Buckaroo boys track team places second in resurrected Blue Mountain Invitational

On a very windy day, even by Monticello standards, the Monticello High School track and field team hosted their first home meet in 28 years.

The 2021 Blue Mountain Invitational on Saturday, April 23 featured six boys teams and seven girls teams on the newly-revamped MHS track.

The Monticello boys had a great meet in front of the home fans, placing second with a score of 167 points. They were just four points behind the 3A Carbon Dinos who scored 171 points to win the event.

The San Juan Broncos placed third overall with a score of 109 points and Grand County placed fifth with 38 points. 

In the distance events, Monticello faired predictably well. In the 3200-meter, Buckaroo Alan Pettit placed second, running an 11:17.28.

Alan’s brother Jesse came in fifth with a time of 12:21.16 and Curtis Bunker crossed the line just behind in sixth place with a time of 12:23.35.

Cory Bunker led the team in the 1600, winning the race with a time of 4:47.18. Teammate Alan Pettit claimed fourth overall, running a 5:20.25 and Curtis Bunker’s time of 5:51.42 was good enough for seventh place.

In the sprints and middle distances, Monticello had good success. Cedar English placed third in the 100-meter, crossing the line in 11.65 with freshman Tommy Sheeran claiming ninth in the same race with a time of 12.19.

Eric Montague was Monticello’s only top ten finisher in the 200 when he took third overall with a time of 24.26. He also placed third in the 400 with a time of 55.69 but had some company in the top ten when Boston Freestone placed sixth (56.96) and Tommy Sheeran got seventh (59.39).

Cory Bunker was the class of the 800-meter race, placing first with a race time of 2:13.21. Allan Pettit placed fourth, running a 2:25.73. Ryan Nielson scored a team point with a tenth-place finish in 2:24.88.

In the relays, Monticello won the medley sprint with a time of 3:52.74. The relay team consisted of Cameron Bailey, Tommy Sheeran, Eric Montague, and Cory Bunker.

In the 4x100 relay, the Bucks claimed third place with Cameron Bailey, Tommy Sheeran, Boston Freestone, and Eric Montague posting a time of 47.85.

The MHS 4x400 team of Curtis Bunker, Jacob Johnson, Jesse Pettit, and Cameron Bailey ran a 4:32.76 which was good enough for a second-place finish.

Buckaroo Jacob Johnson was the only top-ten finisher in the 300-meter hurdles. He placed sixth with a time of 55.01.

In the field events, Cedar English won both the high jump (6-02) and long jump (22-10) to score max points in both events.

Teammate Boston Freestone cleared 5-09 to place second in the high jump. In the shot put, Robert Musselman claimed second overall with a heave of 40-03. Tuff Adair got third place with a distance of 39-04.

Cedar English added to his collection of gold medals at the meet when he won the discus with a toss of 119-07. Robert Musselman had another nice effort, claiming second with a toss of 109-02.50. Buckaroo Tuff Adair placed ninth with an 85-05.

Cory Bunker rounded out his meet by placing third in the javelin with a throw of 144-11. Robert Musselman chucked the spear 127-09 which earned him a fifth-place finish.

The Monticello girls battled the wind well and placed fourth overall as a team with 66 points, just behind San Juan who placed third with 70 points.

The Carbon girls won the meet with a dominating score of 247. Grand County finished a distant second with 97 points.

In the distance events, Monticello’s Lily Long placed second in the 3200-meter with a time of 12:50.63. Teammate Shayla Pehrson claimed fifth overall with a time of 15:17.44.

Long won the 1600-meter race, running a 6:01.57. Shayla Pehrson got another fifth-place finish with her time of 6:57.65.

In the sprints and middle distances, the team found some success. In the 100-meter Sadie Adair placed sixth with a time of 18.47. Lily Long added to her successful day with a second-place 800-meter finish in 2:54.15.

The girls scored some points in the hurdles when Sadie Adair placed sixth in the 100 with an 18.47. Berlynn Black also added a point with a tenth-place finish in 19.80. Shayla Pehrson finished sixth in the 300 hurdles, breaking the finish line in 1:00.04.

Monticello’s lone success in the girls relays came in the 4x100 relay where the team of Cami Dowell, Cami Lewis, Sadie Adair, and Hailey Gillette placed sixth with a time of 58.90.

In the field events, Monticello placed fourth in the high jump when Berlynn Black cleared 4-10. Cami Lewis placed sixth with a jump of 4-06.

In the long jump, Berlynn Black again placed fourth with a nice leap of 14-08.75 and Cami Lewis got sixth with a jump of 13-11.25.

Olive English had a nice showing in the shot put, placing fifth with a put of 22-04.5. She followed that with a seventh place in the discus with a distance of 61-10. In the javelin Lillie Ballard placed 22nd with a 49-06 and Olive English got 23rd with a 48-07.

The teams will be back at it on Friday, April 30 when they travel to Price for the Eastern Utah Championships in preparation for the upcoming BYU Invitational and state meets in May.

Girls golf
The Monticello girls golf team was busy on the links this past week with a trip to Springville to play Hobble Creek on Monday, April 19, then out to the Basin on Wednesday, April 21 to play the Roosevelt Municipal Golf Course for two more region matches.

At Hobble Creek, a course known for its treelined fairways and frequent creek crossings, the girls played very well and claimed their first region win of the season with a team score of 486.

North Summit placed second with a score of 499, Gunnison Valley placed third by shooting a 515, and Altamont claimed fourth with a team score of 531.

For the second straight week Olivia Chamberlain was the region match medalist when she shot a 101. Jade Nielson placed second on the team with her round of 126.

Kennedy Brewer wasn’t far behind, shooting a 128, Amy Lewis got around the course in 131 shots, Kahryme Alvarado finished a shot back from Lewis, and Gabi Dowell brought her round home in 135 shots.

The girls followed the Hobble Creek match win with another region win in Roosevelt two days later when they shot a team total of 435. North Summit was the runner-up again with a 448, Gunnison Valley shot a 474 for a third-place finish, and Altamont brought up the rear with a 480.

Olivia Chamberlain had another fine match, winning the tournament with a round of 90. Her closest competition came from a North Summit golfer who shot a 106.

Kylie Rogers placed second for the Lady Bucks in Roosevelt when she carded a round of 113. Kennedy Brewer had a nice round, shooting 116, and Amy Lewis shot a 118. Jade Nielson (121) and Gabi Dowell (129) rounded out Monticello’s scores for the day.

Following their second win in a row, Monticello leads the region with 1,411 shots over North Summit (1,448), Gunnison Valley (1,477), and Altamont (1,539).

The girls had another busy week when they traveled to Green River on Monday, April 26 to play the Green River Golf Course and Morgan on Tuesday, April 27 to play the Round Valley Golf Course, home to the North Summit Lady Braves.

Baseball
The Monticello baseball homestand continued this week when the 2A Central-leading Gunnison Valley Bulldogs visited Monticello for a region doubleheader on Monday, April 20.

In game one, the Bucks fell behind 4-1 after the first inning. The Bulldogs scored another four runs in the second to take a commanding 8-1 lead heading into the third inning.

Monticello surrendured another three runs in that frame but got two back in the bottom of the third to trail 11-3. The Bulldogs drove in three more runs in the fourth and another in the fifth to close out a 15-3 win over the home team.

In the game, Monticello scored three runs on four hits. Devin Hatch had the hit of the game when he clubbed a double, driving in a run.

Paxton Christensen also had two RBIs in the loss. Defensively, the Bucks ended with three errors. A lack of run support cost Paxton Christensen a win from the mound despite his efforts from the plate.

In game two, the Bulldogs picked up right where they left off, scoring three runs in the opening inning, four in the second, two in the third, and seven in the fourth.

Monticello was held them scoreless in every inning and ultimately suffered a 16-0 loss. The Bucks struggled from the plate, only connecting on two hits in the game. They also committed six errors behind pitcher Devin Hatch who took another hard loss.

On Friday, April 23 Monticello traveled to Salina to play another 2A Central doubleheader with the second-place North Sevier Wolves.

Game one started with the Wolves jumping ahead of the Bucks 1-0 after one inning. They blew the game open with an eight-run second and added three runs in each of the next two innings to down Monticello 15-0.

The Buckaroos connected for just two hits and were unable to get a runner across the plate for the second game in a row. Paxton Christensen suffered the loss on the mound.

Game two between the teams was over practically as soon as it started when the home team jumped out to a deflating 11-0 first-inning lead. They followed that with four more runs in the second and one in the third to increase their lead to 16-0.

Monticello got on the board when Logan Draper drove in a run in the fourth inning, but the Bucks were shut out in the fifth to secure a 16-1 North Sevier win. Devin Hatch pitched hard but struggled out of the gate in the loss.

Monticello’s season is winding down. The Bucks, now 1-15 on the season and 0-11 in the 2A Central, have a week off before they host the Grand County Red Devils Tuesday, May 4 in a 2A versus 3A rivalry clash.