Benson defeated Richfield freshman Hailey Hair in the tiebreaker ninth hole for the individual 3A girls golf state title, which also carried Morgan to its first-ever girls golf title Thursday at Stansbury Park Golf Course.

With a bogey on No. 16, Benson found herself pulled into a playoff hole with Hair, who stuck around despite three double-bogeys in Thursday’s final round. Benson’s final round included an eagle on the third hole and a birdie on her playoff par-4.

Carding a state-best 629 as a program, Morgan, led by coach Dennis Peterson, listed six players among the state’s individual top-20 finishes: Benson (9-over, 1st), Sophie DeMond (13-over, T-3rd), Taya Snow (13-over, T-3rd), Ruby Wilding (19-over, T-7th), Macie Bell (26-over, T-11th) and Elena Harm (32-over, T-20th).

Among other Region 12 golfers, Charlotte Phipps led Ogden, which finished fifth as a team with 685 team strokes, at 31-over for 19th place. Her teammate Whitney Fife finished 34-over and tied Emery’s Braidee Lamb for 23rd.

Berkley Hester (45-over, T-31st) and MacKyah Tuck (56-over, T-41st) each made the second-day cut for Ben Lomond, which didn’t qualify for a team score.

Layton alum tabbed All-WAC golf

Utah Tech freshman David Liechty was named First Team All-WAC after finishing tied for 11th with an even par in his final round at the WAC Men’s Golf Championships earlier this spring.

Getting his college career started, Liecthy, an alumnus of Layton High School, became the first Trailblazer golfer in history to qualify for the U.S. Amateur last year in San Francisco. Liechty previously won the 2025 Talonscove Amateur and collected semifinalist honors at last year’s Utah State Men’s Amateur in Logan.

Syracuse alum transfers to California D2

Syracuse High graduate and men’s basketball shooting guard Kaden Ericksen is headed for the West Coast and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Ericksen first stepped into the two-year Eastern Arizona program to begin his college career. There, he helped deliver back-to-back Region 1 championships and a top-25 finish to the 2024-25 season before he jumped up to Division I at Northern Colorado.

Ericksen didn’t record any playing time with the Bears.

Northridge alum transfers to Chaminade

Former Northridge High hoops standout Sam Sivulich is on the move.

With two years remaining, Sivulich is transferring to Chaminade, a Division II program in Honolulu, Hawaii, following two years of Utah junior college ball at SLCC and Snow.

Sivulich appeared in 34 games, averaging 9.4 points and 2.0 rebounds per game for the Badgers last season. Previously, he was a three-year starter in high school and played for Select Basketball of Idaho.

5A, 3A boys tennis tourneys begin

The 5A and 3A boys tennis state playoffs are set, and the 3A field features several singles and doubles pairings enjoying first-round byes.

In singles, Morgan junior Blake Hadley, who enters the tournament at 17-4 on the regular season, landed the No. 1 seed and a bye from the Round of 32 next Thursday, May 14, at Brighton High School.

Early-round matchups (Round of 32 and 16) are contested at Brighton High School. All subsequent matches and the state finals will be held at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.

Full brackets and tournament information are available at uhsaa.org.

5A FIRST SINGLES

Round of 32 (May 9):

• No. 16 Ryan Allen (Clearfield) vs. No. 17 Brody Allen (Maple Mountain), 9 a.m.

• No. 9 Ryan Jenson (Box Elder) vs. No. 24 Will Hales (West Field), 9 a.m.

• No. 21 Max Morales (Fremont) vs. No. 12 Harith Sathish (Hillcrest), 9 a.m.

• No. 23 Patrick Luoma (Northridge) vs. No. 10 Tanner Staheli (Payson), 9 a.m.

5A SECOND SINGLES

• No. 17 Nathan Dickson (Northridge) vs. No. 16 Logan Morgan (Olympus), 9 a.m.

• No. 21 Guy Casperson (Bonneville) vs. No. 12 Ryder Derby (Alta), 9 a.m.

• No. 19 Peter Shurtliff (Clearfield) vs. No. 14 Bryce Brothers (Box Elder), 9 a.m.

• No. 22 James Floyd (Fremont) vs. No. 11 Kalin Bass (Payson), 9 a.m.

• No. 18 Mason Huffaker (West Field) vs. No. 15 Talin McDougal  (Brighton), 9 a.m.

5A THIRD SINGLES

Round of 32 (May 9):

• No. 22 Calvin Johnson (Bonneville) vs. No. 9 Michael Leck (Springville), 9 a.m.

• No. 20 Jake Turner (West Field) vs. No. 13 Cameron Kelly (Brighton), 9 a.m.

No. 11 Jonathan Nelson (Box Elder) vs. No. 22 Ashton Rudd (Taylorsville), 9 a.m.

• No. 23 Kyle Allen (Clearfield) vs. No. 10 Hyatt Roney (Maple Mountain), 9 a.m.

• No. 15 Dallin Murray (Fremont) vs. No. 18 Elijah Sayama (Northridge), 9 a.m.

3A FIRST SINGLES

Round of 16 (May 15):

• No. 9 Sawyer Peterson (Morgan) vs. No. 8 Richard Mourtisen (Grantsville), 9 a.m.

• No. 4 Ethan Christensen (Ogden) vs. No. 13 Ayaan Garg (Providence Hall) or No. 20 Wyatt Keith (San Juan), 9 a.m.

3A SECOND SINGLES

Round of 16 (May 15):

• No. 5 Matt Hill (Morgan) vs. No. 21 Hayden Cardall (San Juan)/No. 12 Rhett Vanderschaaf (Ogden), 9 a.m.

3A THIRD SINGLES

Round of 16 (May 15):

• No. 1 Blake Hadley (Morgan) vs. No. 16 Wyatt Wayment (Ogden) or No. 17 Bennett Walker (Maeser Prep), 9 a.m.

5A FIRST DOUBLES

Round of 32 (May 9):

• No. 16 Luke Anderson/Bentley Burt (Box Elder) vs. No. 17 Kaisen Thomas/Evander Whitcher (Payson), 9 a.m.

• No. 19 Andrew Harrison/Clarkston Bagley (Clearfield) vs. No. 14 Logan Karrasch/Daniel Romney (Salem Hills), 9 a.m.

• No. 22 McKay McFarland/Jaxon Casebolt (West Field) vs. No. 11 Isaac Radford/Dylan Harrison (Olympus)

• No. 18 Deacon Presnell/Jacob Findlay (Fremont) vs. No. 15 Connor Hamilton/Sam Ahrens (Spanish Fork), 9 a.m.

5A SECOND DOUBLES

Round of 32 (May 9):

• No. 17 Kirk Bernards/Cohen Anderson (Clearfield) vs. No. 16 Samuel Frehner/Cayden Ammons (Box Elder), 9 a.m.

• No. 19 Carson Mackey/Jett Williams (Northridge) vs. No. 14 Sammy Otte/Eli Hansen (Salem Hills), 9 a.m.

• No. 23 Hunter Marble/Peter Draper (West Field) vs. No. 10 Hank Jones/Tucker Zierenberg (Viewmont), 9 a.m.

• No. 18 Austin Harvey/Beckham Watson (Fremont) vs. No. 15 Ryder Smith/Beckett Turner (Spanish Fork), 9 a.m.

3A FIRST DOUBLES

Round of 16 (May 15):

• No. 6 Gavin Holliday/Samuel Ondrus (Ogden) vs. No. 19 William Sunderland/Anders Allred (North Sanpete) or No. 14 Tyler Cowley/Brandt Rooks (Richfield), 9 a.m.

• No. 7 Lincoln Dunkley/Tanner Curtis (Morgan) vs. No. 10 Judson Varner/Carter Abbott (Carbon), 9 a.m.

3A SECOND DOUBLES

Round of 16 (May 15)

• No. 3 Anderson Broadbent/Ryan Frolik (Ogden) vs. No. 13 Alden Pilling/Rylen Hatch (Carbon) or No. 20 Ethan Romaine/Jake Waters (Gunnison Valley), 9 a.m.

• No. 7 Josh Gardner/Bolton Dickman (Morgan) vs. No. 10 Taft Haws/Isaac Wallace (North Sanpete), 9 a.m.