Lone Peak celebrates after defeating Corner Canyon for the 6A football championship at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Lone Peak won 49-42.
Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Lehi and Ridgeline were Deseret News All-Sports Awards party crashers during the 2021-2022 season, the 43rd year the awards have been handed out.
Ridgeline dominated 4A to snap Desert Hills’ streak of 10 straight, while Lehi’s athletic department flexed its muscles as 5A’s best for the first time in 25 years.
Familiar faces won the other six classifications. Lone Peak won 6A for a sixth straight year, Morgan won 3A for fourth consecutive year while Panguitch pushes its 1A streak to eight in a row.
Millard won 2A after coming up short a year ago, and has now won four of the past five in 2A.
The Deseret News All-Sports award denotes the top overall athletic programs in each of the six classifications. Schools earn All-Sports points for placing in the top eight at state. Ten points are awarded for first, eight for second, six for third, five for fourth, four for fifth, three for sixth, two for seventh and one for eighth. Points are divided when teams tie.
Schools earn points in football, cross-country, golf, basketball, wrestling, swimming, baseball, track, soccer, tennis, volleyball, softball and lacrosse.
Every school but seven in the entire state received at least one All-Sports point.
The record for most All-Sports points in a school year belongs to Lone Peak, which racked up 128 points that year by winning nine state championships. This year Lone Peak won seven state titles.
Brighton holds the record for 11 consecutive awards from 1980-1991, a streak that Desert Hills was hoping to tie this year but it’s streak of 10 was ended by Ridgeline in 4A. No award was given during the 2019-2020 season because of COVID-19, otherwise Desert Hills’ streak likely would’ve reached 11.
Here’s a look at each classification.
Lone Peak and Fremont play at the 6A basketball state championships at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022.
Mengshin Lin, Deseret News
Class 6A
The Lone Peak dominance of 6A rolled this school year, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight anytime soon.
The Knights won a state-best seven state titles and racked up 107.5 points to easily claim the 6A All-Sports title for a sixth straight year. Region foe Corner Canyon was a distant second with 88 points, with American Fork finishing third with 76.5 points. Skyridge, Riverton and Farmington rounded out the top six.
Lone Peak’s girls teams won five of the 11 state titles this season (volleyball, basketball, swimming, track and golf) as they accounted for 71.5 of Lone Peak’s total. The boys won titles in football and golf.
Corner Canyon’s boys teams were the most dominant in 6A scoring in the top eight in 9 of 11 sports and placing first or second in six of them with a total of 69.5 points.
American Fork and Riverton were the only other schools to win more than one state title. The Cavemen won titles in boys swimming, boys tennis and girls cross country, while Riverton won two of the last state titles handed out this school year, sweeping the diamond sports as it finished with three state titles (baseball, softball, girls soccer).
Ten different 6A schools won state titles.
Lehi celebrates winning the 5A baseball championships over Olympus at UCCU Ballpark in Orem, Utah on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
Mengshin Lin, Deseret News
Class 5A
A slew of runner-up finishes and a couple of state titles were enough for Lehi to earn its first all-sports title since the 1996-97 school year.
Lehi won state titles in football and baseball and had five more runner-up finishes to rack up 92 All-Sports points, ending a drought of 25 years for the second title in school history. Last year, Lehi finished outside the top 10 with just 31 All-Sports points.
Runner-up finishes in boys track, boys soccer, girls soccer, girls basketball and softball contributed to the big jump.
Olympus finished second with 77 points, which was actually more than it had last year when it won its first All-Sports crown in the 43-year history of the award. Skyline, Timpview, Park City and Springville rounded out the top six in 5A.
The Titans finished with the most state titles in 5A with four, winning in boys basketball, swimming, girls swimming and girls lacrosse.
Skyline won three titles while Springville was the only other multi-title winner with two. Ten other schools won titles for a total of 14 schools who lifted state championships in 5A of the 22 sports.
Ridgeline players celebrate their 4A volleyball state championship win against Desert Hills at Utah Valley University in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021.
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Class 4A
A year ago Ridgeline finished runner-up to Desert Hills in the 4A All-Sports chase by a half a point, 93 to 92.5. This school year Ridgeline’s athletic department left little doubt about the best program in 4A, running away with the title as it racked up a state-best 122.5 points, tallying points in 18 of 22 sports.
Desert Hills’ remarkable run of 10 straight All-Sports Awards — one shy of Brighton’s record 11 straight — came to an end as it finished second with 94.5 points. It won two state titles (girls basketball, girls track) and finished with nearly as many points as last year.
It was nowhere near good enough to keep up with Ridgeline, which made a huge jump from last year winning six state titles (football, boys golf, volleyball, girls swimming, boys tennis and softball). The boys tennis title featured a three-way tie for first between Ridgeline, Green Canyon and Crimson Cliffs
Ridgeline also had runner-up finishes in boys soccer girls basketball.
Ridgeline’s boys programs scored about as many All-Sports points as it did a year ago, while the girls programs made a huge jump, vaulting from 42.5 points to 67.5 points.
Crimson Cliffs, Green Canyon, Snow Canyon and Sky View rounded out the top six.
With the elimination of a region and just 13 teams in 4A this school year, points were generally up across the board.
Ten of the 13 schools in 4A won state titles.
After Ridgeline, Mountain Crest finished with the second-most state titles, winning three (boys wrestling, girls wrestling and girls soccer).
Morgan High School receives the champion’s trophy in the 3A boys state championships at Oquirrh Hills Golf Course in Tooele on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021.
Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News
Class 3A
Overall, Morgan’s athletic success dropped off slight from a year ago, but it was still overwhelming the dominant program in 3A again during the 2021-2022 school year.
Morgan won two state titles (boys golf, girls tennis) and then had seven other runner-up finishes to run away with the 2A All-Sports title with 101 points. Grantsville and Juan Diego tied for second with 62 total points. Juan Diego, Union, Ogden and Richfield rounded out the top six.
A year ago Morgan won four state titles to finish with 115.5 points, and despite the slight drop off this season still cruised to a fourth-consecutive All-Sports title.
Ogden (girls soccer, boys and girls cross country) and Judge (boys and girls swimming, girls basketball) each won three state championships, while Grantsville, Richfield and Layton Christian won two each.
A total of 11 schools won a 3A state championship this school year, with all 22 schools earning at least one all-sports point.
Millard’s Camden Moat (651), Millard’s Michael Ralphs (653) and Rowland Hall’s Ezra Shilling Rabin (1002) compete in the 2A boys cross-country state championships at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. Ralphs finished in first place, with Shilling Rabin finished in second and Moat third.
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Class 2A
After a one-year hiatus, Millard is back atop the 2A All-Sports mountain.
The Eagles won three state titles and then finished top four in eight other sports to tally 89.5 points and easily finish ahead of runner-up Rowland Hall, which tallied 66 points.
Last year’s winner, Beaver, recorded 62 points to finish third, with Kanab, North Summit and South Sevier rounding out the top six. Beaver’s win last year snapped an All-Sports title drought of 25 years.
Millard’s two state titles came in boys cross country and boys wrestling, with runner-up finishes coming in girls cross country and girls track.
Rowland Hall’s runner-up finish included state titles in boys soccer and girls golf, and then five other top four finishes.
North Summit won three state titles (volleyball, girls cross country, girls track), with Duchesne and San Juan winning two.
A total of 10 schools won a state championship in 2A this school year.
Panguitch High School’s Adelaide Englestead wins the 1A girls cross-country state championship race with a time of 19:35.7 as her teammate Tabi Henrie finishes right behind her for second place at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021.
Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Class 1A
Brighton’s All-Sports record of 11 straight from 1980 to 1991 has a new challenger after Desert Hills run of 10 straight just ended.
Panguitch was the dominant overall 1A program from an eighth straight season as it ran away with the 1A All-Sports crown finishing with 74 points, a five-point uptick from last season.
Milford finished runner-up again with 53.5 points, with Piute, Bryce Valley, Rich and Monticello rounding out the top 10.
The last 1A school to win other than Panguitch was St. Joseph back in the 2012-2013 school year.
Panguitch won state titles in boys wrestling, boys and girls track and then girls cross country to finish first. It also had runner-up finishes in boys basketball, baseball and volleyball.
Milford finished second despite not winning a state title this year. It had six top four finishes though, led by runner-up finishes in boys and girls track and then boys cross country.
Piute had a great overall school year athletically winning state championships in baseball and then boys and girls basketball.
Bryce Valley, Rich, Valley and Intermountain Christian all won one state title.