From Deseret News archives:
From in court to on court?
2 girls' eligibility for state tourney will be determined by judge
After a lengthy hearing Monday afternoon in 4th District Court, Judge James Taylor said he would issue a ruling before Friday about whether Utah County seniors Brittany Harvey and Lynzee Baxter were unfairly excluded from athletic involvement at the American Leadership Academy.
The parents of Harvey and Baxter filed a lawsuit in December after losing their appeal to the Utah High School Activities Association. The parents attest their daughters weren't recruited but transferred for reasons unrelated to sports.
Their girls' attorney, William Peterson, obtained a temporary restraining order Feb. 6, allowing the girls eligibility until a hearing and the judge's ruling. With the order, both girls played in the last two basketball games this week.
"Playing in the last two games of the season when they're already going to the tournament ... is quite different than playing in a state tournament," Taylor said. "When I decide a temporary restraining order I'm weighing ... the impact on them and the others ... affected by the decision.
Before closing, Taylor asked the UHSAA: "Are the foundations of the world going to crumble if they play?"
No, attorneys for the UHSAA agreed, but it would hurt the organization and set a bad precedent about how the group enforces its own rules — especially the one that keeps a student ineligible for 12 months after a school transfer solely for athletic reasons.
But Harvey, a soccer, basketball and track athlete, transferred from Mountain View in Orem to get out of a bad situation, she testified.
"School was hell," Harvey said. "The students would tease me (about) stupid things, like my shirt didn't match my shoes."
She said she started sluffing school and her grades dropped. That was when she and her parents decided a more disciplined environment at ALA would be better.
"It didn't have anything to do with athletics," she said.
In fact, both Harvey and Baxter knew they would lose athletic opportunities going from a 5A school to a 2A school, they said.
Baxter, who ran cross country and played basketball, transferred from Spanish Fork High School to be with her younger brother, who was attending the charter school for the smaller class sizes.
Baxter has since accepted a scholarship to run for Southern Utah University, her mother, Shirley Baxter, testified.
Coach Dave Houle was not a factor in their transfer decision, the girls testified.
Houle, with his 24-year coaching tenure and multiple state titles, is now with the administration at the ALA, although he testified Monday he's on paid administrative leave.
