Monticello golf team places seventh at state

After finishing fourth in Region 16, the Monticello boys golf team qualified for the 2A Utah State Golf Championships held at the Rose Park Golf Course in Salt Lake City September 24-26. After a practice round on Tuesday, the boys teed it up for real on Wednesday.

Led by Breckyn Hoggard’s first round score of 85, the Bucks shot a team score of 373. This score placed Monticello in seventh place after the first day, good enough to make the day two cut with the top eight teams. 

Beaver held a commanding first round lead with a team score of 285. 

Boston Freestone had a nice day, carding an 88. He was followed by Bailey Walker’s 96 and Cory Bunker’s round of 104.

Kyle Leavitt and Garrett Larsen each shot a 112 for the day.

On day two, Boston Freestone bested Hoggard’s Monticello low round of the week when he shot a solid round of 84. 

Hoggard shot a 90 on the second day followed by Cory Bunker with a round of 97. Bailey Walker carded a 104 for a team score of 375. The team’s two-day total of 748 secured a seventh place finish for the Buckaroos. 

Kyle Leavitt finished his week with a round of 113 and Garrett Larsen shot a 116.

Two Bucks claimed top 20 individual finishes with Boston Freestone in 12th overall with a two-day total of 172. Breckyn Hoggard claimed a tie for 13th with his two-day total of 175. 

Beaver ended the week as state champions after shooting a team score of 586.

Coach Chamberlain has to be encouraged about his team’s first season playing 2A fall golf and the team’s future with only one graduating senior on the state qualifying team.

With one junior and four sophomores returning, the future looks bright for the Buck golf team. 

Volleyball 

The Lady Bucks spent some serious time on the road last week, splitting Region 16 matches with North Summit and Altamont on Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28. 

On Friday, Monticello (2-4, 2-0) traveled to Coalville to take on the North Summit Lady Braves (5-9, 3-0). 

Monticello came out playing well and won the first set 25-23 only to have a serious let down, dropping the second set 25-11. 

Monticello played tough in the third and fourth sets but dropped both by the scores of 25-22 and 26-24 to lose the Region 16 match to the first place Lady Braves. 

Against North Summit, Morgan Maloy was the top server, connecting on 94.4 percent of her serves and leading the team with 28 assists.

Megan Black led the team in the kill department with 14. 

On defense, Whitney Knudsen had a solo block and Megan Black had 47 service returns and a 2.0 service return rating for the game.

The next night treated the Lady Bucks much better when they tangled with the Altamont Lady Longhorns (1-10, 0-2) in Altamont. 

Monticello again started well and captured a 25-21 opening-set win. In set two, Altamont flipped the script and took a 25-22 win.

After that, it was all Monticello. The Lady Bucks drubbed the Longhorns 25-9 and 25-15. 

Against Altamont, Rianna Shumway was the top server, hitting 94.1 percent of her serves, and Morgan Maloy led the team with four service aces and 28 assists.Megan Black led the team with 14 kills. 

On defense, Whitney Knudsen had a solo block, Megan Black had 31 service returns, and Saydee Adams led the team with a 2.0 service return rating.

After the weekend, the latest UHSAA RPI has the Lady Buckaroos ranked ninth out of 25 teams and sitting in a tie for second place in Region 16 with Gunnison.

Both teams have a 3-1 record.

The Lady Bucks (3-5, 3-1) continued Region 16 play on Tuesday when they faced the Gunnison Bulldogs (11-3, 3-1) at home in Monticello. 

On Thursday, October 3, Monticello will host the North Sevier Wolves (6-8, 1-2). The varsity match starts at 6:30 p.m.

Cross country 

The Monticello cross country teams again had a long travel week, at Duchesne on Wednesday, September 25 for a Region 16 race and at Mancos, CO for the Chicken Creek Challenge on Saturday, September 28. 

At the Duchesne Invitational held at Starvation Reservoir, the Monticello boys finished third overall behind Union and Duchesne, and the girls placed fourth overall behind Union, North Summit, and Uintah. 

Alan Pettit captured second in the boys race with a time of 17:44 and Lily Long placed first in the girls race, logging a time of 22:04.

In the junior high race, the Monticello boys placed fourth as a team with Curtis Bunker and Kaden Pehrson capturing ninth and 10th place overall after running times of 14:12 and 14:13. 

The junior high girls tied for second as a team but lost the tie-breaker to Roosevelt. Lily Burton and Lidia Chamberlain finished seventh and ninth overall with times of 15:44 and 16:04. 

On Saturday, the teams traveled to Mancos for the Chicken Creek Challenge on the scenic, Ponderosa Pine-lined course. 

Despite a battle with bees near the finish line that caused the finish to be on a sidehill and skirt a nearly dry pond, the meet was sunny and beautiful with some great action. 

In the girls high school race, Monticello claimed the team title over San Juan by 10 points.

Adri Bird led the team by taking the overall win, cruising to a time of 21:42. 

Teammate Lily Long claimed second with a time of 23:21. Kennedy Brewer finished just outside the top 10 in 11th with a time of 26:16, and Serra St. Clair finished in 13th (26:34).

In the boys high school race, Monticello also claimed the team title, besting the home team from Mancos. 

Cory Bunker won the season-long see-saw battle with Alan Pettit and claimed the meet win after running an 18:05 to Pettit’s second place finish time of 18:57. 

Eric Montague claimed seventh overall and Bailey Walker 13th with times of 21:04 and 21:59. 

In the boys junior high race, Monticello claimed third overall and was led by Kaden Pehrson, who placed third overall after completing his run with a time of 11:15.

Jesse Pettit finished fourth running a time of 11:17. 

In the girls junior high race, Monticello lacked enough girls for a team score, but Lily Burton ran well and claimed seventh place with a time of 12:51. 

The next few weeks will be light on racing and heavy on practice runs.

The Bucks’ cross country teams travel to Cortez on Friday, October 4 to run at the Ancient Trails Invitational and to Salina on October 16 for the Region 16 Cross Country Championships. 

State is the following week on October 23 at Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City.

Football

The Buckaroo football team is hoping they can benefit from their bye last week and return fully healthy.

Monticello (4-2, 1-1) travels to Coalville for a crucial 2A North battle with North Summit (4-3, 3-1) this Friday, October 4. 

Monticello is seventh overall in the latest UHSAA RPI and North Summit is ranked ninth.