Spring Sports 2022

This spring, Kanyon participated in track, Jonah was on the golf team again, and for the first time ever, Micah participated in golf instead of track. He never loved track, but he always did it to help keep him in shape for XC in the fall. However, he'd already completed his senior XC season. He thought about not doing any sport, and just working, but his friends convinced him to join them for golf, and we're so glad! Although Josh and I weren't able to attend all their meets, we did as much as we could, and it was nice to see them compete and have fun (for the most part) doing it. 

 Kanyon Track & Field

Although Kanyon did track in junior high last year (and excelled at it!), it felt different this year: he was on a new team, at a new school, with new coaches, and the discus and shotput weights were heavier. It took some adjustment for him to get used to the new coach's instruction, the feel of the new weights of the equipment, and how his body reacted to both. It was a season of learning for him. He didn't enjoy it as much as he did when he was on the West Jefferson team, but he stuck with it and improved over the season. 

  

This was at practice one day--I was waiting to pick him up,
and it made me laugh when I spotted him: everyone else
was wearing dark colors, and he totally stood out in his 
hot pink get-up (his favorite color!).

The very first meet of the year was March 17 in Salmon. It was a pretty small meet. I was unable to go, but thankfully, Josh was there. Kanyon participated in 4 events at that meet. His results were: discus 58-07, shot put 25-07.50, 100m 13.92, and 4x100 team 52.77

The next meet was March 23, and it was another home meet. This was the official season opener, known as the Salmon Icebreaker, and was a larger meet. Both Josh and I were able to go this time. Josh had to help mark the discus field, and I helped him for a bit, too. Kanyon participated in 3 events, and his results were: discus 69-07, shot put 28-04.25, and 4x100 team 51.93.

The following week, Salmon had a bye week due to their spring break. However, West Jefferson had their meet that Friday April 1, and since I didn't have to work that day, I could take him myself. I asked the West J coach if I could bring him as an individual, and she added him to the meet's roster, which was awesome. He enjoyed being back on the same field that he knew so well from his junior high days, and he hung out with his buddy Jaxson from West J that afternoon, too, which was fun. They were in charge of marking the field for the girl's shot put. He only did the throwing events at that meet: discus 71-06.50, and shot put 27-06

It ended up being a good thing that I took him to West J, because the next week's meet in Hamilton, Montana got canceled due to snowy weather, and the meet in Challis the following week he didn't participate in because he didn't feel well. He would've missed 3 weeks of competition if he hadn't gone to West J!  The next meet he participated in was the Salmon Invitational on April 21. Unfortunately, neither Josh nor I could make it to that one. He threw the best discus distance yet of 77-05, but his shot put was off at a distance of 24-03.75.

Josh drove the track team bus the following week to Arco, where they competed at the Fred Simpson Invitational on April 26. Kanyon threw an incredible discus, but unfortunately he scratched that one throw, so they didn't mark it. At that particular meet, they only mark discus if it's past 75 feet, and his other throws were short of the 75' mark. His shot put was 26-06.50, and he also participated in the 200m with a great time of 28.06

His season PR for the discus was the next week on May 5. North Fremont hosted the Huskies Invitational, and unfortunately, neither Josh nor I were there. His discus throw was 77-6.75, which he was really happy with. His shot put was 26-6.50, and he ran the 200m again, with a time of 28.93.

The District Meet was May 12-13, and this year 1A, 2A, and 3A were all together, which was unusual. It was hosted at the new Thunder Ridge school in Ammon. Josh drove the team bus on Friday, and I took the afternoon off school to watch. I didn't make it in time to see his discus throws, which was a bummer. His best distance was 71-02, which placed him 18th in the district. Thankfully, I arrived right before his shot put throws. He got a new PR for the season in shot put, throwing a 28-04.75, which put him in the 20th spot in our district. His friend Jaxson made it to the final round for both throwing events, which was exciting, and there was one Salmon teammate in each of the throwing events that qualified for state. The girls shotput team members all placed individually at districts, too, which was awesome to see!

Kanyon talking to Mr. Packer, one of his
favorite teachers from West J.

Jonah & Micah golf

It was nice to have both boys participating in the same spring sport again. Although Micah doesn't enjoy golf like Jonah does, it was a good experience for him to be able to spend time doing a high school sport with his friends for the last time. Jonah and Erik had both done golf before, but Tyler also switched from track to golf this year (like Micah had), so 4 of the 6-pack were on the same team. Boaz and Nathan stuck with track for their final high school sport.

The first meet of the season was a last-minute, informal get-together with Challis on the Salmon Golf Course on March 30. Josh was able to go watch the boys for part of the day. It was lovely weather, surprisingly, and since the meet was so small, the boys were pretty chill about it. 

The next week, Challis was supposed to host the get-together with the Salmon team, but they still had snow on their course, so Salmon hosted it again on Monday, April 4. Josh and I couldn't go, but there were a few parents of the team that could, thankfully, and one of them got this great shot of Micah: 

The next meet was at Jefferson Hills in Rigby on Monday, April 11. Originally, the coach was only going to take the varsity boys and girls team, due to lack of space as a result of taking a van instead of a bus (there aren't enough drivers to have multiple teams gone on a school day, and still have enough drivers to cover the after-school routes). Jonah was on the varsity team, but Micah was on the JV team, so I hadn't planned on going once I found out everyone wouldn't be going because I wanted to go to a meet where they would both be competing. However, the night before the 11th, the coach let Micah know there was some kids who couldn't go, and a spot opened up for him if he wanted it. Thankfully, he agreed. I wanted to be able to see them both play this season, so I decided to take the day off after all, because I didn't know when the opportunity would arise again. I'm so glad I did! I drove to Rigby, and took turns watching them both play throughout the day, which was so enjoyable for me. 

Jonah

Micah

The boys team at Rigby, L-R: Erik, Jonah, Austin, Micah, Tyler, Zane, Toby

The team played at 2 more golf meets before districts: Mackay on April 25 and Fremont County G.C. on May 2. Josh and I were unable to go to either--it's hard when the tournaments are on Mondays to be able to repeatedly take work off. Salmon hosted the district meet on Monday May 9. Josh watched off and on throughout the day, and I took the afternoon off to watch. Only the Varsity team participates at district golf, so Micah didn't golf that day, but he took off school to watch his brother, which was nice. By the time I got there, Jonah was already on his final 9 holes. I drove around in the cart with Micah to watch. It was a cold day, which resulted in Jonah not golfing his greatest game, but I had a good time being on the course with both of my boys!

Jonah's score for 18 holes was 121. His team scored 440, which placed them first in the district! They were excited about the win overall, and for the chance to go to state! 

1st Place Boys Varsity Team L-R: Zane, Tyler, Erik, Austin, Jonah

The team had a get-together after the District Tournament, since it was the last home meet of the season. They had some pizza and honored the seniors who were on this year's team. There were several seniors who played golf for the first time, which was great! It was nice that Micah wasn't alone in that category!

Seniors Will, Michael, Tyler, Erik, Micah, Toby, & Jonah

Amber Pace took some pictures of the golf team one day at practice, which was SO nice, and they turned out so well!

Boys team with Coach Dickerson (a few were missing)

Boys and Girls teams together

Jonah

Micah

2A State Golf was at Falcon Crest Golf Club in Kuna on Monday May 16 and Tuesday May 17. The team left on Sunday to drive to Boise, and have a practice round. They were the last ones on the course, and were still practicing when it got dark! Josh, Micah, and I drove to Kuna on Monday morning after Ammon's college graduation in Moscow that weekend. It had been a busy couple of days: Thursday was Kanyon's District Track in Idaho Falls, Friday we drove from Idaho Falls to Moscow after Micah was finished going to the temple with the youth group, Saturday was Ammon's graduation in Moscow, Sunday we drove from Moscow to our Air BnB north of Boise, and Monday morning we drove to Kuna and watched Jonah play state golf. We were able to follow Jonah for all 18 holes on Day 1. 

It was a beautiful course, with lots of hills and water features (which can be intimidating), and part of it was under construction for a new housing community to be built into its surroundings, which made a couple holes more challenging. Jonah scored 120 on Monday because of a few holes that gave him trouble. After he completed the course, Josh, Micah, and I drove back home to Salmon that night, and Jonah stayed with the team (who stayed another night at the hotel). On day 2, he scored 113, and with the combined score, he placed last on his team overall. He wasn't too pleased with his scores, particularly the first day's number, but he was grateful for the opportunity to go to state.  

I love this next series of 5 photos...