirds flew into town and defeated American Fork 10-3.

American Fork Coach Duke Sorensen said, "Jaela Mooney pitched really good as she could for us in the Jordan game, but we made errors let them 10-run us in the fifth. In the Timpview game, we had Annie Christensen throw some innings for us, and then we had to use our third-string pitcher. She wasn't used to throwing against the caliber of players found on Timpview's team. So Timpview ripped us in the sixth inning."

Timpview never trailed once in the game. In the top of the first, an Alisa Talk sacrifice groundout scored Kimmy Brimhall. The Thunderbirds' 1-0 lead didn't survive the first inning.

In the bottom of it, Shelbi Petersen, walked by Talk, scored a tying run through stealing home base.

The next inning, Thunderbird Megan Fillmore hit an infield single, and she soon scored on an overthrow past third. On two outs in the bottom of the second, American Fork managed to move two runners into scoring position. However, Talk struck out Alexis Morris to end the game.

The next inning, Talk hit a two-run single to improve Timpview's lead at 4-1. American Fork managed to slice it to 4-2 when a Hayley Holmstead sacrifice fly scored Annie Christensen. Talk kept American Fork in check through the rest of the game.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Timp Sports Weekly
March 10, 2009

Publisher's Message

This is the first issue of an online magazine intended to cover the sports scene extending north from Lindon, Utah, clear to nearby Lehi. Don't expect Timp Sports Weekly to be Utah County's answer to Sports Illustrated. This magazine's mission is to focus on prep athletics and summer sports leagues.

Because readers of local sports stories tend to prefer reading hard copy versions of those accounts, I intend to create as soon as possible a print edition of this magazine, which will be filled with reports and columns written by various sports journalists hired by me. When the print edition of Timp Sports Weekly finally hits the stands, please don't look upon it as a replacement for the recently defunct, northern county weeklies, which four generations of newspaper readers had had enjoyed for four generations until the last seveal years.

For this edition, we will be looking at previews of Lehi Pioneer soccer and four American Fork High sports teams. Let's get to those stories.

Dean Von Memmott
Publisher
deanmemmott@hotmail.com

AF Cavewoman Softball to Open Season With Veteran Players
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The American Fork Cavewomen are set to open their season this week with five seniors, who have had three years of softball experience.

Second-year American Fork Coach Duke Sorensen said, "The seniors we have back this year are Haley Holmstead, Kayla Sorensen, Jonna Wright, Annie Christensen, and Shelby Petersen.

"Annie and Shelby will be pitching for us. We expect Haley Holmstead to be one of our top hitters. She was a big hitter for us last year. These girls have picked up a lot of softball experience since the last season."

Last spring, American Fork finished fourth in region, but the Cavewomen ended up finishing higher in the state tournament than any of the other three Region Four schools participating in the playoffs.

The coach said, "We had 43 girls come out for tryouts this year. We kept 33 of them. We're going to have a lot of sophomores on the varsity team this year. We're also going to have a ninth-grader on the varsity squad."

He said that after American Fork has completed preseason play this month, the Cavewomen will be involved in a really tough region. He said he believed the battle for the league's three state playoff spots will be really tough.

Sorensen's assistant varsity coach this year will be Dennis Romboy.

AF Cavebatters to Begin New Season in St. George
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The American Fork Cavemen will be opening their new 2009 baseball season at the Little Caesar's Tournament at St. George's Bruce Hurst Field next week.

"We have three starters back this year," said American Fork Coach Jarod Ingersoll. "They're Josh Mooney, Bo Fisher, and Stu Dirsch. They bring good experience to the team. They'll be a huge key to our season.

"We like playing in St. George at this time of year, because of good weather and a great baseball field. It will give our guys a chance to have great concentration on their playing."

"We have two sophomores who'll be seeing varsity action this season," Ingersoll said. "Ryan Pitcher will be playing second base for us. Caden Worthington will be a pinch runner for us."

American Fork will be playing non-league games throughout this entire month. In April, they will be playing Region Four foes who include the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings, the Spanish Fork Dons, Timpanogos Timberwolves, Lone Peak Knights, and the Lehi Pioneers. The league promises to be a tough one.

"Only three teams will be going to state from Region Four this year. It's ridiculous. We should have a fourth team going to state from our region," Ingersoll said. "The fights for the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 spots are all going to be bloodbaths."

Assisting Ingersoll this year are Correy Clayton, Eric Olsen, Jay Holmstead, and Glenn Taylor. The coach said, "Correy and Glenn will coach the sophomores. Eric is going to be our jayvee coach. Jay will be assisting me with the varsity."

Lehi Soccer Team Returns With Experienced Players

By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Lehi Pioneer soccer team is returning with a load of experienced players this spring.

Lehi Coach Steve McMurdie said, "We have a large portion of our varsity back from last year. We did lose some experienced players last year, but the majority of our veteran players are back. I'm optimistic about our chances for doing really good in region.

"Riley Anderson is returning as a goalie. He did pretty good in that positon his sophomore year. Another two returning players to watch out for are Austin Tucket and Iam Ramos."

Lehi will open its season at Northridge later on this week.

AF Cavekickers to Open Season This Week
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher


The American Fork Cavemen are opening their 2009 soccer season at home this week. American Fork will be enjoying the services of seven veteran seniors this spring.

"Five of them are returning starters," said American Fork Coach Barkley Chile. "They include Chris Penida, Quinton Holt, Sean Halbleb, Josh Whittaker, and Steven Bean. They're the ones pushing our ninth-graders and sophomores. Our other two seniors will be playing as subs.

"Chris Penida will be a our starting goalie. He played keeper last year. He was on the last American Fork team that went to state.

"Three preseason games we have which promise to be tough are Mountain View, Payson, and Pine View. Every team in our region is going to be tough."

American Fork's Region Four opponents include Lone Peak, Timpanogos, Lehi, Pleasant Grove, and Spanish Fork.

Cavetracksters Return as a Young Squad This Year
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The American Fork Caveman and Cavewoman track teams this year promise to be young squads. That is the word, according to head American Fork track coach Art Taylor.

He said, "We lost most of our talent to graduation last year. Most of our kids this year are juniors and sophomores. We do have experienced distant runners on our girls and boys' teams.

"On the girls' side, we have Danielle West and Alexis Laws. We anticipate they will do good things again at Region. At state last year, Danielle took fifth in the mile and Laws ninth in the two-mile.

"On the boys' side, Robby Lee and Ryan Bradshaw are our most experienced distant runners. Robby had to stay home from state last year, but Ryan did get to compete at the state meet.

"We have 90 kids involved in the track program so far. Fifty of them are boys, and the other 40 girls.

"Melissa Roberts is our returning discus thrower. Christy Warren is a senior hurdler for us, and she took fourth at region last year. She went to state, but didn't place there.

"Among the assistants I will have this year are Bruno Hunziker, Timo Mostert, Brad Huff, Kevin Mann, and Lauren Browning."