Morgan High Trojans top all other schools in 3A

For the sixth year in a row, Morgan High and its athletic teams have won the Deseret News All-Sports Award in the 3A Classification. This award recognizes the school in each classification whose teams won the most points from placements in state competitions of all sports sanctioned by the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA).

Morgan tallied 92 points compared to second-place Canyon View’s 83.5. The Trojans brought home three state championships (competitive cheer, boys golf and boys track) and four second-place finishes (girls soccer, girls volleyball, girls tennis) and five other top four finishes (boys wrestling (3rd), football, boys soccer and baseball). Competitive cheer and drill are not calculated in the award (The Deseret News has not returned inquiries about how sports are selected to be included in the totals). The boys’ sports earned 54.5 points, and the girls’ sports tallied 37.5. Morgan boys’ teams earned points in every sport except basketball, tennis, and lacrosse while the girls missed out on points in basketball, tennis, cross country, lacrosse, and wrestling. 

Athletic Director Kade Morrell shared his thoughts on the school’s sixth straight award of this honor. “I think we owe a lot of this award to the coaching staff of every sport who work and focus on the whole athlete, not just winning.”

“Our coaches have developed a culture of success that involves all of the stakeholders: the athletes, the parents, the community, the teachers, and the administration,” he continued.

“I think we are able to sustain the high levels of competition because the kids themselves push each other to excel and succeed. The athletes on one team see the athletes on other teams succeeding and winning championships, and they want the same. As the kids feel success in one sport that confidence carries over into the other sports,” he explained.

Morrell also points to coaches who are willing to encourage “their” athletes to participate and contribute to other sports as another success factor. One example he described is that head football coach Jared Barlow awards points toward earning a varsity letter in football to those football players who participate in another sport or sports. Barlow’s program promotes the idea that participation in multiple sports helps athletic development and shares his athletes with other sports, an important thing in a smaller school like Morgan.

Another aspect of the sustainability of the success is the continued ability that coaches, parents, teachers and administrators have to “get good kids involved in activities.” “It takes everybody, “ Morrell shared. “If we don’t have teachers working with coaches to help the students learn the classroom and achieve, our student-athletes won’t be eligible to participate. If parents aren’t helping the kids get to practices, the coaches can’t work with them.”

Morrell gave a huge shout-out to the Morgan Community for their support of the athletic teams at Morgan High. “We have tremendous community support here in Morgan. So many of our parents and fans travel with our teams and support them.”

He also directed praise to the parents and coaches who help athletes develop in their sport during their high school off-season. “The year-round experience that the athletes get is a blessing, but it requires a lot from parents and coaches.”

“It has been great to see the community support to build up programs. An excellent example of this is our softball and baseball programs. Both had their best seasons in many years this year, and a lot of that is due to the community stepping in and building up feeder programs and parents coaching or finding teams for their athletes to continue to develop their skills outside of the season.” Morrell expounded.

He concluded by summarizing that Morgan’s teams continue to perform well due to great kids, great coaches, great community support along with a winning mentality and high expectations. 

“Year after year teams come and go, and new kids will come in, but what doesn’t change in Morgan is the expectation,”  Morrell finished. “I like the philosophy, ‘Enjoy it when you’re up, and work hard to get back up when you’re down.’  Our kids, coaches and community embody this philosophy, and it’s exciting to be a part of it.” λ