A short 12 months ago Brighton coaches and athletes didn’t quite realize they were on the precipice of finals appearance, individual and team state championships. It was a spring sports season marked by expected and somewhat unexpected highlights. This year, the expectations are set. Brighton’s trophy cases are due for another influx of state hardware.

Track and field

Brighton Track and field under the seasoned leadership of Coach Kirk Merhish and Coach Jeni Hancey Larsen is a force to be reckoned with in Region 6 competition and at state. Senior Beau LeFleur, who helped take the football team to a final four finish at Rice Eccles Stadium in November, is back to defend his 2024 300-meter high hurdles state championship. 

“I hope to add another championship in the 110-meter hurdles as well,” LeFleur said. 

He is currently seeded No. 1 statewide in each of these events. He has signed with Snow College to play linebacker/running back after graduation. 

Bridget Smit, a Brighton ninth grader, was the fastest freshman in the Pocatello 2025 Simplot Games girls’ 1600 meters with a time of 5:07.20. 

“Bridget, as a freshman, is very close to breaking the school record of 5:03 set by Lia Belle Selander (BHS ‘23) and the 3200-meter school record of 11:00 set by Caroline Rupper (BHS ‘22),” said Annie Selander, assistant team coach.

Other Brighton track and field athletes that are poised to have breakout years include: 

Distance runners sophomore Easton Evers, senior Zac Engles and freshman Whittaker Bettis;

Sprinters freshman Judah Naweli and sophomore Sophie Crespin;

Hurdlers and jumpers junior Calvin Hawkins and senior Bryant Hill;

Throwers junior Jackson Nettleton, senior Marshall Huber and junior Audrey Kessinger.

“Not only are these athletes strong and fast, our team is primed for

success because of their stellar attitudes of respect, work ethic and teamwork,” said head coach Kirk Merhish. “The first words out of these kids’ mouths are ‘Yes! Coach!’ This attitude

shows me that no matter what this season brings, we can take it in stride and come out on top.” The first goal is to repeat as region champions.

Baseball 

Brighton baseball begins the season as the odds on favorite to repeat as Region 6 champions and to win the 5A state championship outright. Coach Mark Kleven returns 14 players from the 2024 team that went 20-1 in region play and pushed to the finals in 5A state play. 

“With the No. 1 preseason ranking in all state categories, we will have a target on our back all season,” said Josh Mawhinney, who just recently was named to the 5A academic all-state team in basketball. 

He and seniors Miles Layton and Case Beames led the team in Arizona against top 20 nationally-ranked teams in mid-March to a 2-2 record. They begin the 21-game region schedule before making the run in the state tournament for the first Brighton baseball state championship since the 1990s.  

Seven of the team’s seniors have signed to play baseball at the next level:

Case Beames, University of Arizona 

Miles Layton, Air Force

Easton Fry, College of Southern Idaho

Riley Brown, SLCC

Cooper Scott, College of Southern Idaho

Josh Mawhinney, UVU

JC Garza, Columbia Basin College 

River Schmidt, Shoreline Community College 

Girls Lacrosse 

Brighton girls lacrosse is known for strong cohesion, large recruiting classes, top-four finishes in state and classic on-field dance parties. 

“We are looking forward to another strong year! We’ve finished third in the state for four years in a row–since 2021 and are hungry for more,” said 11-year coach Melissa Nash.  

This year’s entry is a very senior heavy team—10 seniors (12 players start on the field at once) who are experienced and motivated to win. The stated goal of the team is to play and win in the state championship at Zion’s Bank Stadium at the end of May.

The team had Adam Sear coach at the annual team retreat. Sear played for Team Australia and has coached the women’s teams at Notre Dame and Michigan. He most recently coached the first annual Women’s Lacrosse League (WLL—a professional league). Some players to watch out for: Caroline Lee, Sophie Nielsen and Marley Rodney. They have all been selected as part of the preseason All-American watch list which is a rare honor in Utah. Nielsen and Lee scored four points each in the home opener against 6A Mountain Ridge.  

The team also returns stand-out goalie, Annabelle Keefer.  She was an all-region and all-state goalie last year and had 10 saves in the first game. 

Boys Lacrosse 

The toast of all Brighton sports last year was boys lacrosse. While the state finals were reached by swimming, baseball and girls soccer, it was Coach Chris O’Donnell and the boys lacrosse team that brought home the state championship. Two of his returning state champions have already signed to play at the next level—Austin Taylor at Westminster College and Jaxon Webster at Gettysburg College.

The season last year was near perfect except for the last two minutes of the regular season.  Rival Park City scored a goal that sent the game into overtime where the Miners gave Brighton its only season loss forcing Brighton to share the Region 6 title. The Bengals avenged the loss in the state championship game when the two foes met again and Brighton emerged as the state champion. 

O’Donnell is clear on his preseason expectations to “compete in every game we play—win region and repeat as state champions.” The season has begun as outlined by O’Donnell. The team challenged itself in preseason against 6A teams and competed well. A highlight was a much anticipated match up of the 6A state champion Corner Canyon hosted by 5A state champion Brighton. Freestone Field lay under four inches of snow at game time and the contest was quickly commuted to Charger Field in Draper. With an 8-8 tie in the fourth quarter, Corner Canyon punched in two final goals that decided the game in their favor.

Barring any further snow, home games at Brighton to showcase the defending state champions will be: 

April 22 vs East

April 29 vs Skyline

May 2 vs Highland

May 6 vs Mountain Ridge

May 7 vs West

Mid-May State Games TBD at Freestone Field λ