Corner Canyon Duo Earn Academic All-State Honors
Mar 20, 2015 02:08PM ● By City Journals StaffA pair of Corner Canyon High School athletes became the latest Chargers to be recognized for their efforts in sports and the classroom.
Riley Ogden and Zane Rasmussen were named to their respective sport’s Academic All-State teams. Ogden received his as a member of the basketball team and Rasmussen was honored for wrestling.
Academic All-State awards are given to athletes with the highest grade point averages in each high school sport. Both Ogden and Rasmussen have a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
Ogden, son of Gary and Tara Ogden of Draper, has been on the varsity basketball team for the two seasons Corner Canyon has been open. He previously played on Alta’s sophomore team. He also ran track last year for the Chargers.
But his main sport has always been football, where he was the workhorse of the offense. Playing in the running back position, Ogden amassed 1,810 yards and 16 touchdowns his senior season alone. He was named to the first team All-State football team for 4A. Although he was a shoe in to receive Academic All State honors for football as well as basketball, a glitch kept him from getting the award.
“There was a problem with the application we sent in, so I missed out on the award,” Ogden said.
Playing at the varsity level in three different sports can be taxing on a student’s time. How was Ogden able to do it and still maintain a 4.0 GPA?
“Sleep is expendable,” Ogden said. “It is not a priority to me. If I ever had to give up something, it was always sleep. I put in a lot of long nights because my studies are important to me.”
Rasmussen has wrestled at Corner Canyon for two years, and was on the Alta wrestling team as a freshman and sophomore. He finished second in region in 2014 and made it to the state playoffs in the 138 lb. weight class. He moved to 145 lb. class this year, placing fourth in divisionals and sixth in state. The following week he finished fourth in the super state meet, which pits wrestlers of all school classes against each other.
The son of James and Melody Rasmussen of Draper credits his work ethic for his perfect grades.
“It is difficult at times to stay on top of everything,” Rasmussen said. “You have to mange your time. School came easy for me so that made it easier to manage school and wrestling.”
Both athletes are planning on serving an LDS mission following graduation. Rasmussen is planning on attending BYU after his mission, and has his studies set on either accounting or business. Ogden is deciding between BYU and Utah State, leaning towards an engineering degree.
“But that’s not set in stone,” Ogden said.