Alta High School - Accipitor Yearbook (Sandy, UT)

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Basketball Six seniors, four juniors, four sophomores and a new coach (for the third consecutive year) com- prised this year’s group of hoop shooters. The year started off well with wins in the first four presea- son games. Playing in the East High Holiday Tournament proved less successful for the players with two successive losses. Opening season play against Bingham also added another loss to the column. Bouncing back, the varsity trounced Kearns (seems familiar), holding Kearns scoreless in the third quarter of the game. The Bengals of Brighton handed Alta another loss. Brighton’s top position in State plus an all-veter- an team proved too much, when coupled with their home court ad- vantage. A spellbinding finish brought home a victory against Hillcrest — with Darrin Long “...Bouncing back, the varsity trounced Kearns (seems familiar)...’’ dropping in two free throws with no time on the clock, to win the game by one point. Coach Long talked of his team as “amazing that all fourteen play- ers were such good friends and got along so well.” The varsity was also noteable for its 3.3 average g.p.a. This is the first season the junior varsity squad has won thirteen games from the twenty played: Al- ta’s best record ever. “In addition to winning, the junior varsity team is quite successful with younger players, giving them a chance to learn. Winning under pressure helped the team learn from exper- ience but one mistake can cost the team,” quoted Coach Ken Black. Playing three sophomores in games is the most any high school has ever played. The most difficult game was against Highland with an important win being Bingham. The team had three one-point victories and the losses being no more than four point victories for the oppo- nents. Being a top freshmen team de- veloped confidence for the sopho- more basketball team to continue at the top of their region once again. The class had an abundance of talented people spread through- out both the j.v. and varsity teams. There were six sophomores who never played on their class teams: three played with j.v. and three played with varsity. This year’s freshmen basketball team suffered with a no-win re- cord. Coach Lunak commented “inexperience” was a prominent reason for the season record, and added that “valuable learning ex- periences” were being put to use. Girls B-Ball What group of twenty-one women were caught in the dark? The New York Rockettes? No! The women’s basketball team. Due to the power outage during a game against Bingham the game was postponed to finish the fourth quarter. The real power of the team had not left the women. Close games against South and Skyline were proof of this point- one point being the factor: five returning seniors gave the team their strength. Joining with the seniors were six juniors, four soph- omores, and six freshmen. The starting string consisted of Jana Crawford, Stacy Tyler, Wendy McNichol, Becky Kelson, and Nan- cy Booth. Junior varsity had a good sea- son. The biggest strengths were Geneil Davidson and Julie Han- son. Help from Lisa Vawdrey the center, and the others brought on victories. The strategy of both teams was 2 w 2 defense and zone offense. A slumber party and a snow shoe hike were some of the few ways the team became friends and were able to work together. Working together gave the team strength and pride on and off the court. “The real power had not left the women.” Their coach, Nancy Larsen, was not only a friend, but an excellent coach. Working together brought pride both on and off the court to the school and the team. 180 ■ Sports Intro

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Athletics ■ 179

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Wrestling Hockey With eight of last year’s varsity wrestlers returning, veteran wres- tling coaches Eric Hendershot and Jim Callison led this year’s squads through vigorous workouts, gar- nered many awards and ended with a commendable record for the season. The team started out strong, beating Kearns (of course), and Pleasant Grove, and losing to Uin- tah, the defending 3A champs. The Hawk grapplers then went on to an up-and-down season and wound up with a fourth place at the region meet. The strong point of the team, if not as an overall unit, was in indi- “The strong point of the team ... was in individual performances.” vidual performances. Dave Ben- nett, in the 145 lb. division, took a second place at the region meet and then went on to take a second place at the state meet. Senior Kurt Harvey, a co-captain of the team, was the region champ in the 126 lb. division. He also won a championship at the Olympus Invi- tational and took third place in the state meet. Charles Smith, also a co-captain of the team and a 167 pounder, was also a region cham- pion and went on to claim a third place at state. The outstanding wrestler at Alta this year was 185 lb. senior Jim Bouwman. Jim end- ed the season with a record of 25 wins and one loss. He won first place championships in his division at both the Alta Invitational and the Olympus Invitational. Also at the Olympus Invitational he was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler. Jim took first place at the region meet and then went on to claim a first place at the state meet and become the first state wrestling champion in the history of Alta. Other wrestlers claiming individual honors were 98 lb. sophomore Gary Gordon. 132 lb. senior Ryan Foutz, and 138 lb. sophomore Lee Fairbourne, who all placed second at the region meet and qualified for state. Heavyweight senior Mark Langdorf placed third at re- gion, as well. Of the twelve mem- bers of the varsity team that com- peted at the region meet, seven qualified for state and four of those placed. Although Jim Bouwman, Charles Smith and other good sen- ior wrestlers will be graduating this year, there are a lot of good un- derclassmen to replace them and the future looks good for Alta wrestlers. The hockey team’s first year seemed destined to fail — the players had to learn to cope with constant problems. The only re- quirement to make the team was the ability to skate and provide the necessary equipment. Choosing the team this way led to a team ranging from players who had only been on the ice a few times and those who had been skating for most of their lives. Practices and games were held at Hygia Skating Rink, the Salt Palace, and the Bountiful Rink under the direction of Roy Negruon, a coach from the community. Mr. Neguron stressed the beginning fundamentals and rules to the beginners and im- proved the games of the advanced players. Drills were used to im- prove the skating and shooting skills. Coach Ray Schopper, the parent of one of the players, re- placed Mr. Negruon midway into the playing season because of con- flicts in Mr. Negruon’s schedule. Because of the distance, getting to the fifteen games proved a problem when the players couldn't get a car. Games were played against Olympus, Viewmont, Cot- “...A party was held to celebrate the team’s surviving the season...” tonwood. Judge, Highland, Boun- tiful. Kearns, and Skyline. The players adopted the theory of hav- ing fun and working as a team, instead of the usual victory stance. At the end of March, a party was held to celebrate the team's sur- viving the season and its many problems. Sports Intro ■ 181