Judge Memorial Catholic High School winter athletes excel at sports and in the classroom

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The Judge Memorial Catholic High School swim team takes its schoolwork seriously, both in the pool and in the classroom.

Derek P. Jensen

As a defending state champion swimmer, Lanee Farr never cuts corners on her preparation, concentration or performance — in the classroom.

The same is true in the pool, but this Judge Memorial Catholic High School student-athlete is one appendage in a 27-member athletic-academic juggernaut that holds both the state title and a remarkable cumulative team GPA of 3.923. The boys swim team at Judge is also flexing their brain muscle, posting a cumulative 3.773.

When you include girls basketball (3.495) and the cheer team (3.798), it’s clear Bulldog Pride extends from the courts and pools to the desks inside the building. Schoolwide, 75 percent of Judge Memorial students earned a slot on the Quarter 2 Honor Roll.

For new swim head coach Chad Starks, the team GPA is even more impressive considering the swimmers don’t have their own pool facilities at Judge and must travel for all training and competition.

“It’s amazing that they have achieved that,” Starks says. “This year, I put an emphasis on student before athlete. I wanted to make sure all the swimmers had help at their disposal if they needed it.”

Sometimes that means getting creative. “We’ve had students doing homework on the bench at the pool,” Starks recalls. “I have excused the student and made sure schoolwork was a priority. With accountability for school comes the accountability for swim.”

Judge’s cheer team also has a new coach and is in just their second year of competitive events. They have qualified for state in two of them already and landed some first-place awards, all while carrying effectively a 3.8 team GPA.

Judge’s athletics department has submitted the cumulative team GPAs to the Utah Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association for team awards. Each year, high school teams from across the state are ranked by the UIAAA according to their cumulative GPA. Competing in this arena has long been a part of the Judge Memorial culture and the school takes serious strides annually to recognize its high-achieving student-athletes.

“It is great to see these young student-athletes be able to compete at a high level and earn amazing grades,” said Athletic Director Eric Wood. “We really focus on developing the whole child, and this is just proof of that. We’re so proud of our student-athletes, coaches, faculty and staff, who put an emphasis on academics while still encouraging our kids to compete.”

Following last year’s undefeated season and state championship, led by Utah’s new all-time high school basketball scoring leader Teya Sidberry, girls basketball at Judge has had a target on its back from Day 1. Despite the pressure, they remain a top team between the lines and between the ears.

“Our girls basketball team has extremely smart young ladies, led by our four seniors who work very hard on the court, in the community, and even harder in the classroom,” said head coach Josh Pike. “They all have something unique and special, and I’m very blessed to be able to see each and every one of these girls every day either in the school or at practice.”