This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Skyline appears to be enjoying a football renaissance after a rare down year.

A big reason for the Eagles' 4-1 start this season is senior running back Aleck Russon.

In wins over Timpanogos and Murray in Skyline's last two games, Russon has rushed for over 600 yards and scored 10 touchdowns.

His 303-yard effort against Timpanogos broke a 10-year-old Skyline single-game rushing record.

Because of a surprising home loss to Cedar City, the Eagles have been ignored a bit in the 4A race to state.

Loves His Bulldogs: James Cordova, the Judge coach whose defending champion Bulldogs are currently dominating Class 3A, admires the school's mascot.

After an impressive win Friday over previously unbeaten Union, the Judge coach said he owned an English and a French bulldog.

New Facilities: New facilities are always a plus for high school athletic programs. That's why there are a lot of smiles these days at Brighton and American Fork.

Brighton is utilizing its new state-of-the-art weight room in the Bengal Building on campus and the school has also opened a new track for teams and community runners. Construction is underway on one of the only soccer stadiums for a high school team.

According to Canyons School District spokesman Jeff Haney, the soccer stadium will not be ready in time for the defending 5A girls' soccer team this fall, but it is expected to be ready in the spring for 5A boys' soccer.

The soccer complex will have 300 to 350 seats, a concessions area, small team rooms and storage.

American Fork held an open house Wednesday night for its new gymnasium, which will host a number of school activities including boys and girls basketball and volleyball.

Looking forward to basketball: While this is the heart of high school football season, some are already looking ahead to basketball.

There are two major competing events scheduled December 11, 12 and 13 in Utah County.

The Utah Elite 8 basketball tournament is a true tournament format and will be held at the new American Fork High gym. Opening night games feature Corner Canyon against Bingham, Davis against Mountain Crest, American Fork against Sky View and Brighton versus Layton.

"The Utah Elite 8 will showcase some of Utah's top returning 4A and 5A teams as well as several highly recruited Division I prep players," said tournament director Rob Geertsen. "What makes our tournament so special is the true format. There are eight solid teams and any one of them can win it."

Some of the top players include Davis' Jesse Wade, Brighton's Brock Miller, Bingham's Yoeli Childs, Layton's Jarriesse Blackmon and American Fork's Brendan Bailey.

For information, log on to http://www.utahelite8.com.

The other tournament that weekend is the FreeTax USA Shootout in Orem, which will use a round robin format. Utah teams Lone Peak, Orem, Timpview, Jordan, Wasatch Academy and Timpanogos will compete against teams from Colorado, Washington, Hawaii and Massachusetts in that event.