For the past four 3A state tournaments, the Morgan Trojans managed to come away with some hardware — though it came in the form of the state runners-up trophy. 

Once again, at Thursday’s 3A state tournament at Glendale Golf Course, the Trojans managed to come away with hardware, but this year’s trophy didn’t have the accents of silver they’d become accustomed to over the past few seasons.

For the first time in school history, the Morgan girls golf team brought home a trophy with the shimmer of gold. 

Led by seniors Ellie DeMond and Jailee Snow, the Trojans were crowned 3A state champions with a final team score of 642. DeMond dominated her way to the individual title, shooting 142 and finishing as the only player in the field that shot under par for the tournament, while Snow finished in second place individually with a score of 151. 

Morgan finished 12 strokes ahead of second-place Richfield — the school it had been a runner-up to the last four tournaments. After holding a seven-stroke lead following Wednesday’s opening round, the Trojans added to their lead on Thursday, outshooting the Wildcats by five strokes with a score of 320. 

Juan Diego finished in third place, 24 shots behind the Trojans. 

“I couldn’t be more proud of these girls,” Morgan head coach Dennis Peterson said. 

“They’ve worked and worked, and then they got to these two days. They’ve been here before and have been on the wrong end of (winning a title), so today was about our seniors and the leadership they showed, as well as their experience.”

DeMond and Snow came up big for the Trojans, as the senior duo combined to shoot a whopping 31 strokes lower than the next lowest pair of teammates in the field.

DeMond said she and her teammates just focused on playing relaxed and playing for the team rather than stressing about individual performances. That mentality allowed the Trojans to maintain a fairly comfortable cushion over the round’s final holes. 

“Today it was all about averages,” Peterson said. “We told the girls to just go out there and play their averages and everything was going to take care of itself. … After nine holes it was still pretty close, but on the back nine we started separating ourselves.”

Perhaps the biggest moment of Morgan’s final round came on the ninth hole, where DeMond sunk a 10-foot putt for an eagle which, at the time, gave the Trojans a 13-stroke lead (their highest of the tournament) with the back nine to play.

While Richfield managed to pick up a stroke on the back nine, it wasn’t enough to trouble the momentum-filled Trojans, who were set on finally winning the title that had eluded them. 

“I can’t even explain how happy and excited we are for each other,” DeMond said. 

“We (as seniors) had taken second to Richfield the last three years and it’s been such a drive for us. We’ve had to be so determined and we’ve fought so hard, practicing every day for hours on end, to get here for this moment. … It’s been such a fun journey and I’m glad we got to end it this way.”

Citing the COVID-19 year, as well as the tumultuous weather and scheduling this season brought, Peterson said that he was glad that this particular group — and especially the seniors — received a fitting reward for the work they put in to find success. 

“These girls have earned everything they’ve got today,” Peterson said. “They’ve worked their guts out. … They’ve just been a fun group to coach.”

Class 3A state tournament

At Glendale Golf Course

Full leaderboard

Team scores

1. Morgan, 642

2. Richfield, 654

3. Juan Diego, 666

4. Grantsville, 707

5. Juab, 758

6. Union, 759

7. Carbon, 769

8. Delta, 788

9. Ogden, 797

Individual results

142 — Ellie DeMond, Morgan

151 — Jailee Snow, Morgan

154 — Cabria Walters, Juan Diego

162 — Shelby Gardner, Richfield

162 — Abbee Albrecht, Richfield

163 — Brielle Jolley, Richfield

166 — Grayson Gagnon, Juan Diego

168 — Brooklyn Brown, Union

170 — Makenna Bohman, Grantsville

172 — Hallie Janes, Richfield

173 — Mia Lewis, Richfield

173 — Ashley Cutshall, Juan Diego

173 — Isabella Werner, Juan Diego

174 — Charlotte Poulsen, Richfield

175 — Alivia Jefferies, Granstville

175 — Sophia Medina, Judge Memorial

177 — Ashlyn Matheson, Juab

177 — Camrynn Zufelt, Delta

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178 — Jane Poll, Morgan

178 — Camden Smith, Morgan

178 — Aspen Delis, Summit Academy

178 — Kia Christiansen, Morgan

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