Spring sports back in full swing

THE BIRD SCHOOL
by Walter & Becky Bird
With Spring Break in the rear-view mirror, the Monticello High School spring sports teams were back in action this past week and looking forward to great seasons in the months ahead.
Golf
The weather was nice and sunny for the boys and girls golf teams on March 20, as they traveled to Moab for the first match of the year.
Due to the way Moab schedules team times, the Lady Buck golf team only played nine holes but had a “great first match experience”, according to Coach Esplin.
Tymbr Black lead the way for the team with a 61, followed by Brooklyn Holt’s 68 and Olivia Chamberlain’s 70. Ellie Thayne shot a 74, and Nyla Maryboy came in with an 80. Coach Esplin hopes the ladies can post some 18-hole scores going forward.
The boys, however, got in 18 holes and took second to Green River as a team, posting a 440 to Green River’s team score of 437.
The Bucks were led by Britton Brewer and Bowden Hunter’s matching 101 scores. They were followed by team-counting scores of 115 by Justin Cecil and Ryan Bird’s 123.
Dylan Bird’s 134 and Grant Nebeker’s 139 didn’t count towards the team score but were good first ever matches for both.
The golf teams will be in action again on Thursday, March 29 in Green River, as they hope to catch the Pirates.
Track
On March 20, the track team traveled to Emery and had a good meet at the Darrel Gardner Invitational. The girls team placed seventh and the boys came in in fifth place.
For the girls, Makayla Sheeran placed second in the 100m hurdles with a time of 18:23. Sheeran followed that with another second in the 300m hurdles, running a 52.88.
Presley Lewis ran a 14.54 for an eighth place finish in the 100m. Lewis also had an eighth place finish in the 200m with a time of 29.70.
Hannah Leiataua had a nice meet, taking ninth in the shotput (28-03.00) and second in the discus (94-06.50). Naomi Mantz placed sixth in the high jump with a 4-08.00.
The boys were led by Adam Bunker’s third place, 10:45.31 in the 3200m and a second place, 4:56.39 1600M run. Bunker also won the high jump with a jump of 5-10.
Teammate Weston Nebeker placed fifth in the high jump, clearing the height of 5-08. Gage Wilcox placed eighth in the discus flinging it 91.
On Saturday, March 24, the tracksters were back in action at the friendly confines of the San Juan High School track for the Blue Mountain Invitational. The teams did well with the boys placing third and the girls fifth.
Sprinters Reed Hedgelin and Tyler Draper placed ninth and tenth in the 100m with times of 12.61 and 12.67. In the 200m, Tyler Draper and Brayson Wilcox took seventh and ninth with times of 25.46 and 25.51. In the 400m, Lucas Hatch and Brayson Wilcox placed third and sixth, posting times of 57.55 and 58.72.
In the hurdle events, Adam Bunker (47.19) and Lucas Hatch (49.06) placed third and sixth in the 300M hurdles.
In the field events, Monticello scored points from Adam Bunker’s second place high jump of 6-00 and Weston Nebeker’s seventh place jump of 5-04. Nebeker also jumped 19-00 to place fouth in the long jump.
In the boys distance events, Alan Pettit (2:22.56) and Hyrum Johnson (2:27.65) placed fifth and ninth in the 800m, with Adam Bunker (5:01.19), Alan Pettit (5:16.35) and Hyrum Johnson (5:23.73), placing first, third and fifth place in the 1600m.
The trio followed that with Adam Bunker taking first, Alan Pettit third, and and Hyrum Johnson seventh in the 3200m with times of 10:45.61, 11:17.99, and 11:49.47 respectively.
For the ladies in the sprints, Presley Lewis placed sixth in 100m with a time of 14.54.
Makayla Sheeran took seventh in the 200m with a time of 28.84. Sheeran followed that with a first place finish in the 100M hurdles and a first place in the 300M hurdles, running an 18.36 and 53.11 respectfully.
In distance, Madison Freestone placed ninth running a time of 6:13.44.
Then in the field events, the Lady Bucks got points from Naomi Mantz in the high jump and long jump where she finished third in both with jumps of 4-08 and 15-00.
Teammates Shelby Musselman (seventh) and Presley Lewis (ninth) also placed in the long jump with jumps of 14-01 and 13-06. Hannah Leiataua placed third in the shotput (28-06.50) and eighth in the discus (91-03) to round out the girls scoring.
Baseball
The Monticello baseball team jumped into first place in the 2A North standings at 2-0 and 3-1 overall when they played the unwelcoming host to Layton Christian on Friday. The Bucks crushed the Knights 12-2 and 23-0 in the doubleheader.
Monticello drove in three runs or more in three innings in the 12-2 win. They followed that up with a ten-run fourth inning in the blanking of Layton Christian, 23-0, in the second game.
On March 27, the Bucks faced the 2A North favorite Gunnison at Gunnison. On Thursday, March 29, Monticello will host the Dolores Bears. Hope for good weather.
Basketball
Post-season honors were doled out this week for 1A basketball.
For the boys, senior Jake Freestone was named to the All-state second team. Freestone averaged 17.7 ppg and 9.1 rebs. Jake also played in the 1A/2A south All-star game the week after state.
Teammate, junior Lucas Hatch was named Honorable Mention.
Lady Buck Tymbr Black, also a junior, was named to the all-state Honorable Mention team. Her teammates, seniors Ashley Adair and Alyssa Reeve, also participated in a 1A/2A girls All-star game.
Congratulations to Erviane Cly from Monument Valley, who was named to the 1A All-state first team! The junior averaged 18 ppg.
Her teammate, sophomore Jamika Nelson, was also named Honorable Mention.
Monument Valley also placed fourth this year at state. Obviously, the future of Monument Valley girls basketball is bright going forward.

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