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Which schools were the top of their class in Utah high school sports this year? These 6 excelled the most

Jun 02, 2021 Admin

Lone Peak swimmers celebrate their team win in the 6A girls swim championship at Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center in Kearns on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Lone Peak, Desert Hills, Morgan and Panguitch repeat, while Olympus wins first-ever All-Sports title and Beaver ends long drought

It’s been common during the four-plus decades of Deseret News All-Sports Awards to have repeat champions.

In fact, in the 43 years the Deseret News has been calculating the award, there’s been at least one repeat winner every year, and two repeat winners 33 times.

During the 2020-2021 school year, many of the same dominant schools separated themselves as the top overall athletic schools yet again, but there was also a fresh face claiming a title this year, while another ended a long drought.

While Lone Peak, Desert Hills, Morgan and Panguitch won their respective All-Sports titles again after winning in the previously completed season of 2018-2019, Olympus won for the first time in school history in 5A, while Beaver ended a 25-year title drought 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. This past school year was the first that boys and girls lacrosse and girls wrestling were sanctioned UHSAA team sports and are factored into the rankings. Only Division A lacrosse was calculated in the rankings.

Every school but one in the entire state received at least one All-Sports point.

Brighton holds the record for 11 consecutive awards from 1980-1991, but Desert Hills’ streak now sits at 10 straight after a dramatic win over Ridgeline.

The record for most All-Sports points in a season belongs to Lone Peak, which accomplished that feat during the 2018-2019 school year as it won nine 6A state titles.

Here’s a look at each classification.

Lone Peak celebrates its win over Copper Hills in the 6A volleyball championship match at Hillcrest High School in Midvale on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020.

Class 6A

Corner Canyon’s jump from 5A to 6A certainly narrowed the gap about who the best overall athletic school in 6A is, but it didn’t dethrone the champs.

Lone Peak won six state titles to rack up 99 All-Sports points, enough to edge Corner Canyon’s 91.7 points to claim a fifth-straight All-Sports title.

Lone Peak won state titles in boys golf, boys tennis, volleyball, girls cross country, girls swimming and girls track. It also had runner-up finishes in football and girls tennis. It still won the title despite not earning any points in the new sanctioned sports, lacrosse and girls wrestling.

Lone Peak’s biggest dominance was felt on the girls side, where 62 of its 99 points came from.

American Fork finished third with 83.5 points, followed by Davis, Skyridge and Pleasant Grove rounding out the top six. Davis was the only team outside of Region 4 to crack the top six.

Corner Canyon was the most dominant 6A boys school, winning titles in football, boys track and boys lacrosse, while finishing in the top four in five other sports.

The only other schools that won multi state titles were Davis (boys basketball, girls soccer, girls golf), American Fork (boys swimming, baseball) and Skyridge (boys cross-country, girls tennis),

Ten different 6A schools won state titles.

Class 5A

Olympus’ Emma Neff, who scored the winning goal in extra time, is lifted up as the team celebrates their win over Bonneville in the 5A girls soccer state championship at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy on Friday, Oct. 23, 2020.

Buoyed by dominant swimming programs and its first girls soccer state title in 2¹⁄₂ decades, Olympus claimed its first Deseret News All-Sports title in school history.

State titles in those three sports helped Olympus rack up 74.5 team points, more than enough to distance itself from the 64 points from 5A runner-up Park City.

Timpview finished third with 61 points, with Skyline, Farmington and Orem rounding out the top six.

Corner Canyon had won the previous two 5A All-Sports titles, but it’s now a 6A school which opened the door for a new champions.

Along with its swimming state titles and girls soccer title, Olympus also had semifinal appearances in boys and girls basketball and boys and girls lacrosse.

Park City finished second with just one state championship (girls lacrosse), but had four runner-up finishes in boys golf, boys track, boys lacrosse and girls swimming.

The other multi-sport team champs were Timpview (volleyball, girls tennis, girls golf), Skyline (boys golf, boys tennis), Orem (football, boys track), Springville (girls cross-country, girls basketball) and Spanish Fork (baseball and softball).

Thirteen different 5A schools won state titles.

The Desert Hills High School team celebrates winning the 4A state boys high school cross-country championship in Cedar City on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020.

Class 4A

In the tightest points race for All-Sports awards, only a half a point separated Desert Hills and Ridgeline for the top spot, but that extra half point was good enough for the Thunder to claim bragging rights of 4A with a 10^th straight All-Sports award.

Desert Hills finished with 93 points, with Ridgeline right behind with 92.5 points.

Snow Canyon finished third with 79.5 points, followed by Pine View, Sky View and Crimson Cliffs in the top six.

Desert Hills only won state titles in two sports this year (boys cross-country, boys track), which was down notably from the five titles it won during the 2018-2019 school year.

However, It racked up runner-up finishes in boys golf, boys basketball, girls cross-country, girls tennis and girls track, which collectively were just enough to edge Ridgeline.

Ridgeline was competitive in most sports throughout the season, winning state titles in boys and girls soccer and then finishing in the top five in nine other sports.

Multi-state champs were Snow Canyon (boys swimming, baseball, track), Pine View (girls cross-country, girls golf), Sky View (football, volleyball, girls basketball, girls swimming) and Crimson Cliffs (boys golf, boys tennis, girls tennis).

Ten different schools won state titles.

Morgan plays Manti in the 3A girls soccer championship game at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. Morgan won 3-1.

Class 3A

The most dominant team in their respective classification this year was without a doubt Morgan.

With five state titles and six runner-up finishes, Morgan racked up a whopping 115.5 points to finish well ahead of runner-up and 3A rival Juab

The Wasps finished second with 72 points, with Richfield, Judge Memorial, Carbon and Grantsville rounding out top six.

Morgan’s state titles came in boys golf, boys track, girls cross-country, girls soccer and girls track. Morgan also had an impressive six other runner-up finishes in football, wrestling, boys soccer, volleyball, girls track and girls golf.

Juab’s three titles came in football, basketball and wrestling — a very rare triple to win each of those state titles.

Judge (boys swimming and boys soccer) and Grantsville (baseball, softball) were the only other 3A programs to win multiple state championships.

Beaver players celebrate their win over Duchesne in the 2A football championship game at Dixie State University in St. George on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020.

Class 2A

Beaver’s boys teams won four state titles, while the girls teams had a pair of runner-up finishes which were instrumental in helping the school win its first All-Sports title in 25 years.

Beaver finished with 82 points to pull away from runner-up Millard’s 71 points.

The difference came in the spring sports, as Beaver tallied 31.5 points in the final month of the season, led by the baseball state title. Millard finished with 15 points in the spring.

Beaver’s state titles came in football, boys golf, wrestling and baseball as it won the All-Sports award for the first time since going back-to-back in 1994 and 1995.

Millard’s lone state championships came during the cross-country boys and girls sweep in the fall.

Other schools with multiple state titles were North Summit (volleyball, girls basketball, girls track) and Rowland Hall (girls tennis, girls golf).

Adelaide Englestead of Panguitch, left, beats Kinley Spaulding of Milford to the ribbon in the 1A girls high school state cross-country championship race in Cedar City on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020.

Class 1A

Panguitch won five of the 11 state titles handed out in 1A this school year, which were more than enough to help the Bobcats claim a seventh straight All-Sports title.

Backed back state titles in boys basketball, wrestling, boys track, girls cross-country and girls track, Panguitch totaled 69 All-Sports points, comfortably ahead of the 51 points from runner-up Milford.

Milford didn’t win an individual title in any sport but finished top four in eight of the 11 points.

Piute finished third with 50.5 points, followed by Valley, Rich and Bryce Valley.

Piute was on the only other 1A school to win multiple titles as it won in baseball girls basketball.

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