Olympus soccer, tennis and golf teams finish state tournaments
The Titan girls tennis team finished third in region and also took third place at the 4A state tennis tournament, held Oct. 7-8 at Liberty Park.
Olympus was represented by juniors Lauren Anderson (second singles) and Emily Thompson (third singles), seniors Savannah Goodrich and Chelsea Pinnock (first doubles) and sophomores Emily Watts and Hannah Durham, who lost 6-4, 7-6 in the semifinal match to Woods Cross.
“The girls did well,” Healey said. “Whoever coaches them next year will have a great group of girls.” Healey, the boys’ tennis coach, stepped in to help out with the girls team this year.
A memorable event for the tennis team this year came when volunteer assistant Kevin Watts, grandfather to player Emily Watts, was honored by the team on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Watts, who was born in Australia, played tennis at BYU before raising a family of seven children and establishing an architectural firm in Salt Lake City. He has been involved with coaching a number of his granddaughters’ tennis teams at Cottonwood and Skyline.
“As soon as my grandkids were strong enough to hold a racket, I would get them out on the court and teach them,” Watts said. “This is a game you can play all your life.”
Boys Golf
The Titan golf team went to the state playoffs, held Oct. 3-4 at Hobble Creek Golf Course in Springville. The team finished 14th out of 16 teams there, and was fourth in region.
Senior Tyler Handy shot a score of 78 the first day and 82 the second, for a total of 160; senior Coleman Jackson shot 80 and 82 for a 162 total. Sophomore Matt Schofield, senior Nick Barney, junior Coulson Hardy and junior Sam Fox also contributed to the Titans’ tournament totals.
“It was a good year,” Barnes said. “We were able to have some younger kids get experience, and hopefully, that will carry into the summer for them, to get more playing time. We always hope the kids have a great experience and have fun, and it was. We’re excited for next year.”
Girls soccer
The Olympus girls soccer team ended its season Oct. 11 in a 4-2 loss to Sky View in the first round of the state 4A playoffs, with senior Becca Alley and freshman Grace Tempest each contributing a goal. The Titans finished the season with a 9-5-3 record, and tied with Hillcrest for second place in the region. The Titans went into the playoffs as third place.
In a couple of late season upsets, the Titans lost to Skyline 1-0 Oct. 4 after defeating them 2-1 in overtime Sept. 15, and also lost 4-0 to Hillcrest Sept. 27, despite having held the Huskies to a 0-0 tie in double overtime Sept. 8. Had the two games been victories, the Titans would have been tied with Skyline for first place in region, almost certainly landed a better seed for the first round game, possibly changing the Titans’ playoff run dramatically.
Olympus had some great accomplishments throughout the season, including a 5-0 victory over Westlake Sept. 29 and a 1-0 victory Sept. 22 over Herriman, which held Olympus to a 3-3 tie Sept. 1.
