Spring time is among us.

Winter in Park City can really kick you in the behind, and boy, it seems like I just barely caught my breath with the multitude of sporting events that seemed never-ending. The winter sports season brought the prep sports world a ton of different storylines, including the PCHS swimming team winning a state championship, the Park City basketball teams getting off to a hot start before fizzling. The South Summit boys’ basketball team made a valiant run through the middle-to-end of the season, winning the Region 14 title, which no one gave them fighting chance of competing for. The South Summit girls also made a deep run with a top-five finish, ditto for the North Summit girls’ squad, who surprised many 2A teams this year.

But, now that spring has arrived earlier — and let us rejoice March has been kind in terms of weather — nearly every spring sport is now in full swing. 

Starting with Park City: 

• The PCHS baseball team is off to an impressive start. As of Friday afternoon, the Miners were 5-1 — all on the road — and have taken upon a it-will-take-a-village mentality to its season. Park City has some serious talent in the likes of first baseman Brae Dilley, lefty Conner Lagnese and shortstop/right-handed pitcher Mark Trevino. But after that, it’s a bunch of role players and credit to second-year head coach Lou Green for making it work. Park City abused 4A East on the road Wednesday afternoon in an 18-4 victory. It’s still very early and the Miners’ Region 10 schedule will be a serious test to see if this team is for real or just part of a hot start, but credit to the Miners for replacing six holes in the starting lineup — four of them with freshmen or sophomores.
• The PCHS boys’ soccer team is off to a 5-2 start, most recently coming off a 4-1 loss at 4A Bountiful. Under first-year head coach Jesse Blais, the Miners have shot out of the gates. Question marks remain as the schedule will only get tougher with the likes of Wasatch, Judge Memorial and Juan Diego on the docket, but Park City has established a hard-working, possession-style mentality under Blais. Senior forward Keenan McCall has a team-high six goals in seven matches, while junior winger Alejandro Viejra has three and senior forward Ivan Gonzalez has two. If there is one area Park City must make sure is cemented, it is the backline. Rival Wasatch has scored 26 goals in its first six games and has allowed exactly zero. 
• Other Park City programs back in the thick of things are the softball team, which is off to a 1-5 start under first-year head coach Alissa Smith, along with the PCHS lacrosse programs. The boys’ lacrosse team is off to a 3-3 start and has a plethora of talent. The Park City Track & Field team returns a plethora of talent and is looking to make some noise in class 3A with junior distance runners Ben Saarel, Ali Walker, Emily Schmitt and Aaron Green. Nationally-ranked thrower Megan Glasmann returns to defend her state titles in javelin and discus, as well.

All in all, there are upwards of 20 different spring prep sports going on right now in Summit County, and as always, I’ll be doing my best to bring you updates online at http://www.parkrecord.com, and Twitter: @ParkRecSports. I will also start posting small updates on teams, links to stories and photos from games we’re able to cover. 

Winter sports season underway.

-It’s been a good six weeks since I’ve posted on the blog. Let’s just say it’s been busy at the sports desk with all the local ski resorts opening and the winter sports getting underway a couple weeks ago. 

Starting with Park City High School, the boys’ basketball team returns a slew of talent, having lost just two rotation contributors to graduation (Brian Schettler, Ryan Ryberg). As of Friday afternoon, the Miners are 1-1. After eventually turning on the burners to fly by North Summit in the season opener (a 56-39 victory) on Nov. 22, Park City lost a very entertaining game to visiting 4A Skyline on Tuesday night. The Eagles escaped PCHS with a buzzer-beater victory, closing out the game on a 10-3 run in the last 2:40 to win 55-53.

The Miners have a supreme 3A talent in forward/guard Britton Buford, a 6-foot-4 kid who can handle the ball, shoot and most importantly, drive to the hoop and use his body in traffic. In two games, Buford is averaging 14 points per game. Then there is senior guard Jono Schettler, who was recently named the Region 10 Offensive Player of the Year in football. The 6-foot-2 guard had an exceptional game against Skyline Tuesday, scoring a game-high 23 points and he also fueled a 15-0 run to close out the second quarter. 

If head coach Caleb Fine and his team are to achieve their goal of winning that elusive Region 10 title, they will need the likes of Buford and Schettler to bring it almost every single night. They’ll also need fellow seniors Heath Vincent, Jordan Ruda and Brae Dilley to chip in as many hustle plays as possible. Park City faces the No. 1-ranked team in 3A in the Desert Hills Thunder Saturday in a tournament in Richfield. Asked if he viewed that game as an early-season barometer game for his team, Fine said, “Yes. Absolutely.”

It will be interesting to see how this talented group of Park City seniors handle the pressure once they get past a very tough preseason and into an even tougher Region 10 schedule. 

The PCHS girls’ basketball team is off to an impressive 2-1 start. After losing sharpshooter Laurel Kasel to Colorado Mesa University, Sam White’s bunch seems to have a new blend of cohesiveness. They are led by bruising junior forward Carson Lyman, who is averaging 19.5 points per game three games into the season. The Miners also have two talented freshmen who have cracked the rotation in Hannah Hyatt and Megan Lee. White and his coaching staff wanted to use a staunch defensive approach early on in the season and see how the offense came along. 

That doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem. With Lyman leading the way and the likes of Hyatt, Lee and junior Annie Orr and Alondra Santana, the Miners have some young talent to build on. Park City started 0-3 last year, so I’m sure White and Co. will take a promising 2-1 start to the season. 

Over at South Summit, the Wildcat wrestling team is looking to defend its 2A state title after dethroning the Millard Eagles, who won five straight state championships. Head coach Gary Crandall lost eight talented seniors last year, but has 10 returning wrestlers from last year’s team including senior Jeff McCormick. The Wildcat captain has won three state titles in a row and is gunning for an unprecedented fourth-straight individual state title. Only 14 other wrestlers in the history of Utah high school wrestling have achieved a four-peat. Asked what it will take to get No. 4, McCormick said, “I’ve got to get there first.”

The Wildcats boys’ basketball team must replace a starting five that made it to back-to-back 2A state championship games. New head coach Dusty Hatch does return guard Matt Rydalch and big forward Bonner “Big Country” Mitchell. Hatch didn’t exactly say the team is rebuilding, but he said South Summit will have some growing pains this season. The Wildcats start their season this weekend in Ogden in the Pepsi Classic Tournament. One preseason game to keep an eye out for is Park City visiting Kamas on Dec. 20. 

-Now that the winter sports season is getting underway, I will be posting more avidly on the blog and winter recreation sports will be mixed in, as well. One story to keep an eye out for is 16-year-old Josue Montiel, a Mexican-American at PCHS, who qualified for the first ever Youth Olympic Winter Games in Austria in skeleton. 

South Summit shoves Grand aside

(Christopher Kamrani/Park Record) Junior running back Hayden Packard (5) stiff arms Grand defensive back Jacob Francis in the first quarter of South Summit’s 33-0 first-round playoff romp over the Red Devils Thursday afternoon in Kamas.

Three postgame thoughts on Judge Memorial-Park City

Thoughts on Park City’s chaotic and heartbreaking 21-20 loss to Judge Memorial Friday:

• A fourth quarter to remember: The wow’s just kept on coming. As the Miners took a 14-7 lead into the fourth quarter, Park City knew they’d be getting Judge Memorial’s best shot—and they did. The Bulldogs had a long, sustained drive and eventually tied the game on a 3rd-and-8 touchdown from the Park City 8-yard line. Less than a couple minutes later, Miner quarterback Heath Vincent sailed a pass over the head of wideout Jono Schettler and was picked off. The Bulldogs responded with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jack Barnett to Elliot McGill to take the lead 21-14. Vincent once again felt pressure in the pocket on the next Park City possession and threw another interception, but the Miner defense held Judge to a punt—a punt that fortuitously rolled out of bounds at the Park City 1-yard line.

That’s where things went crazy. On a 3rd-and-long, the Miners were bailed out by a roughing the passer flag on Judge. That’s when the drive continued on toward its madness. Vincent and the offense found a steady rhythm, interchanging passes with runs by senior running back Chad Smith. The clock kept ticking, but Smith was able to pick up 7-10 yards on nearly every carry. With just over a minute to go, Park City was barely in Judge territory. Vincent heaved a long pass to senior Paul Flake, who somehow came down with the ball and sprinted toward the end zone before being stripped. Senior Hunter Butler dove onto the ball in the end zone and gave Park City the touchdown.

Dozier Field was the loudest I’d ever heard it. Then, Park City head coach Kai Smalley went for win and Smith was stopped at the Judge 1-yard line. Then, with 50 seconds left, the Miners recovered a perfect onside kick executed by senior kicker Keenan Ward. Then, Vincent got Park City to the Judge 28-yard line with 40 seconds to go. On a broken play, Vincent scrambled and was stood up by a slew of Bulldogs, just before hitting the ground, he was stripped and Judge recovered.

Ball game. You’d be hardpressed to find a more chaotic final five minutes of a football game, but what a gut-punch for Park City.

NOTE: As Park City was moving the ball on that final drive, Park City head basketball coach Caleb Fine and I were discussing what would happen if the Miners were to score. I told Fine if you drive 99 yards with less than five minutes in the fourth quarter, you go for the win. Fine laughed. 

Said Smalley postgame: “I’m going to go for the win every single time.”

• Tough loss on senior night: I said Park City would beat Judge in a prior blog post yesterday, and nearly came off a genius. Nearly. As each senior was honored after the game, most teary-eyed at the heart-wrenching loss, each senior made their way to the Park City bench behind the crowd and just sat there, staring out at the abyss. No doubt, that was the most difficult loss in their playing careers. To have that sort of hectic five minutes not go your way when it seemed it would so many times—when it seemed destiny—that is just a hard pill to swallow. Flake said this one would sting for quite some time.

“There’s nothing like Friday night lights at Dozier Field,” he said afterward.

• One more to go, and it’s a big one: After such an emotional loss, Smalley said he was “very excited” for rivalry week. The Miners travel to Heber to take on Wasatch Thursday, Oct. 20. Third-place in Region 10 will be on the line as each team has a 2-2 region record. If the Miners win and take the No. 3 seed, they’ll face the No. 2 seed from Region 9 in Southern Utah, which will most likely be Desert Hills. If they lose and are the No. 4 seed, it’ll be Hurricane and that’s something Smalley and Co. want to avoid at all costs. Flake said he was also excited about the Park City-Wasatch showdown.

Here’s an amazing rivalry stat: Park City hasn’t lost to Wasatch since … 2002.

GPS game?

(Christopher Kamrani/Park Record) Senior middle linebacker John Finch, pictured here prior to last week's 44-9 loss to Juan Diego, will be one of many Miner defenders to stop a high-powered Judge Memorial offense tonight.

Being a Bay Area native and San Francisco 49ers fan, I have grown accustomed to a phrase used by one of the best NFL journalists around, CSNBayArea’s Matt Maiocco, who has covered the 49ers for many years.

The phrase? “GPS game.”

A GPS game is, as Maiocco has stated over the years, a signature game for a team, i.e., whether a team can prove itself against a big-time opponent.

Tonight is the quintessential GPS game for the Park City High School football team. The Miners (2-6 overall, 2-1 in Region 10) are coming off a 44-9 thumping loss to defending state champion Juan Diego last Friday night.

Park City welcomes in longtime foe Judge Memorial to Dozier Field tonight. The Bulldogs are 6-2 and undefeated in region play thus far. And unfortunately for the Miners, the Bulldogs run the ball and run the ball pretty well, something Park City has had trouble stopping this season.

Judge has three different players who have rushed for over 500 yards just eight games into the 2011 season. The Bulldogs run the option, which has also been a serious thorn in the side of the Miners’ defense this season.

So, back to the GPS game–if Park City wants to gain some serious momentum heading into rivalry week next Thursday night at Wasatch and then into the playoffs, what better way than to shock the Bulldogs, a team many around the state say could challenge Juan Diego on the field.

Last Friday night just wasn’t Park City’s evening. The Miners fumbled the opening kickoff and let the Soaring Eagle slowly chunk away at them until the game was out of reach.

I am expecting to see some different looks tonight, especially on offense. I think Park City has realized it simply can’t huck the ball down field in hopes Jono Schettler can rise above double coverage and come down with a phenomenal grab.

The Miner offense must do its part in sustaining drives to give the Park City defense adequate rest. So often this year, the defense has been out on the field against run-heavy teams and have simply run out of gas.

This is Park City’s GPS game and tonight will show if the Miners are willing to fight for every single yard against a pretty good football team on their home turf.

I haven’t seen many upsets this year across the state in high school football, and after a very long week at the sport’s desk, I’m feeling the upset birds singing.

Prediction: Park City 30, Judge Memorial 28

*I was correct on last week’s score total as I predicted a Juan Diego 34-19 win. The 44-9 outcome equaled 53 total points, which is sort of a spot on prediction, right?

 

The highs and lows.

The last week on the beat has been an interesting one to say the least. In the span of five days, I’ve reported on the Park City High School boys’ golf team winning its fourth straight 3A state title and the severe injury to South Summit junior linebacker Porter Hancock.

-Starting with Park City, winning four straight state titles–in any classification–says a lot about a program. Miners’ head golf coach George Murphy has been a part of each of the last four championship teams and talking to him over the course of the season, I think he may be one of the best high school coaches in any sport in the state.

The Miners, accustomed to running away from the pack from the get go, struggled somewhat throughout the early stages of this season as they faced–as we later learned–the best region in 3A.

But as Murphy and his bunch always did, they continued to work and enjoy the competition. Come the end of the regular season, Park City jumped into first place and eventually won the Region 10 championship.

The 3A state tournament in American Fork on Oct. 5-6 had horrific weather. Temperatures in the 30s, wind, rain and snow. But Park City came out on top.

Junior Justin Shluker was the 3A medalist, shooting an astounding 70 (-2) on the second day of the tournament.

It must be said that even in high school sports, harnessing natural talent takes a lot of work and Murphy seems to have a pretty good hold on getting the best of out of his supremely talented players in each of the last four years.

-As for the injury to South Summit junior linebacker Porter Hancock, those stories are what makes this job pretty hard at times. Knowing a kid is fighting for the use of his legs is a tough pill to swallow. Hancock was injured making a tackle in the Wildcats’ 40-15 victory against Emery in Castle Dale on Oct. 7. He suffered a dislocated neck and had two discs removed in emergency surgery.

Visiting South Summit practice Monday, the team’s spirits seemed to be up, but there was a quiet tone. Players were enjoying themselves and head coach Jerry Parker, who has been in coaching for 26 years, was taking the injury to one of his favorite players pretty hard.

Parker said dealing with the injury to Hancock is one of the most difficult things he’s had to endure as a head coach.

The South Summit community is strong and will have to be in the coming weeks as the prognosis of Hancock remains fuzzy. It should be said that Friday night’s regular-season finale for the Wildcats at Gunnison should be one of the most emotional high school football games played in some time.

-The Park City girls’ soccer team begins its quest for another 3A state title match appearance today at Dozier Field. The Miners (8-8) take on the Pine View Panthers (7-6-2) from St. George.

Park City struggled through the latter half of its Region 10 schedule, going 2-4 in its last six matches. There’s no doubt the Miners have talent, but the team must get its explosive youngsters going offensively. Sophomores Maggie Reigelsperger and Jessica Dancy have combined for 20 goals this year and freshman forward Alysan Casey has a tremendous skill set for such a young player.

As head coach Chip Cook says, the southern 3A schools typically are physical teams, and I think Park City could look to exploit over-aggressiveness through its team speed.

I haven’t seen Pine View play nor do I know anything about the team, but as for a first-round playoff match at home, I expect Park City to come out on top.

Juan Diego notwithstanding, I don’t know if there is a more skilled team in 3A soccer than the Miners, it’s just a matter of the team playing together and to its strengths for 80 minutes.

Predicition: Park City 4, Pine View 2.

 

 

The weather outside is … frightful.

We’re now 2.5 hours away from Park City’s biggest football game of the season. The Miners have won two in a row, but tonight’s test is perhaps the biggest of them all.

Juan Diego will tangle with Park City at Dozier Field at 7 p.m.

Miners’ head coach Kai Smalley said earlier this week that his team, if it is to win tonight, will win by using every one of its athletes and playing a flawless game against a team that hasn’t lost to a 3A school since 2007.

Quarterback Heath Vincent is in a groove, throwing for close to 900 yards in the last two games. If Park City can turn this game into a shootout, I give the Miners a chance. But if it’s a slowed, grind-em-out affair, the Soaring Eagle will most likely emerge victorious.

The weather outside isn’t inviting, to say the least. It is currently 37 degrees in Park City and temperatures are expected to drop as low as 30. There’s a 40 to 50 percent chance of snow showers tonight as well.

I haven’t seen Juan Diego play in person yet, but I’m interested to see how the team plays in these conditions.

I’d like to say it will be a shootout at Dozier Field, but the weather may not allow it.

Can Park City turn wideout Jono Schettler loose? Can Park City sustain long drives–something it had trouble with last season and often during its 0-5 start this year–and score points against Juan Diego?

One player I expect to get some major touches tonight is running back Trevor Kelsch, who is dubbed “The Terminator” by Smalley. He is a bruising running back and has speed to get to the outside.

All in all, Park City has its hands full.

Score predicition: Juan Diego 34, Park City 19

Will post an update after the game tonight.

Also: I will be the No. 1 photographer at tonight’s game and I will do my best to keep the fingers warm and from freezing.