Alta High School - Accipitor Yearbook (Sandy, UT)

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VOLLEYBALL FOOTBALL In some ways the 1980 volleyball sea- son was a dis- appointment for team mem- bers, with a re- cord of only three wins against eleven losses. Several matches played were lost by a dis- heartening few points. Injuries also took their toll. Center, Sheri Anderson, was lost in an important game because of a sprained ankle. One of the exciting moments during the season occured in an important game against Brighton. The girls lost their first game, but struggled back to win the next two games and came away with a memorable victory. inexperience was a factor in region play.” The girls, many first year play- ers, played with determination and enthusiasm, but inexperience was a factor in region play. New coach, Mrs. Kathy Nielson, assessed the year as successful, regardless of the win-loss record. The young team members gained a lot of valuable experience which will help in next years competition. “Football:”an exciting word in the athletic dictionary meaning long hours of hard work for the football teams. Moments were breathtaking, exhilerating, and heartbreaking. While most students were re- lieved at the thought of going di- rectly home after a hard day of The next week Alta rose to second place in the ..» Captains Poll. classes, football players put in their time after school to practice diligently for upcoming games. All their hard work paid off with an exciting win of the first game of the year against rival Jordan. In front of a frenzied crowd, the team plowed under the Beetdiggers (20- 0) and started the football season with high expectations. But that was only the beginning. Next, an important game with top- rated Brighton Bengals. The week of the game the whole school joined in the excitement leading to game day, “Black Friday.” Post- ers, announcements, and a pep as- sembly boosted the teams spirits and led to an upset victory with a score of 17 to 13. The next week Alta rose to second place in the Salt Lake Tribune’s Captains Poll of 4-A teams. Then a hoped for victory led to a grave disappoint- ment in the Hillcrest game. Again Alta hoped to be the giant killer at the Hillcrest homecoming. But a first play punt return for a touch- down, and some mistakes cost the Hawks their third victory. A Region II record of three wins an one loss entered the Hawks as a second place team in the state quarter finals. The team, not play- ing as they had during the season, badly lost the qualifying game and ended the season on a down note, even though the overall season had brought much publicity to the school because of the unexpected success of this year’s squad. “In fact, the future looks very bright for Alta’s football future,” said Coach Dan Holladay. “The sophomore team had the best re- cord in the league this year. They were very coachable. They have committed themselves to excel- lence. They were a unified team and enjoyed winning. Because of these qualities they should be very successful.” The Junior Varsity Squad suf- fered many crushing defeats this year but all their efforts weren’t unheralded. After trouncing Jor- dan 39-0, the J.V.’s were edged

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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

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CROSS COUNTRY out of a thriller by the Highland Rams, 17-14. The Hawks then traveled to Granite for a contest with the Farmers on September 12. “We should have won that game,” said Coach Phil Jensen, “but we had some tough breaks.” For the freshman team, the sea- son went well. The team consisted of 70 players. They practiced ev- ery day, for 2 to 2' 2 hours. Mr. Massey emphasized that, “they got better every week.” “One advantage of having a group of new kids,” Mr. Jacobsen ads about coaching the freshman team,” is that there are no precon- ceptions of who is good and who is not. Every player starts with a clean sheet; no one is first string until he proves himeself. By the season’s end we had the best de- fense in the league, and there is no question that we could have beat- en any of the other teams.” “As to be expected, injuries from football participation hin- dered the playing ability of the team as a whole.” “Overall, the outcome of the football season was exceedingly good” restated by Coach Berry. “Ending the season losing to East was of course dissappointing. However, we had some good wins earlier in the season which were very satisfying — STATE CHAMPS is becoming a tradition of the Girls Cross Coun- try Team. For the second year in a row the girls have claimed the state title. This year the team took first place in every meet within their region. For the second year in a row the girls’ have claimed the state title. Sophomore Chris Keller, and ju- nior Connie Sweet helped spear- head many victories with top place finishes. But team work earned their many victories. The team worked together by training and running against each other- — sparking better performances at each meet. “Most of the compe- tition in races came from pressure from our own team members,” stated many of the Alta runners. In regional championships, the girls took six of the top ten posi- tions. At state finals, all the girls placed in the top twenty compet- ing against the best of the 4A re- gion finialists. Again STATE CHAMPS a well deserved ti- tle. Depth was the key word for the Boys Cross Country Team. Like the girls, the boys performed ex- cellent at regional finials. The var- sity finished with a strong second Alta ... most likely will be a top contender ... during the coming years. place title. The j.v. boys team fol- lowed with an outstanding perfor- mance by Jeff Birks taking a first place over all, leading the rest of the team to a first place finish. As young and inexperienced teams, the varsity and j.v. performed ex- ceptionally in competition this year.' New runners this year demon- strated a great potential for com- petition in years to come. Junior Darrell Kenneth, sophomore Mike Vanderbeek, and freshman Kevin Arrington equaled and bettered times of most seniors they were competing against this year. With the coaching of Ray Jen- son and the gifted ability of many runners, Alta can and most likely will be a top contender in state and regional competitions during the coming years.