High school graduates represent San Juan County in collegiate competition

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
Many elite high school athletes currently call San Juan County home or did so at one time. There are 13 graduates of San Juan County high schools who are currently competing at the collegiate level or will soon begin their collegiate careers.
The oldest on the list is Adam Bunker, a 2019 Monticello High School graduate. Though he didn’t compete in the 2025-26 season due to injury, Bunker is listed on the Utah Valley University Cross Country and Track and Field rosters as a graduate student.
In the 2024-25 season he competed in six cross country events for the Wolverines, setting personal records in the four-mile with a 20:54 in the BYU Autumn Classic and in the three-mile with a time of 14:30 at the UVU Invitational, finishing fifth.
Bunker also competed in four indoor track and field meets in 2024-25. He earned First-Team All-WAC honors in the 4x400 meter, helping the UVU relay team finish third overall. He earned Second-Team All-WAC honors, setting a personal record in the mile with a fourth-place finish in 4:12.
In outdoor track and field Bunker competed in six meets for the Wolverines, earning Second-Team All-WAC honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, placing fourth overall, and he was named Academic All-District.
Adam’s brother Cory, a 2021 graduate of Monticello High School, is a cross country runner for UVU rival Southern Utah University. He is a redshirt junior for the Thunderbirds this season.
In 2025 Bunker took 24th in the three-mile at the UVU Invitational with a time of 15:19.7. He was 97th in the University of California, Riverside Invitational 8K with a 25:10.5.
He was 27th in the 6K at the SUU Color Country Invite, crossing the line in 19:59.4. And he came home 53rd in the Santa Clara University Bronco Invitational 8K with a time of 25:00.7.
Tayden Mark, who graduated from San Juan High School in 2023, began his collegiate wrestling career at Utah Tech and this season is joining the Colorado Northwestern Spartans at 157 pounds.
He is a redshirt sophomore and during his time at Utah Tech he won the 157-pound division at the 2023 Veterans Day Duals at Fresno State University and finished second at the Colorado State Invitational.
Mark was consistently ranked in the top ten among National Collegiate Wrestling Association teams in the 157-pound classification. He was 9-3 in 2023 and 3-0 in 2024.
Whitehorse High School 2024 graduate Shunbaah Begay is entering her junior season with the Colorado Northwestern women’s basketball team this winter.
In her first two seasons with the Spartans she appeared in 41 games, scoring 20 points with four three-pointers, 26 rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
Lyric Phillips, also a 2024 graduate of Whitehorse High School, continues to compete for the Utah State University rodeo team. He is entering his junior season representing the Aggies as the heeler in the team roping event.
Though Adri Bird isn’t officially a San Juan County graduate, she was at one point a Monticello Buckaroo who ultimately graduated from Springville High School in 2022.
She is entering her senior season at Utah Tech competing for the cross country and track and field teams. She earned Academic All-WAC honors for both teams in 2025-26.
She was the Trailblazers’ fourth-fastest finisher at the NCAA West Regional Cross Country Championships, clocking a time of 22:10.5 in the 6K as Utah Tech finished 20th as a team.
Bird placed 23rd at the WAC Championships and was second-fastest on the team in the 6K, posting a time of 21:46.6.
She ran a season-best 6K at the UCR Highlander Invitational with the seventh-fastest time in the event’s history, finishing with a very impressive 21:04.7.
Bird scored a 19th-place finish at the NAU George Kyte Classic with a 2.5-mile run of 16:26.8. She was 16th at the SUU Color Country Invitational with a 15:10.35.
Bird was the third-fastest finisher in the Invitational Division at the UCR Invitational with a 6K time of 21:33.8.
She competed in three meets for the Utah Tech indoor track and field team, running a season-best 5:28.15 mile at the Northern Arizona-hosted Ron Mann Classic.
She clocked a season best in the 3,000 meters with an 11:07.25 at the Snake River Open at Idaho State. And she logged a season-best 19:13.54 in the 5,000 meters at the Mountain State Games, also hosted by Idaho State.
Professional marathon runner Conner Mantz is not technically a San Juan County graduate either, but he has a number of family ties to San Juan County.
Sadly he suffered an injury during the 2025 season, but not before he set the American record in the half-marathon in January, running 59:17 in Houston to break an 18-year-old mark.
He set another personal best at the New York City Half-Marathon on March 16, 2025, running 59:15, but the course was not eligible for an American record. He also finished a very impressive second in the 2025 Boston Marathon.
Mantz won the 2025 Beach to Beacon 10K in Maine with a time of 27:26, breaking a 22-year-old course record. He is one of only two Americans to ever win the road race.
Mantz also finished fourth at the 2025 Chicago Marathon, breaking the American marathon record with a time of 2:04:43. He is currently planning a comeback from his injury to compete in the 2028 ASICS Los Angeles Marathon.
Along with all the local athletes currently competing at a higher level, the future looks bright as well. Three 2026 San Juan High School graduates are set to begin their college careers this season.
Miley Harrison is joining the Lewis and Clark Community College softball team in Godfrey, Illinois; Khatira Keith will begin her softball and wrestling career at Southeastern Community College in West Burlington, Iowa; and Jagger Nieves is set for his first season of football with Utah Tech.
Three more San Juan High School graduates will begin their college football careers when they return from two-year LDS Church missions: Tripp Palmer at Utah State University, Cash Palmer at Snow College, and Remy Whatcott at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
If we missed any high school graduates from San Juan County who are currently competing at the college level or will begin soon, please email sports@sjrnews.com so we can update our records.