Trojans bring home seven state championships in 2022-2023

The wail of fire engine sirens has alerted the community to returning  Morgan High state championship teams seven times during the 2002-2023 school year.  For newcomers to the valley, this tradition can be disconcerting, but a quick look on Morgan Moms will quiet fears and explain the celebratory rather than cautionary nature of this event. Sixty times since Morgan High opened in 1911 teams have brought home state championships!  The 2022-2023 school year accounted for seven of those. 

Of the seven championships this year, two were first-ever titles.  In 2023, the girls golf and girls track programs joined the other 12 programs at the high school that proudly display their state championships in the Morgan High gym and trophy cases.  Five programs added to their legacy with repeat titles in football, volleyball, girls tennis, girls basketball, and boys track.  The Trojans annually compete well in the 3A classification and often bring home multiple titles each year, but seven is the largest number since the 2018-2019 year when the school also earned seven titles in girls soccer, volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys golf, boys basketball and boys track.

Out of all the schools statewide in all classifications that compete under the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA), Morgan High sports teams earned the second most championships for their school this year, finishing just behind 6A Lone Peak High who brought home eight.  1A Panguitch and 6A Corner Canyon both garnered five state titles, and several schools claimed four (6A Skyridge, 5A Skyline, 4A Crimson Cliffs and 3A Juab).  

The first title for the 2022-2023 school year was a repeat title for the girls tennis team coached by Katherine Hadley.  Under Hadley, the team has claimed all three of its titles (2019, 2021, 2022). Last fall, the 1st Doubles team of Sydney Jensen and Ryann Jensen and the 2nd Doubles team of Lucy Tripp and Brylee Adams won individual titles while Katelyn Steel (1st Singles) and Savannah Dutson (2nd Singles) took second.  

Next at the end of October, Liz Wiscombe’s volleyball team brought home Morgan’s 20th volleyball title, ending their three-year drought with a four-set victory over Emery.  Wiscombe’s teams have won 17 titles dating back to 1989 with three consecutive titles in 95, 96, 97 and two four-year runs (1999-2002 and 2015-2018).  Single titles were also won in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2022.  Coach Kathy Nielson began the volleyball tradition with three titles (1973, 1974, 1979).

A few weeks later, the Trojan football team coached by Jared Barlow decimated Juab in the championship game 55-3 to hoist Morgan’s eighth football state trophy. After losses in the championship game in 2020 and 2021, Morgan was thrilled to reclaim the title they earned in 2019 under Kovi Christiansen.  On the gridiron, MHS first earned a championship in 1940 under Bill Cowley.  Coach Jan Smith led the Trojans to three first-place finishes in 1977, 1979 and 1983.  After a 10 year hiatus, Blaine Monkres and his team returned the title to Morgan in 1993.  After a heartbreaking 0-7 goal line loss in the 2A state championship game in 1996 to Granstville, Morgan rebounded to win their sixth title and first 3A championship in 1997 with Coach Renn Hoopes. It took another 22 years to bring the first title of the new century in 2019, followed by the 2022 win this year.

Morgan’s fourth title of the year came in February in dramatic fashion as the girls basketball team beat Grantsville, a team they lost to both times this year in region play, in the championship game 70-66.  This win was the program’s second championship in three years under head coach Sterling Mack.  With titles in 2021 and 2023, Mack matched Coach Kovi Christiansen’s two titles from 2003 and 2004.  Morgan’s first girls’ basketball championship came in 1990 under Coach Wade Fiscus.

Spring sports yielded two first-ever titles for girls golf and track and a return to the top of the podium for boys’ track.

Girls golf clinched their first ever title with seniors Ellie DeMond and Jailee Snow claiming Individual Medalist and Runner-up Honors.  The team, who has finished second to Richfield for several years, won their first title in commanding fashion with a 12-stroke victory.  Coached by Dennis Peterson, who already claimed four consecutive boys golf titles from 2018-2021, the team earned their banner in the gym with several girls shooting their best round ever in the championship rounds.

In the final 3A championship event for the year, Morgan earned not only one, but two state championships for their sixth and seventh titles.  The sixth title by the girls track team was a complete team effort led by individual state champions Lucy Tripp and Grace Gordon.  The track teams are coached by Bryan Weir and Brennen Fuller.  Weir’s name is recorded in the girls’ record book as the winning girls coach, and Fuller received credit for the boys.   The boys won their title as a family, with each athlete garnering points in his specialty, and only one individual champion, Brogan Garrett. The boys track team added to their three previous titles in 2019 and 2021 under Fuller and 1996 with Dave Clark.

In 2023, Morgan also earned two second place finishes.  In boys wrestling, Morgan claimed second for the second year in a row to juggernaut Juab.  In boys soccer, the team advanced to the championship game against Juan Diego and fell 1-0 in a hard fought battle for the program’s first-ever state championship. 

Boys soccer is one of eight sports (softball, boys tennis, girls wrestling, boys and girls swimming, drill, competitive cheer) at Morgan that have yet to claim a UHSAA-sanctioned state title. 

Like soccer, many have advanced to the championship round but haven’t moved to the top spot on the podium yet. Park City served as Morgan’s nemesis in soccer for several years, often stymieing the Trojans in the championship game.  In 2008, the Miners won 1-0 in overtime and in 2004, they took the championship 2-1  

In 1990, the inaugural year of softball, Coach Liz Wiscombe’s team advanced to the championship game and took second place.  The softball team also took second in 1994 with a 3-1 loss in the finals.

Other sports are new or recently sanctioned sports or recently formed teams at Morgan High. Girls wrestling has only been sanctioned since 2021, and Morgan is slowly building a program although they did have an individual champion, Tenley Jones, in 2022.

With no pool in town, Morgan only began participating in swimming in 2018 for both the boys and girls programs.  The Trojan’s lone swimming state medalist is Rachel Wheelwright.  She won an individual medal in the 100 m Butterfly in 2020.  

In boys’ tennis, Swish Wiscombe and Tim Wright won a 2nd Doubles state championship in 2009.  Additional records were not available for individual championships before 2009. 

2023 marked the first year of official UHSAA competition for competitive cheer.  Despite repeatedly winning championships each year in the 3A category at state,  Morgan had to compete in the 3A/4A division at state in 2023 and placed third to two 4A schools.  

Results for the drill team only go back to 1983, and Morgan has not had a drill team the past few years, but the Troyettes have consistently competed well as a team and individually in events.  

For over a century teams have been competing and representing Morgan High and the community of Morgan!  Congratulations to the 2022-2023 teams on their success!

Note: Diligent effort was made to gather information and verify names, years and championships for sanctioned sports. Championships listed here are recorded on the official UHSAA website.  Any oversight of teams, coaches, or individual champions was not intentional.   Please contact Liisa Mecham to share additional information for future articles relating to this topic. 

History of Morgan High State Championships 

Sport (# of championships) year-coach

• Baseball (1) 1951-Kent Murdock

• Boys Basketball (4) 1974-Ron Abeg  glen; 2013, 2014-Jim Wiscombe; 2019-Brad Matthews

• Girls Basketball (5) 1990-Wade Fiscus; 2013, 2014-Kovi Christiansen; 2021, 2023-Sterling Mack

• Boys Cross Country (1) 2018-Brennen Fuller

• Girls Cross Country (3) 2018, 2019, 2020- Brennen Fuller

• Football (8) 1940- Bill Cowley; 1977, 1979, 1983- Jan Smith; 1993-Blaine Monkres; 1997-Renn Hoopes; 2019-Kovi Christiansen; 2022-Jared Barlow

• Boys Golf (5) 1994-Neil Carrigan; 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021-Dennis Peterson

• Girls Golf (1) 2023-Dennis Peterson

• Girls  Soccer (3) 2017, 2018, 2020-Bryan Searle

• Girls Tennis (3) 2019, 2021,2022-Katherine Hadley 

• Boys Track (4) 1996-Dave Clark; 2019, 2021, 2023-Brennen Fuller

• Girls Track (1) 2023-Bryan Weir

• Volleyball (20) 1973, 1974, 1979-Kathy Nielsen; 1989, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022-Liz Wiscombe 

• Boys Wrestling (1) 1962-Bob Wilson λ