High school boys tennis: Desert Hills hangs on to claim its 3rd straight 4A crown
Desert Hills’ tennis team is pictured with their 4A first place trophy at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 9, 2026. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Ever since Christian Thurgood took over as head coach, it has been a tradition for the Desert Hills boys tennis team to come home from the state tournament with the championship trophy. The Thunder did it again Saturday.
Despite intense competition, Desert Hills celebrated loudest among Utah’s 4A schools at Liberty Park with its third straight title, turning away Region 9 rival Crimson Cliffs in a competition that came down to the final match. When tournament officials checked the scoring, they had to confirm their results before revealing the final scores. Brenan Holman won first place in No.
3 singles, and the No. 2 doubles squad of Grant McCullough and Connor Reese captured the crown in No. 2 doubles to help Desert Hills finish with 52 points, followed by Crimson Cliffs with 47, Orem 32, East 26 and Highland 22.
Based on how close the Region 9 tourney was last week, Thurgood expected to be nervous much of the day Saturday as the athletes competed under sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70s. “We had four seniors and they never gave up,” Thurgood said. “There were so many times when they just had to dig deep.
” Highland High's Kian Noori Claro competes in 4A tennis at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 9, 2026. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Desert Hills competes in 4A tennis at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 9, 2026. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Highland High's Kian Noori Claro competes in 4A tennis at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 9, 2026.
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