The 2008-09 high school sports season was filled with excitement from the first girls soccer games back in August until the dramatic conclusion of the 4A baseball tournament on Friday.
There was just as much drama with the 30th annual Deseret News All-Sports awards.
A year after the all-sports winners in four of the five classifications enjoyed a double-digit victory, three of the five winners this school year were decided by five points or less.
While Park City and Richfield rolled to their respective classification all-sports titles, Bingham, Timpview and St. Joseph eked out narrow victories with the outcome still up in the air heading into the final weeks of the season.
The Deseret News All-Sports award denotes the top overall athletic programs in each of the five classifications. Schools earn All-Sports points for placing in the top eight positions 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.
Teams earn points in football, cross country, golf, basketball, wrestling, swimming, baseball, track, soccer, tennis, volleyball and softball.
Every school but three earned a point in Class 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A. Brighton, which finished third in 5A for the second straight year, holds the record with 11 consecutive awards from 1980-1991. Juan Diego holds the record for most awards points in a season with 112.
Here's a look at each classification.
Class 5A
The Bingham Miners only won one state title during the 2008-09 school year, but it was enough, and it came at the perfect time.
The softball title captured on the second-to-last day of the spring sports season vaulted the Miners past Davis as the premier 5A school this year. Bingham's 73.5 points were just enough to edge Davis' 73 points for its third overall sports title this decade.
Despite the lack of titles, Bingham's boys teams had plenty of near misses, finishing second in football, swimming, tennis and track. The girls finished in the top eight at state in every sport but two, finishing with 35 points, tops among 5A teams.
Brighton, Alta and Lone Peak rounded out the top five in 5A, with last year's champ, Skyline, finishing in sixth with 54 points.
Davis enjoyed the highest score among the boys, finishing with 40.5 points despite winning one state title in track. The Davis boys finished in the top eight in eight of 10 sports.
Fourth-place Alta led 5A with four state titles, winning in football, boys cross country, girls soccer and girls tennis, followed by Davis and Brighton, which each won three state titles.
Class 4A
Timpview won a pair of state championships in the spring, and it proved to be the difference as the T-Birds finished with 62.5 points to edge region rival Mountain View's 59.5 points for its second straight 4A All-Sports title.
Timpview only finished in the top eight in 10 of 19 sports this year, but it received the maximum points in five of those 10 by winning state titles in football, boys cross country, boys tennis, boys track and volleyball.
Springville, Mountain Crest and Sky View rounded out the top five, all finishing within 10.5 points of Timpview.
Timpview's boys finished with 45 points to lead all 4A schools, while Sky View's girls teams were dominant this year with 39.5 points.
Of the 19 overall state championships handed out in 4A, 12 high schools tasted championship glory at least once. In addition to Timpview, only Mountain Crest, Mountain View and Dixie won multiple state titles this school year.
Class 3A
The Park City Miners dominated the 3A landscape all year, finishing with four state titles and four runner-up finishes. They placed in the top eight in 15 of 19 sports to finish with a state-best 99 all-sports points this school year.
The 3A All-Sports title was Park City's first since the 1997-98 school year. Logan finished second with 69 points, followed by Judge in third with 66.5. Judge had won four of the previous five 3A titles.
Juan Diego and Ogden rounded out the top five.
Park City's boys finished with 51.5 points, including titles in cross country, golf and soccer. The girls finished with 47.5 points behind a state title in cross country.
Ogden finished second to Park City in championships, winning titles in boys swimming, girls track and girls golf.
Class 2A
Richfield won four state titles to finish with 77.6 points for its first 2A All-Sports title since the 2001-2002 school year.
Last year's winner, Rowland Hall, finished second with 55.5 points, followed closely by North Summit (52), Manti (50), South Summit (46.6) and Parowan (46.5)
Richfield's boys finished with 34.1 points, including titles in cross country and track. The girls finished with 43.5 points behind titles in volleyball and basketball.
Class 1A
St. Joseph captured its third straight 1A All-Sports title thanks to a dominant season by the girls. Of the Jayhawks' 68.5 points, 51 were earned by the girls teams, which won titles in cross country, soccer, track and golf.
The boys' most successful sport was a runner-up finish in cross country.
Rich finished second with 63.5 points followed by Panguitch with 49 points.
Please see the attached PDF for full scoring and standings.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com