The dis-invitation comes on the heels of Park City schools closing communitywide Thursday due to the swine-flu scare. If test results come back negative on Friday (after press time), the Miners will be allowed to participate.

"I am hopeful that the report will come back in time for us to run," Wyant said. "It's going to take a lot of opportunities away from these kids."

The BYU Invitational is the highest-level track and field meet in the state besides the state championships, and Wyant had hoped to see many of the kids break school records and prepare for the state championships, which will be held on the same track in mid-May.

But, in what turned out to be the final Park City High School sporting event of the week, things were great while they lasted. The Park City meet, which hosted the teams of Region 10 as well as North Summit High School, was the last regular-season meet before the highly competitive BYU Invitational, Region 10 championships and the state championship meet.

The meet was open to as many runners as wanted to compete, which meant that many who normally might not get a chance to compete in more restricted meets were able to take part.

"We have a lot of great people that are not able to enter a lot of meets," Wyant said.

Wyant and much of the team also liked being able to compete in their backyard for the first time in years.

"It's nice. Kind of homefield advantage," said varsity sprinter Blake Thorne. "It doesn't seem like you would have it in track, but you do."

In fact, none of the current team members had ever been able to compete at home before Wednesday.

"It was nice to have friends and family cheering on the team," Wyant said.

Tracksters headed for the postseason also had a good day. Distance runner Cameron Edwards continued to near his goal of setting a new school record of one minute and 55 seconds in the 800-meter race, finishing with a time of 1:58. Edwards stayed far ahead of the pack, making it even more challenging to run faster, but he said he remained focused.

"It's really all mental," he said. "You just have to stay focused on the race and not let the pain get to you."

"All by himself, that's a fast time," Wyant added.

North Summit's Erica Birk also had a bit of a solo run in the 800-meter leg of the medley relay. She finished with a split time of 2:27 her fastest time of the season. Birk was able to maintain a consistently fast pace throughout the entire leg.

"I know if I stop, I'm in trouble," she said. "The 800 is the hardest. Its almost sprinting two laps."

Birk, who took third at the 2A cross-country state championship, is one of the county's best distance runners, keeping up with some of Park City's best runners. She hopes to do even better in the medley and the other distance races at BYU over the weekend.

The Park City girls had a strong day, sweeping the top three places in the mile.

Freshman phenom McKenzie Snyder won the 800-meter race and was happy to do so well in a more relaxed setting. Snyder was part of the medley relay foursome that beat the previously unbeatable Davis team at a highly competitive meet over the weekend.

"It was pretty awesome," she said. "I was hoping to go faster, but it was nice with no pressure."

The post Miners host first home meet in years appeared first on Park Record.

Five years ago, I came to the Park Record all ready to tackle all the sports news this town had to offer. As a Salt Lake City native, I had always had a special fascination with Park City and couldn't wait to be a part of it. At first, it was a steep learning curve. I was a bit of a deer-in -headlights as I tried to learn the subtle nuances of stuff like curling and doubles luge. But eventually, it all started to click and make sense and I settled into one of the best learning experiences of my life.

Sure there were challenges and sacrifices. The long hours and late nights and time spent away from my friends and family wasn't always my favorite, but I had to keep reminding myself that I was getting paid to watch sports. That's not a bad gig, when you think about it.

But about half way along my path, I met somebody that had as much passion for sports as I did, but in a totally different way. Andrew, my eventual fiancé, was at the University of Utah Medical school preparing himself to pursue a career in rehab medicine, with dreams of helping the newly disabled be able to play sports once again. I think it's our shared passion that keeps us going, even among long-hours and demanding schedules. And now, the time has come for him to start his residency and make his dreams a reality and start a whole new adventure in a new community. And fingers crossed that I can find a new job in this economy, I'm going on that adventure with him.

Its time to say goodbye to The Park Record, but beyond that, to the ever-amazing Park City. Over the years, I have made countless friends in this town that I have come to cherish. From high school athletes to supportive parents to elite-level athletes. I think the most memorable part of my experiences has been the relationships and the close-knit community feel that Park City offers. I have been reminded all week of what a supportive town I cover as I received countless emails from coaches, administrators and parents wishing me good luck and blessings in my future. I want to thank everyone in the community for readership, their interviews, the photo and information submissions and the list goes on and on. I am so thankful to all of you who have made my journey a little easier and extremely enjoyable.

And that extends all the way to the county line. The gratitude and kind words of the folks in Kamas and Coalville kept me going through many a long prep sports season. And the smiles on the faces of young athletes not used to getting the limelight of the newspaper was reward in itself.

I am also thankful for the best small-town newspaper job a sports writer could ever ask for. During my tenure I have been able to cover countless state championships, elite level World Cups, and the women's ski jumpers battle for gender equity. In just five short years, I have had experiences that some big-city reporters could only hope to receive.

All in all it's been the ride of my life, and one that I hate to see end, but I will always have my memories and the friends and I hope that one day I can return to the town that I have come to love.

During my last week, our publisher, Andy Bernhard, told me to enjoy the adventure. And that has stuck in my mind. In this town of transplants, we all know how overwhelming an impending move can be especially in the midst of this crazy economy, but I plan to stop and enjoy the ride and reflect on all the blessings this town and this job have given me over the years.

Thank you, Park City and Summit County! For this sports reporter, you hit a home run!

Fondly,

Adia Waldburger

Park Record Sports Editor

2004-2009

The post The final buzzer appeared first on Park Record.

With most teams headed for or beginning the postseason, this is a bad week for any postponed or canceled games.

Thursday alone, Park City High School had to cancel eight scheduled sport activities, many with major implications for the impending playoffs.

Reeling the most, perhaps, is the boys' soccer team which was scheduled to play a first-round playoff game against Carbon High School Thursday.

When the sanctions were issued Thursday morning, Park City High School activities director Doug Payne and head soccer coach Caro Caro were still planning to hold the game, but in much the same way that the Mexican national team did last week when the swine flu scare first broke no fans, just players, coaches, officials and administrators. But by mid-Thursday morning, Payne had received calls from Carbon High School officials stating that they did not want to risk spreading the virus to their community.

"They said, 'No, we're not going to take our kids to a place that has shut down the entire place because of swine flu,'" Payne said. "They don't want to take that chance with anybody spreading germs."

The soccer quarterfinal playoffs are scheduled for Saturday, meaning that Park City and Carbon would be lagging behind the rest of the 3A schools. The Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) had briefly discussed not allowing the defending state champion Park City team to participate in the postseason, but quickly threw out that idea after reaching an agreement with Park City, Carbon and the two other teams in their tournament bracket agreed to play their first round and quarterfinal games on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. All teams that qualify for the semifinals should be ready to play at theoriginally scheduled time next Friday. Payne added that things will be reevaluated if the test results come back positive.

"Four games in a week will obviously be hard, but we'll do it," said Tommy Martin, one of the Miners' top soccer players.

Originally, when Martin heard the news that they might not get to play in the playoffs, he was very distraught.

"They can't do this. We're defending state champs," he said. "They are blowing it out of proportion. Obviously, it's not good, but I think people get a fright out of these things."

Martin went as far as to say that the team was more than willing to give up the home-field advantage that they earned as the region champions and play anywhere just to be able to stay in the postseason picture.

"We can win wherever we go," he said.

Payne was encouraged by the all of the hard work and sacrifices made by the UHSAA and other 3A schools.

"That just points out the sportsmanship that exists in 3A and the UHSAA," Payne said. "They did a lot of work. We are really appreciative of that."

Payne spent most of Thursday on the phone and in meetings trying to sort everything out and make some other decisions. He said that sports other than soccer may be rescheduled pending a negative result from the swine-flu tests on Friday.

The first-round soccer playoff game will be held Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Dozier Field. The quarterfinal game originally scheduled for Saturday will be held Wednesday at 4 p.m. on the same field.

Other sports and recreation.

Phyllis McDonough Robinson, Park City community and public affairs manager, reports that the city, Park City Racquet Club and Basin Recreation Field House youth programs in the Park City area have cancelled through at least Monday, May 4. In a statement released Thursday, she said that a community information hotline has been set up to address questions and concerns regarding the flu. English and Spanish speaking personnel and health care professionals are staffing the phone lines. The hotline number is 435-615-5989.

The post Swine flu stalls sports appeared first on Park Record.

Despite losing to rival Jordan a few days earlier, the Miners bounced back to beat Woods Cross 9-4. Park city head coach Amy Hafets blames the Jordan loss on some discombobulation after spring break, but feels the girls are ready to face the last few games and make a run during the playoffs.

"This game was much better," Hafets said. 'We have our best game when we come out fighting from the first whistle. The momentum carries throughout the whole game."

The Miners' Traci Shurtleff and Alison Kelly scored five of their team's six first-half goals. Woods Cross answered back with three of its own but struggled to score only one more in the second half. Park City, on the other hand, put three more in the net.

Hafets said the three biggest differences between the Jordan and the Woods Cross games were getting draw controls, passing well and maintaining intensity throughout the game.

"They are aggressively going after the ball," she said.

The girls play Waterford at home Thursday and then prepare for the postseason. Park City's Clara Jane Kilbourn said it is paramount to win so that their mindset is right for the playoffs.

"It was really good to bounce back after spring break last week," she said. "I think it's essential in preparing this next week and the playoffs."

The Miners will host Waterford at 5:15 p.m. at the Quinn's Junction Sports Complex.

The post Miners get easy win over Woods Cross appeared first on Park Record.

Just ask Deedee Corradini, president of Women's Ski Jumping USA and leading advocate for the jumpers. Corradini has a unique perspective on this whole debacle, having served as mayor when Salt Lake City received its bid for the 2002 Games.

When representatives of the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) presented their testimony they said that they have no control over how the Games are run down to the day-to-day operations. VANOC claims International Olympic Committee (IOC) controls everything.

But Corradini remembers back to the days that Salt Lake was preparing for their Olympics. Salt Lake was far less dependent on money or decisions coming from the federal government than Vancouver. In contrast, the Canadian government is financing its Games and has appointed many of its leaders, and so Corradini feels that government is very much a part of the daily preparations for the Olympics.

"They are controlled by government"' she said. "Everything to do with the Olympics is paid by the Canadian government."

And such is the battle the women waged last week to prove that the VANOC is quasi-government controlled and therefore controlled by the constitution of Canada.

The women are just waiting on British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon, who listened to a week's worth of testimony from the jumpers and VANOC and now has 17 volumes of testimony, case studies and other documents to wade through before she will award her decision.

If she does decide in favor of the jumpers though, it looks like it will be an all-or-nothing situation. Corradini said that VANOC has said they will comply with the decision and tell the IOC that they can either hold a ski jumping competition for both genders or non at all.

"We're cautiously optimistic," Corradini said. "We feel as though we have a solid case legally."

And if the women do win the case, it looks like the IOC will comply.

IOC president Jacques Rogge wrote a letter to World Champion ski Jumper Lindsey Van of Park City recently, telling her "I have faith in the Canadian court system."

Corradini said she interprets that comment to mean, whatever the court decides, the IOC will abide by.

The post Corradini comes home encouraged appeared first on Park Record.

Friday the Miners beat their biggest nemesis, Judge, 3-2 and Monday, they beat Wasatch 3-0 to clinch the Region 10 title.

Besides the fact that a win over Judge is always sweet, the Miners' victory was also important. The Miners had lost to the Bulldogs in an earlier regular-season matchup and needed to beat them not only for morale but to help clinch the title.

The Miners didn't start out on top. About 15 minutes into the game, the Bulldogs received a free kick off a Park City penalty that sailed into the net for a 1-0 lead.

But the Miners didn't stay down for long. Eric Laufer scored with eights minutes left in the half to tie up the game leading into halftime.

After that, the momentum shifted permanently to the Park City side.

"When they scored in the first minute, we were worried," said Park City's Austen Stevens. "But once we got into it, we dominated."

In the second half, Alex Gordon converted on a cross and slipped the ball into the middle of the net to break the tie. About 10 minutes later, Adam Laufer knocked in another ball to pit the Miners safely ahead at 3-1.

The Miners were playing without a number of injured players and lost midfielder Tommy Martin early in the game for a shoulder injury he incurred in pregame warmups. Alex Johnson also had to leave the game early because of an injury.

But, the Park City defense, even without Martin and Johnson, was able to keep the Bulldogs contained for much of the half.

"Our defense has stepped up this season to save us from being scored upon," Stevens said.

A missed save by Jake Sirianni late in the game gave the Bulldogs another goal, but they couldn't get into the net again.

"In the second half, we got our heads in it and controlled the ball and didn't worry about it," said Stevens.

Most of Park City goals came when the team took advantage of a situation --something that Park City head coach Caro Caro said aggravates many of their opponents.

"That's what our team does," he said. "Every team hates us because our forwards are very aware with what's going on in the box."

The physical nature of the Judge rivalry didn't help, as scrappy play led to a number of scrapes and bruises for both teams.

"It's always like that with Judge," said Stevens.

"This team plays at their best against the best teams," Caro said. "I expect this game to be great."

It also gives them plenty of confidence as they prepare to defend their state championship in the playoffs that start this week.

"It gives us the confidence we need," Stevens said.

The Miners will host a first-round playoff game Thursday at 4 p.m. at Dozier Field.

The post Soccer team wins region, avenges loss to Judge appeared first on Park Record.

The opportunity for deals on hundreds of used bikes could bring cycling enthusiasts from all over the community and beyond.

According to race team director Tom Noaker, who also works in the cycling industry, this year is definitely all about the deal.

"If they are really good deals those bikes are selling," he said. "People are looking for bargains."

And bargains are the Young Riders' specialty. Each year, the swap has grown and now offers an array of used biked, closeouts and retired rentals to the public. Noaker said that the swap will have bikes for all ages and all interests. In past years, everything from aerodynamic tri-bikes to downhill bikes to the more common road and mountain bikes have been available.

Noaker said that the deals should be especially good for kids. Since most kids grow quickly out of their bikes, most bikes that come in for sale at the swap are still in good condition. The Young Riders also pride themselves on selling the bikes at very reasonable prices.

"We've always had smoking deals," he said.

The state of the economy may also bring in more inventory. Noaker said selling a good quality bike can bring a seller a quick couple of hundred of dollars towards a new bike. That's much-needed cash for many people when times are tight.

Noaker recommends coming on the first day of the swap for the best deals. This has always been true, but this year especially. Besides more people looking for bargains, Noaker said that they have promoted the swap all over the Wasatch Front and expect a fair number of cyclists to head up from the Salt Lake Valley.

Utilizing the swap is also a way to help out the youth participants in Young Riders. The self-sustaining program has not raised its fees in three years. Noaker said that he hopes people think about that as they buy.

"That's why I coach," he said. "I feel like I make a bigger difference with the kids."

Luckily, the economy hasn't hit the Young Riders too much. They managed to sustain all of their title sponsors and donors this year and hope to do well with the swap. The money goes towards the two-faceted Young Riders program, which includes a recreational team and a race team. The recreational team encompasses beginner programs, camps, and the Devo/Learn-to-Race program that has been revived after a three-year hiatus.

The swap will be staffed by volunteers, parents and coaches involved with the team, who can help attendees sift through the merchandise. Noaker suggests participants know the style of bike and price point before coming to the swap to ensure that they walk out of the door happy. As for the seller -- price the bike to sell. That means setting a reasonable starting price and lowering it if the bike is still around on Sunday. Volunteers can help with pricing. The seller keeps 80 percent of the total sale price, the buyer leaves with a bike and the Young Riders get the remaining 20 percent.

Noaker stressed that the bikes must be in working order. The Young Riders will be screening the bikes more thoroughly this year.

"No junk," said Noaker.

Bikes that don't sell and aren't picked up after the swap will be donated to The Bicycle Collective, a Salt Lake-based charity that refurbishes used bicycles. If people do have bikes of the "junkier" variety, then Noaker suggests taking them to the Bicycle Collective directly.

The Young Riders will begin their race season next week with a training race at Soldier Hollow on May 5 at 6 p.m. followed by an Intermountain Cup Series Race on May 16 also at Soldier Hollow. The team will then compete every weekend until August. For more information on the race team or any of the recreational programs and camps, visit www.youngriders.com.

The Young Riders' Bike Swap will be held May 2 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday May 3 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Yard, 1251 Kearns Blvd. Drop off bikes for sale on Thursday, April 30, and Friday, May 1, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Yard.

The post Young Riders ready for annual bike swap appeared first on Park Record.

The second of the two is par for the course for the Miners, who lead second-place Uintah by 82 strokes in Region 10 play. Thursday they had a total score of 128 28 under second-place finishers Uintah and Judge, who tied at 156 total strokes.

As for the weather, well, Murphy just takes it day by day. The team has had to change so many practices and tournaments this season that it is hard to remember what the original schedule looked like. The girls have long abandoned the Park City Golf Club, Soldier Hollow or Glenwild as their home course, instead opting for the more weather-consistent Glendale Course in west Salt Lake that the Judge Bulldogs use as well.

"It's been as difficult as last season," said Murphy.

However, Thursday's match at the Mick Riley Course in Murray was darn near perfect. The weather was a bit windy, but there was no snow or rain and all of the varsity players turned in top performances. No. 1 player Sami Crouch took the easy, shooting a 38, three strokes ahead of second-place Ali Nakamura of Judge. Crouch, a year-round Utah Junior Golf Association player, finally returned to the team after a one-year hiatus to receive treatments on a chronic back condition. Crouch was hard on herself, lamenting minor screw-ups on the nine-hole course, but still finishing just one-over-par.

"I played horrible today," she said.

Despite her personal criticism, Crouch's immense talent is a boon to an already successful Park City team and gives the Miners a legitimate shot at taking the 3A title this year from defending state champion Ogden. In fact, with just two matches left in the season, the girls are already eyeing the Tigers. Crouch said that she looks at each match as a chance to improve her game and is already focused on beating Ogden in a few weeks.

"I think we can beat them," Crouch said.

In third was Park City's Carina Crosby, with a 44. Crosby said she was happy with the day, but wants to work more on her short game before the end of the season.

"I lost a lot of strokes on my chipping and putting," she said.

Crosby took second on Monday in match hosted by Judge at Glendale, finishing just behind Crouch.

"Carina's been playing well," Murphy said.

Crosby said playing with Crouch ahead of her this year has really helped her game.

"It inspires me for sure," she said. "It makes me want to play better. She's a great asset for the team."

The Miners will host their own tournament this Thursday at the Park City Golf Club at 11 a.m.

The post In the swing of things appeared first on Park Record.

Following all of the hype and excitement surrounding the Judge game, the Miners came out a bit sluggish and it showed.

"We thought it was already in the bag," said catcher Parker Morin.

But Wasatch had other ideas, quickly taking control of the early innings.

The Wasps scored a run in the first inning and continued to take advantage of some of the holes in the Miners pitching, resulting in a grand slam by Cody Remund in the second inning.

The Miners looked helpless, down 7-1, until the fourth inning when their scoring finally broke loose. They scored a run quickly and then, after two outs, the spree began. Before the Wasps could finally get the third out, the Miners scored a total of 11 runs. But the Wasps weren't ready to accept defeat. They came back in the later innings to score five more runs, including another home run by Remund. The Miners scored three more runs of their own and were eventually able to put the game away in the last inning, stopping the Wasps at 12 runs to their 15.

"It was an ugly win," said Park City head coach Howard Hoyt after the game.

Part of the trouble with the Miners' pitching was the mound. The height of the dirt had been readjusted, making it harder to get the ball to the plate.

But Hoyt also suspected that the pitchers just weren't ready for Wasatch. Alex Thomas got the start after pitching well the last time the Miners faced Wasatch, but was pulled in the top of the fourth after the Wasps took the big lead. Chris Shapard came in for one inning and Garrett Tsao closed out the win.

"Garrett came in and shut them down," Hoyt said.

But pitching wasn't the only reason that the Miners got into trouble early. The defense also failed to back up the pitchers, missing a number of ground balls and committing other errors.

"Our defense played the worst game of the year," Morin said.

"I told Matt [Strader, assistant coach], this is what I was afraid of," said Hoyt. "The good news is, they came back and did it on their own."

And the rally in the fourth inning truly was a team effort. Every batter was able to at least reach base, if not bring a Park City runner home.

'They feed off of each other," Hoyt said. "They get a break and heat up."

The Miners will now have to continue that fire for the remainder of the season if they want to stay in first place in the region. Uintah lost to Judge this week, which puts the Utes in second and Judge in third. Park City sees both of them next week and will have to play their best ball to beat them.

"We're in the driver's seat," Hoyt said, but adding that Uintah scares him a little.

The games will be played within three days of each other and both starting pitchers Marshall Crawford and Dakota Matherly -- should be available. Hoyt said if the Miners can continue to play the cohesive ball they played in the second game against Judge and the second half of the Wasatch game, then they should be able to pull off the wins.

"We seem to be playing together," Morin said. "We're not just relying on some guys to get the job done."

The Miners will host Uintah Thursday in a doubleheader beginning at 2:30 p.m. and then travel to play Judge Saturday at St. Ann's field at 1 p.m.

The post Miners win high-scoring game appeared first on Park Record.

It's a spot the defending state champs weren't so sure they would be in after losing to Judge earlier in the regular season. But after beating the Waterford Ravens 2-0 Thursday afternoon, they are rolling.

The Miners were also helped by the fact that Judge and Waterford tied in their last game. So, when the Miners came out against the Ravens, they knew a win would get them that much closer to the Region 10 title. With wins against Judge and Wasatch to close out the regular-season schedule, Park City will have the title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Miners came out against the Ravens in much the same way as they did the first time they met this season -- dominating possessions and controlling the ball. That led to a score in the 30th minute. Park City's Alex Johnson took the ball from midfield to the 25-yard line before launching it toward the goal. The ball bounced off of the Waterford goalie and Austen Stevens was there to knock it in.

The Miners continued to control the ball through the half and into the first part of the second half. Waterford was able to get a hard shot on the net in the second half, but Park City netminder Jacob Sirianni made the save that kept the Ravens from tying the score and changing the flow of the game.

"Jacob kept us in the game," said Park City's Tommy Martin. At 1-1, anything could have happened."

"When Jake is put to the test, he's just amazing," Park City head coach Caro Caro said.

Soon after that, Martin scored for the Miners after sneaking a ball under the nose of the Ravens' goalie. He said it wasn't the prettiest goal, but it was a goal nonetheless.

"A goal is a goal," Martin said. "It's point on the board. It doesn't matter how you do it."

The Miners were able to hold off Waterford for the rest of the game and preserve the shutout.

"My defense was wonderful," Caro said. "They played really great.

Although the Miners had beaten Waterford once before this year, this time around they were able to cut down the number of penalties and play more cohesively as a team.

"It was a big effort and a lot of people playing together," said Martin.

Caro added that his team is coming together at just the right time to make the most of the final week of play. Although he would have liked to see a few more goals out of his team, he was satisfied with the day's win.

"If we control the game and we possess the game, I think the goals will come," he said.

The Miners had a couple of players that got injured in the 8-0 win over Union last week, but Caro expects them to be ready for the few final games in region next week. After that the team is focused on taking the state title once again this time in the REAL Salt Lake team stadium.

"The Goal is Rio Tinto Stadium. We'll see if we can repeat," Caro said. "The way these guys are playing, anything can happen."

The post Soccer team takes step closer to region title appeared first on Park Record.