Beaver’s boys golf team added another notch in its dynasty belt on Thursday afternoon at Roosevelt Golf Course during Day 2 of the 2A state golf tournament.
Led by medalist Sky Moon, Beaver had four golfers place in the top nine as it rolled to a fifth straight state championship with a two-day score of 632.
Rowland Hall was a distance second with a two-day total of 689.
The outcome was never really in doubt after Beaver opened up 27-stroke lead following Wednesday’s chilly opening round, but it still went out played even better in the second round with a 12-stroke improvement to run away with the title.
“We were a little younger this year and we had multiple players that stepped up. At the first of the year we started out at some of the tougher courses, but they played better and better each week until the end,” said Beaver coach Jason Pollard.
Moon, just a sophomore, single-handedly accounted for half of that 12-stroke improvement.
After shooting a first-round 80 and sitting in a three-way tie for fourth place, Moon backed it up with a 72 on Thursday to win with a two-stroke cushion over Waterford sophomore Carson Reynolds and Draper APA freshman Easton Toone.
Beaver’s Hoyt Blomquist was the Day 1 leader after shooting a 76, but he had some unfortunate breaks on the back nine Thursday as a pair of double-bogeys led to an 80 and a fourth-place finish.
The victorious Moon avoided similar big numbers, and the strategy was simple — leave the driver in the bag.
Moon’s driver put him in trouble several times during the first round, so on Thursday he just left it in the bag and went with a 4-iron off the tee. Pollard said Moon can hit that 4-iron about 260 yards and straight, so it was a pretty sound strategy.
“When you can hit it that far and keep it in play, it gave him a lot of scoring opportunities,” said Pollard.
The conservative approach led to 16 pars, one bogey and one birdie, which came on the final hole as Moon sealed the 2A medalist honors.
Beaver’s Dallas Yardley finished sixth with a two-day score of 160. His 74 on Thursday was his best round of the season.
Pollard said one of the biggest reasons for Beaver’s continued dominance in 2A golf is a love for the game from his players, which they’ve been afforded the opportunity to pursue.
About seven years ago, Pollard approached Beaver City and asked if they would be willing lower the cost of an annual junior rate from about $200 to $50 and then a $50 range pass. He said if they did that, “these kids will be up here all summer.” He said the course would easily make up the difference with food and drink sales.
The city agreed, and seven years later, the results have largely spoken for themselves in trophies and the number of kids on the golf course.
“I’m lucky as a coach to have players who want to be at the golf course. Very rarely do you go to the golf course and not see one of the players out there,” said Pollard.
He said his players will be out golfing until the snow starts falling this winter, and then in the spring they’ll be some of the first golfers in the community out there again when the ice finally melts.
2A state tournament results
Team Scores
At Roosevelt Golf Course
1. Beaver, 632
2. Rowland Hall, 689
3. South Sevier, 699
4. Gunnison Valley, 722
5. Kanab, 732
6. Waterford, 735
7. St. Joseph, 745
8. Millard, 757
Individual results
152 — Sky Moon, Beaver
154 — Carson Reynolds, Waterford; Easton Toone, Draper APA
156 — Hoyt Blomquiest, Beaver
158 — Matt Siegal, Rowland Hall
160 — Dallas Yardley, Beaver
161 — Jex Jones, Enterprise
163 — Braxton Stubbs, South Sevier
164 — Jace Richter, Beaver
167 — Cannon Randall, St. Joseph
169 — Mercer Paradise, Rowland Hall
170 — Rhett Woolstenhulme, North Summit
173 — Cannon Thornock, South Sevier
174 — Rexton Hollinghead, Beaver; Steele Vernon, North Summit
177 — Mace Robinson, Beaver
178 — Kale Glover, Kanab; Tegan Hanning, Beaver
179 — Myles Bartholomew, Gunnison Valley; Carson Kawabata, Rowland Hall
Timpview coach Andy Stokes indicated that the build-up to Thursday’s game against nemesis Orem was pretty much business as usual, with the same focused preparation he always gets from his team.
The celebration afterward was a clear indicator that it wasn’t just another a game.
Timpview’s dominant 43-13 victory over Orem was sweet redemption for the T-Birds after losing to the Tigers in the past two 5A state championship games.
Thursday’s win didn’t erase those losses, but it certainly sent a statement to Orem and the rest of 5A about who the team to beat in 2021 is.
“Obviously this is a significant win for our team just because we feel like Orem is one of the top 5A teams. We have a lot of respect for them,” said Stokes, who talked with the media after the game while his players danced euphorically behind him.
In each of Timpview’s playoff losses to Orem the past two years, it was certainly competitive but simply didn’t have enough horses to compete against a loaded Tigers roster. This season the roles seem to have reversed.
Thursday’s game was close early, with Timpview only leading 14-6 at the half, but the complexity flipped dramatically in the third quarter with the T-Birds’ offense and defense each scoring twice as the grudge match quickly flipped to a game that ended with a mercy rule running clock.
Stokes said the outcome shouldn’t be that surprising.
“This group didn’t just appear out of nowhere. They’ve been working their tail off for four years to turn into the monster that we are. All their work over the last four years is starting to show up on the field,” said Stokes.
The biggest monster against Orem was junior running back Micah Beckstead.
Beckstead’s role in the offense has increased over the past month, but Thursday he had a breakout performance as he scored the T-Birds’ first four touchdowns — three rushing, one receiving.
The first two gave Timpview the 14-6 halftime lead, and then in the third quarter, he scored on an 8-yard TD pass from Liu Aumavae and then a 57-yard TD run, pushing the lead to 29-6.
Beckstead said the focus throughout the week, and then during the game, played a big role in Timpview pulling away.
“We knew that they lost to Alta last week but we knew they were going to come with a different mindset this week, and we stayed locked in the whole week,” said Beckstead.
In a blink, Timpview’s three-touchdown lead swelled to five.
Just 16 seconds after Beckstead’s fourth touchdown stretched the lead to 29-6, teammate Will Lohner returned an interception 25 yards for another score and the 36-6 lead.
The defense wasn’t done yet either. Just a few plays later, Timpview’s defense got pressure on Orem’s quarterback and forced a fumble, which Puna Alatina scooped up and scored from 18 yards out.
In a span of 39 seconds Timpview scored 22 points, and in that short span might’ve ended the discussion about Orem’s chances of winning a fifth straight state championship.
That’s actually the last thing on Stokes’ mind as he gears up for a tough Week 9 game against Lehi next week.
“We’ll challenge everybody right now to find one thing that you didn’t do very well tonight and be better at that next week, and if we continue to do that until November, we’ll be in a good spot,” said Stokes.
The biggest thing Timpview will need to work on is starting quicker. Orem scored first on a Mack Hixson 3-yard TD pass from Lance Reynolds at the 8:58 mark of the second quarter, and Timpview didn’t respond with its first points of the game until 2:59 before halftime.
Beckstead found the end zone three more times in what ended up being a blowout, but he said the first-half complacency will help the team stay dialed in despite the big, big victory.
“A lot of mistakes made in the first half,” he said, “so we just need to stay locked in and work on the things that we struggled on so that we’re perfected for next week.”
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Keegan Kolesar (55) tries to shoot on Los Angeles Kings goalie Garret Sparks during an NHL exhibition game at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
For the third time since 2018, the NHL’s LA Kings played an exhibition game at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Thursday night, this time facing the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the first of what will be a three-year series between the two sides in Utah.
The game, which is branded as part of the Kings’ “Frozen Fury” exhibition series, ended in a 3-1 win for LA. The Kings were up 2-0 entering the third period before Las Vegas pulled to within one, but LA sealed the deal in the closing minutes.
The NHL regular season begins on Oct. 12. See photos from Thursday’s contest below.
Britney Spears arrives at the 29th annual GLAAD Media Awards on April 12, 2018, in Beverly Hills, Calif. To say there is intense international interest how Spears lost control of a net worth estimated at $60 million and her life would be a gross understatement. But it’s also atypical of guardianship and conservatorship petitions brought by attorneys. | Chris Pizzello, Associated Press
Utah attorney breaks down what most conservatorship, guardianship cases entail
To say there’s intense international interest over how pop star Britney Spears lost control of her estimated net worth of $60 million, as well as most of her personal and medical decisions, would be a gross understatement.
It’s the stuff of new documentaries and breathless news alerts. The nation is captivated by the latest court proceedings regarding the conservatorship that has controlled most aspects of 39-year-old Spears’ life for 13 years.
But Spears’ case is atypical of most guardianship and conservatorship petitions brought by attorneys for family members whose relatives are incapacitated to the point they cannot tend to their physical health, safety or self-care without appropriate assistance.
Often, families are in turmoil when they reach out to attorneys like Utahn Kathie Brown Roberts, a nationally certified Utah elder law attorney.
“It is crisis, and it’s mostly sad, but happy, usually, in the end because you know they’re removed from a situation where it was very horrible and not dignified to giving them a life that they’re fed, they’re clothed, they’re bathed, that kind of stuff,” she said.
Typically, Roberts’ clients are family members of vulnerable, aging adults.
“Mostly, people come to my firm with worry that people need protection. It’s people worrying about whether someone can adequately take care of themselves anymore, whether it’s dangerous for them to remain in the environment that they’re in,” she said.
Often, the vulnerable senior may have Alzheimer’s disease or some other form of dementia.
There is also a great deal of financial abuse of elders in Utah and nationally.
“We get a lot of people who are really worried that their family members are being taken advantage of, so we get an order for either guardianship or conservatorship or both if there is evidence that they need help and they need oversight,” Roberts said.
Under Utah law, a guardian controls a person’s living arrangements and medical care while a conservator deals with the protected person’s financial estate.
In California, the word conservatorship is used in two ways — conservatorship of the person and conservatorship of the estate, Roberts said.
The Spears case provides a rare glimpse into the details of the conservatorship that controls most aspects of her life and financial assets because, typically, that information is not fully public.
In order for the California court to appoint a conservator of her person and her estate, there had to be evidence she was incapacitated, Roberts said.
Over the 13 years that the conservatorship has been in place, Spears “has been a very excellent performer and a huge earner,” which also sets her apart from typical guardianship or conservatorship cases, Roberts said.
But in a recent Utah Bar Journal article written by Roberts and Allison Barger, an associate in Roberts’ law firm, they note that it is “entirely possible for an individual to meet the legal definition of ‘incapacity’ under law while maintaining various degrees of functionality.”
It is also likely that the circumstances that resulted in a judge appointing Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, as her conservator no longer exists. Earlier this week, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge suspended Jamie Spears as conservator of his daughter’s estate. A certified public accountant was appointed the temporary conservator of Spears’ estate until the next court hearing scheduled for Nov. 12.
“Assuming they (her legal counsel) can demonstrate that she has capacity and the reasons no longer exists that she needs someone to watch over her physical well-being and finances, then they’ll terminate. That is absolutely a possible outcome,” Roberts said.
The attorneys’ article also points out that the documentary “Framing Britney Spears” focuses on the duration of the guardianship/conservatorship of the pop star, which has been in place since 2008.
“Utah’s law prefers limited guardianships — meaning that the guardian’s authority should be limited to only those areas in which a protected person lacks functional abilities. Limiting a guardianship allows for protected persons to exercise their own independence to the extent they are able,” they wrote.
Under Utah law, a protected person or other interested party can petition a court to terminate a guardianship. While Utah law has many protections in statute to safeguard protected persons, Roberts and Barger wrote that Utah could benefit from codification of a protected person’s bill of rights, which other states have in their statutes.
Utah courts can appoint an emergency guardian without notice upon a finding that a person’s welfare requires immediate action. However, the emergency guardianship may not exceed 30 days without notice or hearing.
An emergency guardian can petition a court to seek temporary or permanent guardianship, but Utah law requires the court to appoint an attorney for the protected person if they are not already represented by counsel.
Roberts and Barger note in the journal article that Utah courts lack the resources to oversee guardianship and conservatorship cases. The volunteer Utah Court Visitor Program is also limited in its ability to monitor the cases. Adult Protective Services also lacks sufficient funding to pursue allegations of abuse, they wrote.
“Additional legislation and resources would be needed to fully guard against guardianship and conservatorship abuse,” they wrote.
Craig Bolerjack calls the play-by-play at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City as the Utah Jazz play the Denver Nuggets in the NBA bubble in Orlando, Fla., on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020. DISH has removed AT&T SportsNet, TV home of the Utah Jazz, from its channel lineup. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Utah Jazz fans who will be looking to watch the team on DISH Network this season are out of luck.
DISH has removed AT&T SportsNet from its channel lineup, effective Thursday. Cord Cutters News first reported the change.
AT&T SportsNet is still available on DirecTV and Xfinity.
Jazz games have exclusively been broadcast on the channel since 2009, when it was then Fox Sports Network Utah. It then was rebranded as ROOT Sports before being rebranded again to AT&T SportsNet in 2017.
Though the Jazz have not officially announced a complete broadcast schedule yet, a schedule posted on the AT&T SportsNet website shows that the channel will broadcast 77 of Utah’s 82 regular-season games.
The only streaming TV provider that carries the channel is DirecTV Stream. Jazz owner Ryan Smith has indicated since he bought the team last year that he is working toward making streaming available to a wider audience.
This season, Craig Bolerjack returns as the television play-by-play voice of the Jazz on AT&T SportsNet, with Thurl Bailey and new addition Holly Rowe as analysts.
The Jazz will play four preseason games, starting Oct. 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, before opening the 82-game regular-season slate against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Vivint Arena on Oct. 20.
Salt Lake City resident Kim Irwin Pack receives an influenza vaccine from nurse Kimberly Goldberg at the Salt Lake Public Health Center on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. | Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News
Get both shots on the same day, Utah doctor advises
It’s time for Utahns to get their annual flu shots, but what if they also still need to be vaccinated against COVID-19, or are now eligible for a booster dose?
No problem, say health experts, since now the shots can be given together.
“You can get any vaccine at the same time that you get the COVID vaccine, and that includes the influenza vaccine,” said Dr. Tamara Sheffield, medical director of preventive medicine for Intermountain Healthcare, the region’s largest health care provider. “We are very confident that it’s just fine.”
Patients are being encouraged to take advantage of the one-stop opportunity to be protected against both the flu and COVID-19 after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this year stopped advising that coronavirus shots be avoided within two weeks of other vaccines to help identify any reactions.
“Now that we’ve had millions of people getting the COVID vaccine, we really know very well what the side effects are from it. So we don’t have to be examining that anymore,” Sheffield said. She said multiple vaccines are often given together, particularly in children.
The CDC spells out on its website that, “You can get a COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines, including a flu vaccine, at the same visit.” The coronavirus vaccine is available to anyone 12 and older and may soon be approved for children as young as 5.
According to the federal agency, “Experience with other vaccines has shown that the way our bodies develop protection, known as an immune response, and possible side effects after getting vaccinated are generally the same when given alone or with other vaccines.”
Those who’ve experienced swelling, redness or other reactions in their arms after getting a flu shot may want to switch arms for their COVID-19 shot, Sheffield said, especially if they’re getting the higher dose of influenza vaccine available to older and more vulnerable adults.
Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News
Nurse Kimberly Goldberg puts labels on boxes with influenza vaccine at the Salt Lake Public Health Center on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021.
The case for getting both shots at once
Could two shots end up making them feel worse than they would after just one?
“Not necessarily,” Sheffield said. “You’re just turning on your immune system and it depends on how you feel when your immune system turns on. Some people have a stronger response that makes them feverish or achey for a longer period of time than other people.”
Her advice?
“If you want to feel bad for only one time, then you get them together,” she said. “It’s really your preference.”
What the medical community wants to avoid is having concerns about either vaccine causing “people not to get the other one, because they’re both important,” Sheffield said, especially as hospitals in Utah and around the country are being hard-hit by the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the highly contagious delta variant.
On top of that, it’s not clear just how bad the flu season will be this year, following virtually no cases last winter due to masking, social distancing, limits on gatherings and other measures mandated to stop the spread of the coronavirus that have largely been curtailed.
“It’s still a little too early to tell whether we’re going to have a normal flu season, still have a low rate like we had last year or have a very high rate, which is possible. Many times, after you’ve had little influenza going around, you tend to have a more vigorous season,” she said.
Audrey Stevenson, Salt Lake County Health Department division director of family health and clinical services, also warned of the possibility of both flu and COVID-19 outbreaks throughout the state this winter.
“The fear is we are really susceptible to both diseases this year, because we have relaxed some of the precautions that we had last year that prevented a lot of the respiratory illnesses,” Stevenson said, including RSV or respiratory syncytial virus, which started showing up again in Utah this summer.
Getting both vaccines at the same time makes sense for most people, she said, noting Utahns who currently qualify for COVID-19 booster shots — deemed at higher risk because they’re at least 65 years old or live in a long-term care facility or have certain medical conditions and received the Pfizer vaccine — are also vulnerable to flu.
“We worry about them for both the flu and the COVID vaccine, so we really would recommend that people get both so there isn’t that missed opportunity, either that they forgot, or for some reason they were unable to get back to get that influenza (shot) and they remain unprotected,” Stevenson said. “We really don’t want to see that.”
Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News
Minka Tasevac receives a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from by nurse Jon Hight at the Salt Lake Public Health Center on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021.
Vaccines aren’t just for you
Utahns need to remember that vaccines not only protect the person getting the shot, but those around them as well, Stevenson said, although even those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — meaning its been two weeks or more since their final dose — can still contract a breakthrough case and spread the virus, even without showing symptoms.
“We need to be conscientious that, just like the drunk driver affects other people by the decision they make to drink and drive, my decision to get a vaccine impacts other people either directly or indirectly,” Stevenson said. “That’s true of any communicable disease.”
There are already efforts in Utah to promote getting an annual flu shot along with the COVID-19 vaccine, including at doctor’s offices and at local pharmacies, where about 70% of Salt Lake County residents are currently getting their COVID-19 vaccinations.
Salt Lake County is offering the flu vaccine to those showing up for COVID-19 booster shots at the county’s five health care clinics, Stevenson said, and encouraging doctors and pharmacists who are giving coronavirus shots to do the same.
A ‘Flu Shootout’ event — with COVID-19 vaccines
The Tri-County Health Department, which serves Uintah, Duchesne and Daggett counties, is planning on providing COVID-19 vaccines — including boosters for Utahns who are eligible — at four “Flu Shootout” events Oct. 6 and 7 in Vernal, Manila, Roosevelt and Duchesne.
“We’re excited to be out in the community with flu shots again this year. I encourage everyone to get the flu shot each fall. My family and I get the flu shot each year; in part to reduce our risk of getting sick, but also to help make sure we aren’t spreading the flu to others during the holidays.” TriCounty health officer Kirk Benge, said.
Benge said he’s “also pleased that this year we will have COVID-19 vaccines available at the same time. Anyone that is in need of a first or second dose or anyone wanting a Pfizer booster dose is welcome to get it, or get it alongside their flu shot this year.”
But the Utah County Health Department said the shots are not being offered together at larger vaccination sites, department spokeswoman Aislynn Toleman-Hill said, because the high demand for COVID-19 booster shots has made that option “logistically difficult.”
Liz Darger poses for a portrait at the Student Athlete Building in Provo on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. Before she became BYU’s assistant athletic director and senior woman administrator, Darger was the head girls basketball coach at Timpanogos High in Orem for four years. | Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News
Before she became BYU’s senior associate athletic director and senior woman administrator, Liz Darger coached Timpview and Timpanogos high schools and Utah Valley University
BYU’s long-awaited admittance into the Big 12 Conference, set to happen in 2023, is the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people, most notably the Cougars’ coaches and student-athletes, director of athletics Tom Holmoe, BYU president Kevin Worthen and perhaps the busiest woman in the world, Liz Darger.
“I was just happy to help where I could and play a part in things,” Darger said modestly in a lengthy interview with the Deseret News last week. “There are so many people who contributed — president Worthen and advancement vice president Keith Vorkink and Tom (Holmoe) did so much in terms of putting us in position, and strategizing, and relationship building, for us to be able to have this opportunity.”
The conference ultimately chose not to expand back then, and there were some reports that the protests over BYU’s policies on homosexual behavior as written in the school’s honor code caused some Big 12 school presidents to decide that inviting the school owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wasn’t worth the trouble.
Darger was a relatively unknown assistant women’s basketball coach at Utah Valley University in Orem when she was hired by Worthen and Holmoe in 2015 to replace Janie Penfield Rasmussen. It was a bit of a surprise hire, given Darger’s lack of experience in major college athletics administration at the time, but Holmoe has said several times in recent years that it was one of the best hires the department has made.
In October 2016, Holmoe and other BYU administrators asked Darger — who had been in her position for a little over a year — to attend Common Ground II at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis.
It was there that Darger met Dr. Amy Wilson, the NCAA’s managing director of inclusion who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ community and a Christian, according to the NCAA’s website, and began laying the groundwork for BYU to host Wilson on a 2017 visit to its campus in Provo, a visit that also included a stop at church headquarters in Salt Lake City to meet with church leaders.
In 2018, the relationship that Darger forged with the LGBTQ community in college sports blossomed even more when BYU hosted Common Ground IV.
“Certainly, in the past five years there are some things we have done to build relationships, and to continue to grow and learn how we can improve as an athletic department and as a campus, and build relationships with others, to build bridges where there can be more understanding of who we are,” Darger said, deflecting praise.
She said her work with Common Ground — she was appointed to the 13-person Common Ground leadership team in 2017 — “has been one of the most rewarding parts of my job the past five years, and something that wasn’t on my radar at all. But it has become a huge, meaningful, wonderful part of what I do.”
And it helped keep BYU on the Big 12’s radar.
“We have a lot to learn still. We are eager to continue to learn and grow,” she said. “We have these relationships with these good folks from Common Ground, and also we have built some strong relationships with people at Athlete Ally, where we have learned a lot, and continue to learn a lot.
“But also have been given great opportunity — they have been gracious to give us opportunities to educate a little more about who we are, and about our beliefs and our mission here at BYU. And so we have been grateful for that, too, to have the opportunity to tell our story a little bit more and help explain more of who we are.”
BYU, and coaching, land on Darger’s radar
As nothing more than a “better than average” high school volleyball player growing up in Boise, Idaho, Darger initially committed to walk on at Utah State. But after praying about that decision, she decided to attend BYU as a nonathlete and major in family science.
While at BYU, Darger visited her sister, Emily Darger Deans, who was playing volleyball for Colorado State. While in Fort Collins, she met Raegan Scott Pebley, the former Mountain View High star who is now head women’s basketball coach at TCU, and expressed an interest in coaching basketball.
Pebley called her father, Ray Scott, who was coaching at Timpview High, and told him he should hire Darger.
Ray Scott invited Darger to an open gym at Timpview. She attended it, “and absolutely fell in love with coaching.” She started helping at Timpview her senior year at BYU, and has been involved in sports ever since.
“I am so grateful for Raegan for nudging me, and really taking a few minutes to change the trajectory of my life,” Darger said.
Stuart Johnson, Deseret News
File photo — Timpanogos High girls basketball coach Elizabeth Darger, calls out instructions to her players on Dec. 16, 2005.
While helping at Timpview, Darger graduated from BYU, then went back to get her master’s degree in school counseling psychology, because she had a “great counselor in high school that I loved, so I thought that would be a neat job.”
She worked for a year at Oak Canyon Junior High as a school counselor and ninth-grade girls basketball coach, then became the varsity coach at Timpanogos High in Orem for four years and the girls athletic director for two years.
“I honestly loved it,” she said. “If I were still doing that job, I would be so happy. I loved being a high school counselor, I loved high school coaching. It was a great gig.”
Darger got to know then-UVU women’s basketball coach Cathy Nixon from camps and Nixon recruiting Timpanogos players. When Nixon had an opening on her staff, she called Darger and asked her to apply.
“I loved what I was doing as a high school counselor, but I thought, ‘these chances don’t come up very often,’ so I applied,” she said.
Darger got the job, and spent six years at UVU as an assistant coach, recruiting coordinator and academics liaison for athletics.
Going back to BYU
When Penfield Rasmussen decided to step down as BYU’s SWA in 2015 to focus on raising her child, she called Darger and told her (and others) to apply for the position.
“We had been roommates like 10 years previous,” Darger said. “We had been roommates when she had this job, so my initial reaction was, “Yeah, I don’t know that I want that job. It is a hard job. I have watched you do that job, and I love what I am doing.’”
But as Darger looked into the position more, she became more and more interested. She liked that it catered to her strengths, was an opportunity to be involved in college sports at a higher level, and would allow her to focus on “big picture” goals.
“It provided an opportunity to have influence across teams, not just with one team, and to get to know student-athletes from a number of different programs, and to be a part of big-picture thinking of how an athletic department functions, and how to move it forward successfully and always with student-athlete welfare at top of mind,” she said.
Walked-out of the stadium tonight with all the feels.
I’ll ride or die with these guys any day of the week. (And this was QUITE a week)
The application and interview process was intense, she said. She spent a lot of time talking to her parents, who were serving a church mission in Dallas, and working with people who were unemployed, to get tips on building a resume and interviewing well.
“I put everything I had into that application and interview process,” which included interviews with Holmoe and deputy athletic director Brian Santiago, then-vice president Matt Richardson and a church general authority in Salt Lake City, she said.
She got the job.
“I was very fortunate that Tom, frankly, took a huge chance on me, an assistant women’s basketball coach at UVU, with a little bit of athletic administrative experience from the high school level,” she said. “I told him, ‘Give me a year to figure this out. It is going to be a steep learning curve, but give me a year to figure this out, and I know I can do a good job and do it well.’ I am really grateful. He took a chance on me.”
Busiest woman in the world?
As if being senior associate athletic director/senior woman administrator at BYU and serving on the Common Ground’s board wasn’t enough, in August 2018 Darger was called to serve on the church’s Young Women Council. She was set apart by Elder Quentin L. Cook on Aug. 26, 2018.
Darger and six other women serve on the Council under President Bonnie H. Cordon, a woman that Darger now calls one of her most treasured mentors.
“It has been a wonderful experience,” Darger said. “We are there to help them (Young Women General Presidency) any way that we can.”
But that’s not all that keeps her busy. Darger is also writing the dissertation for her doctorate degree, “a qualitative study about Latter-day Saint women in leadership in higher education.”
And you thought you had a lot on your plate.
“It is a little bit nuts,” she acknowledged. “But each of these things I have learned in one setting has helped in the other setting. It all kind of came at once — not on purpose, but I am grateful for the things that I am learning.”
‘Six years of wonderful memories’
Looking back, Darger says for all the strides BYU has made from the 2016 snub to the 2021 invitation, it wouldn’t have happened if BYU’s athletic teams across the board hadn’t improved or retained their level of excellence.
For that, she credits an array of outstanding coaches and student-athletes.
“You look program for program of what we are doing, and our programs are competitive and successful,” she said. “If our programs are not successful, there is not a conference that wants to have conversations. Our student-athletes and our coaches, what they have done is huge.”
“I had never been a part of anything like that,” she said. “And to be there and watch that, and to see our student-athletes and our coaches achieve something they had worked for for years and years, there is just nothing to top that. And our individual national championships as well, especially recently with track and field, have been huge.”
She will also never forget the way BYU fans packed Smith Fieldhouse for men’s and women’s volleyball, South Field for women’s soccer, and LaVell Edwards Stadium for football.
“It’s been six years of wonderful memories,” she said.
Along the way, Darger has sought out and received advice from former women’s AD Elaine Michaelis, Penfield Rasmussen, the NCAA’s Dr. Wilson, and BYU administrators Janet Sharman, Sandra Rogers, Julie Franklin and Rosemary Thackeray, among others.
“The lessons I have learned from these women is the importance of counseling together where every voice is heard before we make decisions to make sure we have the best information and then it really is about making sure we understand every perspective and look at things from every perspective before we make decisions,” she said.
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Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News
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Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News
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Stuart Johnson, Deseret News
