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Several LAX athletes win awards

Hannah Hyatt received first-team All-American honors, as well as All-State and All-Conference first team nominations after leading the PCHS girls' lacrosse team to a perfect 15-0 season. Christopher Reeves/Park Record
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When your school wins two state championships, you can usually expect several individual awards to follow. That was certainly the case with Park City lacrosse this season, as both the boys’ and girls’ teams brought home a slew of awards to complement their championship trophies.

The girls’ team, fresh off a 15-0 season, had three players win national awards. Junior Hannah Hyatt was named a first-team All-American while senior Haley Adelman was an honorable mention All-American.

Meanwhile, Dani Lecher took home the Jackie Pitts Award, given annually to one player in each state who "truly honors the game of lacrosse, is invested in the development of the game in her community, is an exceptional player who continually strives to improve her game, and is an exemplary member of her team."

Hyatt and Adelman also earned first-team All-State midfield and first-team All-State attack awards, respectively. They were joined on the All-State team by senior McKenna Tychsen (second-team attack) and sophomore Marina Mayo (second-team midfield).

Hyatt, Adelman, Tychsen and Mayo were all on the first-team All-Conference squads as well, with Lecher (second-team attack) and Luisa Frankenburg (second-team defense) joining them. Adelman earned the League MVP award for attack.

Hyatt, Mayo, Livi Andreini and Sophie Adelman all made the U-17 National Team and Ali Baker, Ellie Faulk, Jeni Gordon, Amanda Parry and Lauren Robertson were named to the U-15 National Team.

"It’s wonderful that the girls were recognized for the hard work they put in on the field," Park City coach Amy Hafets-Cronin said. "There’s a lot of talent in our league, so this shows how hard our girls work year-round.

"There’s a lot of work and a lot of love for the game that goes into these awards."

On the boys’ side, there were no All-Americans, but seniors Carson Dutkanych (attack) and Christain Pompoco (midfield) were named to the first-team All-State team, joined by faceoff specialist Jackson Burton, who was the MVP of his position as well.

Chase Flinders, a long-stick midfielder and defensive midfielder, was awarded second-team All-State honors.

Dutkanych, Pompoco, Burton and Flinders were also named to the All-Conference first team.

Colton Kissell (midfield) was named to the All-Conference second team. Kolton Atkinson (attack) and Cole Flinders (midfield) received All-Conference honorable mention honors.

Park City coach Andy Langendorf said there were plenty of deserving candidates on the boys’ team that weren’t recognized, but added that it’s because of the way the PCHS system works more than anything.

"Our defensive corps was the best in the state this year," he said. "But at Park City, our bread and butter is we play as a unit and everything is based on systems. We’re not relying on one player to save us. We have a lot of unbelievable athletes."

And, with the way lacrosse has grown in Utah the past few years, Langendorf acknowledges that nearly every team in the state could have one or two more players honored.

"The coaches try to be as fair as possible," he said. "You can’t pick everybody. I used to get frustrated by the selection process, but the All-State, All-Conference and All-American awards are exceedingly difficult to pick.

"My angle on those awards is there are always obvious players that everyone can agree on as long as obvious players like Jackson Burton make it, I’m OK. I don’t think there was much to talk about there."

Overall, though, it’s all about the team awards, not the individual awards, Langendorf said.

"I tell my players all the time that your level of achievement is based on whether you win a state championship or not," he said. "The state championship stands on its own. In Park City, the individual awards are just a byproduct of the team that’s how we look at it. We’re only strong if we’re collectively playing well."


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