MHS teams compete at State and Region

Soccer advances to semifinals with 5-1 win over Carbon

With a 5-1 win over Carbon in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs, Morgan advanced to a semifinal match up against region foe Ogden on Wednesday, May 10.  The winner of this game advanced to the state championship set for Friday, May 12 at America First Field in Sandy.

In the home playoff victory over Carbon Friday, Morgan scored three times in the opening half to take a 3-0 lead before adding two more goals in the second half.  They held the Dinos to a single second-half score on a penalty kick late in the game to move closer to their goal of a state title.  Scoring in the quarterfinal matchup were Sam Edwards, Beau Johnson, Ty Warner (2), and Jett Beckstrom.   

After receiving a bye in the first round, the #4 seeded Trojans mercy ruled Richfield at home Wednesday, May 3.  Morgan found the back of the net six times in the opening period and added three more goals to end the Wildcats’ playoff run 9-0.  

In the semifinal match up, the Trojans will come up against a familiar Region 13 foe.  In their two meetings this year, Morgan lost both games. In their first game, the Trojans fell 2-1 with all scoring coming in the second half.  In their recent April 25 match up, Ogden prevailed 2-0.  In both games senior goalkeeper Hunter Paskins earned the win while fellow senior Ty Robinson scored a goal each game. 

Softball advances to 3A State Playoffs with 14-9 win over Ogden

Saturday, May 6 the #7-seeded Lady Trojan softball team traveled to Cedar City for their first round to the playoffs and faced #10 Ogden.  Morgan won the game 14-9.  In the game sophomore Kaiya Peterson and freshmen Joesi Kelly both hit balls out of the park.  

Morgan opened the game with four runs in the first inning to Ogden's single run to take a 4-1 lead into the second inning.  In the bottom of the second inning the Trojans added another run and three more in the bottom of the third to begin the fourth period up 8-2. 

After a scoreless fourth inning, the Trojans drove in three more runs to Ogden's single run to remain comfortably in command of the game 11-3 to start the sixth.  Odgen unleashed their bats in the sixth inning to score six runs and bring the Tigers within three, 11-9.  

Three runs by Morgan in the bottom of the 6th put the Lady Trojans up 14-9 when the game ended.

In addition to Peterson’s and Kelly’s home runs, several players recorded doubles: Kelly, Peterson, sophomore Eva Birkeland,senior Tess Polad, sophomore Kasen Ervin, and senior Elena Birkeland. Peterson led with five RBIs, and Kelly followed with three.

Sophomores Callie Averrett and Eva Birkeland split the pitching duties with 66 and 60 pitches respectively.  Fellow sophomore Stacey George recorded five putouts while Elena Birkeland tallied a game-high 11.  Sophomores Peterson and Lexi Hardman added four putouts each.  

Hardman, Averett and Elena Birkeland each recorded a stolen base in the victory.

The Trojans will play in the 3A State Softball Tournament May 11-13 in Spanish Fork. They will open play against the #2 seed Canyon View at 12:15 p.m.  Thursday, May 11.  The tournament is a true double elimination tournament, and the Trojans will play again on Thursday, if they lose, and will advance and play on Friday with a win.

Boys’ Tennis to play at State May 11-13

Thursday-Saturday, May 11-13, the boys’ tennis team will play in the 3A State Championships at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.  After a third place finish at the Region 13 tournament, the team is looking for a strong showing at state.

At 1st Singles, Benjamin Hadley earned a #8 seed headed into state, and Ben Poll, 2nd Singles, earned a #6 seed.  Trayson Ordyna will represent Morgan at 3rd Singles as the #9 seed.  The 1st Doubles team of Carter Bladen and Evan Harris and the 2nd Doubles team of Boston Fuhriman and Dax Helston earned the highest seeds on the team at #4.  

The Round of 16 will be played on Thursday with the championships on Saturday.

Top competition at state will come from Rowland Hall, Waterford, and Ogden.

Baseball team finishes season with 3-1 loss

In their play-in game for the  3A State Championship Tournament, the #15 seeded Morgan Trojan baseball team fell 3-1 to the #18 seeded North Sanpete Hawks in Mt. Pleasant Friday, May 5.  The loss ends the Trojans’ season with an overall record of 8-15 and a winning 7-5 Region 13 record.  

In the final game, North Sanpete drove in a run in the second, third and fourth innings to take a 3-0 before Morgan scored in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI by junior Ryder Waldron.  In the game senior, JJ Compton hit a double, and sophomore Camron Talbot scored the lone run.  Compton earned a stolen base in the game while senior Gabe Jensen led with 17 putouts followed by two apiece by seniors Eli McKonkie and Trevor DeWitt.  

DeWitt pitched his final game for Morgan as the seniors, DeWitt, McConkie, Luke Harris, Payton Hatt and Compton, ended their careers as Morgan High baseball players.

Girls Golf takes to heads to State at Glendale Golf Course 

After winning the Region 13 title and holding the #1 ranking in 3A, the Morgan golf team has been busy preparing for state that was held on Wednesday-Thursday, May 10-11, at Glendale Golf Course in Salt Lake City.  Senior Ellie DeMond, top ranked 3A player, and fellow senior Jailee Snow, #3 in 3A, who both signed to play college golf at Westminster College in Salt Lake, will lead their team in their bid for their first state championship in school history after finishing second to Richfield for five consecutive years.  Kia Christiansen, Jane Poll, Camden Smith and Kenadee Benson round out the team who will take to the course seeking Morgan’s first girls’ golf state championship.

Track and Field: Tiger Open, BYU Invitational and hosting Region 13 Championships 

In a late change of venue due to technical difficulties at the Ogden High track, Morgan will now host the Region 13 Championships Thursday and Friday, May 11 and 12.  Competition will begin each day at 4 pm.  Morgan, who generally qualifies more athletes for state than any other 3A school, will play host to Ogden, Grantsville,  Ben Lomond, Layton Christian, and South Summit.  The top four individuals and relay teams in each event will advance to the state championships at BYU May 19-20.  Individuals who have hit a state qualifying mark at an earlier invitational will also have the opportunity to compete at state.

The Morgan Track and Field Team competed at the BYU Invitational last weekend. The girls’ team earned third place in the 1A-3A team competition with 38 points, just one point behind second-place North Sevier and four points behind first-place Juan Diego (42). The boys’ team finished in a tie for sixth place with Delta (34 points) behind first place Sugar-Salem (ID) (76), Evanston (WY) (59), Juab (51), Union (44), and Richfield (35).  

At BYU, senior Shaun Moore finished second in the shot put with a throw of 48-06.25 feet, the top Utah thrower in the 1A-3A competition.  Senior Rhett Nye also took second in the javelin with a 168-10.75 throw, and junior Gavin DeWitt (156-08.25) took seventh.

Junior Brooks Anderton (4:37.42) was 14th in the 1600m, and senior Alexis Weiers (5:28.80)  was 16th in the 1600m.  Seniors Weiers (2:27.14) and Melanie Bybee (2:29.36) were top 20 (16th and 17th) in the 800m. Junior Tucker Giles ran the 800 in 1:58.55 to place seventh.

Senior Lucy Tripp ran a 12.70 race in the 100m to take second place with junior Jake Carter running an 11.35 in the boys’ 100m to place eighth.  Grace Gordon, a senior, won the 400m race in 57.97 and placed seventh (26.50) in the 200m finals.  Tripp claimed another second place (26.07) in the 200m.  

The teams both performed well in their relays.  The girls 4x100 relay won in 51.22 while the boys 4x100 placed third (44.12).  In the Sprint Medley Relay, the girls’ team (4:34.61) claimed ninth, and the boys’ earned fourth (3:32.18).  The 4x400 relay boys’ team clocked in at 3:32.18.

In the high jump, junior Abby Titus jumped 4-11 to tie for 12th, and Jake Carter earned seventh in the long jump (20.02.25).  Junior Londyn Elmer was top 20 (18th place) with a throw of 96-07.75 in the discus.  Moore placed 13th in discus (123-02).

At the Davis Invitational on April 29, three school records were broken.  Congratulations to Lucy Tripp (200m), Tucker Giles (800m) and the girls 4x100 m relay (Bailey Beckstrom, Caitlyn Flitton, Brier Gailey, and Tripp) for breaking a school record! λ