2003 - 04
Class Leaders
Student Body President: Kathryn (Kato) Mayeda; Vice President: Tim Scott; Secretary: Chelsie Stephenson.
Senior Class Core – Michael Webber, president; xxx
Junior Class Core – Thomas Kesler, president; xxx
Sophomore Class Core – Russell Condas, president; xxx
Freshman Class Core – xxx
During the Summer
James Cordova, Class of 1988, became Judge’s 19th head football coach, filling a role held by his dad, Gil, from 1967-75. He also was assigned to teach physical education and weight training. “I can’t wait to get up there and get going,” Cordova told The Salt Lake Tribune. “I have been connected to Judge football my whole life and I am excited about the opportunity to be involved in the program again.” After graduating from Judge, Cordova played football at Gavilan Community College in Gilroy, Calif., and went from there to Humboldt State in northern California, where he was a player and graduate assistant. He coached at Granger High School for six years, paired with his father-in-law, Ray Groth. In 2001, he returned to Judge as defensive coordinator and special teams coach for Head Coach Tim Clark. And what about following in his dad’s footsteps? Cordova told the Intermountain Catholic: “The respect the players had for him and the amount he was able to give to the players and me and my brother growing up is what I liked. Now it has come full circle and he is as excited about the job as I am.”
Kathleen Smyth was invited to Russia for an Olympic exchange competition designed to boost Moscow’s successful bid to play host to the 2010 Winter Olympics. In an Intermountain Catholic feature story on her many high school accomplishments, Smyth said that being at Judge “was an easy environment to succeed in. The coaches are amazing. Their commitment to athletics and the whole community to make sure you deal well with everything is amazing … I felt like part of the team in school, not just with athletics.” She also praised her parents, noting her father still travels weekly to Rock Springs, Wyo., where the family owns a print shop. “In the last year, I have had the opportunity to run all over the country, and my parents were always there.” She was joined at the Moscow-Utah Youth Games by Judge runners Samantha Gaffney and Asha Richardson and swimmer Brian Christiansen.
Catherine Villnave and Karen Popish represented Judge at Girls State.
Money raised by Judge students as part of Heifer Project International was used to purchase rabbits, pigs, goats, cows, chickens and trees for villagers in the west African nation of Cameroun. Catholic schools in the Salt Lake Valley raised $24,650 for the world’s poor.
Brother John Ventresca, who worked in the Judge library and print room from 1981-92, celebrated his 50th anniversary as an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales.
Longtime basketball Coach Jim Yerkovich published a book about his “WE” concept, focusing on teaching the values of Christian teamwork and compassion in sporting venues and classrooms. Judge Principal James Hamburge purchased 50 copies for the school.
Patricia Sproul, who spent 17 years on the Judge staff as a volunteer and alumni coordinator, passed away of diabetes.
The Year
National Merit Finalists: Matthew Callanan, Veronica Ripp, Jennifer Koehler, Timothy Marti, Catherine Villnave, Michael Webber.
841 students enrolled in grades 9-12; 66% were Catholics, 22% were minorities, 26% got financial aid.
“Power School” debuted as the software system used to set up students’ schedules and to let their parents check to see how they’re doing in classes. Bulldog Press reporter Ross Lordon said the system cost $25,000. Judge also revised its daily class schedule, Lordon said, because Principal Jim Hamburge thought the previous system gave students too much free time, but not enough at the right time so they were forced to eat lunch quickly, which was not healthy. He also didn’t think the system provided adequate time for labs, projects, speakers and assemblies. Students didn’t like Power School much – or Hamburge’s institution of a tighter dress code – and the computer program had problems. Many upperclassmen found they weren’t scheduled to take fine arts classes they were planning to take. The cafeteria was crowded at lunch. Some religion, history and English classes ended up with more than 40 students and didn’t have enough desks for all of their students. A Bulldog Press picture showed students sitting or lying on the floor taking notes. Complaints also focused on limitations for selecting electives, less time for homework in free periods, freshmen had a difficult time with restricted free time and fewer time was available to meet with counselors. Supporters argued that teachers had more time to prepare for fewer classes or sections, everyone was guaranteed a lunch break, longer classes allowed teachers to spend more time on subject matter and C.P. was three minutes longer.
New teachers: Elizabeth Berg, math; Brad Barton, health and physical education, assistant baseball coach; and James Cordova, physical education.
A Mass opening the school year featured Liturgical Dancers Gretchen Battle, Allan Ray Hipol, Alexandra Paul, Zeeshan Anwar, Elizabeth Valles and Blaine Townsend.
Nick Lollini and Jessica Reimer were co-editors of the Bulldog Press, assisted by page editors Whitney Milton, Ian Shelledy, Tessa Potvien, Ariana Torrey and Debra Emery. Writers and photographers included Justin Bogue, Karly Bryner, Matthew Callanan, Parker Conroy, Katherine Cummings, Andrew Florin, Amanda Garrett, Christina Hadlow, Patrick Harrington, James Hensleigh, Matthew Lollini, Ross Lordon, Sarah Maland, Nicole Marshall, Channing McCabe, Megan McDonald, Alexa McFarlane, Jeanette Moses, Christina Najarro, Bridget Nelson, Christopher Tsoufakis, Madeline Wander, Erin Greenberg and Ryan Hornacek. The advisers were Elaine Peterson and Chris Sloan.
Senior J.D. Grosvenor won a national essay contest connected to the Jack Black movie “School of Rock.” His essay maintained that Bob Dylan, “the poet laureate of rock’n’roll, would be a spectacular teacher.”
Peer Leadership Team seniors Whitney Milton and Tessa Potvien led a discussion of school violence with sophomore religion students in the aftermath of the Columbine High School shootings in Colorado.
During the Homecoming dance, the weight of an estimated 800 students in the studio caused the suspended ceiling of the weight room downstairs to collapse in part, showering weight machines with debris. No one was there at the time and the damage wasn’t noticed until later in the weekend. It was, wrote Bulldog Press reporter Ian Shelledy, “a bizarre and scary incident.”
Dean of Students Angela Rowland’s crackdown on wildly colored hair drew compliments and complaints. Decried by sophomore Kelly Sullivan as “ridiculous that the school has the rule in place because it stifles students’ creativity.” Rowland said a line had to be drawn to maintain standards.
More than 100 dance, drama and music students went to New York City for a week, visiting the World Trade Center, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Dancers then took classes at the Broadway Dance Center, the Paul Taylor Studio and the Alvin Ailey Studio. Drama students attended movement workshops with Clete Larkey and prepared a 3-5-minute monologue at HB Studios. Singers received a vocal workshop from Larkey and visited the Metropolitan Opera House. Sightseeing opportunities abounded. The only downside? Volleyball coach Renee Starling was dismayed that four of her players were on the trip and missed a crucial game, hurting the Bulldogs’ seeding in the 3A tournament.
Art teacher Tom Bettin’s junior Advanced Design class spent an early November day outside, seeing if the airplanes they made out of balsa wood and tissue paper could carry an egg to a successful landing. A few, like Brian Christiansen’s “Our Friend in Christ” did. Others divebombed.
Judge alumnus Vivi Tran, owner of the East-West Connection restaurant in Foothill Village, teamed up with the school on “The Art of Soup: A Soup-er Meal for a Super Cause.” Together, they sold soup bowls for $15, with funds going to a charity that provided scholarships for needy children in Vietnam. The effort was driven by Principal Jim Hamburge and his wife, Sue, who had adopted children from Vietnam. The Judge Jazz Band provided entertainment at the meal.
Matt Newlin, Julia Milliken and Brittany Hadlow were among students who told the Bulldog Press that their view of the world expanded with their community service. Freshmen were required to do 15 hours of service with their families, sophomores 20 hours for their churches or schools, juniors 25 hours at three different agencies and seniors 45 hours at one agency.
Ted Ru and Ariana Torrey were the leaders of the Philosophy Club, which was renamed “Symposium.”
Tragedy struck Judge when sophomore Demi Candelaria died Dec. 9 of meningitis, just one day after leaving school early with flu-like symptoms. “She truly was an angel,” a tearful Natasha Bourdeaux told The Salt Lake Tribune of her friend since first grade at St. Ann’s. Three flickering candles were placed near her locker, #361, and a pair of black pens for students to write messages on the locker – and spread out to those around it. “Angel from Above,” said one message. A box of tissues also was there to dry tears. “It’s been an emotional day,” said Dean of Students Dan Quinn. “We want to let the kids grieve.” The next day, Principal Jim Hamburge told The Tribune that “we are dealing with the health precautions as well as the spiritual needs of the children. We are a very close-knit school, and the students are going to need support. It’s important for classes to go forward, but it’s also important to minister to the needs of the students.” Just 15, Candeleria was a member of the soccer and girls basketball teams (which had played the previous weekend at a tournament in St. George) and was on the honor roll throughout high school. She was survived by her parents and a brother, Anthony, of West Jordan. Her death prompted the girls basketball team to pull out of a tournament at Bear River High School. Later, members of the swimming team wrote her name on their forearms for a meet. Heart-felt accolades filled a page of the next Bulldog Press edition. “Our community lost a beautiful person,” wrote editor Jessica Reimer, who quoted soccer coach Wayne Voorhes calling her “the ultimate team player. She always had a positive attitude and a kind word for her teammates. When it was time to play the game, she played with passion and conviction. She was one of the toughest players I ever coached.” And Christina Najarro observed: “Demi was full of energy. She was the life of the party. No matter where you went or what you were doing, you could always count on Demi to be laughing, singing or just being cute. She was taken from us so suddenly and so early; none of us had the chance to say good-bye. We weren’t able to tell her how much she meant to us, how much we love her, and how much we will miss her.”
A year after her death, 16 of Demi’s friends gathered at her favorite restaurant, La Puente. They prayed out loud before eating – Candelaria often had been their prayer leader and “Demi always prayed out loud,” said friend Ashton Larson, tearing up with Agatha Maxwell and Blaine Townsend. Everyone signed a napkin that circulated around the table and then was hung on the wall. They recalled how when the news first spread of her illness, fellow sophomores Nichole Garcia, Danielle Valdez and Alyx Hodges were sitting in the office of Coach Mary Chris Ledbetter, holding identical Teddy bears in their arms with Candelaria’s name and number – 13 – on the back, gifts from sophomore Carline Burland. Soon many similar brown bears were piling up around her locker, which was becoming a shrine. Valdez recalled that she and Candelaria’s boyfriend, Scott Robertson, had gone a year earlier to Pioneer Children’s Medical Center only to find that Demi had died and her family had arranged to donate her organs. “Demi wouldn’t want us to be this sad,” said Garcia. “When we were in the fifth grade [at St. Ann’s], we got into the habit of giving each other hugs as we arrived at school. Demi would show up for school last so she would get the biggest hug of all.” Added Valdez: “She taught us all to keep our friends close. We’ll always keep each other close, and Demi will always be with us. She’ll always be our friend.”
A dozen students, including junior Michiko Zaharias, participated in the Teton Science School, led by George Angelo and Ladell Voithoffer.
The Saliva Sisters provided the music for “disco flashbacks” when the annual Judge gala and auction adopted the theme “Judge-A-Mia!,” a play on the popular ABBA musical, “Mama Mia.” Kathy McCabe was the event coordinator.
Judge students placed 84 “Peace Poles” at the International Peace Gardens in Jordan Park. The poles represented hopes for peace among the 84 nations that participated in the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The fall Coffee House was a showcase for the popular band Spunk, which featured three Judge seniors – Bridget Nelson on vocals, Chris Saul on bass and Thomas Siemke on rhythm guitar – along with lead guitarist Eric Openshaw and drummer Bjorn Abuad. Bulldog Press reporter Jeanette Moses described the band’s music as “ska to rock and even a little bit blues,” inspired by Metallica, Sublime, The Smashing Pumpkins and No Doubt.
Members of the Judge Jazz Band were leader Isaac Monares and Joni Aoki, Anthony Bald, Nick Carter, Zach Downes, Matthew Frappier, Scott Jewell, John Leonard, Christopher Shifrar, Patrick Skorut, Allison Weis and Dwight Townsend.
Msgr. John Hedderman, Class of 1950, retired as St. Ambrose Parish pastor and diocesan judicial vicar. He had been a priest for 43 years.
Sophomore Rachael Wallace wielded four English handbells and Krista Loken played the smaller bells, B and F, as members of the Wesley Bell Ringers’ third annual performance at Judge just before St. Patrick’s Day. “The Spring Ring gets my choir ready for the summer tour. This year we’re headed to Chicago and Minnesota,” Loken told Bulldog Press writers Alexa McFarlane and Shana Yem.
University of Utah Football Coach Urban Meyer was the grand marshal for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Invited guests included the mayor and head of the chamber of commerce from the Irish city of Thurles, in County Tipperary, which the Hibernian Society had established as Salt Lake’s sister city.
English teacher Linda Simpson was honored by the Salt Lake Diocese as one of its two “Teachers of the Year.” She was joined in the ceremony by St. Francis Xavier Elementary teacher Junie Barry.
Two dozen Judge students and teachers wore masks and took a 24-hour vow of silence in an “Oppression Awareness Week” experience sponsored by the National Conference for Community and Justice. Feelings of isolation, invisibility and of being intimidated were expressed by juniors Jessica Curtis, Katie Huber, Ryan McCrory, Victoria Morales and teachers Jeremy Chatterton, Ramira Alamilla and Kandie Brinkman.
Linda Simpson was one of three faculty members highlighted in a Bulldog Press story by Bridget Nelson about members of the Judge community adopting children. She adopted two boys, belatedly recognized by state officials to be brothers, out of foster care. In addition, principal Jim Hamburge adopted children from Vietnam and South Korea and art teacher Tom Bettin adopted a boy and a girl.
Principal Jim Hamburge launched a capital campaign dubbed “Our Legacy. Their Opportunity.” No goals or specific plans were laid out, but the concept included developing a complex with interconnected technology center, library/arts building, auditorium and new gymnasium perched on the hill above the football field. The Bulldog Press interviewed 147 students to get their perspectives on the proposed expansion and found that 27% supported installing an all-weather field for football, soccer, lacrosse and other field sports; 24% favored building a new arts facility, 23% supported a technology upgrade and center, 13% wanted to see the multimedia center and library upgraded while another 13% supported construction of a new, larger gymnasium.
Singer Josh Groban, who performed at the Closing Ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics and at the Super Bowl, was joined on a Delta Center stage by members of the Judge Madrigals and Performance Ensemble. They teamed up on the song “You Raise Me Up.” The performance was arranged by Kathy Johnson, who put two children through Judge and was in charge of Groban’s tour through her work at Clear Channel Communications. “It was unbelievable,” senior Leigh DiAna told The Bulldog Press. “You wouldn’t think it would happen to Judge Choir. We got to sing with a star.”
In March, the Bulldog Press published a “Special Judge History Edition,” edited by Laura Burchett, Liz Eshleman, Christina Pazzi and Julie Sagers. It devoted a full page to matching the Judge graduation pictures of 22 current teachers to clues about their senior years, and included interviews with Arthur Bond, Class of 1927, the oldest living Judge graduate; Gertrude Martin Smith, Class of 1929; Helen Pruss Halfhill, Class of 1930, and her classmate, Helen Flanigan Wicker. A special closeness exhibited by the Class of 1953 was examined by writer Meghan Johnston, while Liz Eshleman recounted the construction of the gym, which opened in 1954.
The debate team won the region championship and finished third at state. Jessie France, James Hunter and Zachary Zundel were deemed All-State champions while Catherine Villnave qualified for the NFL National Tournament qualifier in Salt Lake City during the summer.
In music, Christopher Shifrar and Ben Turner received outstanding musician citations at the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Festival; the string quartet orchestra of Jennifer Evans, Calvin Furano, Krista Loken and Kristin Schlotterbeck awarded “superior” rating at state; the madrigals were rated “superior” at the region conclave; Jamie Gardner received a superior rating in vocals. Senior Evan Shinners developed his piano skills to the extent he was admitted to The Juilliard School.
“Earthbound” was a popular band with Judge students. Its members were Jeb Hilton, Anthony Bald, Isaac Monares, Alex Paxton and John Leonard. Another Coffee House favorite was “Spunk,” which included seniors Bridget Nelson (lead vocals), Chris Saul (bass) and Thomas Siemko (guitar), along with Eric Openshaw and Bjorn Abuad.
“Catharsis,” the literary magazine, received a superior ranking from the National Council of Teachers of English for outstanding writing, excellent editing, high-quality design and graphics. Edited by John Leonard and Leigh DiAna, the creative-writing magazine was one of 96 nationwide to receive the honor. The 2004 edition included 70 pieces of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, photography and art. “Writers and artists often work in obscurity,” said faculty advisor Linda Simpson. “This is an opportunity for them to be recognized for their exceptional talents.”
The Bulldog Press finished second in the “Best of Show” category at the Journalism Education Association National Convention in San Diego. Winners of individual awards were Channing McCabe, photography; Jessica Reimer, feature writing; John Leonard, news writing; Nicholas Lollini, editorial writing; and Ian Shelledy, news writing.
Student council member Chelsea Stephenson was the Salt Lake Exchange Club’s “Youth of the Year.”
Spring break trips took Judge students to Italy and Greece with English teacher Tim Dolan, who taught Dante and Homer along the way ($2,700), and to Washington, D.C. for social studies teacher Peter Van Orden’s 23rd annual Close-Up program. A.P. History and Political Science students paid $1,400.
English teacher Linda Simpson was the Salt Lake Diocese’s “Teacher of the Year.” The diocese also named her English department colleague, Tim Dolan, as Judge’s top teacher for 2004.
Among the many offerings at the Nancy Miller Spring Arts Festival, named after a much-loved teacher (1984-99) who died young, was “The Sweet, the Sour and the Rotten” cooking class. Instruction also was provided in Japanese calligraphy, tai chi, African dance, filmmaking, digital photograph, poetry writing, jewelry making and puppetry.
Speech director Kip Sayre received a “Diamond Key Award” from the National Forensic League.
When a Utah Shakespearean Festival delegation came to Judge, students Lindsey Berckman, Liz Baldwin and Nicole Zundel were invited to join the actors onstage for a dance.
An Intermountain Catholic feature story focused on Judge alumnus Annette Ravarino, whose son Sean was in the Class of 2004. She became a successful Salt Lake businesswoman through her ownership of Mediterranean Market.
“History Repeats Itself” was the theme of the Spring Dance Concert, directed by Jeanette Sawaya, Alison Le Duc and Elaine Peterson, lighting design and technical direction by Tom Delgado. Popular pieces were “The Mighty Seniors,” by Adriano Welch, featuring Natalie Allen, Scott Walker, Melissa Barber, Catherine Villnave, Libby Bell, Elizabeth Valles, Sarah Bernhisel, Karen Schneider, Anne Camp, Carli Robertson, Brie Hosking, Stephanie Ransdell, Jacqueline Lopez, Alexandra Paul, Kristin McCaughey and Rachel Montague; and “Boys,” choreographed by 1988 graduate Rosie Banchero, featuring Jake Wallin, Anthony Yang, Erik Claudio, Scott Walker, Anthony Killinger, Allan Ray Hipol, Andrew Godwin and Gabriel Cabal. Other pieces celebrated Cleopatra, Coco Chanel’s little black dress and Footloose.
Plays
“Into the Woods,” directed by Tom Delgado, music orchestrated by Ramona Mayer, choreography by Jeanette Sawaya. There were two casts, each performing three shows. The casts included Andrew Yang, Leigh DiAna, Chelsea Stephenson, Justin Bogue, Jesse Dornan, Channing McCabe, Jamie Hedlund, Alison Satterlee, Maggie Anderson, Kylen Shinners, Jaleen Smith, Steve Bennion, Libby Bell, K.C. Boehly, Andrew Florin, Will Leavitt, Lauren Bolte, Katrina Bachus, Brittany Hadlow, Jamie Gardner, Margaret King, Corey Jackson, Katie Maguire, Madeline Wander, Heidi Jones, Sam Larrabee, Joni Aoki, Elyse Niederee and Karen Snyder. Katrina Bachus was stage manager. Michael Augustine handled the birds. Augustine later interviewed three other backstage “techies” – Michael DeLisi, Hannah Pioli and Ben Clark – about their jobs for a story in the Bulldog Press. He conducted his interviews after learning to use a DynaVox machine, which allowed him to speak.
“Grease,” starring Chris Crellin, Jamie Hedlund, Katie McGuire, Jesse Dornan, Karen Popish, Alison Satterlee, Elyse Niederee, Elizabeth Valles and a chorus of 37. Katrina Bachus was stage manager, Andrew Warlaumont led the lighting crew and Michael DeLisi oversaw sound for director Tom Delgado, music director Ramona Mayer and choreographer Jeanette Sawaya.
STATE CHAMPION – “The Laramie Project,” a play about the 1998 murder of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student. Directed by Tom Delgado, starring Enrico Nassi and Jesse Dornan, the performance won a one-act play award for the school at state competition and an enthusiastic endorsement from Intermountain Catholic Writer Barbara Stinson Lee, who said it “is not a play that could be produced on just any high school stage. In fact, there are few high school stages on which it should even be contemplated. The Judge Memorial cast approached the play with remarkable maturity and sensitivity. They have set a high standard for high school theater classes.” Delgado said he received “phenomenal” support from the administration in supporting the seniors’ desire to “perform a play of this magnitude.”
Sarah Melici starred as Dorothy Day, author of a one-woman play, “Fool for Christ,” in the Judge auditorium. The play documented her pursuit of social justice, peace and civil rights, especially for workers and the poor. Along with Peter Maurin, Sarah Day started the Catholic Worker Movement.
The second annual 24-Hour Play featured “Bingo on Saturdays” by Justin Bogue, “Life” by Nate Chacon III, “The Photo Album” by Jeanette Moses, “Beyond the Valley” by Ellen Peifer, “On the Sidewalk” by Ian Wolfley and “House Rules” by Ryan Shelton.
Sports
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP – A strong defense and plenty of firepower propelled the girls soccer team to a second consecutive Class 3-A state championship. “This is the best team I’ve ever had,” 16-year Coach Wayne Voorhes said after the Bulldogs beat Ogden 3-0 in the title game at Dixie State College. Erin Terry, Jennifer Pentesco and Alicia Arrowsmith scored the Judge goals while the defense stifled Ogden for the 14th shutout of the season for goalkeepers Dani Griffin and Melanie Hopkins. Throughout the year, Judge pummeled opponents (Granite was demolished 20-0) with big-time scorers in Asha Richardson, Kato Mayeda, Erin Terry, Jennifer Conti, Kathleen Becker and Jesse Reimer and strong defenders in Hadley Bowers, Carly Davies and Martine Troy. They led the Bulldogs to a fourth straight season of undefeated region play. Judge advanced to the finals with a 13-0 conquest of North Sanpete, a 3-0 victory over Rowland Hall and a 5-1 thumping of Pine View. Mayeda was the team’s star. In the first week of October, after coming back from an injury, she scored eight goals in three games to earn The Salt Lake Tribune’s female “Prep Athlete of the Week.” At that point, she was the second-leading scorer in the state with 26 goals (she finished with 32, Richardson had 21, Terry 18 and Conti 11). The Tribune also named her its “Prep Athlete of October.” Class 3-A MVP honors in The Tribune went to Terry, who played nearly every minute of every game. The Deseret News gave that honor to Mayeda. Both papers had Mayeda, Richardson, Bowers and Griffin on first team All-State. Conti was second team in The Tribune. Mayeda was named Utah State Player of the Year.
STATE CHAMPION – The boys cross country team came up short in its bid for back-to-back state titles, finishing second behind Cedar High School, but Patrick Smyth won the individual 3-A title. Smyth covered the course at Sugarhouse Park in 16:25.7, almost six seconds ahead of the runner-up. Teammate Nikola Hlady was sixth (16:42) while Jason Heckle came in 15th (17:09). The Bulldogs finished with 75 points, trailing only titlist Cedar City’s 58. Brandon Brown, Jason Heckle, Andrew Hirning, Charles Knuth, Matthew Scott, Smyth and Hlady were All-Region. After the season at the Footlocker West Regional Championships, Smyth placed 16th in the boys’ seeded race and Knuth was third in the senior boys race.
STATE CHAMPION – Sophomore Samantha Gaffney was even more impressive for Coach Dan Quinn’s girls cross country team. She ran away from the rest of the 3-A field, winning the individual championship by more than 35 seconds, finishing in 18:50.7. The girls team finished fourth, with Stephene Gaitan placing 20th (21:24). All-Region honors were accorded Hannah Vickery and Gaffney. Earlier in the year, running against national competition, Gaffney was eighth at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Raleigh, N.C. (classmate Patrick Smyth finished eighth there among the boys). At the Footlocker race later in the year, she placed 46th.
STATE CHAMPION – Nick Carter shot a pair of 69s on the par 71 Eagle Mountain Golf Course in Brigham City to take the individual 3-A golf championship. Carter’s sterling round almost lifted Judge to the state title, but Coach Jim Beisel’s team finished one stroke behind Dixie (596 to 597. To show what a close meet it was, Union and Pine View tied for third at 599). Carter’s title prospects had been hindered by burn injuries he suffered three weeks earlier from an airbag deployment after his car hit a deer on Wasatch Boulevard. The Bulldogs also received strong showings at state from Natalie Stone, who tied for 14th with a two-day total of 150 (75-75), one shot ahead of teammate David Poggi. He made second team All-State. Other key players were co-captains Tom Nelson, Jesse Freedman and Sam Szykula, and Matt Chiesa and Andrew Peterson. Carter signed to play golf for the University of Utah.
STATE CHAMPION – Judge made it a sweep of the individual golf titles when Natalie Stone won the first high school state championship for girls. It was the fourth gold medal for her family. Older brother Pete won three straight state championships in the 1990s. She was second team All-State and also was the PGA Junior Series Women’s Champion.
New football coach James Cordova counted heavily on his quartet of co-captains: Michael Webber, Samui Tuifua, Scott Walker and J. R. Howa. The team posted a 3-7 regular-season record and then faced Cedar City in a playoff game to go to state. A fumble at Cedar’s one-yard line killed a good drive in the first period, then star running back Tuifua was hurt in the second quarter, limiting his play the rest of the game. He still finished with 100 yards rushing, the fourth time he topped the century mark, his best showing being a 200-yard performance against Granite. In the end, the Bulldogs fell 20-6, the only score coming on a 44-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Dominique Parker. Bryce Butterfield and Daniel Clemons made second team All-State for The Tribune and Deseret News. Braden Brown was All-Region honorable mention in both papers. Losing record aside, Bulldog Press reporter Nick Lollini maintained Cordova turned around the program quickly. “A sense of pride and optimism has erupted in the team.”
The Judge “Midget” team in Ute Conference Football, 12-year-old boys who would be seniors and state champions in 2010, swept through an undefeated season for the second year in a row.
The Salt Lake Tribune rated the Judge football field as the third most picturesque place in Utah to watch a game. “Steep bleachers and no track put fans on top of the action, with views of downtown Salt Lake City in the background,” the paper said. Skyline and Kanab high schools had the only higher ratings.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP, CHAMPIONS – The boys and girls swimming teams repeated as Class 3-A state champions for Coach Gail Meakins.
The girls compiled 410 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Park City’s 248. Taking up where she left off a year earlier, sophomore Liz Caravati was named 3-A “Swimmer of the Meet” as she took two individual state titles – the 50- and 100-yard freestyle sprints – and anchored the winning 400- and 200-yard relay teams. The 400-meter relay team, featuring Kelsey Elizondo, Ashley May, Sandy Bartelet and Caravati, broke the state record with a time of 3:42.90 seconds, besting a mark set by a Judge team in 1993. The 200-yard relay team consisted of Lauren Anderson, Ashley May, Katie Stevens and Caravati. Bartelet put her name in the record books as an individual as well, snapping a 26-year-old mark in the 100 breaststroke with a winning time of 1:07.88. Freshman Kelsey Elizondo was state champion in the 200 free and finished third in the butterfly. Key points also were contributed by Ashley May, Maggie Nichols, Erika Christiansen, Sam Larrabee and Katie Stevens. School records also were set by Anderson and Christiansen, and the medley relay team of Christiansen, Bartelet, Elizondo and Stevens. Sue Palmer also set a sectional qualifying time. Jill White and Anderson were co-captains.
The boys were just as dominating, piling up 382 points to 211 for second-place Ogden. Eight different Bulldogs reached the podium for accomplishments in individual events. Capturing individual state titles were Ryan Donahoe, who plowed to victory in the 500 freestyle in 4:57.60, and junior Sam Palmer, who sprinted to the 100-yard freestyle title in 49.84 seconds. Donahoe’s win in the 500 was noteworthy for the support he received from teammates.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP – A strong defense and plenty of firepower propelled the girls soccer team to a second consecutive Class 3-A state championship. “This is the best team I’ve ever had,” 16-year Coach Wayne Voorhes said after the Bulldogs beat Ogden 3-0 in the title game at Dixie State College. Erin Terry, Jennifer Pentesco and Alicia Arrowsmith scored the Judge goals while the defense stifled Ogden for the 14th shutout of the season for goalkeepers Dani Griffin and Melanie Hopkins. Throughout the year, Judge pummeled opponents (Granite was demolished 20-0) with big-time scorers in Asha Richardson, Kato Mayeda, Erin Terry, Jennifer Conti, Kathleen Becker and Jesse Reimer and strong defenders in Hadley Bowers, Carly Davies and Martine Troy. They led the Bulldogs to a fourth straight season of undefeated region play. Judge advanced to the finals with a 13-0 conquest of North Sanpete, a 3-0 victory over Rowland Hall and a 5-1 thumping of Pine View. Mayeda was the team’s star. In the first week of October, after coming back from an injury, she scored eight goals in three games to earn The Salt Lake Tribune’s female “Prep Athlete of the Week.” At that point, she was the second-leading scorer in the state with 26 goals (she finished with 32, Richardson had 21, Terry 18 and Conti 11). The Tribune also named her its “Prep Athlete of October.” Class 3-A MVP honors in The Tribune went to Terry, who played nearly every minute of every game. The Deseret News gave that honor to Mayeda. Both papers had Mayeda, Richardson, Bowers and Griffin on first team All-State. Conti was second team in The Tribune. Mayeda was named Utah State Player of the Year.
STATE CHAMPION – The boys cross country team came up short in its bid for back-to-back state titles, finishing second behind Cedar High School, but Patrick Smyth won the individual 3-A title. Smyth covered the course at Sugarhouse Park in 16:25.7, almost six seconds ahead of the runner-up. Teammate Nikola Hlady was sixth. Brandon Brown, Jason Heckle, Andrew Hirning, Charles Knuth, Matthew Scott, Smyth and Hlady were All-Region. After the season at the Footlocker West Regional Championships, Smyth placed 16th in the boys’ seeded race and Knuth was third in the senior boys race
STATE CHAMPION – Sophomore Samantha Gaffney was even more impressive for Coach Dan Quinn’s girls cross country team. She ran away from the rest of the 3-A field, winning the individual championship by more than 30 seconds, finishing in 18:50.7. The girls team finished fourth, with Stephene Gaitan placing 20th. All-Region honors were accorded Hannah Vickery and Gaffney. Earlier in the year, running against national competition, Gaffney was eighth at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Raleigh, N.C. (classmate Patrick Smyth finished eighth there among the boys). And at the Footlocker race later in the year, she placed 46th.
STATE CHAMPION – Nick Carter shot a pair of 69s on the par 71 Eagle Mountain Golf Course in Brigham City to take the individual 3-A golf championship. Carter’s sterling round almost lifted Judge to the state title, but Coach Jim Beisel’s team finished one stroke behind Dixie. Carter’s title prospects had been hindered by burn injuries he suffered three weeks earlier from an airbag deployment after his car hit a deer on Wasatch Boulevard. David Poggi made second team All-State. Other key players were Natalie Stone, co-captains Tom Nelson, Jesse Freedman and Sam Szykula, and Matt Chiesa and Andrew Peterson. Carter signed to play golf for the University of Utah.
STATE CHAMPION – Judge made it a sweep of the individual golf titles when Natalie Stone won the first high school state championship for girls. It was the fourth gold medal for her family. Older brother Pete won three straight state championships in the 1990s. She was second team All-State and also was the PGA Junior Series Women’s Champion.
New football coach James Cordova counted heavily on his quartet of co-captains: Michael Webber, Samui Tuifua, Scott Walker and J. R. Howa. The team posted a 3-7 regular-season record and then faced Cedar City in a playoff game to go to state. A fumble at Cedar’s one-yard line killed a good drive in the first period, then star running back Tuifua was hurt in the second quarter, limiting his play the rest of the game. He still finished with 100 yards rushing, the fourth time he topped the century mark, his best showing being a 200-yard performance against Granite. In the end, the Bulldogs fell 20-6, the only score coming on a 44-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Dominique Parker. Bryce Butterfield and Daniel Clemons made second team All-State for The Tribune and Deseret News. Braden Brown was All-Region honorable mention in both papers. Losing record aside, Bulldog Press reporter Nick Lollini maintained Cordova turned around the program quickly. “A sense of pride and optimism has erupted in the team.”
The Judge “Midget” team in Ute Conference Football, 12-year-old boys who would be seniors and state champions in 2010, swept through an undefeated season for the second year in a row.
The Salt Lake Tribune rated the Judge football field as the third most picturesque place in Utah to watch a game. “Steep bleachers and no track put fans on top of the action, with views of downtown Salt Lake City in the background,” the paper said. Skyline and Kanab high schools had the only higher ratings.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP, CHAMPIONS – The boys and girls swimming teams repeated as Class 3-A state champions for Coach Gail Meakins.
The girls compiled 410 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Park City’s 248. Taking up where she left off a year earlier, sophomore Liz Caravati was named 3-A “Swimmer of the Meet” as she took two individual state titles. She won the 50-yard sprint in 24.92 seconds and the 100 in 53.66, then anchored the winning 400- and 200-yard relay teams. The 400-meter relay team, featuring Kelsey Elizondo, Ashley May, Sandy Bartelet and Caravati, broke the state record with a time of 3:42.90 seconds, besting a mark set by a Judge team in 1993. The 200-yard relay team consisted of Lauren Anderson, Ashley May, Katie Stevens and Caravati. Bartelet put her name in the record books as an individual as well, snapping a 26-year-old mark in the 100 breaststroke with a winning time of 1:07.88. She also finished second in the 200 individual medley. Freshman Kelsey Elizondo was state champion in the 200 free (2:01.04) and finished third in the butterfly. Kate Stevens reached the podium twice as an individual with fifths in 100 breaststroke and the 50 freestyle. Maggie Nichols added third-place points in the 500 free, where Erika Christiansen was fourth and Ashley May fifth. Sam Larrabee contributed sixth-place points in the 100 backstroke. School records also were set by Anderson and Christiansen, and the medley relay team of Christiansen, Bartelet, Elizondo and Stevens. Sue Palmer also set a sectional qualifying time. Jill White and Anderson were co-captains.
The boys were just as dominating, piling up 382 points to 211 for second-place Ogden. Eight different Bulldogs reached the podium for accomplishments in individual events. Two stood atop the podium as state champions – Ryan Donahoe, who plowed to victory in the 500 freestyle in 4:57.60, and junior Sam Palmer, who sprinted to the 100-yard freestyle title in 49.84 seconds. Donahoe’s championship in the 500 was especially noteworthy for Judge because four of its swimmers finished in the top six. Donahoe was trailed by Justin Gibbs (second), Matt Farr (third) and Andy Godwin (sixth). The Bulldogs were almost as dominant in the 200 freestyle, where Donahoe was second, Gibbs third and Ned Voytovich sixth. Also adding valuable points to Judge’s dominating total were captain Kyle Meakins, with a second in the 100 breaststroke and a fifth in the 200 individual medley; Chris Tsoufakis, with a third in thew 100 butterfly (Matt Farr was fourth) and Brian Christensen with a fourth in the 100 backstgroke. Besides his state title, Palmer also earned a fourth-place finish in the 50 freestyle. The 400-free relay team won its state-title race by seven seconds (3:20.79) and the 200 medley relay turned a winning time of 1:43.40. The 200-yard relay team came in second.
The girls tennis team won the region title and then took third at the 3-A state tournament, led by freshman Emily Kennedy. Playing No. 3 singles, she advanced to the finals before falling to Amanda Leonelli of Grantsville, which won the team title with 23 points. Judge compiled 11. Coach Susan Daynes used a lineup of singles players Amy Stevens (a sophomore), Annabelle Milliken (a freshman) and Kennedy, plus the doubles duos of Rachel Franks/Danielle Valdez and Julia Milliken/Natalie Winn. All but the No. 2 doubles team survived the first day of state play. Stevens and Annabelle Milliken both lost in the semis to eventual champions. Senior Amy Bullock and junior Natalie Winn were the co-captains.
Renee Starling took over the girls volleyball program after having led the Skyline boys team the previous year, welcoming co-captains Patricia Ault and Megan McDonald and seniors Christina Hadlow, Tina Kolkebeck, Sarah Ashburn, Leslie Anne Mayes, Brittany Bennett, Karen Popish and Brigitta Petersen. The volleyball team finished 13th at the 3-A state tournament, losing to Hurricane and Bear River after beating Park City in a play-in game. A season highlight was beating Juan Diego in five sets in the first meeting between the two schools and securing the state tournament berth with an intense playoff victory over Park City.
Thirty-eight years into his Judge boys basketball coaching career, Jim Yerkovich earned his 500th victory as the Bulldogs held off Woods Cross 54-53. Michael Giovacchini, the only senior, led the way with 20 points and six assists while Daniel Deane grabbed 16 rebounds and Les Brown hit four three pointers and finished with 16 points. Yerkovich received a game ball, his fifth. Salt Lake Tribune columnist Gordon Monson profiled Yerkovich, noting that his office wall was decorated with pictures of the coach with UCLA Coach John Wooden, DeMatha High School’s Morgan Wooten and President George Bush (along with a Judge team in the Rose Garden). He is also pictured with a 1981 McDonald’s All-American West team, which lost to an East team that included Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullen. There also were pictures of his 37 previous Judge teams. “Everything in that office represents his life,” Principal Hamburge told Monson. “It is his life. He’s not a dynamic person. He’s a calculus teacher who coaches basketball. But his understanding of young people is superb. He’s a consummate virtuoso; he thinks the world revolves around basketball and his team. And, after all the years, his players listen to him. Whatever he says, they do it. Whatever he tells them, they believe it. Around here, he’s like the Pope.” Regarding Judge’s five second-place finishes, Yerkovich said “We’re like the Jazz. We haven’t won it all much, but our consistency on the court has been the best thing about our program.” Yerkovich was interviewed for the Bulldog Press by Michael Augustine, saying “these 500 games represent a whole lot of great people. To me, it’s just not about the competition. It’s more about the community and the memories that I’ve had.”
In the state tournament, Judge opened with a 66-59 victory over Dixie, led by Michael Giovacchini’s 27 points, Daniel Deane’s 20 and 15 from Les Brown. The Bulldogs fell in the next round to Lehi in a 58-56 heartbreaker, then lost a consolation round game to Pine View, 71-60. Giovacchini made The Tribune’s All-State first team for the second time and was selected to play in the state All-Star game. Deane was second team.
The Giovacchini family has been part of Judge basketball for more than 40 years, almost as long as the Yerkoviches. Intermountain Catholic writer Chris Young outlined the family’s presence on the hardcourt, starting with Michael Giovacchini’s father, Marty, Class of 1973, and an assistant basketball coach since 1985. The family tree included Marty’s brother, Paul, and his three sons, Tony, David and Michael. “They are people who work very hard at their game and, above all else, they are always great teammates,” Yerkovich said. “They have all put the team above themselves because the team experience is important to them. In their senior years, they have all taken leadership roles in seeing that our basketball community was a special life experience. … Although there was not one on every single team, from 1971-2004, there was a Giovacchini or a potential Giovacchini somewhere in our basketball program. They have been one of the real treasures of Judge basketball history. It is really incredible to think that five Giovacchinis have played point guard for Judge. They are all similar in that they have all been real good players and have had long basketball backgrounds. I have the greatest respect for all the boys who have played for me as well as their grandparents [Joe and Maxine], who have watched a record number of basketball games over the years.” As the latest in the family line, Michael Giovacchini averaged nearly 20 points and five assists per game his senior year, earning “Prep of the Week” honors in early February from both KUTV and The Tribune.
Katie Sabol and Kato Mayeda were the leading scorers for the girls basketball team, coached by Mary Chris Yerkovich Ledbetter. In their first game after the death of teammate Demi Candelaria, the Judge girls lost to Morgan, whose players presented them with flowers and sympathy cards. “I felt so bad for them,” said Morgan Coach Cheryl Blazzard. “I don’t know how they [even] played.” Dani Griffin earned “Prep of the Week” honors from the Deseret News in mid-February, scoring 31 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in two games. The girls lost a 3-A tournament qualifying game against Canyon View.
Gary Mursener-Gonzales, J.D. Grosvenor and Blaine Townsend were co-captains of the hockey team, which also featured Patrick Harrington, Will Richards, Nick Taylor, Kaela Larrabee and Keegan Walsh.
Sophomore figure skater Kristina Struthwolf made the U.S. National Junior Team for the second year after finishing fourth in the Junior Grand Prix Series. She also performed at the Utah-Moscow Games in Salt Lake City. “My goal is to skate a clean program at each competition, not to win,” she told Bulldog Press writer Christina Najarro.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP, CHAMPIONS – The boys track team captured its first state championship for Coach Dan Quinn, racking up 161.5 points, far ahead of runner-up Hurricane’s 54.5. Michael Webber was the 3-A “Runner of the Year” after winning both the 100-meter dash (11.12 seconds) and the 200 (21.89). In the latter race, the Bulldogs also had Kyle Meakins in second and Sean Tweedy in fifth. Meakins did even better in the middle-distance races, winning both the 400 (in 48.43) and 800 (1:56.59). Patrick Smyth, Tweedy and Nikola Hlady also reached the podium in those two races. Smyth also took two individual championships – in the 1,600-meter (4:24.62) and 3,200-meter races (9:38.79). Hlady was second in the 3,200 and Bryce Carr was eighth. Judge swept the relays, too, with Michael Giovacchini, Tweedy, Webber and Isaiah Wright speeding to the 4x100-meter relay title in 43.42 while Smyth, Giovacchini, Gabe Morris and Wright ran away from the field in the medley relay (3:38.91). The 4x400 relay team (Giovacchini, Meakins, Morris and Tweedy) won with a time of 3:23.90. In the field events, Samui Tuifua scored points in both the shot put and discus. In early April at the Timpanogos Invitational Track Meet, Michael Webber had quite a day. He won all three sprint events – 100 meters, 200 and 400 – and was part of the 1,600-meter relay team that broke the meet record and came within one second of the overall state mark. Quinn’s boys won the Invitational title with 82 points. Second-place Mountain View had 76. The girls team came in second.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP, CHAMPIONS – The girls track team also donned the mantle of 3-A state champs, piling up 91 points to edge runner-up Ogden (89) for the title in the meet at BYU. Asha Richardson was named the meet’s outstanding athlete, winning three individual events and anchoring a second-place finish for the 4x400-yard relay. Richardson raced to the 100-meter dash title in 12:54, added the 200 in 25.61 and the 400 in 58.00. Samantha Gaffney also was a state champion, winning the 3,200-meter run in 11:19.88. She finished fourth in the 1,600. Patricia Ault added second-place points in the javelin, while fourth-place finishes were recorded by Maddy King in the long jump and Natalie Winn in the high jump. Senior Leslie Dreitzler contributed key points with a fourth in the shot put, the event that put the girls on top. Team MVP Stephene Gaitan was fifth in the 400, the same finish as Maggie Nichols in the 3,200. Ault dominated field events throughout the year and set a javelin record at the Simplot Games in Idaho.
Senior catcher Katie Sabol, who received a scholarship to play at the University of Utah, was featured in a Salt Lake Tribune article about the top players in the 3-A softball ranks. “Her knowledge of the game is amazing and the way she plays behind the plate is incredible,” said Coach Carolyn Richards. Judge finished third in region and qualified for the state tournament, led by Sabol and co-captain Keegan Woods and pitcher Maggie Holden. The Bulldogs lost 15-9 to Canyon View in the opener and 8-3 to Delta in the consolation bracket.
Leading the baseball team were captains Michael Harris and Danny Malcom.
Coached by Rick Latham, the boys soccer team was led by goalie Aaron Rokeach and forwards Sean Finnegan, James Hunter and Jason Heckle. The Bulldogs entered the 3-A state tournament as the number two seed from their region and lost in a shootout to Lehi after tying 1-1.
Junior Matt McCoy finished second in No. 2 singles at the 3-A tennis tournament in St. George to lead the Bulldogs to fourth place with six points, 20 behind champion Park City. A team co-captain, McCoy reached the finals before falling to Park City’s Nick Vonderahe. The other co-captain was junior Chris Arena since the team did not have any seniors. It often struggled against the older competition.
The boys lacrosse team lost an overtime contest to Olympus, 7-6, after posting a 7-8 record in the regular season. The squad included captain Bryce Edwards, seniors Jamie Knorr and Mike Shea, junior Connal Grisley and sophomore Eric Eidens.
After losing 11 players to graduation, the young girls lacrosse team did better than expected, finishing 5-2 in league play before dropping a 10-4 decision to Highland/Olympus in the opening round of the postseason tournament. The Bulldogs were led by senior captains Julie Weis and Brittany Bennett, senior Britney Mortensen, junior goalie Channing McCabe and sophomore Kelly Sullivan. Their coaches were Judge grads Ale Pipella, Amanda Hart and Allison Parks.
Nominations for the National Wendy’s High School Heisman Award were accorded to Erin Terry, for her play in soccer, basketball and track, and Michael Webber, a football and track athlete.
Melissa Barber, Libby Bell and Jamie Hedlund were co-captains of the 22-member cheerleading squad.
won one of two individual state title among them, completing the 100-yard freestyle and junior Ryan Donahoe plowed to victory in the 500, with teammates Justin Gibbs, Matt Farr and Andy Godwin placing second, third and sixth, respectively. The 400-free relay team also won its race by seven seconds while the 200 free relay came in second. Also contributing points with podium performances were Chris Tsoufakis, Matt Farr, Brian Christiansen and Kyle Meakins, the boys’ captain.
The girls tennis team won the region title and then took third at the 3-A state tournament, led by freshman Emily Kennedy. Playing No. 3 singles, Kennedy advanced to the finals before falling to Amanda Leonelli of Grantsville, which won the team title with 23 points. Judge compiled 11. Coach Susan Daynes used a lineup of singles players Amy Stevens (a sophomore), Annabelle Milliken (a freshman) and Kennedy, plus the doubles duos of Rachel Franks/Danielle Valdez and Julia Milliken/Natalie Winn. All but the No. 2 doubles team survived the first day of state play. Stevens and Annabelle Milliken both lost in the semis to eventual champions. Senior Amy Bullock and junior Natalie Winn were the co-captains.
Renee Starling took over the girls volleyball program after having led the Skyline boys team the previous year, welcoming co-captains Patricia Ault and Megan McDonald and seniors Christina Hadlow, Tina Kolkebeck, Sarah Ashburn, Leslie Anne Mayes, Brittany Bennett, Karen Popish and Brigitta Petersen. The volleyball team finished 13th at the 3-A state tournament, losing to Hurricane and Bear River after beating Park City in a play-in game. A season highlight was beating Juan Diego in five sets in the first meeting between the two schools and securing the state tournament berth with an intense playoff victory over Park City.
Thirty-eight years into his Judge boys basketball coaching career, Jim Yerkovich earned his 500th victory as the Bulldogs held off Woods Cross 54-53. Michael Giovacchini, the only senior, led the way with 20 points and six assists while Daniel Deane grabbed 16 rebounds and Les Brown hit four three pointers and finished with 16 points. Yerkovich received a game ball, his fifth. Salt Lake Tribune columnist Gordon Monson profiled Yerkovich, noting that his office wall was decorated with pictures of the coach with UCLA Coach John Wooden, DeMatha High School’s Morgan Wooten and President George Bush (along with a Judge team in the Rose Garden). He is also pictured with a 1981 McDonald’s All-American West team, which lost to an East team that included Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullen. There also were pictures of his 37 previous Judge teams. “Everything in that office represents his life,” Principal Hamburge told Monson. “It is his life. He’s not a dynamic person. He’s a calculus teacher who coaches basketball. But his understanding of young people is superb. He’s a consummate virtuoso; he thinks the world revolves around basketball and his team. And, after all the years, his players listen to him. Whatever he says, they do it. Whatever he tells them, they believe it. Around here, he’s like the Pope.” Regarding Judge’s five second-place finishes, Yerkovich said “We’re like the Jazz. We haven’t won it all much, but our consistency on the court has been the best thing about our program.” Yerkovich was interviewed for the Bulldog Press by Michael Augustine, saying “these 500 games represent a whole lot of great people. To me, it’s just not about the competition. It’s more about the community and the memories that I’ve had.”
In the state tournament, Judge opened with a 66-59 victory over Dixie, led by Michael Giovacchini’s 27 points, Daniel Deane’s 20 and 15 from Les Brown. The Bulldogs fell in the next round to Lehi in a 58-56 heartbreaker, then lost a consolation round game to Pine View, 71-60. Giovacchini made The Tribune’s All-State first team for the second time and was selected to play in the state All-Star game. Deane was second team.
Like the Yerkoviches, the Giovacchinis have been as part of Judge basketball for more than 40 years. Intermountain Catholic writer Chris Young outlined the family’s presence on the hardcourt, starting with Michael Giovacchini’s father, Marty, Class of 1973, and an assistant basketball coach since 1985. The family tree included Marty’s brother, Paul, and his three sons, Tony, David and Michael. “They are people who work very hard at their game and, above all else, they are always great teammates,” Yerkovich said. “They have all put the team above themselves because the team experience is important to them. In their senior years, they have all taken leadership roles in seeing that our basketball community was a special life experience. … Although there was not one on every single team, from 1971-2004, there was a Giovacchini or a potential Giovacchini somewhere in our basketball program. They have been one of the real treasures of Judge basketball history. It is really incredible to think that five Giovacchinis have played point guard for Judge. They are all similar in that they have all been real good players and have had long basketball backgrounds. I have the greatest respect for all the boys who have played for me as well as their grandparents [Joe and Maxine], who have watched a record number of basketball games over the years.” As the latest in the family line, Michael Giovacchini averaged nearly 20 points and five assists per game his senior year, earning “Prep of the Week” honors in early February from both KUTV and The Tribune.
Katie Sabol and Kato Mayeda were the leading scorers for the girls basketball team, coached by Mary Chris Yerkovich Ledbetter. In their first game after the death of teammate Demi Candelaria, the Judge girls lost to Morgan, whose players presented them with flowers and sympathy cards. “I felt so bad for them,” said Morgan Coach Cheryl Blazzard. “I don’t know how they [even] played.” Dani Griffin earned “Prep of the Week” honors from the Deseret News in mid-February, scoring 31 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in two games. The girls lost a 3-A tournament qualifying game against Canyon View, falling 35-28.
Gary Mursener-Gonzales, J.D. Grosvenor and Blaine Townsend were co-captains of the hockey team, which also featured Patrick Harrington, Will Richards, Nick Taylor, Kaela Larrabee and Keegan Walsh.
Sophomore figure skater Kristina Struthwolf made the U.S. National Junior Team for the second year after finishing fourth in the Junior Grand Prix Series. She also performed at the Utah-Moscow Games in Salt Lake City. “My goal is to skate a clean program at each competition, not to win,” she told Bulldog Press writer Christina Najarro.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP, CHAMPIONS – The boys track team captured its first state championship for Coach Dan Quinn, racking up 161.5 points, far ahead of runner-up Hurricane’s 54.5. Michael Webber was the 3-A “Runner of the Year” after winning both the 100-meter dash (11.12 seconds) and the 200 (21.89). In the latter race, the Bulldogs also had Kyle Meakins in second and Sean Tweedy in fifth. Meakins did even better in the middle-distance races, winning both the 400 (in 48.43) and 800 (1:56.59). Patrick Smyth, Tweedy and Nikola Hlady also reached the podium in those two races. Smyth also took two individual championships – in the 1,600-meter (4:24.62) and 3,200-meter races (9:38.79). Hlady was second in the 3,200 and Bryce Carr was eighth. Judge swept the relays, too, with Michael Giovacchini, Tweedy, Webber and Isaiah Wright speeding to the 4x100-meter relay title in 43.42 seconds, while Smyth, Giovacchini, Gabe Morris and Wright ran away from the field in the medley relay (3:38.91). The 4x400 relay team (Giovacchini, Meakins, Morris and Tweedy) won with a time of 3:23.90. In the field events, Samui Tuifua scored points in both the shot put and discus. In early April at the Timpanogos Invitational Track Meet, Michael Webber had quite a day. He won all three sprint events – 100 meters, 200 and 400 – and was part of the 1,600-meter relay team that broke the meet record and came within one second of the overall state mark. Quinn’s boys won the Invitational title with 82 points. Second-place Mountain View had 76. The girls team came in second.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP, CHAMPIONS – The girls track team also donned the mantle of 3-A state champs, piling up 91 points to edge runner-up Ogden (89) for the title in the meet at BYU. Asha Richardson was named the meet’s outstanding athlete, winning three individual events and anchoring a second-place finish for the 4x400-yard relay. Richardson raced to the 100-meter dash title in 12:54, added the 200 in 25.61 and the 400 in 58.00. Samantha Gaffney also was a state champion, winning the 3,200-meter run in 11:19.88. She finished fourth in the 1,600. Patricia Ault added second-place points in the javelin, while fourth-place finishes were recorded by Maddy King in the long jump and Natalie Winn in the high jump. Senior Leslie Dreitzler contributed key points with a fourth in the shot put, the event that put the girls on top. Team MVP Stephene Gaitan was fifth in the 400, the same finish as Maggie Nichols in the 3,200. Ault dominated field events throughout the year and set a javelin record at the Simplot Games in Idaho.
Senior catcher Katie Sabol, who received a scholarship to play at the University of Utah, was featured in a Salt Lake Tribune article about the top players in the 3-A softball ranks. “Her knowledge of the game is amazing and the way she plays behind the plate is incredible,” said Coach Carolyn Richards. Judge finished third in region and qualified for the state tournament, led by Sabol and co-captain Keegan Woods and pitcher Maggie Holden. The Bulldogs lost 15-9 to Canyon View in the opener and 8-3 to Delta in the consolation bracket.
Leading the baseball team were captains Michael Harris and Danny Malcom. The team failed to qualify for the 3-A state tournament.
Coached by Rick Latham, the boys soccer team was led by goalie Aaron Rokeach and forwards Sean Finnegan, James Hunter and Jason Heckle. The Bulldogs entered the 3-A state tournament as the number two seed from their region and lost in a shootout to Lehi after tying 1-1.
Junior Matt McCoy finished second in No. 2 singles at the 3-A tennis tournament to lead the Bulldogs to fourth place with six points, 20 behind champion Park City. McCoy and fellow junior Chris Arena were captains of the team, which did not have any seniors and struggled against the older competition.
The boys lacrosse team lost an overtime contest to Olympus, 7-6, after posting a 7-8 record in the regular season. The squad included captain Bryce Edwards, seniors Jamie Knorr and Mike Shea, junior Connal Grisley and sophomore Eric Eidens.
After losing 11 players to graduation, the young girls lacrosse team did better than expected, finishing 5-2 in league play before dropping a 10-4 decision to Highland/Olympus in the opening round of the postseason tournament. The Bulldogs were led by senior captains Julie Weis and Brittany Bennett, senior Britney Mortensen, junior goalie Channing McCabe and sophomore Kelly Sullivan. Their coaches were Judge grads Ale Pipella, Amanda Hart and Allison Parks.
Nominations for the National Wendy’s High School Heisman Award were accorded to Erin Terry, for her play in soccer, basketball and track, and Michael Webber, a football and track athlete.
Melissa Barber, Libby Bell and Jamie Hedlund were co-captains of the 22-member cheerleading squad.
Graduation
188 graduates on May 30 at Abravanel Hall.
Valedictorian: Michael Webber
Salutatorian: Madeline Wander
Of this class, 51% were headed to out-of-state colleges or universities, with 88% of those attending a four-year school. Class members earned scholarship offers totaling $5.6 million; 65% attended college on a full or partial-needs scholarship; 4% received athletic scholarships, 2% earned aid for their artistic talents.
Christ the King Award winners: Kathryn (Kato) Mayeda and Scott Walker.
Moran Award for leadership and character: Michael Webber
Outstanding Dedication to Extra-Curricular Activities: Erin Greenberg and Zachary Ramras
Outstanding Scholar/Activities: Jesse Dornan, Kathryn (Kato) Mayeda and Zachary Zundel
Outstanding Achievement in Arts and Athletics: Nick Carter and Catherine Villnave
Outstanding Scholar Athlete: Erin Terry, Michael Webber
Outstanding Female Athlete: Kathryn (Kato) Mayeda and Kaitlyn Sabol
Outstanding Male Athlete: Michael Giovacchini and Kyle Meakins
Yerkovich Award in basketball: Michael Giovacchini
Academic All-State: Michael Webber, football and track.
Gold honors cords representing cumulative GPAs of 3.5 or better were worn by 58 students. Graduates received scholarship offers exceeding $5 million and put in 9,000 volunteer hours.
Alumni
Willie Price, who had been involved in Catholic Youth Organization sports since the 1950s and was running its successor in Salt Lake, the PARA League, started a “Run for Shoes” fund-raiser to provide shoes for needy children; Stephanie Banchero, Class of 1981, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her work at the Chicago Tribune investigating the No Child Left Behind program; Perry Vietti, Class of 1978, returned home from Chicago to run in the Salt Lake City Marathon. Vietti was vice president of Chicago’s Interfaith Housing Corp., which provided homes for low-income people. He taught twice at Judge; Katie Augustine recorded 39 saves in two women’s lacrosse games for St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif.; Cara Tangaro, Class of 1992, formed Team Tamara to help her grade school and Judge classmate Tamara Hamilton raise money to pay medical bills after being diagnosed with cancer. Team Tamara, which included Hamilton’s sister, Kate, and longtime friends Sarah Anderson and Nicole Semerad, ran in the Salt Lake City Marathon while another 60 supporters took part in the event’s 5K alternative; Annie Hawkins, Class of 2001, was named the West Coast Conference’s women’s co-Player of the Week after scoring the first hat trick in Gonzaga University history. A junior, her nine career goals made her the ‘Zags fourth leading scorer all-time; Nick Francone, Class of 1995, was working on Broadway in New York City as an assistant set designer for “Wicked;” Chris Kennedy produced a film, “Pipedreams,” which sold out six shows at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Art Access Gallery in downtown Salt Lake City looked like a Judge reunion for a photography exhibit by Christine Baczek, Class of 2000. She honed her photographic skills while working for the Bulldog Press and credited teacher Chris Sloan with promoting her passion for the art. One of her photos adorned the 2000 copy of the literary magazines.
