By Catherine Garrett | [email protected]

The Corner Canyon High and Juan Diego Catholic High School boys lacrosse teams advanced to the state semifinals while the CCHS girls team placed sixth, an all-time high, and the JDCHS girls team made it past the first round. 

CCHS Boys

Corner Canyon began the season with eight straight wins — outscoring opponents 107 to 48 during that stretch — and ended the year with wins against Pleasant Grove 17-3 and Lone Peak 11-5 in the state playoffs before the Chargers lost to Brighton 10-9 in the semifinals. 

“We had high expectations this season,” CCHS boys coach Aaron Ika, in his first year as head coach, said. “We lost four key guys throughout the year with season-ending knee injuries, but it was a battle of perseverance and our boys never got down. It was a case of the ‘next man up’ and our boys did a great job.” 

First Team All-State midfielder Kyle Brown said, “We had a very good season. We competed with the top teams in the state.” 

“I’m really proud of how our team started and ended this season,” Second Team All-State attacker Zak Fankhauser said. “We had some ups and downs that came with injuries which put some kinks into our game plans, but we had the ‘next man up’ mentality which was crucial.” 

Brown was honored as an Academic All-American for his scholastic excellence. 

“I am very grateful for this award, and I’m glad my hard work over the years has paid off,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it without great coaches and support from my parents along the way.”

“Kyle has a motor that doesn’t quit,” Ika said. “He scored over 55 goals for us.”

Brown has been playing lacrosse for more than 12 years when he joined some friends in playing the sport and has been named First Team All-State the past two seasons. He said he has learned discipline and punctuality, among other life lessons from working hard to excel in the sport. 

The recently graduated senior plans to play lacrosse at Brigham Young University following a two-year LDS mission to Santiago, Chile. 

Fankhauser was recognized with the 2018 Utah High School Lacrosse League Blake Strebel (Community Service) Award. “I have felt very honored and a little surprised by this award,” he said. “It’s definitely a cool feeling to have my name on the same plaque as Blake’s. He contributed to not only his own lacrosse team and the lacrosse community, but also affected his community through his service and love before he passed away tragically.” 

“Zak was a do-everything player for us with 37 goals and 37 assists,” Ika said. “His stats really show that he wasn’t afraid to get others involved or take the shot when he needed to.”

In sixth grade, Fankhauser began playing lacrosse and “fell in love with the sport right away.” As a 5'8" and 150-pound player, he found a sport where he used his speed to his advantage against bigger opponents. Working hard, persevering and listening to constructive criticism are lessons he has learned on and off the field during his years in the sport. 

Fankhauser would like to play collegiately and has been entertaining interest from a variety of schools, but first his focus in on a Spanish-speaking LDS mission to Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

“Kyle and Zak were two of our four team captains,” Ika said. “They were also two of the quietest guys on our team who truly led by example.” 

Others on the CCHS boys team who received post season honors were Jaden Kasteler, who will be playing at Westminster, and Bodi Sutherland, who were named First Team All-State; Braxton Packer, Second Team All-State; and All-Region players Caleb Dickson, Chase Feller, Tyson Fotheringham, Elias Hanks, David Knowlton and Jacob Simpson. 

Also on the 14-6 varsity squad this season were Dawson Erasmus, Jordan Hiatt, Shawn Hewett, Alex Larson, Blake Luper, Nicholas Mallory, Jason Mecham, Mason North, Quinn Rodriguez, Noah Tangren, Parker Tolman and Edward Yuan. 

Others playing for the CCHS boys program this season were William Andrews, Alex Becerra, Carson Brown, Parker Brown, Griffin Buresh, Carson Cornia, Maxwell Covey, Logan Creason, Chaz Cutrer, JT Cutrer, Andrew Dolphin, Moses Draper, Auston Erdel, Gabe Fankhauser, Jaden Gamache, Talmage Handley, Mac Herbert, Nick Hiner, Jake Holmberg, Mitch Houman, Taylor Inkley, Jackson Kasteler, Josh Knowlton, Gavin Larson, Harrison Lee, Isaac Lloyd, Zach Meyer, Nick Molen, Akira Muramoto, Tyson Packer, Samuel Peterson, Evan Rasmussen, Carson Roberts, Caden Rozsa, Nathaniel Salazar, Jona Serrell, Colin Silkman, Nic Smith, Nate Sorensen, Dylan Stevenson, Tallon Taylor, Jaxson Trudo, Noah Uffens, Tyler Walters,  Preston Woodward, Parker Zaharis and Drew Zarbock.

 

JDCHS Boys

The JDCHS boys team defeated Highland 10-4 and American Fork 17-7 before losing to Park City 10-8 in the state semifinals. 

The Soaring Eagle program was led by Robert “Bo” Caldwell, who was named an All-American, First Team All-State players Jonathan Caston and Hunter Easterly, Second Team All-State attacker Andy Schuman and Honorable Mention attacker Sam Burbank. 

Other key players were All-Region players Deven Baker, Andrew Ballman, Dominick Fabry, Gavin Haines, Michael Herman and Zach Hoffman. 

The 13-7 squad defeated Brighton 8-7, East 10-3, Fremont 18-9, Bonneville 10-5, Alta 18-0, Box Elder 15-6, Spanish Fork 16-5, Timpanogos 9-8, Palo Verde (Nev.) 14-7, Lone Peak 14-7, Pleasant Grove 17-7 and lost to Park City 7-5, Grandview (CO) 13-9, Moses Brown (RI 16-8, LaSalle Academy (RI) 17-6, American Fork, 11-7 and Corner Canyon 9-7 during the regular season. 

Also in the Soaring Eagle program were William Anderson, Andy Bathurst, Jackson Bybee, Colin Cameron, Timothy Carroll, Jacob Casper, Jonathan Castor, Miller Cordial, Blake Davis, Zane Drent, Kyle Ebner, Thomas Fortune, Donovan Fox, Jackson Gordon, John Charles Herrmann, Noah Jenkins, Landon Johnson, Michael Knee, Zachary Mecham, Gabriel Mendez, Levi Montoya, Samuel Montoya, Ian Murray, Nicholas Owens, Matthew Perkins, Dylan Rodrigue, Mason Romero Ramirez, Jackson Strelow, Cristian Torres, Will Van Berckelaer and Kayden Viczian. 

Head coach John Holmes was assisted by Michael Burbank, Joshua Condas, Craig Cordial, Bryan Davis, Carson Franklin, Dave Johnson, Daniel Mannix, Mark Schuman and Brad Tack on the coaching staff along with program representatives Robert Caldwell and Beverly Herrmann.

 

CCHS Girls

Second Team All-State junior Madison Andrews led the Chargers girls lacrosse team with 35 goals and 26 assists on its way to a win in the state tournament against Bingham 9-7. The squad lost to American Fork 19-5 to end a 9-5 season. 

“We had a lot of changes to make going into the postseason and the team did wonderful at implementing them,” head coach Taylor Dahl said. “In the past, the Corner Canyon program has had a bit of a road block on playoffs. But, I was so proud to see the girls keep it together and play calmly but still with a lot of heart. We had so much fun showing what Corner Canyon girls lacrosse could do.”

Senior Payton Ulrich, junior Alyana Enniss and sophomore Sofia Chieco were also recognized with postseason honors on the All-Region team. 

Also playing for the CCHS girls propram this season were Talia Anderl, Kaitlynn Andrewsen, Nikki Baldassari, Brooklyn Beazer, Alyssa Brown, Camille Carr, Emma Carver, Ella Cheminant, Sophie Chernosky, Alexia Davis, Kemery Eastman, Annie Elmont, Bella Forsyth, Madison Gastelo, Rachel Graf, Ariel Harp, Ashlyn Hiatt, Shaye Jackson, Daisy Linford, Venice Lupus, Megan Mathews, Mia Mellor, Emily Moffat, Kiah Muramoto, Sage Peacock, Maggie Peo, Abigail Preece, Livi Smart, Madison Thomas, Petra Vinkler and Ashton Whittle. 

Dahl was assisted by Reannon King and team manager Jeff Peo. 

“We had an incredible season,” Dahl said, noting a 10-goal win over rival Alta and a hard-fought game with eventual state champion Park City as highlights of the year. “I am so proud of the work and effort that the girls gave throughout the season. They play with a passion that is so much fun to watch.”

  

JDCHS Girls

The JDCHS girls lacrosse team started the year with three losses — to Brighton 10-9, Alta 6-3 and Park City 13-4 — before getting on the winning track and losing just five more the rest of the way. 

At the state tournament, Juan Diego defeated Viewmont 12-9 before losing to Park City 12-6 Seniors Lexi Moratella and Abbey Kolff along with juniors Kylee Furikawa and Ryan Stolfew led the way for the Soaring Eagle team this year.

Juan Diego defeated Waterford 11-9, Lehi 13-4, Judge Memorial 12-1, Olympus 11-10, Copper Hills 14-4 and lost to Jordan 10-4, Riverton 11-5, Corner Canyon 13-10 and Lone Peak 17-8 this season. 

Also on the 2018 Soaring Eagle program were Kathleen Barry, Kelly Blaber, Kiley Brennan, Paige Cameron, Ella Candage, Isabelle Castellano, Angelique Clark, Haylee Covington, Kyllie Furukawa, Misha Gupta, Hailey Gutierrez, Hailey Hilliard, Gabby Horner, Emily Kasue, Virginia Kelly, Abigail Kolff, Eliana Moreno, Natalie Morgan, Elainna Ng, Maria Jose Pastrana, Conner Protzman, Chloe Redican, Ana Rico, Ariadne Sanchez, Vivian Schuman, Danielle Simkins, Ryan Stolfa, Kirsten Sumampong, Chloe Thompson and Ashley Tynan.

Head coach Sage Johnson was assisted by Shaun Judd and parent representatives Mark Redican and Andrea Stolfa.