Friday, November 27, 2009

Payson Kitties

Timp Sports Weekly
November 30, 2009

Publisher's Message


With the high school basketball season now having started, we are going to look at a story involving a tight girls' game between the Lehi Pioneers and the Payson Lions, AKA the Kitties. As the folks in Payson would say, it was purr-fectly exciting game. Let's get to that story.


Dean Von Memmott
Publisher
deanmemmott@hotmail.com



Lehi Pioneers Outlast Payson Kitties 63-61 In Nov. 24 Girls' Hoop Opener
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Lehi Pioneers' opened their girls' basketball season at home with 63-61 win over the Payson Lions, AKA the Kitties, Nov. 24.

Lehi's new head coach, Troy Gifford said, "We have a lot of smaller players, who are fast. They love to battle fiercely out on the court. It was not surprising, then, that we had some girls get into foul trouble tonight. We had a lot of jayvee players go in and cover for our starters who got into deep foul trouble.

"Brooke Barnes had a great night hitting threes for us. She hit some threes in the third quarter to open the game up for us and give us momentum to carry us through the rest of the second half."

Kelsie Brown put the Kitties on the board first when she produced a three-point play in the early minutes of the game. A Barnes trey tied the game at three. A tight battle ensued. With Heather Finch putting Payson ahead 5-3, the Lions battled fiercely like alley cats to stay out in front. Combined shooting from Ambree Draper and Breynn Rowley built up a 12-7 lead for Payson. After a set shot by teammate Katie Rogers, Lehi's Gabby Grantham stole the ball and sunk a layup that positioned Lehi within 12-11. Two Rowley free throws and a short, Lacie Zeeman shot built up a 16-11 advantage for the Kitties at the end of the first quarter.

While Payson had much to meow about its first-quarter achievements, Lehi snatched the momentum from the Lions' paws in the second period. It opened with Pioneer Briar Sands sinking a bucket that opened Lehi's comeback. The Pioneers outscored the Kitties 5-1 to get within 17-16 during the quarter's first two minutes. Brown guided Payson in clawing out a 22-18 lead, but the Kitties found themselves powerless in trying to keep Lehi from hopping ahead. Rogers produced a three-point play that gave Lehi the gas it needed to stay in the game. Sands soon hit a bucket which gave Lehi a lead of 23-22. The seesaw battle ensued. When two Zeeman foul pitches tied the game at 29 just before halftime, it seemed the second half would open with a deadlock. That prospect did not turn out to be so, thanks to Pioneer Anau Faleano. She broke the tie with a baseline shot seconds before halftime.

The second half opened with Barnes hitting a three-pointer that sent Lehi on a 10-2 scoring run. It did not knock the Kitties out of the game. Two Rowley foul shots opened a fierce Kitty attack on Lehi's 39-29 lead. Led by Finch, Brown, and Tori Adams, Payson battled back within 45-42 at the end of the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Grantham and Barnes took command of a determined effort to keep Lehi narrowly ahead. While Barnes nailed three crucial treys, Grantham produced layups on steals. Pioneer Jackie Cattoni contributed foul pitches that ultimately proved crucial. When Payson got within 53-52, Cattoni hit a trey that gave Lehi a wide enough cushion to hold on to it lead.

The game had to be halted in the final 23 seconds when Brown suffered a neck injury during a battle for a loose ball. When play renewed, Grantham scored on an inbounds pass to ice the game for Lehi.

Barnes led Lehi with 13 points while Granthan added another 12. Finch led the Kitties with 15 points while Brown and Adams each contributed 10.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Utah County Swimming Championships

Timp Sports Weekly
November 16, 2009

Publisher's Message

This week's issue looks at looks at four northern Utah Valley high schools that participated at the Nov. 13-14 Utah County Invitational, held at the Orem Recreational Center. In a matter of speaking, the invitational determines which local high schools have the best boys and girls' swim teams overall in this valley. Also, the meet allows swimmers who take county to show why they're legitimate contenders for state championship medals at the end of the four-month season. Let's get to those stories.

Dean Von Memmott
Publisher
deanmemmott@hotmail.com

Awesome American Fork Cavewomen and Cavemen Win Girls and Boys' Divisions at Utah County Invitation
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Awesome American Fork Cavewomen and Cavemen both won first-place trophies at the Utah County Invitational, a swim meet held at Orem's Recreation Center Nov. 13-14.

American Fork posted a score of 253 in both the divisions to win the meet's two county team championships. AKA the Loners, the Lone Peak Knights gave the Cavewomen the toughest competition through racking up 252 points to take second in the girls' division. For the Cavemen, they managed to overcome the  Springville Red Devils, alias the Helltown Hellions, the meet's second-place finishers, by 28 points. 

American Fork Coach Kathy King said, "The kids stepped it up today. I was concerned that they might not be able to drop their times significantly. Many of the kids did do that, though. They got a lot of kinks out, and they learned a lot on what they had to do to improve in their techniques."

American Fork got off to a good start on the first day of the two-day meet. American Fork won both the girls and boys' medley relays. Cavewoman Camille Okleberry won the meet's first gold medal for individual events  by taking the girl's 200-yard freestyle. She went on to win the girls' 500-yard freestyle championship.

 Jamie Nebeker won the girls' 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke. Caveman Matt Okleberry, Camille's brother, finished second in the boys' 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle races. Okelberry said, "I posted my times in those events. So I'm already qualified for state."

McKay King took county title in the boys' 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke. Cavewoman Abby Morrison cruised away with a gold medal in the girls' 50-yard freestyle.

On the second day of the meet, T.J. Murphy joined the list American Fork swimmers to win county championships. He took in the boys' 100-yard butterfly, and he finished second in the boys' 100-yard freestyle.

The team of Daryk Childs, Kyle Smith, Baby Wade Healy, and McKay King won the boys' 200-yard freestyle.  The team of Murphy, Okelberry, Smith, and King won the boys' 400-yard freestyle. Smith said, "To win the 400 free relay, we concentrated really hard on the techniques that Kathy taught us at practice. We got them down well enough to win in the time of 3:20.49. Springville gave us a real good battle. We beat them by just a second."

Momo King took eighth in the girls' 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke. Casey Nicole earned  fifth-place finish in the girls' 100-yard freestyle. Healy took seventh in the boys' 100-yard freestyle.

The team of Morrison, Casey, Okelberry, and Tabi Sumsion took second in the girls' 200-yard freestyle. Childs took fourth in the boys' 100-yard breaststroke.

LP Swimmers Take 2nd in Girls' Division and 3rd in Boys' At Utah County Invitational
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

AKA the Loners, the Lone Peak Knights' swim teams took second in the girls' division and third in the boys' at the Utah County Invitational, held Nov. 13-14 at the Orem Recreation Center.

Having a strong chance at taking home the 2009 county team titles, the Knights racked up points in everyone of the meet's 22 events. Lone Peak's new head coach, Chad Reimschussel said, "In every events, we had at least two swimmers step and score points for us."

The Knight girls' effort fell a point short of winning the county girls' championship. In the tight battle for it, the Awesome American Fork Cavewomen scored 253 points and Lone Peak 252. In the boys' division, incredible domination by American Fork caused Lone Peak to finish a weak third with 157 points. 

Despite coming up short in their attempt to take home both county team titles, the Knights still produced individual county champs. Knight Kim Welch, for example, said, "I'll be qualifying for state real soon. My times are where they are at for being seeded at state. Today, I won the girls' 100 back and 100 butterfly. I'm hoping that today will be when I qualify for state."

Hannah Siebach won the girls' 100-yard freestyle title in a time of 57.48.

In the 200-yard medley relay, Lone Peak took second in the girls' division and third in the boys'.

Cate Woolston and Sam Scorsby took third and fourth respectively in the girls' 500-freestyle. "Tom" Sawyer Hendrickson took seventh in the men's 500-yard freestyle.

The team of Woolston, Scoresby, Siebach, and Welch took first in the girls' 200-yard freestyle  relay. The team of Scorsby, Woolston, Welch, and Kira Hamilton won the girls' 400-yard freestyle relay. Lone Peak took third in the boys' 200-yard freestyle relay and seventh in the boys'.

Ferocious PG Vike Swimmers Take 7th in Both Girls and Boys' Divisions At Utah County Invitational
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings finished seventh in both the girls and boys' divisions of the Utah County Invitational, a swim meet held at the Orem Recreation Center Nov. 13-14.

Pleasant Grove scored 163 points in the girls' division and 81 in the boys'.

Sara Gagon took fourth in the girls' 200-yard freestyle. Christie Bunnell took second in the girls' 500-yard freestyle and third in the girls' 100-yard butterfly. Summer Mazeika took 27th in the girls' 100-yard freestyle. 

Ryan Fonseca took 14th in the boys' butterfly. Curtis Clayson took 12th in the boys' 100-yard freestyle. Jordan Bramhall took  18th in the boys' 500-yard freestyle. Jordan's brother Nate Bramhall took third in the boys' 100-yard breaststroke. The Bramhall brothers joined Fonseca and Elan Maynez securing a fifth-place finish for Pleasant Grove in the boys' 400-yard freestyle.

The team of Gagon, Bunnell, Lisa Jensen, and Sara Dickerson took fourth in the girls' 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Clayson, Jamie Ricks, Andy Biesinger, and Craig Holmes took eighth in the boys' 200-yard freestyle relay.

Dickerson took 16th in the girls' 100-yard backstroke. Maynez took sixth in the boys' 100-yard backstroke. Jensen took 18th in the girls' 100-yard breastroke.

Lehi Takes 6th In Both Girls and Boys Divisions at Utah County Invitational
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Lehi Pioneers finished fifth and sixth respectively in both the boys and girls' divisions at the Utah County Invitational, a high school swim meet held Nov. 13-14 at the Orem Recreation Center.

Lehi posted 117 points in the boys' division and 202 in the girls'.

One Pioneer won a county title at the meet: Braedon Hegemann. He won the boys' 50-yard championship in the meet's Nov. 13 action. Hegemann said, "By winning the 50 free, I know I am going to have to put in more effort to be able to do well at the state meet at the end of this season. I have a good chance of also swimming the 100 free at state. I am currently ranked eighth among boy freestyle swimmers in 4-A."

Hegemann also finished 24th in the boys' 100-yard breaststroke.

Madi White took third in the girls' 100-yard freestyle. Dani Vaughn finished sixth both in the girls' 500-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. Lehi Coach Dennis Meyering said, "Dani Vaughn broke three school records at St. George recently. She broke them in the 200-yard free, 100 fly, and 100 free. In the 200 free, she set a new school record of 59.9, breaking a school record set by Jackie Hadfield 10 years ago. As a leadoff for our three girl relay teams, she posted a time of 55.8 at the St. George Invitational."

Ryan Doel took ninth in the boys' 100-yard butterfly. Tanner Frandsen took third in the boys' 50-yard freestyle and 17th in the boys' 500-yard freestyle. Frandsen joined Colt Lindstrom, Devon Kirkham, and Timmy Walsh in finishing fourth in the boys' 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Rachel Hansen, Emilie Mardsen, Lindsey Smith, and Madie Taylor took eighth in the girls' 200-yard freestyle relay.

Trevor Blackburn took 16th in the boys' 100-yard backstroke. Emilie Mardsen took 14th in the girls' 100-yard breastroke.