Monticello High School cross country hosts Loyds Lake Classic

The Monticello cross country teams hosted the annual Loyds Lake Classic, their only home meet of the season on Friday, August 30.

Fellow Region 16 teams Duchesne, North Summit, and North Sevier, along with teams from Grand County, Central (Grand Junction), Montezuma-Cortez, Whitehorse, Monument Valley, Mancos, and San Juan high schools were all in attendance. 

The boys 5K proved to be a quick one on a hot but wind-free Loyds Lake course. The top five runners eclipsed the 2018 winning time.

Evan Ellison from Grand won the meet posting a new course record of 16:10. Buckaroo Corey Bunker ran a 16:48 to claim fifth in the race. He was followed by teammate Alan Pettit, who ran a 17:21 to finish in sixth. 

Monticello finished third as a team behind Central and Grand County. Others scoring for Monticello were Eric Montague (20:19), Bailey Walker (20:49), and Josh Wheeler (21:06). 

Whitehorse runners Xavier Martin and Weston Manygoats finished 17th and 18th with times of 19:02 and 19:17. 

The top San Juan runner was Alexander Lott, who finished 19th with a time of 19:26. The Broncos finished fourth as a team.

Monument Valley was led by Larsen Atene, who ran a 19:47 to finish 30th.

The girls 5K closed out the event and proved to be a speedy race as well. Kylah Ricks from Grand seized the top spot, running an 18:50 over the 3.1-mile course. 

Adri Bird finished third in her first varsity race with a time of 20:03. She was followed by teammate Lily Long, who placed fourth with a 21:18. 

Lydia Pugh is the top San Juan runner, posting a time of 22:30, which is good enough for eighth place. Lady Buck Kennedy Brewer claimed ninth after posting a time of 22:58 and Serra St. Clair finished 12th (24:03). 

Daan Filfred is the top Whitehorse finisher, claiming 11th place (23:44), and Lillianna Fatt was the top finisher from Monument Valley with a time of 25:18, good enough for 18th. 

San Juan won the team title, scoring 41 points to edge out Grand. 

The Monticello High School cross country teams will travel to Gunnison on Wednesday, September 4 for a Region 16 meet. 

Tame the Bears

The Monticello High School football team improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2003 with a dominating 46-0 effort against the Dolores Bears on Friday, August 30.  

The Buckaroos got on the board early when Devin Hatch hit Tate Ramsay with a 16-yard crossing route TD. After a Cedar English PAT, the Bucks led 7-0. 

Another Hatch TD toss, this one for 77 yards to Carson King, and an English PAT closed out the first quarter scoring with the Bucks leading 14-0.

MHS extended the lead in the second quarter when English ran the ball in from three yards out. Hatch followed that up with a five yard TD run of his own and the Bucks led 27-0 at the half.

Mired by penalties and turnovers, Dolores struggled to move the ball in the first game of their season. Monticello had issues at times also, but used defensive scores in the third quarter to put the game away.

Brevin Olson recovered a Dolores fumble in the Bears’ endzone for a TD. A short time later, Hatch hit English for a nice sideline 28 TD strike and the Bucks led 40-0.

Zach Cecil got the last score of the game when he jumped a Bear receiver’s route and dashed 50 yards for the pick-six. Monticello closed out a scoreless fourth quarter with a running clock for the 46-0 win.

The Buckaroos got a lot of players involved in the game. Devin Hatch went five of 16 for 128 yards, four TDs, and one interception. His relief, Javlin Robinson completed one of two passes for two yards. 

Brevin Olson carried the ball 12 times for 70 yards – his long was 30 yards. Robert Mussleman had one carry for eight yards. 

Hatch spread the ball around to receivers with English catching two TDs and Carson King, Logan Draper, and Tate Ramsey having one catch apiece. 

On defense, Zac Cecil was the standout with six solo tackles and five assisted tackles, including two tackles for loss and an interception for a TD. 

Tuff Adair had six solo tackles and three assisted with four tackles for loss. Camden Lewis got five total tackles – four for a loss. 

The Bucks had six sacks:  Adair got two, and one for King, Camden Lewis, Cecil, and Atticus Sheeran. 

Sheeran, Olson, Musselman, Tyler Beshoner, Tyler Thayn, Grant Nebeker, and Joe Boyle all had three or more tackles.

This week the Bucks host the Gunnison Bulldogs in their first matchup with a 2A squad.

It’s the 2019 Homecoming game on September 6 at 7 p.m. Coming in, Gunnison is winless, dropped games to undefeated Milford and Kanab.

Region golf meet

On August 28, the Monticello golf team hosted a Region 16 home meet. 

As has become the pattern this season, the Bucks played well enough to capture third place, scoring 403. Gunnison shot 385 and North Summit  396. 

The top five Bucks are Boston Freestone, Breckyn Hoggard, Bailey Walker, Kyle Leavitt, and Collin Herrod.  

On September 4, the team travels to Roosevelt for another region match.  

Volleyball

After a tough loss last week in Blanding, the Lady Buckaroos hosted Grand for a home match on August 28. 

The Lady Red Devils started strong, topping Monticello 3-1.

The Lady Bucks look for their first win of the season when San Juan visits on September 4 at 6 p.m. Come and cheer them on.