Volleyball and Cross Country show tenacity in pre-season

Each year, Morgan’s girls volleyball team plays one of the toughest preseason schedules in the state. Coach Liz Wiscombe purposefully selects tough opponents to help her, her staff and team “see where our weaknesses are, so we can crack down and work on them. Playing good schools exposes your glaring holes pretty fast, and it helps us quickly identify our strengths so we can continue to build on them.”

“Now is the time to find out what we can do to improve our game, and this team ‘gets after it,’” she said, “They battle, they work hard in practice, there is no quit in this team.”

After four games the Trojans stand at 2-2, but Wiscombe isn’t worried. She’s pleased with the level of competition they have encountered with 6A Farmington and Davis, 5A Salem Hills, and 4A Sky View and Green Canyon.  

“The girls are having fun and improving every week,” Wiscombe said, “In practice, I see kids who want to compete. It is fun to be in the gym with them. We are working hard to improve our defense and offense.”

The Trojans beat Sky View 3-1 in their opener at home and fell to Salem Hills on the road in a five-set battle, 3-2. They swept Davis 3-0 and played Farmington at home Tuesday, Sept. 3. Last week the Trojans fell 3-1 to a top-rated Green Canyon team, 25-15, 24-26, 15-25, 23-25, but Wiscombe applauded the play of both teams. “Green Canyon has a good club; they will do well. I liked what I saw from our girls on the court. They fought and improved and didn’t give up.”

“We have great leadership from our seniors,” Wiscombe noted.  Morgans’ seniors include setters Abby McKay and Emma Thurston, outside hitters Keira Brewer and Gentry Criddle, and defensive specialist Mikah Cannon.  Both of the Trojans’ middle hitters are juniors,  McKenna Buss and Joslyn Jaffa. Sophomores Ruby Kameron and Jerstyn Payne wrap up the current starting varsity team as right side and libero, respectively.

The Trojans are coached by Wiscombe, who is in her 38th year at Morgan and 45th in the state of Utah. “My assistant coaches are great people to be around,” Wiscombe said. “It’s fun to be in the gym with them, and they each bring something different to the team. They are all valuable assets.” Julia Fisher, Janell Thurston, Marcie Wells, Hannah Farr, and Vicki Walker make up the 2025 coaching squad for the Trojans.  

This weekend, Morgan travels to California for some tough out-of-state competition. “It’s great to see new teams and play new people,” Wiscombe said, “This trip is an excellent opportunity for the team to bond and have great experiences together that build unity. We’ll  play challenging teams to test our skills and build our experience.”  

The Trojans open their Region 13 schedule, Thursday, Sept. 12 at Ogden.

XC Team putting in miles

Cross country Coach Bryan Weir reports that their team is “putting in the miles, working hard and moving through the season.” Morgan hosted their home meet Aug. 28 with Odgen, Union, Ben Lomond, and South Summit.  

“The Region 13 team championships in boys and girls are anyone’s game right now,” Weir said. “There are a lot of good runners.”  

“Our kids are running ‘heavy legs’,” he said.  Further explaining, he said, “We’re working hard every day and not yet tapering for races. The kids are getting better and hitting PRs, but we’re still building.”

Both the boys and the girls teams are fairly set with the top four scoring runners. The boys’ top four include seniors EJ Lee and Maverick Guymon and juniors Jonas Archibald and Henry Rose. Sophomores Alexis Cox and Brooklyn Guymon lead the girls team with seniors Brooke Williford and Brooklyn Hill running third and fourth.

“We have a group of great kids who are improving and will be racing for the fifth scoring spot along with our sixth and seventh varsity runners,” Weir said. Weir coaches the teams along with Coach Brennen Fuller.