Over the past 9½ months across the state of Utah, there have been thousands of games, matches, meets, invitationals and duals sanctioned by the UHSAA.
Along the way, 89 state championship trophies were handed out in 19 different sports, dispersed between some of the biggest high schools in Utah on down to some of the smallest.
With the 2015-16 season officially coming to a close last Friday on the diamond at UVU, the Deseret News is excited to announce this year’s All-Sports award winners.
Lone Peak is the top school in 5A for the second time in the past three years. Orem won its first 4A All-Sports award since 2006 by the narrowest of margins.
In 3A, Desert Hills was again the king of sports as it won its sixth-straight All-Sports award. North Summit prevailed in 2A for the first time since 1993, while Panguitch was the 1A winner for the third straight year.
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 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.
Schools earn points in football, cross-country, golf, basketball, wrestling, swimming, baseball, track, soccer, tennis, volleyball and softball. Only the traditional wrestling state tournament was calculated this year, not the inaugural dual state meet. If more classifications participate instead of just 5A and 4A, future All-Sports points will likely be recorded by averaging the two state meets.
All but 14 schools in the entire state received All-Sports points in the 12 sports.
Brighton holds the record for 11 consecutive awards from 1980-1991. Desert Hills owns the record with 116 All-Sports points earned in 2014.
Here’s a look at each classification.
Class 5A: Lone Peak dominated the 5A landscape this year en route to its second All-Sports crown in the past three years. It earned points in 16 of 19 sports to tally a whopping 100 points. It’s the second-most points for a 5A team since Mountain View tallied 109 points in 1999.
The Knights won state titles in boys and girls golf and boys and girls tennis. It also finished with runner-up finishes in football and baseball, and then third-place finishes in boys swimming and girls cross-country.
Davis finished second with 76.5 points, with American Fork, Bingham, Viewmont and Sky View rounding out the top six in 5A.
Davis won three state championships (girls soccer, boys track and boys cross-country). American Fork, Viewmont and Herriman each won two state titles.
Lone Peak’s boys finished with the most All-Sports points with 60, while Lone Peak and Davis tied for the most points for the girls with 40 each.
Eleven different schools won state titles this year.
Class 4A: As it usually is, parity was the norm in the race for the 4A All-Sports award.
Every school but one finished with at least five All-Sports points, and nobody finished with more than 62.5 points.
Those 62.5 points, however, were enough for Orem to capture its first All-Sports title in a decade. The Tigers' only state titles came in boys and girls track, but it surged to the front of the pack this spring with runner-up finishes in baseball and boys soccer.
Timpview finished second for the second straight year with 60 points, with Skyline, Timpanogos, Bountiful and Maple Mountain — last year’s champ — rounding out the top six.
Skyline and Timpanogos finished with the most state titles at three. Along with Orem, Timpview, Bountiful and Olympus finished with two state titles.
Orem’s boys and Skyline’s girls were the top point earners, each finishing with 4.25 points.
Class 3A: Deseret Hills is becoming a permanent fixture at the top of the 3A All-Sports award chart.
Two years removed from setting the All-Sports record with 116 points, Desert Hills recorded points in 16 of 19 sports — finishing with 86 points — to claim its sixth-straight title as the premier sports school in 3A.
Desert Hills won championships in girls golf, boys cross-country and boys track. Its girls track team finished second, while its girls swimming, tennis and volleyball teams all finished third.
Cedar finished second with 75 points with one state title (girls track) and five runner-up finishes (baseball, boys swimming, girls soccer, girls basketball and girls track).
Park City, Snow Canyon, Pine View and Dixie rounded out the top six.
Eleven different 3A schools won state titles this year.
Juan Diego’s boys finished with the most points with 44, while Desert Hills’ girls tallied 46.5 points to lead the girls.
Class 2A: For the first time in over two decades, North Summit is the 2A All-Sports championship school.
North Summit won state titles in boys and girls track, boys swimming and girls track to capture its first All-Sports title since it was a 1A school in 1993 — the last year before the UHSAA expanded to five classifications.
North Summit finished with 79.5 points to easily outdistance second-place Delta, which tallied 62 points. Manti, Millard, Rowland Hall and Emery rounded out the top six.
Ten different schools won 2A titles, with every school but two earning at least 10 All-Sports points.
Delta, Millard, Grand and Waterford each won two championships.
Class 1A: Panguitch won four of the 12 state titles handed out in 1A sports this season to run away with its third-straight All-Sports title.
The Bobcats led all 1A schools with 74.5 points, with Duchesne checking in at second with 52 points. Rich, Monticello, Parowan and St. Joseph rounded out the top six.
St. Joseph dominated 1A with seven straight titles from 2007 to 2013, but Panguitch is starting to build a dynasty of its own.
Panguitch’s girls finished with 38 points as they won three of the four sports they competed in this year (volleyball, basketball and track). The boys' lone title was in cross-country, but it was still the top point earner in 1A with 36.5 points.
Eight different schools won titles in 1A, with Diamond Ranch the only other multi-sport champion with titles in football and boys basketball.
James Edward is the Deseret News prep editor and Real Salt Lake beat writer. EMAIL: jedward@deseretnews.com