Buckaroo golf team gets ninth place at state

The Utah 2A Golf Championships kicked off on Tuesday, September 29 and continued through Thursday, October 1 at the Talons Cove Golf Course in Saratoga Springs.

Two weeks ago the Monticello boys qualified for the state match when they placed fourth overall in Region 16 play.

After a practice round on Tuesday, the Buckaroos teed off on Wednesday, September 30 for the first round of state play. If the team played well, the boys would play the next day in the second round.

Unfortunately, the Bucks missed the team cut of 384 shots after shooting a first round 387. Officially, the team placed ninth at state just ahead of Waterford and Enterprise.

Beaver ended up winning the 2A title for the fourth year in a row shooting an amazing +20 total over par as a team for both rounds.

The Bucks were led by Breckyn Hoggard, who shot an 88 for the day. He was followed by Boston Freestone’s 91, Darren Westcott’s 103, Garrett Larsen’s 105, and Alec Christiansen’s 125. 

It was surely a disappointing end to the season for the team, but on the bright side, Coach Nathan Chamberlain’s team will return in its entirety next season since there were no seniors on the 2020 team.

That said, if this team can build on what was a successful season and work hard over the summer, they can certainly improve and contend in Region 16 and 2A state next season. 

Volleyball
The Monticello volleyball team enjoyed another home match on Tuesday, September 29 when they hosted the Green River Lady Pirates in a non-region tilt. 

In a see-saw affair, Monticello easily took set one 25-13. Green River rallied for a 25-23 set two win, but from that point Monticello rolled to 25-14 and 25-15 wins to take the match 3-1, Monticello’s second win in a row.

Monticello dominated every statistical category except serve percentage and overall errors in the win. Saydee Adams led the team in serve percentage with a 94.1 rating and had four aces in the match.

She was bested only by Saydi Young’s five service aces. Avery Shumway ended the match with three aces. Elli Nielson had the top hitting percentage in the match with a .143.

Adams ended the match with a 2.4 service return percentage and a half a block she shared with Whitney Knudsen.

Young, Adams, and Knudsen all tied each other with 16 digs each. Nielson finished one behind the group with 15 and Ali Barry had 14 digs in the match.

Three nights later, on Friday, October 2 the Lady Bucks traveled to Duchesne to take on the Lady Eagles looking for back-to-back Region 16.

Monticello came to play, nipping the home team 25-23 in set one. That was the high point of the night though, as Duchesne beat the Lady Bucks in three straight close sets – 25-21, 25-23, and 26-25 to earn a 3-1 region win. 

The next night, MHS visited Altamont looking for a season sweep of the Lady Longhorns in Region 16 play. It was not to be however.

The Lady Bucks fought hard but lost set one 25-17, set two 25-23, and an epic third set 31-29 to drop the match 3-0. No stats were available at our print deadline.

Monticello, now 3-10 overall and 1-6 in Region 16, hosted the current Region 16 second place Gunnison Valley Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday, October 6.

On Thursday, October 8 the Lady Bucks welcome the North Sevier Lady Wolves to Monticello for a key Region 16 match. The winner will likely avoid finishing last in the region.

Cross country
The Monticello cross country teams had a busy week, traveling to Blanding on Wednesday, September 30 for the John Thornton Invitational, then to Cedar City on Friday, October 2 for the Cedar City Invitational.

In Blanding, the boys edged out the home team San Juan 37-40 to win the team championship. Cory Bunker claimed first place overall when he logged a time of 18:12.

Eric Montague followed that up with a fifth-place finish with his time of 19:41. Alan Pettit finished seventh overall with a run of 20:01.

Curtis Bunker finished just outside the top ten in 11th with a time of 21:00. Jesse Pettit recorded the final scoring time for the Bucks when he crossed the line 15th in 21:49.

Other Monticello finishers were Josh Wheeler (18th, 22:10), Jacob Johnson (20th, 22:49), Taw Robinson (23rd, 23:14), Jalen Bradford (26th, 24:04), Mahonri George (37th, 28:08), Ryan Nielson (38th, 28:05), and Soren Welch (40th, 31:26). 

In the girls race, Monticello’s Lily Long placed second overall when she ran a time of 24:04. She was followed by Kennedy Brewer who placed seventh with her time of 26:35.

Very close behind was teammate Serra St. Clair who finished in eighth place, crossing the line in 26:39. Hailey Gillette ran a 36:54 which was good enough for 20th place overall.

Two days later, the teams headed to Cedar City for a very competitive Cedar City Invitational that featured teams from all six Utah classifications.

It was an important meet because it gave the runners a glimpse of portions of the state course that will take place in Cedar City on October 21.

The event opened with the freshman boys three-mile race. Buckaroo Curtis Bunker grabbed a top-twenty finish, running an 18:58 for 19th place overall.

Jesse Pettit claimed 34th place with a time of 20:00. Ryan Nielson ran hard and claimed 63rd place with his time of 21:07.

In the sophomore boys race, Monticello’s Josh Wheeler finished in 30th with a time of 19:46. Jacob Johnson ran well, claiming the 40th spot in 20:08.

He was followed by Mahonri George in 60th place with a 21:30 and Jalen Bradford in 72nd place with a 22:30.

The varsity boys race was a fast one. When the dust settled, Buckaroo harrier Cory Bunker had run well enough to finish 13th overall with a time of 16:11.

Fellow senior Alan Pettit finished 33rd overall in 16:48 followed by senior Eric Montague’s 17:38 which gave him an 81st place finish.

Bailey Walker ran a 20:19 and Taw Robinson ran a 21:29, good enough for 127th and 136th respectively. The team placed 11th overall behind mostly 3A and 4A teams and only trailed 2A Millard by two places. 

The Monticello girls also put together a nice varsity race on the fast grass course, placing 13th overall as a team behind 11th place 2A Millard and 12th place 2A Parowan.

Lily Long ran well and claimed 53rd place with her time of 20:53. Kennedy Brewer placed 106th place after she crossed the finish line in 23:21.

Serra St. Clair ran a time of 24:16 and finished eleven spots behind her teammate in 117th place. Shannon Morrison finished in 119th place with a time of 24:26 and Hailey Gillette came home 130th in 30:27.

Injured Lady Buckaroo Adri Bird was once again unable to run but hopes to return to action in the next few weeks in time for the region championship and state meet.

It will be a light week for the teams as they prepare for those events. The only race the teams have this week will be a tri-meet with San Juan and Grand at the Hideout Golf Course in Monticello on Wednesday, October 7. 

Football
After a close loss last week at Judge Memorial, the Monticello football team hosted the North Summit Braves in a 2A North contest on Friday, October 2, still looking for their first win of the season.

As has been the trend all season, the Buckaroos gave up a series of quick scores to start the game and trailed 21-0 after one quarter of play and 42-0 at the half.

In the third quarter, Monticello’s defense stiffened, only allowing a field goal to trail 45-0 heading into the final period. In the fourth quarter, Monticello outscored the Braves 7-0 to drop the contest 45-7.

Monticello’s lone score came on a 75-yard pass from Devin Hatch to Cedar English with KC Benge adding the extra point.

The Bucks mustered only 158 yards of offense in the game with 170 coming through the air and a difficult -12 on the ground.

Monticello was plagued by turnovers, losing three fumbles and throwing one interception. The Bucks were only able to convert on two of their 10 third-down attempts.

In contrast, the MHS defense gave up 345 yards to the Braves – 241 on the ground and another 104 through the air. North Summit lost one fumble and converted on one of seven third-down attempts.

Monticello hits the road again this week to take on the Layton Christian Eagles Friday, October 9 in a 2A North battle. Layton Christian is ranked #12 in 2A football while the Buckaroos are in last place, ranked #13.

The kickoff is set for 4 p.m. and you can hear all the action live on Redrock 92.7 FM and streaming online at redrock92.com. It’s part of a doubleheader of football on Friday that will feature the Buckaroos and San Juan Broncos.