Sports Shorts: August recap of golf, volleyball, tennis, and cross country

Although school didn’t start until Aug. 20, most of Morgan’s teams were on the court, field or course the first week of the month. Each team has been busy with pre-season match ups and are now moving into Region 13 play as September opens. The golf team region tournaments were last week while cross county, volleyball and tennis open region play early in September.

Boys golf off to a great start

The official 3A high school golf schedule started a little later this year due to outside tournament opportunities for golfers. Morgan’s first official tournament was Aug. 20 at Union followed by the Dinaland Invitational the next day in Vernal.  

At the Union Invitational, MHS senior Lance Loughton shot a – 6 under par 66, to lead the pack and bring home individual medal honors while freshman Jace Benson broke even at 72 to take third behind Ben Lomond’s Cayson Beekum who shot a 68.  MHS sophomore Caleb Reese and freshman Korver Toone both recorded 80s as the Trojans third and fourth scorers. Morgan and host Union both finished with 298 in the team race.

The next day at Dinaland, Loughton and Benson both finished 1 under at 71 in a tie for second with VanBeekum shooting a 2 under par, 70, to earn individual honors. As a team, the Trojans bested Union 299 to 303, with Toone recording a 78 and Reese a 79.

Morgan’s next trip to the links was Tuesday, Aug. 27 at the Ben Lomond Invitational at the El Monte Golf Course.  

Loughton currently sits at the top of the 3A State Leaderboard with an average adjusted score of 68.67 and Benson is third at 71.41.

Girls tennis returns five starters, starts well with wins

After a second place finish at state in 2024, the Morgan girls tennis team, who won state titles in 2019, 2021, and 2022, is ready to make a run at another title. The team returns five players from last year’s runner up squad, and they welcome two new varsity players on the 20-person team. After opening with a win over 6A Syracuse, the team dropped a tough match 2-3 to 5A Viewmont. On the first day of school, the team traveled to 6A East High and returned home with another 4-1 victory.

Playing 1st Singles for Morgan is senior Sophie Rabe who won a state title last year at 2nd Singles. In the 2024 2nd Singles spot, junior Maycee Dee will look to better her 2023 second place finish in 3rd Singles.  Freshman Vyvian Bailey will represent the team at 3rd Singles.

At the recent St. George Tournament, Rabe took fourth out of eight teams while Dee placed third.  Bailey earned second place in 3rd singles while the 1st Doubles duo of Isabella Dickman and Willa Anderston claimed second as well. Kaitlyn Carter and Sydney Jensen won first place in 2nd Doubles.

“The girls all played great in very hot and very windy conditions,” Coach Katherine Hadley said.

Morgan played at home Thursday, Aug. 29 against the reigning state champions Rowland Hall. They will play the remainder of their home schedule Sept. 16, 17 and 19 against Judge Memorial, Ogden, and Union.

Boys and Girls cross country

Morgan’s XC teams opened the season at the Premiere Invitational at the Cottonwood Complex in Salt Lake City. Trojan senior EJ Lee raced to a second-place finish in the 1A-3A division and recorded a new PR for himself: 15:28.2.  Junior Jonas Archibald (16:45.5) took fifth overall and scored second for the Trojans. Junior Henry Rose (17:21.8), senior Maverick Guymon (17:36.7) and sophomore Caleb Lewis (17:41.4) rounded out the scoring for Morgan. Senior Esplan McClellan (18:10.0) and sophomore Drake Mecham (19:52.2) filled out the varsity boys roster.

In the girls race, sophomore Alexis Cox (21:10.7) scored first for Morgan and placed in the Top 10 at ninth. “The Brooks” scored second through fourth for the Trojans: senior Brooklyn Hill (22:33.3); sophomore Brooklyn Guymon (22:40.9); and senior Brooke Williford (22:59.6). Junior Reese Richardson (24:53.3) wrapped up the varsity scoring.

Morgan will host their home meet, Wednesday Sept. 11 at 4 p.m. at the high school. 

Girls volleyball opens with 3-1 win over Sky View

With Coach Liz Wiscombe (466-91) at the helm for her 38th year at Morgan and her 45th year coaching volleyball in Utah, the Trojans will once again be a team to beat in 3A. In their opening game at home,  Morgan prevailed 3-1 over 4A powerhouse Sky View. The Bobcats took the first game 17-25 before the Trojans roared back stifling Sky View 25-14, 25-17, 25-15.  

Thursday, Aug. 22, Morgan traveled to 5A Salem Hills to take on the Skyhawks. The visiting Trojans dropped the first two sets (14-25, 18-25) before claiming the next two 25-22 and 25-23. In the final set, Salem Hills took the match with a 15-7 win.

Morgan will play at home Tuesday, Sept. 3 against 6A Farmington after away games at 6A Davis and 4A Green Canyon the last week of August. Morgan begins Region 13 play at Ogden on Sept. 12 before hosting Ben Lomond Sept. 17 in Morgan. λ