Tiger Sports Pounce Up to 5A

In Fall 2019, Orem High was moved into the 5A classification during the UHSAA realignment for 2019-2021. The big difference between the classifications is the size of schools and how many student-athletes sports teams have to draw from. Orem was originally placed in 4A during the first consideration made by the UHSAA Board of Trustees, but in later drafts was situated in Region VII of the 5A classification. In a bigger classification, what challenges have the fall sports faced and how have they adjusted to being in 5A?

Record and success-wise, there seems to be a split between highs and lows between the different fall sports in 5A Region VII play. Girls soccer was the 4A State Runner-Up in 2018, but in 2019, the girls have struggled to find their footing and Head Coach Brittany Call thinks it’s due to their “mental reaction to the teams [they] play.”

Coach Call continued, “Sure, the level of play is higher. But we have risen to that level and have not just hung in with bigger, more experienced teams, but have often had moments where we controlled and even dominated those games. We need to continue developing greater mental toughness, passion, determination, and confidence that we can and should win.”

Boys Golf struggled in Region, but Brigham Reid qualified for state. The Tiger golfers faced a unique challenge compared to other sports. Coach Reggie Rhees explained, “When you have a new region, you have new high schools, which means you have new golf courses. That’s the biggest thing with golf. You have to go practice those golf courses and play different golf courses than we did in our other regions. That’s a big difference. To know the golf course that’s a huge advantage. So that’s a lot of things we did this year was to get to know some of the new golf courses.”

[/media-credit] Tennis Players celebrate their success at the Region Tournament. From Left to Right: Cambria Cook, Julia Black, and Taea Rhees.

Girls Tennis, on the other hand, had their entire varsity team qualify for state with the Lady Tigers finishing 3rd overall in Region VII play.

Coach of Girls Tennis, Kristi Dial, commented that “the travel times with this new alignment are so much better. Having Uinta in our region before meant an entire day of travel round trip. Now we play schools that are right here like Timpanogos and Timpview.” A sentiment shared by many of the fall sports coaches except for football who travels during peak traffic congestion times in more populated roadways than the previous rivals in the south part of the county.

[/media-credit] Brinton Paulson makes a leaping TD grab at Mountain Ridge High School. 10/10/19

Tiger Football has remained strong in Region VII play and look forward to the postseason. Football Coach Jeremy Hill said, “When you get to the end, up at Rice-Eccles [Stadium], I think the quality is pretty similar. I don’t think 5A is necessarily better than 4A.” He believes that at both classifications you see stiff and fierce competition comparable to each other in the State Playoffs. His main concern was with the UHSAA’s new system for playoff qualification used in baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball, and volleyball. “The biggest change this year is the RPI system. And whether we were 4A, 5A, 6A, that’s not really impacted by that.” Coach Hill agreed that the new RPI system has the potential to seed them in a position that would force matchups between high-quality teams earlier on than they happened in the previous playoff format.

Coach Call finished saying,“If we can develop a hopeful, confident mentality from year to year, the 5A region could really benefit us.” She also wanted to thank everyone for all the support her team has received this year, “We love your support! When people come out to the games and positively cheer on the players, it instills confidence and unity on the team. It really makes a difference!” All coaches interview shared this sentiment and emphasized that they love the support students, alumni, and the community give to their teams.