The Grand County High School boys golf team eked out a one-stroke victory in Region 15 competition, while the girls tennis team competed at home three consecutive days, the cross country team ran up north, the volleyball team began its season in St. George and the mountain bike team competed in Kamas.
Against the six other Region 15 schools at the Hideout in Monticello on Thursday, Aug. 23, Grand shot a collective 341 to edge Richfield’s 342. Junior Jaxen Saunders was Grand’s top golfer, shooting an 80, while fellow junior Luke Williams was next at 85, sophomore Rafe Saunders shot 86 and senior Nolan Ramirez and junior Kane Scherer each shot 90. North Sanpete took third place with 352 strokes, while Manti placed fourth with 355. The Red Devils were also scheduled to compete at the Skyline Golf Course in Fairview, a tournament hosted by North Sanpete, on Wednesday, Aug. 29. Region 15 next meets at the Manti-hosted Palisades in Sterling on Wednesday, Sept. 5, at 11 a.m.
In head-to-head home action, the girls tennis team lost a match versus Manti 4-1 on Thursday, Aug. 23, then beat both San Juan and Emery 4-1 on Friday, Aug. 24. On Saturday, Aug. 25, the Lady Red Devils hosted a round robin tournament versus Uintah, South Sevier and Carbon, placing second to Uintah by going 9-6.
Versus Manti, Grand’s lone point came from junior Kiersten Kimmerle in No. 3 singles, who won 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Senior Jamie Day took a three-set loss in No. 1 singles and sophomore Maara Holyoak lost in straight sets in No. 2 singles. The tandems of junior Biw Tresirikasem and sophomore Kyla Jackman in No. 1 doubles, and sophomores Jenny Kopell and Chloe Talbot in No. 2 doubles each lost in straight sets.
The Lady Red Devils turned it around the following day, claiming 4-1 victories over both San Juan and Emery. Versus the Lady Broncos, only Day ended up on the losing end, dropping a straight set match after losing the first set in a tie-breaker. The Lady Red Devils won easily in straight sets in each of the other four divisions. In the afternoon match, the Lady Red Devils held the Lady Spartans singles competitors to one single point as Day won 6-0, 6-1; and Holyoak and Kimmerle each won 6-0, 6-0. Tresirikasem and Jackman won in three sets, while Kopell and Talbot lost in straight sets.
The Lady Red Devils head to the Sevier Valley to face Richfield at 11 a.m., and South Sevier at 3 p.m., on Thursday, Aug. 30.
The cross country team competed in Saratoga Springs at the Westlake Grass Relays, an unconventional race compared to a typical cross country meet, with sophomore Kylah Ricks turning in a second-place finish out of 259 runners on the girls side with a 13:15 time. Junior Jessie Anderson placed 49th at 14:50, followed by senior Mercedes Zunich in 75th place at 15:34.
On the boys side, junior Evan Ellison turned in an 11:29 and freshman Arthur Hawks ran 11:48, the fourth fastest freshman time. Junior Malachi Ricks ran a 12:27, senior Jameson Hawks ran a 12:49, junior Jonathan Martineau ran a 13:37 and junior Carson Whitney ran a 13:51.
The Red Devils run at the Lloyd’s Lake Classic in Monticello at 3 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31, before returning home to host the Red Rock Invitational at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 5, at the Moab Golf Club.
The Lady Red Devils volleyball team began its season at a tournament in St. George, where they defeated Grantsville 2-1 on Friday, Aug. 24, and lost to Kanab 2-1 on Saturday, Aug. 25. Versus Grantsville, Grand won the first set 25-19, before the Lady Cowboys were on the right end of the same score in the second set. In the third set, Grand pulled away 15-9 for the win. The following day, Kanab claimed a close first set 25-23, before Grand dominated the second set 25-13. Kanab rebounded in the third 15-9 for the win.
Grand has a pair of Region 15 matches at home this week as it was scheduled to host Emery on Tuesday, Aug. 28 and Richfield on Thursday, Aug. 30, at 6:30 p.m. The Lady Red Devils also host a non-region match versus Monticello on Thursday, Sept. 6, at 6:30 p.m.
The Red Devil mountain bike team placed sixth out of 20 teams in Division 2 at High Star Ranch in Kamas on Saturday, Aug. 25, in its first race of the year, and the first race ever for more than half of the team’s participants.
The Red Devils got several top-20 finishes racing by class: junior Elijah Topper placed fifth in boys junior varsity; River Martucci and Eli Taylor placed seventh and eighth in the boys sophomore race; Ariann Child placed 12th in the girls freshman race; Jackson Sorensen was 16th in the boys sophomore race; senior Annie Kopell was 16th in girls varsity; and Brendan Moore was 17th and Isaac O’Harra was 18th in the boys freshman race.
