Fall Season 2023 Recaps

HS Baseball

AHS Patriots Baseball had a very successful season this year. The players chose a team scripture—Doctrine and Covenants 4, which they memorized and recited throughout the season. Coming into the season, the team started the year with a 2nd place finish at the annual Jeff Wood Memorial Tournament hosted by Valley High School. While attending the tournament, the team had a wonderful fireside about the importance and blessings of serving a mission and aligning our lives with Jesus Christ.

Throughout the season, we not only grew as a team in skill and develop, but more importantly, unified as teammates, friends, and disciples of Christ. One particular highlight was the team’s (and parents’) hard work and effort in the maintenance and improvement of the Patriot Baseball Diamond, namely building batting cages and dugouts. We went on to finish the year with a 20-5 record (the winningest season of the AHS Patriot baseball program) and won our region with a perfect 15-0 record. This year the team made it to the semifinals of the state tournament. Seniors on the team included: Jaden Adams (catcher and pitcher), Gabe Cannon (outfield and pitcher, Brock Maxfield (outfield), Skylar White(outfield), and Brennan Duke(outfield). We will miss our incredible seniors and wish them the best. Multiple players on the team earned all-region honors— 1st All-region team: Charlie Allred, Jayce Christofferson, Matt Lake, and Sam Werner; Honorable Mention All-region team: Alex Eggertsen, Jaden Adams, Luke Stratton, and Owen Chenn.

—submitted by Head Coach Blake Jansen

HS Cross Country 

The AHS high school cross country team completed their season at the UHSAA 2A State meet on October 24^th. Coach Tiffany Garfield led the cross country team through another outstanding season. The boys’ team had a very strong performance placing 7^th overall for the highest place ever at the state meet since AHS joined the UHSAA in 2019. The team was led by LeGrand Callister placing 15^th overall with a personal best and new school record 5k time of 17:32.4. His 15^th place finish was the highest individual place for any AHS boy at the UHSAA 2A state meet. LeGrand was followed by the strength and depth of the rest of the team. Spencer Crossley was our second finisher with a personal best 5k time of 18:12.0. His time places him 3^rd on our list of top 5 times run at AHS for the 5k race. Montague Pearson also ran a top 5 AHS time and personal best time of 18:41.3.  Lucas Shepherd (19:06.6), Sam Stoltenberg (19:46.5), Gideon Boggess (20:13.9) followed each running personal best times.  TJ Sessions (20:41.2) also finished strongly with a season best 5k time.

The girls’ team had to overcome a couple setbacks but still had a very strong performance at the state meet. The team was missing Autumn Hathaway and Grace Anderson in their lineup. Calling in the reserves, despite not training with the team, Portia Boggess and Anne Marie Gibbs stepped up the last minute to help fill the empty spots on the team to help secure a 9^th place finish overall. Anna Bliss led the team placing 13^th overall with a time of 21:16.6.  Anna secured a new school record, personal best 5k time, and the highest place of any AHS girl at 2A UHSAA state cross country meet for AHS. Anna was followed by Portia Boggess (24:29.1), Anne Marie Gibbs (24:31.7), Gracie Lawyer (24:49.7 – season best 5k), Rebeca Riberio (25:59.8 – personal best 5k time), and Georgia Steele (26:08.5).  Everyone on the team worked so hard and did so well. Great job representing AHS! Thank so much Coach Tif!!

Team results:
Boys team placed 7^th overall with a score of 196 – our highest place and best score since we started running with the UHSAA in 2019.
Girls team placed 9^th overall with a score of 198.

Individual results:
Boys
LeGrand Callister: 15^th place with a time of 17:32.4. Highest individual placement at UHSAA State Cross Country for AHS. Personal best 5k time. New 5K school record for AHS since joining the UHSAA.
Spencer Crossley: 33^rd place with a time of 18:12.0. Personal best 5k and 3^rd fastest 5k run by an athlete since AHS joined the UHSAA.
Montague Pearson: 46^th place with a time of 18:41.3. Personal best 5k time and top 5 fastest 5k times at AHS.
Lucas Shepherd: 57^th place with a time of 19:06.6. Personal best 5k time.
Sam Stoltenberg: 71^st place with a time of 19:46.5. Personal best 5k time.
Gideon Boggess: 79^th place with a time of 20:13.9. Personal best 5k time.
TJ Sessions: 81^st place with a time of 20:41.2. Season best 5k time.

Girls
Anna Bliss: 13^th place with a time of 21:16.6. Highest individual placement at UHSAA State Cross Country meet for AHS. Personal best 5k. New 5k school record for AHS.
Portia Boggess: 51^st place with a time of 24:29.1.
Anne Marie Gibbs: 53^rd place with a time of 24:31.7
Gracie Lawyer: 63^rd place with a time of 25:49.7. Season best 5k time.
Rebeca Riberio: 65^th place with a time of 25:59.8. Personal best 5k time.
Georgia Steele: 67^th place with a time of 26:08.5

–submitted by Assistant Coach Kimberly Gibbs

Boys HS Golf 

• Third in UHSAA Region 17
• 11th in UHSAA Class 2A
• Senior Sam Clark placed 51st at the UHSAA 2A State Championship

Girls HS Soccer

Where to begin… The AHS girls’ soccer team is amazing. Each girl brought a variety of strengths that complimented each other, helping us to learn, grow, and succeed as a team.

At the beginning of the season I asked all the girls to write down three personal goals. Some of them made a goal to become better teammates. When we discussed our team goals, the group concluded that they wanted to build trust, friendship, and demonstrate mental focus every time they stepped onto the field, which required some of the girls to come out of their comfort zone. I am proud of the way each of my players made sacrifices to help the group, and I am proud of their personal progress as well.

An African proverb states, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” We had a lot of fun, and we had a lot of success this year. But our girls also encountered opposition, and they learned that they can face challenges when they stick together.

They developed unity in many ways. For example, before each game, the players would line up by the sideline and link arms. Our assistant coach, Maggie, would say a few words of encouragement and then have the girls would step onto the field together. This practice helped the girls feel connected and focused.

We ended the season with a program record 10 wins (10-6 overall), finishing 4th in region and 5th in 2A. Paisley Gardner led the team with 27 goals, which ranked 8th statewide and 6th in 2A. Scotlyn Schlosser had 4.5 shutouts which ranked 5th in the 2A region.

Scotlyn Schlosser, Paisley Gardner, and Sadie Stratton were nominated as All-Region selections. Riley Jansen, Saffron Osmond, Paisley Gardner, Scotlyn Schlosser, Sadie Stratton, and Ainsley Suelzle were nominated for the Deseret News 2A soccer All-State Team.

—submitted by Head Coach Ellie Stafford

Girls HS Tennis 

The 2023 girl’s tennis season started off by welcoming a number of young, talented players, either as 9th graders or new students. We jumped into the season with a preseason tournament in Logan and a non-conference match with Pleasant Grove where we better learned how good we could be.

In-conference play was filled with success and some heartbreak as we ended up taking second in the region. We followed up the regular season with a second-place finish in the region tournament with Lucy Long powering her way to the 1st singles regional title! The varsity team continued a strong end-of-year push that saw us take 8th in the state tournament, which is the best team outcome ever.

Lucy Long was a consistent powerhouse through the season in our 1st singles position and we look forward to seeing her continue her success. Cami Gomez and Abbie Rees did an awesome job in our 2nd singles position giving us all that they could through the year. Natalie Bryner did a phenomenal job in the 3rd singles position and is lovingly referred to as our marathon woman since she played a match that lasted over 3 hours. Our 1st (Leah Ortega/Afton Torgesen) and 2nd (Maylin Hill/ Halina Downs) doubles teams enjoyed the highs of winning in straight sets, the thrills of winning in tie-break, the joys of moving on in the state tournament and learning together as a team.

It was a great season and all the girls did a magnificent job working together and making us coaches in AWE during the season. We look forward to building on the success of the year!

—submitted by Head Coach Jeffrey Butler

Girls HS Volleyball

Coach Maki and Assistant Coach Garner worked closely with the young Lady Patriots (just three seniors on a roster of 14 players) to improve skills and build bonds during the 2023 volleyball senior. Inspired by seniors Anne Marie Gibbs, Charlotte Mellor, and Elizabeth Ware, the Lady Patriots improved each week and grew closer through the ups and downs of the season. Anne Marie was named to the UHSAA All-Region 17 Volleyball Team. So proud of you, Lady Patriots!

MS Girls Tennis

It was my first season assistant coaching tennis and I’m so so grateful I had this opportunity! I was blessed to see girls of all levels and ages grow and develop not only as athletes, but as people. Throughout the season, repeatedly, our opponents’ coaches would comment how awesome our girls are, how KIND they are. And it’s 100% true! One of my favorite things I looked forward to was hitting with the girls after practice—some days for a LONG time! But it was so fun; I never wanted to leave! Watching our girls play matches was inspiring. They demonstrate character and humility. They also don’t just say, “Good job!” or, “You got this!” to each other but to the girls they’re playing against. I was so moved observing this—something I’d never seen before.

It was also so fun seeing the learning curve of each individual player as the season progressed. For some, this was their first time playing tennis—EVER—but knew the scoring, the rules, and fundamentals so well by the end of the season! I was blessed to be with our exhibition players in their end-of-season tournament and I watched as they gave it their all! We had a lot of success that day, not just in wins, but in communication, sportsmanship, attitude, and patience. These young players really SHOWED UP. One of the final matches that day ended past dark in an intense tie-break! I loved that our girls persevered and stayed “in it” til the end! 💪 So inspiring.

Two of our varsity players, Hadley and Annie, made it through Region and Second Sectionals to the State Tournament! I felt very blessed to coach them that day! Hadley played four matches and Annie played three. Both were competitive opponents in each of their match-ups and became stronger players that day (and it was a LONG day under the sun!). I was so proud to see it with mine own eyes—mental toughness, patience, endurance, and great tennis. 👏👏 Both girls placed (Hadley 4th and Annie 5th/6th) and represented our team and school so well! After the season ended, we had an epic team party hosted by one of our amazing team parents. It was fun to just have fun and celebrate a great season together. I sure love these girls and am so grateful every time I see them on campus. I even feel like a better tennis player now having coached them and person having spent time with them. 🙏🏽 I think all of us coaches would say the same!

—submitted by Assistant Coach Dixie Choque

Middle school girls tennis this fall was amazing! We had so many girls new to tennis who discovered a love for the sport. It was exciting to see girls who finally connected with the ball or who got a good serve in! We were so proud of all of the girls but most especially the girls for whom tennis did not come easily but who stuck with it and stayed positive. All of our athletes learned a lot about themselves and about the sport. One of the best moments of the season was captured in the image below when a doubles team was caught praying right on the court before their regional match. This is the AHS way!

—submitted by Head Coach Candice Beckwith

MS Boys Soccer

Congratulations to our middle school boys’ soccer team for an outstanding season! They won the state championship and finished unbeaten in 10 games, showcasing their skill and determination. 🎉⚽ #Champions

These young athletes demonstrated teamwork, discipline, and sportsmanship throughout the season. Their hard work and dedication truly paid off, and we couldn’t be prouder of their remarkable achievement. Time to celebrate this well-deserved victory! 🏆👏

In addition to their on-field success, it was inspiring to see how the boys’ faith in Jesus Christ grew during the season. They’ve drawn strength, humility, and a sense of purpose from their faith, which has not only made them better players but better individuals. Their journey of faith and soccer victory is truly inspiring! 🙏⚽ #FaithAndSuccess

Throughout this remarkable season, it’s been a joy to witness how the boys’ faith in Jesus Christ has deepened. Their unwavering trust in God, on and off the field, has not only inspired their teammates but also served as a source of guidance and strength. Their faith has shown them that with determination, teamwork, and belief, they can achieve greatness in all aspects of life. 🙏⚽ #FaithAndVictory

—submitted by Head Coach Stephen Blake