State Academic Decathalon 2010

Congratulations go out to our Academic Decathlon team for capturing the first place trophy in the large school division of the state tournament held in St. George March 12th and 13th. Our Bingham Miner Decathletes scored 34,573 points which was more than 680 points ahead of Lone Peak High School, who is their closest rival. The Miners won over 30 individual medals in the 10 subject areas of the competition. This year the competition was centered on the French Revolution. The Miner’s who are coached by Scott Crump and Tom Herret ended the season with both a region and state championship. We are proud of our Academic Decathlon team. Amber White won the top scholar award for Bingham’s team amassing 6,500 points, won 8 medals and a $100 scholarship. Dustin Warner led the varsity scholars from Bingham who did especially well in the varsity category.

Following are the names of Bingham’s Decathletes:

.

Honors Division: Alex Vicory, Anja Higgins, Cameron Smith, Amber White

Scholastic Division: Kyle Shepherd, Cole Christensen,Tona Nielsen

Varsity Division: Dustin Warner, Alyssa Chamberlain, Walter Hansen



We take pride in the fact that Bingham is a well-rounded school, with students excelling in many different arenas. We are pleased with the academic strengths that are evident as students represent our school and community in these state competitions.

Senior Season begins!

After turning around the program at Riverton last season, Todd Heaton has moved on to become the head coach at Bingham. He has inherited a team that only returns three starters, but that is a red herring in this case. The Miners have a lot of depth and chemistry. SENIOR ATTACKMAN COLE CHRISTENSEN WILL LEAD THE TEAM, and he will have plenty of help from a supporting cast that includes senior defenseman Chris Copier, sophomore attackman Jordan Shumway and senior middie Peter Tschaggeny.

Portion of article posted at West Side Lax.

National Champions!

Second to none: Teenage Utah cadets win national championship

By Natalie Dicou

The Salt Lake TribuneUpdated: 07/23/2009 11:39:20 AM MDT

Third place just wasn't going to cut it this year.So, instead of waiting for the new year to begin prepping for the Civil Air Patrol National Cadet Competition, Cheston New-hall had his group begin training and stop drinking sodas 10 months before the event.It paid off earlier this month when a group of Utah teens took first place at the national competition in McMinnville, Ore., bringing the title home to the Beehive State for the first time since 1956."It didn't really sink in until we got the trophy," said Pleasant Grove High's Richard Luby. "It was half as big as me."Taking home top honors was a huge payoff for the 14 teens -- nine boys and five girls -- who spent the past 10 months training for the seven-event competition: one-mile run, uniform inspection, standard drill (responding to orders), innovative drill (performing a choreographed routine), written test, panel quiz, and volleyball.Utah won four of the seven contests and dominated the volleyball tournament."I was part of a family that made something amazing happen, and getting an award for it made it even better," said Team Chief Cheston Newhall, a recent Park City High School graduate who served as commander of last year's group that finished third overall in Dayton, Ohio. "I was in disbelief. I bawled my eyes out, tears of joy."Being a drill team member -- and no, there's no kick lines or sequin-covered outfits -- requiresAdvertisementyld_mgr.place_ad_here("adPosBox");a massive commitment from teens, most of whom hope to attend military academies or become pilots.The youths are cadet members of the Civil Air Patrol, an official civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force.During preparation, the cadets met every weekend at the CAP's hangar at Salt Lake International Airport for training sessions.They studied for the panel quiz and written test, learned about leadership, aerospace and current events. After training Friday nights, they set up their sleeping bags, and prepared for the next day's workload.They practiced marching, exercised for the one-mile run and transformed themselves into a finely tuned volleyball-spiking machine.Last year, when Utah took third overall, Newhall decided his team could do better.Instead of beginning preparation for the July national championship in January, as they had done before, they started five months earlier, in August.Newhall -- the drill team is led solely by cadets with logistical help from an adult mentor -- believed his squad had to become more dedicated if Utah was going to win the national title.The group thrived under New- hall's charismatic leadership."Everyone knew [we] were serious about it," Newhall said. "You saw people sacrificing for the team. ... Everybody put drill team first."Pleasant Grove's Luby -- who plans to become an Air Force pilot -- never considered the long sessions "work.""Not looking forward to a day was not possible for me," Luby said. "Every practice day was another day with a group of friends. Even when we were working, it still seemed like we were playing."While most teams are composed almost exclusively of boys, 36 percent of Utah's team is female.That's "pretty unheard of," said Capt. Eric Weeks, a Civil Air Patrol volunteer and the group's adult mentor.Other teams thought they could exploit Utah's girls on the volleyball court, hitting the ball at the most petite player, Murray High's Arielle Weeks, Eric Weeks' daughter."It's funny," Weeks said. "They would go after her."The strategy fell short. Utah crushed every challenger by at least seven points.Focused on their goal, the cadets also dropped weekend hangouts with their friends, sports and other activities. They abstained from soda during the 10 months before the competition -- although Luby admits he accidentally had a root beer float while on vacation: his sole slip-up.After completing the mile run at the championship, the group treated themselves to ice-cold Mountain Dews and cokes."It hurts the first time," said Brighton High junior Grant Taylor, who is also a high school tennis star. "You're not used to the carbonation. But it was really refreshing."Weeks said, "For them it was like having a beer, I guess."For the mentor and proud father -- who was part of Utah's 1990 drill team, which took third place -- hearing the Utahns announced as winners was "probably one of the greatest moments of [his] life.""It was pandemonium," said Weeks, although the scene wasn't overly crazy, because the honor can be revoked if a team doesn't display sportsmanship."It's happened before," Weeks said.But Utah kept its excitement in check and left Oregon with the 3-foot trophy.

Utah's winning team

National champion cadets:

Sean Carlisi » Northridge High, Layton

Cassie Carlisi » Northridge High, Layton

Cheston Newhall » Park City High School

Cole Christensen » Bingham High, West Jordan

Brayden Mickelson » Mountain Crest High, Nibley

Zach Hopkins » Mountain Crest High, Nibley

J.P. Goldberg » Skyline High, Salt Lake City

Grant Taylor » Brighton High, Salt Lake City

Stefani Lewis » Mountain Crest High, Logan

Jared Healey » Lone Peak High, Alpine

Arielle Weeks » Murray High School

Richard Luby » Pleasant Grove High School

Rachel Niedfeldt » Walden School of Liberal Arts, Highland

McKelle Tobey » Mountain Crest High, Providence

Statistics

Lacrosse:

2007 11 games Primary position: Attack
28 goals Secondary position: Middie
11 assists Natural hand: Left
Use both hands: Yes
2008 13 games
35 goals
16 assists

2009 13 games
25 goals
5 assists

Totals: 37 games
88 goals
32 assists

Average 2.38 goals per game

ACT:

English 31
Math 26
Reading 31
Science Reasoning 29
Combined English/Writing 26


Weight:

Bench press 205 lbs
Squat 280 lbs


Speed: 6 minute mile

News articles

Westside Lax UT BOYS: Emotional Bingham Upsets No. 22 Jordan, 10-9
Bingham head coach Brian Morris said his team went out Monday night with the intention of honoring former Miners player and Weber freshman/sophomore team coach Blake Strebel, who died last week in a traffic accident.Strebel would have been proud of what his former team accomplished.Junior attackman Cole Christensen scored a team-high three goals, including what stood up to be the game-winner, to lead Bingham to a 10-9 upset victory over No. 22 Jordan in a Utah High School Lacrosse League Division A game.Senior attackman Cameron Edmunds and senior middie Jake Arthur each added a pair of goals, as Bingham (8-6) posted its first-ever win over a Top 25 team.Senior middie Brett Everill had a goal and an assist, and junior attackman Peter Tschaggeny and junior middie Chase Newton each scored once.Defensively, freshman goalie Aaron Hansen saved 10 shots.The game was tied, 7-7, at the end of the third quarter, but Bingham scored three unanswered goals in less than five minutes to take a 10-7 lead. Christensen capped the run when he fired home a shot with 7:38 to play.Jordan closed within 10-9 on a goal by senior attackman Matt Brunner with 4:19 remaining, but Bingham held on to score its biggest win of the season.“The team wanted to play this game in Blake’s honor, and they put in a fantastic effort all four quarters,” Morris said. “We had everybody hustling, everybody talking. It was a total team effort. It was the best game we played all year.”In defeat, Brunner and senior attackman Chase Gerber each finished with a co-game-high four points on three goals and an assist for Jordan (10-1), which had its season-opening, 10-game winning streak snapped just one game after scoring its biggest win of the season against Bountiful.“It was not the same team that played Friday,” Jordan head coach John Barraco said. “I think maybe were a little overconfident. Bingham showed up ready to play, and we didn’t.”

Westside Lax UT BOYS: UHSLL Playoffs: Bingham Eliminates Olympus, 9-3
Senior middie Brett Everiill scored three goals and added an assist to lead Bingham to a 9-3 victory over Olympus in a Utah High School Lacrosse League Division A first-round playoff game Wednesday night. Junior attackman Taylor Morris added four points on two goals and two assists to help the Miners (10-7) advance to the state quarterfinals.Bingham will next face No. 25 Bountiful, the state’s top-ranked team, on Saturday morning at 10 a.m., MDT. Bingham and Bountiful did not play in the regular season.“We recognize that they’re the top team in the state,” Bingham head coach Brian Morris said. “They’re returning almost every player from their state championship team last year. We know we’ve got a big test on our hands.”On Wednesday, senior middie Jake Arthur, senior long-stick middie Taylor McCleary, senior attackman Cameron Edmunds and junior attackman Cole Christensen all had a goal to round out the scoring for Bingham.
Defensively, freshman goalie Aaron Hansen saved nine shots.Olympus finished the season 4-8.Bingham led 3-1 at the end of the first quarter, 5-2 at halftime and 7-3 at the end of the third quarter.“I think we had an extremely consistent effort throughout,” Brian Morris said. “We recognized who their top scorer was and made it a top priority in making other players beat us. Our defense was phenomenal.”

Westside Lax UT BOYS: UHSLL Playoffs: No. 25 Bountiful Bounces Bingham
Senior attackmen Zach Jordan and Mike Fabrizio each registered a co-game-high seven points to lead No. 25 Bountiful to a 14-7 victory over Bingham in a Utah High School Lacrosse League Division A quarterfinal Saturday.Jordan scored five goals and had two assists, and Fabrizio finished with two goals and five assists, as the Braves (13-3) used a four-goal run to start the second half to break open a close game.
With the win, Bountiful advanced to the Division A state semifinals, where it will face Riverton on Wednesday, May 13, at 5 p.m., MDT, at Juan Diego Stadium. Riverton edged Alta, 6-5, in double-overtime Saturday to advance.It will be the first meeting of the season between the teams.“They’ve got some good players,” Bountiful head coach Marty Wescott said. “They’re a similar team to Bingham. We’re just going to play the same way we do, which is get to ground balls, press on defense and transition.”Senior attackman Austin Taylor scored four goals, senior middie Andrew Welling and junior middie Jason Andre added a goal and an assist, and senior middie Tyler Cheney had a goal to round out the scoring for Bountiful.In defeat, junior attackman Cole Christensen scored a team-high four goals for Bingham, which finished the season 10-8.The game was tied, 3-3, at the end of the first quarter, and Bountiful held a slim 7-6 lead at halftime. But the Braves scored four straight goals in the third quarter to take an 11-6 lead and essentially put it away.“We just were running them in transition,” Wescott said. “I think their middies got tired, and we were able to get a lot of fast-break goals in the third quarter.”

Resume

3340 Porter Circle
West Jordan, UT 84084
Email: cole.christensen@comcast.net
Phone: 801-792-5619


EDUCATION

West Jordan High School Fall 2007-Spring 2008

Bingham High School Fall 2008- Spring 2010

GPA: 3.7 unweighted
Class rank: 192 out of 842


EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Civil Air Patrol Thunderbird Composite Squadron Sept 2006-present
Current rank: Cadet 1st Lieutenant


Bingham Lacrosse Club (Varsity) Summer 2008-present

Boy Scouts of America Fall 1999-present

Civil Air Patrol Phoenix Squadron Sept 2004-Sept 2006

West Jordan Lacrosse Club (Varsity) Fall 2006-Spring 2008

Copper Hills Lacrosse Club (Juniors) Spring 2006-Fall 2006

Greater Salt Lake Hockey Club August 2002-May 2003

Salt Lake County Hockey Association August 1997-May 2002


SPECIAL PROJECTS

CAP Utah Wing Drill Team
Competed at the National Cadet Competition with an elite 13 member team in Washington D.C. in 2006 and at Dayton, Ohio in 2007. Will be competing in Montana in March 2009 at Regional Cadet Competition.

Wreaths across America
Participated as a three member team to place wreaths on veterans’ graves during ceremonies on Veterans Day 2008.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Walk for a Cure
Coordinated and led CAP Color Guard in opening ceremonies in 2007 and 2008.






AWARDS

Honor Roll for GPA of 3.5+ Fall 2005-present
Division II Junior State Lacrosse Champion Spring 2006
Athletic letter for Varsity Lacrosse Spring 2007, Spring 2008
Life Scout 2006
Billy Mitchell Award Fall 2007
2nd Team All Conference-Lacrosse Spring 2008
MVP at Westminster Elite Camp Summer 2008

EXPERIENCE

Lacrosse youth referee Fall 2007-present
Supervise and teach lacrosse for youth age 8-11

Volunteer, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Spring 1997-present
Served as a Youth Ambassador Spring 1997-Spring 2000

Civil Air Patrol Thunderbird Composite Squadron Sept 2006-present
Served as an Element leader, Thunderbird Squadron Commander, First Sergeant
Currently serving as Flight Commander

Phoenix Alliance Anti-Tobacco Youth Leadership Board Aug 2008-present
Serving as a Youth advocate by attending various youth events and concerts to educate youth about the dangers of tobacco use.

Civil Air Patrol Phoenix Squadron Sept 2004-Sept 2006
Serves as Element leader, First Sergeant, Flight Sergeant

Student Body President, Joel P. Jensen Middle School Fall 2006-Spring 2007
Led an 11 member presidency and counsel in school activities.

Youth Leadership Winter 2003-Winter 2007
Served in leadership within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.