Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

Wins, losses … good times, tough times … elation, disappointment.

Each year brings the inevitable ups and downs for every high school athlete (not to mention for the coaches, the families, the officials and the fans).

But with those challenges come growth that is nearly impossible to quantify and often difficult to accurately describe.

Girls and boys, that’s what you have to look forward to in the next 12 months when we flip the calendar to 2023 at the end of the week.

But before we get to that point, let’s pause for a moment to look back.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

Each individual is certain to have specific things that come to mind when they recall the accomplishments of the last 365 days of work and competition.

Sometimes those are personal or shared among a team.

Other times, however, they have resulted in incredible accomplishments.

Many of those will be highlighted as we count down the Top 10 stories from Utah Valley prep sports in 2022 (Note: The top wrestling stories are featured in next week’s Wrestling Rewind):

10. 6A rivals splash to more pool success

Anyone who wants to guess which teams will be on the podium after the 6A swim meet draws to a close would be in good shape with selections of Lone Peak or American Fork.

It is just never clear which team will win which title.

The two talented squads (which often practice simultaneously at the American Fork pool) have dominated the competition over the years and 2022 was no exception.

This time it was the Knights who won the girls title with a huge score while the Cavemen took the top spot on the boys side by holding off second-place Corner Canyon.

9. Knight time continues links dominance

With a steady stream of excellent golf talent arriving year after year, it’s no surprise that Lone Peak boys golf continued its string of great performances at the state tournament.

The Knights won the title for the ninth time in 10 years and did it in record-breaking fashion as they set the mark for best team score in Utah boys golf history (533).

The Lone Peak girls also returned to the top as the Knights won the title in the spring.

8. Utah Valley runs past the competition in cross country and track

It’s not always certain exactly which Utah Valley cross country and track teams will be the best in a given year — but you can always bet that someone from the area will come out on top.

That was the case once again in 2022 as Orem boys and Lone Peak girls won track titles in the spring.

The local cross country success was even greater in the fall as the Springville and Lone Peak girls, and Mountain View and American Fork boys were crowned as champs.

7. Ingersoll brothers savor state baseball finals experience

May 30 was a big day for both the Lehi and American Fork baseball programs as they took the field at UCCU Field in Orem for their respective 5A and 6A state championships.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

But it was even more special for the Ingersoll family, since Pioneer head coach Jason Ingersoll and Caveman head coach Jarod Ingersoll were the first brothers to lead their baseball teams to the state championships.

Jason Ingersoll ended up getting the better outcome as Lehi edged Olympus twice to win the three-game series and earn the 5A crown, while Jarod Ingersoll’s American Fork squad wasn’t able to take down Riverton in the 6A title series.

6. American Fork boys hoops makes improbable run

When evaluating teams heading into a state tournament, it’s rare that anyone gives a squad that is below .500 for the season any shot at being victorious.

But anyone who overlooked the Caveman boys basketball team in the 6A bracket ended up regretting it.

American Fork — which dealt with a lot of injuries and close losses during the year — just kept finding ways to win. The Cavemen had to face Corner Canyon in the 6A finals at the Marriott Center but avenged to earlier close losses with a close win in a defensive battle to secure the title.

5. Volleyball stars shine once again

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

Both the Lone Peak and Timpview girls volleyball teams knew they had their work cut out for them when they stepped on the court to compete in the 6A and 5A tournaments.

The Knights knew teams like Mountain Ridge, Syracuse, Bingham and Skyridge would be tough, while the Thunderbirds had battles looming against leviathans like Mountain View and Bountiful.

In the end, however, both Lone Peak and Timpview got tremendous performances from all of their players as they took down all the challengers to emerge as state champs.

4. Overcoming the odds to go back-to-back

High school teams often change fairly dramatically from year to year. But when a team wins a title, it knows everyone is going to give them their best shot the next season.

That makes seeing a team be able to come together, embrace that challenge and still win even more impressive.

Some local teams were able to do that as they got their second consecutive titles in 2022 team, including Spanish Fork softball, Skyridge girls tennis, Springville girls basketball, Westlake girls wrestling and Lehi football. Timpview girls golf and Lone Peak volleyball both got their third titles in a row, while Lone Peak boys golf and Pleasant Grove wrestling continued their impressive dynasties.

3. Everyone is shuffling … in latest reclassification

It’s a thankless job to attempt to make the competition as fair as possible in a state with such a wide range of locations and school compositions, but the Utah High School Activities Association tackles it every two years.

In the 2022 final realignment (which will be in effect from fall of 2023 through spring of 2025), the big change is that now the 6A classification will only have 18 schools in three regions while 5A and 4A will be significantly larger.

The most impacted schools in Utah Valley will be Lehi moving up to 6A, while Mountain View, Payson, Provo, Orem (all sports except football) and Timpanogos will all be 4A schools. Salem Hills and Spanish Fork football will compete in Class 4A as well.

2. Clash of titans in 6A girls hoops finals results in instant classic

The Lone Peak girls basketball team was undefeated and the top seed going into the 6A championship game at the Marriott Center in Provo, but many considered the Knights to be underdogs to the tall, talented squad from Fremont.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

The two teams battled back and forth in an incredibly entertaining contest that needed two extra periods.

It took a dramatic jump shot from junior Makeili Ika with one second left to give Lone Peak the 67-65 win and their first state title since 1999.

1. The city of Lehi dominates the gridiron

Both Skyridge and Lehi came in to the 2022 season confident that they could be among the best football teams in the state. After three months of competition, they both proved it on the biggest stages.

Despite having an enormous target on its back, the Pioneer squad proved to be up for every challenge as it went undefeated on its way to its second straight 5A title.

The Falcons had to overcome a tough injury to star quarterback McCae Hillstead and a disappointing region loss to Corner Canyon, but came back to defeat the Chargers and secure their first football championship.

Full list of Utah Valley state champions in 2022

Winter

6A girls swimming: Lone Peak

6A boys swimming: American Fork

5A girls wrestling: Maple Mountain

5A boys wrestling: Westlake

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

6A boys wrestling: Pleasant Grove

5A girls basketball: Springville

6A girls basketball: Lone Peak

6A boys basketball: American Fork

Spring

5A girls golf: Timpview

6A girls golf: Lone Peak

6A boys tennis: American Fork

6A girls track: Lone Peak

5A boys track: Orem

5A softball: Spanish Fork

5A baseball: Lehi

Fall

6A boys golf: Lone Peak

5A girls cross country: Springville

5A boys cross country: Mountain View

6A girls cross country: Lone Peak

6A boys cross country: American Fork

2A fall baseball: American Heritage

6A girls tennis: Skyridge

5A girls volleyball: Timpview

6A girls volleyball: Lone Peak

5A football: Lehi

6A football Skyridge

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