Lehi Sports
Lehi wraps up banner year
The athletic teams at Lehi High School have just closed the books on seasons full of success – so much success, in fact, that the school has earned the All-Sports Award for the first time in 25 years, in this case for Class 5A.
The Pioneers last earned the honor in 1997 in Class 3A. Lehi also received the accolade during the first three years that it was awarded, in 1981 for Class 3A and in 1980 and 1979 in Class 2A, making this year’s accomplishment the fifth time overall.
The All-Sports Award is calculated and presented by the Deseret News. According to the newspaper’s website, it “denotes the top overall athletic program in each of the six classifications.
“Schools earn All-Sports points for placing in the top eight at state. Ten points are awarded for first, eight for second, six for third, five for fourth, four for fifth, three for sixth, two for seventh and one for eighth. Points are divided when teams tie.
“Schools earn points in football, cross-country, golf, basketball, wrestling, swimming, baseball, track, soccer, tennis, volleyball, softball and lacrosse.”
Lehi earned the most points in both boys and girls sports. The boys teams had 53 points, including state titles in football and baseball and second place in soccer and track. The girls teams had 39 points, including finishing second in soccer, basketball and softball and third in track.
The combined total of 92 points was far ahead of second-place Olympus at 77. Skyline was third with 62.
Following is a team-by-team summary of the Lehi sports school year.
FALL
Boys Golf
State 5A finish: 4th
Top performer: KJ Ofahengaue (Jr.)
Season highlight: The Pioneers were dominant in the region, winning seven tournaments handily and losing the eighth by just four strokes. They had four region medalists who placed in the top 12. At State, they finished just five strokes behind third place. KJ Ofahengaue tied for the silver medal.
Girls tennis
Region 8 finish: 4th (6-6)
State 5A finish: Tied for 11th
Top performer: Caroline Moon (Jr.)
Season highlight: Caroline Moon pulled off an amazing upset to #1 ranked Maya Inouye from Orem 6-4,2-6,7-5 at the region tournament. Inouye was previously undefeated in 26 high school matches. Moon went on to win her first-round match at State but lost in the quarterfinals.
Cross Country
Region 8 finish: Boys 4th, Girls 5th
State 5A finish: Boys 4th, Girls 7th
Top male performer: Jefferson McMullin (Sr.)
Top female performer: Caroline Moon (Jr.)
Season highlight: Jefferson McMullin earned the 5A gold medal, finishing in 15:06.8, more than 15 seconds ahead of the next closest competitor. He went on to place 7th at the West Regionals and 18th at the Eastbay National Championships.
Girls Soccer
Region 8 finish: Tied for 2nd (9-3)
State 5A finish: 2nd (15-4)
Season highlight: The Pioneers earned a dramatic 2-1 victory in overtime to advance to the state championship match, where they fell to Skyline, ranked 12th nationally. The team outscored opponents 53-18 during the course of the season and produced six All-State players.
Volleyball
Region 8 finish: 3rd (8-4)
State 5A finish: 6th (21-10)
Season highlight: After a first-round upset, the Pioneers went on to defeat Park City, Viewmont and Brighton in succession to place at State. Two players earned All-State recognition.
Football
Region 8 finish: 2nd (3-1)
State 5A finish: 1st (11-3)
Season highlight: After missing an opportunity to defeat the Thunderbirds to win the league title during the regular season, the #7 Pioneers successively eliminated #10 Wasatch, #2 Timpview, #3 Stansbury and #1 Springville to capture the state championship. Ten players garnered All-State honors.
WINTER
Drill
Region 8 finish: 1st
State 5A finish: 6th
Season highlight: The Pionettes won the military, dance and show categories at the region drill team competition to claim the league crown. They went on to earn a fifth-place trophy in the military category at State.
Swimming
Region 8 finish: 3rd combined
State 5A finish: Boys 7th, Girls 23rd
Top male performer: Bryce Broadhead (Jr.)
Top female performer: Sydney Zurmely (So.)
Season highlight: The Pioneers earned 11 top-3 medals at the region meet and the boys squad improved from 21st to 7th place at State in three seasons.
Wrestling
Divisional finish: 4th
State 5A finish: 4th
Top male performer: Isaac Terrell (Jr.)
Top female performer: Ajah Rajvong (Sr.)
Season highlight: The Pioneers qualified 11 boys and two girls for the state tournament. They claimed one gold with Terrell, one bronze and four other medals for Lehi’s highest finish in recent seasons.
Girls Basketball
Region 8 finish: Tied for 1st (10-2)
State 5A finish: 2nd (24-5)
Season highlight: After wrapping up their fourth consecutive region title, the Pioneers blazed a trail of four successive double-digit state tournament victories to earn a berth in the championship final. They bowed to Springville but still had the 5A Player of the Year in Jamisyn Heaton and two other All-State honorees.
Boys Basketball
Region 8 finish: 4th (6-6)
State 5A finish: 1st Round (9-12)
Season highlight: The Pioneers had to deal with injuries and difficult off-court issues during the season. Their signature wins came against Norland out of Florida and a one-point road victory at Timpview. They lost at Skyline in overtime to exit the tournament but still had an All-State player.
SPRING
Girls Golf
Region 8 finish: 3rd
State 5A finish: 5th
Top performer: Patiola Uluave (Sr.)
Season highlight: After the team posted a solid region season with two top-five individual finishers, Uluave shot the best round of the state tournament and set a new school record on the way to coming in second by one stroke while a teammate was also a medalist.
Boys Tennis
Region 8 finish: 3rd (7-3)
State 5A finish: Tied for 11th
Top performer: Chase Jones (Jr.)
Season highlight: The Pioneers had qualifiers in three of five brackets advance to the state championship meet and the first singles and first doubles entrants reached the quarterfinals.
Girls Lacrosse
Region 8 finish: 3rd (8-4)
State 5A finish: 2nd Round (13-7)
Season highlight: The Pioneers increased their win ratio by 20 percent in making a big jump over last season’s results. One of the main reasons was goalkeeper Kathren Moreau, whose save percentage of 62.8 ranked her third in the state.
Boys Lacrosse
Region 8 finish: 3rd (7-5)
State 5A finish: 2nd Round (9-8)
Season highlight: The Pioneers competed well in the league and got a nice win in the first round of the state tournament before bowing out.
Track
Region 8 finish: Boys 2nd, Girls 3rd
State 5A finish: Boys 2nd, Girls 3rd
Top male performer: Jefferson McMullin (Sr.)
Top female performer: Sarah Ballard (Jr.)
Season highlight: The Pioneers had an outstanding season all the way around and the boys brought home the silver trophy. The team collected 15 top-three medals including seven golds, two each by McMullin and Ballard, who also set a new 5A state record.
Boys Soccer
Region 8 finish: 2nd (9-3)
Season highlight: The Pioneers won four shootouts during the league season and one more in the state semifinals but couldn’t get the last one after a scoreless final and collected the silver trophy instead.
Softball
Region 8 finish: 1st (12-0)
State 5A finish: 2nd (24-13)
Season highlight: An undefeated league champion with a differential of more than five runs per contest, the #7-seeded Pioneers defeated three higher-ranked teams in the final week of the state tournament before falling to the #1 team in the championship game to earn Lehi’s fifth silver trophy of the year.
Baseball
Region 8 finish: Tied for 1st (15-3)
State 5A finish: 1st (28-4)
Season highlight: The Pioneers capped their best season in four decades with a state crown after prevailing in a pair of nail-biting victories over Olympus in the championship series. The team used a broad bullpen, active hitting and sharp fielding to fuel their successful run to the ultimate prize.
