Month: September 2025

Things to watch this week in the Big 12 Conference:

Game of the week

No. 17 Texas Tech (3-0) at No. 16 Utah (3-0), Saturday, noon ET (Fox)

The first meeting in more than a half-century between Texas Tech and Utah will be a Big 12 opener and a matchup of the league’s only ranked teams that are playing this week. Behren Morton and the Red Raiders piled up a lot of points in nonconference play, as did the Utes. Tech is the nation’s highest-scoring team at 58 points a game and has outscored opponents 154-0 in the first three quarters. Morton has 923 yards passing with an FBS-high 11 touchdowns while playing only 6 1/2 quarters. Utah and new QB Devon Dampier have averaged 45.7 points a game while the Utes also ranked eighth nationally allowing only 8.3 points, including only two TDs.

Utah also went 3-0 in its nonconference games last season when a preseason favorite in its Big 12 debut before going 2-7 in league play. Texas Tech won season openers in 1972 and 1973 in the only previous meetings against Utah.

The undercard

Arizona State (2-1) at Baylor (2-1), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (Fox)

Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson is the only Big 12 quarterback already with more than 1,000 yards passing. His 1,070 yards are more than twice the 527 for Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt, the preseason Big 12 offensive player of the year. Robertson has thrown 10 touchdowns, and Leavitt five to go with a league-high three interceptions. Arizona State last season won the league title and made the College Football Playoff in its Big 12 debut. The only time Baylor and Arizona State played before was in a 1990 season opener won by the Bears.

Impact players

— TCU’s Jordan Dwyer, a league newcomer after three seasons at Idaho, leads the Big 12 with 112.5 yards receiving per game. He has 14 catches for 225 yards and two touchdowns for the Horned Frogs (2-0), who host former Southwest Conference rival SMU for maybe the last time on Saturday.

— LJ Martin has had consecutive 100-yard rushing games for BYU (2-0), and is the Big 12 leader with 120.5 yards per game.

— UCF running back Jaden Nixon had a 96-yard kickoff return for a game-opening touchdown and added TD runs of 87 and 66 when the Knights (2-0) won 68-7 over North Carolina A&T in their last game two weeks ago. They now host North Carolina (2-1), which lost in Bill Belichick’s debut 48-14 to TCU.

— West Virginia safety Darrian Lewis has interceptions in back-to-back games.

Inside the numbers

Kansas (2-1), which plays its Big 12 opener against West Virginia two weeks after losing to Missouri, has won its last four games after open dates. … Oklahoma State (1-1) takes a 10-game losing streak against FBS opponents into its game Friday night against instate foe Tulsa. The Cowboys’ last game was a 69-3 loss at No. 6 Oregon on Sept. 6. … Colorado (1-1) and Wyoming play for the first time in 16 years. This will be only the 27th meeting overall in a series that dates to 1900 for the schools only a 150-mile drive apart. … Five Big 12 teams have open dates, including undefeated teams No. 12 Iowa State (4-0), Arizona (3-0) and Houston (3-0). Cincinnati (2-1) and Kansas State (1-3, 0-1 Big 12) are also off this weekend.

Robert Redford fought to protect a tributary of one of the premiere fly fishing streams in the West. He took to a pulpit and railed against the construction of a power plant among hoodoos in the southern Utah desert. He made sacrifices to stave off mass development in the mountains where he rode horses and helped reintroduce mountain goats.

These aren’t scenes from any of the 50-plus films the actor starred in or produced. Rather they’re snippets of Redford’s real-life role as an environmental activist, and the real-life scenes he preserved are likely to become the actor’s most enduring legacy.

Redford, who spent most of his life in Utah, died Tuesday. He was 89.

“He was a force of nature,” said Julie Mack, the executive director of the Sundance Nature Alliance, “and he will be missed.”

Mack worked with Redford for more than 35 years on conservation issues. She said he possessed never-ending energy for preserving the beauty around him. Though that advocacy began in Utah, Redford lent his name, voice and connections to environmental initiatives worldwide.

“He was one of the earliest environmentalists,” she said. “He started speaking out about climate change before people even really understood what it was and what it meant.”

Redford quietly exhibited his environmental bent with his 1969 purchase and development of Sundance Resort. He envisioned a place where art and recreation met ethics, using plant-based construction materials, like stain derived from coffee grounds, and locally sourced stone. He sold the resort in 2020 after years, he said, of searching for a steward who would carry on his vision.

By most accounts, the actor first publicly stuck his neck out for a cause in 1969, just as theaters began showing his film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” A major development and the construction of a road threatened the water quality and recreational prospects of the North Fork of the Provo River, in Redford’s backyard. Redford pushed for the creation of a conservation easement and buffer zones along its banks to limit pollution and erosion.

Shortly afterward, Redford committed nearly 900 acres of his own land near his Sundance Resort — land whose beauty initially drew him to Utah in the 1960s — to another conservation easement. He committed another 316 acres in Elk Meadows to a conservation easement in 2020. Between the two, Redford protected about 1,200 acres of land bordering the Mount Timpanogos Wilderness — including along the path to Stewart Falls — from mass development in perpetuity.

Mack recalled how Redford’s eyes would light up when he talked about putting the property in the hands of the nonprofit conservation group Utah Open Lands.

“It would make him so happy,” she said, “to talk about the gift of preservation.”

Wendy Fisher, the founder and executive director of Utah Open Lands, said Redford’s initial gift led to other landowners placing their property in the hands of the fledgling land trust. Now 65,000 acres within the state are under its protection.

“It was definitely a pivotal conservation easement for Utah Open Lands,” Fisher said, “and in, really, all the work that we would continue to do after.”

The conservation blueprint Redford created is still being consulted by public land managers and environmental advocates today, said Teri Harman, the director of public outreach for Conserve Utah Valley. Harman said that group looked at what Redford did with Sundance and how it balanced development with recreation and conservation, to inform its actions in trying to preserve the land around Bridal Veil Falls, also located in Provo Canyon.

A developer had submitted plans to create a high-end addiction rehabilitation facility near the top of the popular natural landmark. Those plans were negated, however, after the Utah County Commission joined with Utah Open Lands to create a conservation easement around the falls in 2021. Conserve Utah Valley helped facilitate that partnership and later gathered public input that led to the designation of Bridal Veil Falls as a state monument.

“Conservation easements kind of didn’t get going till the ’90s, and Sundance was doing that pretty early on,” Harman said. “So I do think they set this really cool example of what’s possible in Utah County, in Utah, in our canyon.”

Redford was willing to put his well-known name on the line even when he knew there would be blowback.

In 1975, he appeared in a “60 Minutes” piece opposing the construction of a coal-fired power plant that was proposed in the Kaiparowits Plateau in southern Utah. The area is now contained within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

“Anytime anybody voices a concern about the quality of life that we’re going to be leading, we’re called environmentalists,” he said in the segment, “and that (being) so, I am environmentalist.”

When the proposal was shelved, plant proponents blamed Redford. They burned an effigy of him and, he said, made threats to his family.

“I don’t think he ever enjoyed that kind of scrutiny and criticism,” Mack said. “But he was speaking his truth.”

Yet, Redford continued to be outspoken in favor of environmental protections. He joined the board of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which named its first Leeds Platinum Certified office building after him. He lobbied Congress for stricter air and water pollution standards and called for climate change action at the United Nations’ Paris Climate Summit in 2015.

He also harnessed the power of the medium that put him on the global stage. In 1981, Redford and his son, James, established the Sundance Center. The goal of the nonprofit organization was, according to the center’s webpage, to create “documentary films and impact campaigns to help make the world a better place.”

“The environmental movement has lost a giant,” Manish Bapna, the president and CEO of the NRDC, said in a statement posted on the group’s website. “Nobody has done more to shine a light on the most important environmental issues from the dawn of the environmental movement in the ‘70s through the biodiversity and climate crises of today.”

Redford’s work to protect the environment and the lands he preserved for generations to come are a gift, said Fisher, the founder of Utah Open Lands.

“That’s a tremendous legacy,” she said, “to have left for all of us.”

Today, the Utah Mammoth announced the roster for their 2025 Training Camp, with the first practice scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 18 at 9:45 A.M. at the Utah Mammoth practice and training facility in Sandy.

Utah’s training camp roster features 66 total players, including 37 forwards, 21 defensemen and eight goaltenders. The team will skate in two groups, and the players skating in each group will be announced Thursday, before the opening on-ice session.

This year’s training camp roster also includes 23 players who participated in the Mammoth’s rookie camp. The team’s complete training camp roster is attached.

The Mammoth previously announced their training camp schedule, which is also attached. On-ice sessions will run from Thursday, Sept. 18 to Saturday, Oct. 4, with media availability following each session throughout training camp.

THE UTAH JAZZ WILL NOT WIN very many games this season. This has been proposed, voted on, and unanimously accepted by the board, and we must never question the board. In the modern age of NBA basketball, organizations typically pursue one of three strategies: win as many games as possible and try to win a championship (a bit vanilla, but if that’s your thing, I guess), abandon tradition and lose in the short-term to gradually build a competitive team over time, or be the Chicago Bulls.

Utah, as I’ve already established, is neck-deep in the waters of Loser River, which wraps around the cliffs of Draft Pick Peak, and breathes life into the valley of crushed dreams. Not exactly a popular tourist destination, but teams like Washington, Charlotte, and the like have been living there for years.

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Since the Jazz took up residency in this forsaken land, their harvests have been less-than fruitful, digging out inefficient scorers, miserable defenders, and insufferable mediocracy to far outweigh the yield of capable NBA contributors. It’s been bleak: there’s no way around it. But for some reason, this year’s crops seem to have the village buzzing with anticipation.

The Jazz selected two prospects in the first round of this most recent NBA Draft (shoutout to John Tonje, by the way). Both of them seem to be capable contributors for an NBA team. Both of them bring distinct strengths. Both of them seem to send a deliberate and unmistakable message to anyone paying attention. That message?

The Utah Jazz are drafting with purpose

Two players who are capable of putting the ball in the basket. Two players with real, translateable NBA talent. Two players who are less than 50% hypothetical. Two players who will bring meaningful basketball to the Salt Lake Valley.

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These are two players who show immediate promise. No fancy-pants analytics that suggest that, given all the right circumstances, a player may or may not possibly become a sort of decent player at the NBA level. Nope: this pair of hoopers passes the eye test. They pass on the box score. Yes, professor, they pass with flying colors. Do you want to know why?

Utah didn’t mess around this time: they only drafted great basketball players.

Allow me to reintroduce the first steps to competitive basketball in Utah: Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton Jr.

Ace Bailey: Finally, some real upside

He’s the typical home-run swing from this era of the Utah Jazz, only this time, they have the benefit of vision. They didn’t blindly swing at this guy (and no examples will be named). No, this is a player with obvious upside. A player whose best traits will show up on the court from day one, and who possesses actual, tangible tools. Tools that fit in your hands. Make an imprint. Take a natural human motion and multiply its effectiveness. With Ace, there’s no “if it all works out” or “in theory, he could” justifications — he’ll gladly show you his workshop if you have your doubts. He was a star in high school, he was a star in college, and if his trajectory is to be believed, he’ll excel in the NBA, too.

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His weaknesses are present, of course, and I don’t mean to suggest he doesn’t hold the proverbial “untapped potential” that most lottery teams have to dig for outside the top three (or the entire 2024 class, for that matter). Ace has been known to take regular shots that any non-Kobe or Jordan players likely don’t have any business attempting, though he scores at a curiosity-inducing rate. Shot selection can easily be corrected with proper coaching and experience, though, so there’s no need to side-eye the panic button.

Utah drafted him to be a scoring wing, though, and I don’t subscribe to the narrative that all great players have to be all-world passers.

His vision can be shoddy, be it an unwillingness to pass or a blind confidence that any shot he takes is, in fact, the best-case scenario for his squad. But this year will be the first time Ace isn’t the star player for his team (co-star, in Dylan Harper’s case), and his shot attempts will almost certainly take a dip as he adapts to a higher level of hoops. Utah drafted him to be a scoring wing, though, and I don’t subscribe to the narrative that all great players have to be all-world passers.

Sure, standing at six feet and ten inches (depending on who you ask) has its drawbacks. His dribble hasn’t been particularly tight. It’s like watching a hundred-year-old oak tree try to snatch your ankles — the ball just has to travel so far from his hand to the floor. He won’t burn many defenders in a clean-cut, no-resistance dribble move, nor did he really need to. He’s a tough player, though. Happy to assert his dominance physically and meet at the rim in a happy-birthday-I’m-going-to-shove-this-entire-cake-down-your-throat type of way before assaulting the cylinder.

As seen in Summer League, Ace’s 6’10” frame was well-utilized for inhaling rebounds. Paired with exceptional athleticism, many of those boards were hand-delivered right back to the rim (if you could just sign here, sir). Tremendous lateral quickness, length, elasticity, and burst are not only critical qualities of a rubber band; these adjectives could just as easily describe why Bailey projects so well as a defender. His instincts are strong, and it shows on the stat sheet — 1.0 steals and 1.3 blocks at Rutgers. As his frame matures and adds muscle, he could become an excellent switching defender capable of covering the perimeter while also deterring errant shot attempts.

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It’s not all perfect, and there are reasons he slipped from the projected second pick at the beginning of the season down to Utah’s awaiting arms in the fifth slot on draft night. Keep in mind, there is no such thing as a “sure-thing, can’t-miss” prospect in the NBA, but Ace is the best player Utah has selected since Donovan Mitchell, and I don’t think I’ll get much push-back from that statement.

Walter Clayton Jr: all killer, no filler

By the end of the season, you’ll see his name crawling up the order in re-drafts, because he’s ready to play right out of the box. The Final Four Most Outstanding Player for the national champion Florida Gators, Clayton went from an undersized point guard with Iona to the best player on the best team in the country.

He was an absolute necromancer in March Madness, breathing life into his team and resurfacing his brothers from the dead with inconceivable shotmaking in the clutch. I mean, the last four minutes of this video alone should convince you that this guy was probably the best shooter in all of college hoops, and I don’t say that lightly.

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The guy is a flat-out killer.

The NBA is finally beginning to heal from the idiotic “raw 19-year-old is more valuable than a proven winner” phase of drafting. The Jazz traded up to grab Clayton because they saw the tape and drew a reasonable conclusion that Walt has a distinct and individual talent that should translate effortlessly to the NBA. 3-point shooting is a valuable skill, especially for a point guard, and you can’t deny that this kid from Florida has a rich taste for three-balls.

Walt looked just as capable in Summer League, outshining last season’s starting point guard, Isaiah Collier, in the offseason. He hit shots. He handled the rock. He found his spots and scored like a veteran. He even flashed improved playmaking ability, a skill he popped as a senior, averaging his most dimes per game by a full assist per game. With the Gators, he dropped 18 points per game while knocking through over 38% of his three-pointers. Yes, even shooting bonkers shots like those you saw in the clip, he’s not a heat-check guy — he’s just pure heat.

…he’s not a heat-check guy — he’s just pure heat.

Look at a player. Observe obvious talent. Draft player. It can be as simple as that, yet that hasn’t been Utah’s drafting philosophy before Austin Ainge took over.

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Keyonte George was taken with the hope that his inefficient scoring would be optimized and his playmaking would flourish. Cody Williams was snagged almost entirely based on hypotheticals and has yet to verify the Jazz’s pre-draft faith in him. Isaiah Collier was picked with the hope that he could turn a stiff and broken jump shot into something reliable and hovering around league average.

It’s still early, but all of these players’ pre-draft concerns remain concerns now post-draft.

For the record, Kyle Filipowski has been awesome.

But Utah was deliberate in selecting this year’s batch of hoopers. They knew who they wanted, and they got their guys. Ace sliding to fifth was a micro-miracle and best-case scenario. Walter Clayton was rumored to be Miami-bound before Utah swooped in. The Jazz have a strategy, and it’s being enacted. Still miles from anything resembling contention, of course, but this year’s class gives Jazz fans plenty of reason to rekindle their faith.

Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the Utah Jazz and BYU athletics since 2024.

The Utah Mammoth play their first two NHL games on Sunday — kind of.

It’ll be their first pair of games under the new “Mammoth” branding, excluding the Rookie Showcase outings. That being said, it’s still just the preseason.

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The NHL preseason is part of training camp, meaning many of the players on the roster are battling for permanent spots within the organization. While there are a few guidelines on the minimum number of veterans a team can dress, it often results in lopsided competitions.

For example, if the Mammoth decide to mostly use AHL-caliber players on Sunday, while their opponents, the Colorado Avalanche, want to get early looks at Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see the latter guys to walk away with a wheelbarrow full of points.

The first few preseason games typically feature a number of players who aren’t yet expected to make it to the NHL. As guys get cut from the training camp roster, the regular NHLers start making appearances. By the time the last preseason game rolls around, the team should be more or less set, with just a bit of tinkering left to do.

What are the minimum roster requirements for an NHL preseason game?

Each team must dress at least eight “veterans” in every preseason game. Anyone who meets at least one of these criteria is considered a veteran in this case:

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• A forward or defenseman who played at least 30 games last season

• A goalie who either dressed for 50 games or played in 30 games last season

• A player who was selected in the first round of the draft this year

• A player who has played 100 NHL games or more in his career

This guarantees at least a minimum level of competitive nature in preseason games and gives the paying fans a little more for their money.

All that being said, the new CBA will overhaul the preseason starting next year. While teams are currently free to play anywhere from six to eight exhibition games each fall, they will be capped at four, and anyone with 100 or more games of NHL experience will not be allowed to play in more than two of them.

That change comes with an added two games of regular season action, expanding the total to 84 per team.

Utah Mammoth preseason schedule

The Mammoth have seven preseason games this year. The schedule is as follows, with all times listed in MDT:

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• Sept. 21: @ Colorado Avalanche (split-squad, meaning they play two games with two different rosters on the same day), 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

• Sept. 22: @ Anaheim Ducks, 8 p.m.

• Sept. 25: @ Vegas Golden Knights, 8 p.m.

• Oct. 2: vs. Los Angeles Kings, 7 p.m.

• Oct. 4: vs. San Jose Sharks, 7 p.m.

The game against the Kings on Oct. 2 will be the first public event at the Delta Center since the renovations started.

It’s not yet confirmed whether Utah Mammoth preseason games will be available on SEG+, but the team said fans should be able to stream all of them online in one form or another.

Storylines to watch in the Utah Mammoth’s preseason

Most of the NHL roster is more or less set, barring any major mishaps or injuries. Outside of those players, though, there are a few jobs up for grabs.

That creates interesting storylines for fans to follow throughout camp. Here are a few of them.

Will any rookies make the team?

If you’ve heard GM Bill Armstrong speak publicly since the draft, you’ve probably heard him refer to his “six first-rounders” who are pushing for NHL jobs. While it’s not realistic to expect all of them to make it this year, some of them could potentially push veterans out of their spots.

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Dmitri Simashev is chief among them. The 6-foot-5 Russian is a Gagarin Cup champion (the grand prize in the KHL, the top league in Europe) and he’s ready to prove himself as an NHL player. He had impressive showings at both development camp and rookie camp, but now he has to do it against true NHL players at training camp.

Maveric Lamoureux, another big defenseman, also has the potential to turn some heads — although his performance in the Rookie Showcase has created some doubt amongst the fanbase. But elite athletes tend to be able to use other people’s doubt as their fuel and become better for it. We’ll see if “MavLam” can do the same.

To date, Tij Iginla is the only player to ever score while wearing a home Utah Mammoth jersey. That will change soon, but he’ll always be able to say he was the first. The 19-year-old is coming off of double hip surgery, and it cost him a good chunk of last season. That, combined with his relatively small frame by NHL standards, might necessitate another WHL season, but he’ll have the chance to show what he’s worth at training camp first.

Cole Beaudoin is known for his workhorse mentality, both on the ice and in the weight room. He came to rookie camp bigger and stronger this year. At training camp last season, he performed so well that it almost seemed like he had an outside shot at making the team. If he can do the same this year, maybe they start him in the NHL.

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Daniil But probably isn’t NHL-ready yet, but he’ll have every chance to prove otherwise at camp. He’s a big body with plenty of potential. He won the Gagarin Cup with Simashev and his comparable players are off the charts.

Caleb Desnoyers will not make the team out of camp because he won’t be on the ice at camp. He recently underwent wrist surgery and is expected to be out until early November.

Which depth forwards will make the team?

Michael Carcone and Liam O’Brien both took frequent turns in the press box last year, while Kailer Yamamoto spent the bulk of the season in the AHL. With the likes of Beaudoin, But and Iginla pushing for spots too, it should be a competitive camp.

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It seems there are spots for two or three of them, depending on how many of their healthy scratch slots they want to fill with forwards.

Carcone and Yamamoto are especially coming in with something to prove. Neither one got the playing time they thought they deserved last year, so it will be up to them to leave the coaching staff no choice.

What’s going on with all of Utah’s defensemen?

With six defensemen on the ice every night and one to two in the press box, it’s clear that there will be a log jam on the back end. Utah has 12 defensemen that were on NHL rosters at some point last year:

• Mikhail Sergachev

• John Marino

• Sean Durzi

• Olli Määttä

• Nate Schmidt

• Nick DeSimone

• Maveric Lamoureux

• Juuso Välimäki (injured, projected to be out until November or December)

• Scott Perunovich

• Kevin Connauton

• Makysimilian Szuber

And that’s not including Dmitri Simashev or Artem Duda, who could both realistically propel themselves into one of those spots, too.

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They also have a number of AHL defensemen on two-way contracts who don’t likely have a shot at cracking the roster this year.

Armstrong said on free agency day that he doesn’t anticipate any injuries to defensemen (other than Välimäki) to start the season. Unless something has happened since then, this will be a competitive race.

When 109-year-old Frances Mitchell was asked if she feels lucky to have lived so long, she gave a simple response.

“Of course, I think I deserve it,” Mitchell said with a smile.

Mitchell was the oldest person in attendance at Utah’s Centenarian Celebration hosted by the Division of Aging and Adult Services and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Tuesday.

The governor gave brief remarks and then he and his wife, first lady Abby Cox, went around the room greeting each member of the “Century Club” and taking pictures with them.

“It’s easy sometimes to get a little discouraged about who we are and in the bad things that are happening in our country, in our world, and sadly, in our backyard,” the governor said in his remarks. “I try to look for the good that’s out there. And I’m proud to say that there is so much more good in Utah than there is evil.”

He also shared how much of an inspiration each of the centenarians are.

“It’s easy for us to think that everything is so bad and it’s the worst it’s ever been, but we have a bunch of people in this room that know that it’s not the worst it’s ever been. You are an inspiration to all of us the way you have lived your lives,” Cox said.

The governor also shared that Utah has been named the best state in the country multiple years in a row, but went on credit the centenarians with the state’s greatness.

“You built this state. The decisions that you made, the lives that you lived, the families that you raised, the businesses that you started, the service that you gave to your neighbors and your communities, are what made it so we could be named the best state in the country,” Cox said.

The event was introduced by Division of Aging and Adult Services director Nels Holmgren, who thanked all in attendance for being there.

“Our centenarians have their own remarkable stories to tell about. Their more than 100 years of amazing experiences,” Holmgren said.

Words of wisdom from Utah’s centenarians

The Deseret News sat down with a few members of Utah’s Century Club asking them to share life lessons they have learned as well as their secrets to living such long lives.

Mitchell’s life lesson she would like to tell young people is that they should be friendly people, make good friends and honor them.

When asked what her secret is to living so long, Mitchell said it’s because she is “stubborn.”

Phyllis Ockerman, 103, was one of 11 people and two women at the event who served in the military during World War II. Ockerman was a Navy nurse and when asked what she would want young people today to know that she wished she knew, she said “things will work out.”

Another piece of advice Ockerman gave was “Watch your words, because you can’t get them back.”

Floyd Anderson, 102, another World War II veteran, said his advice is for people to be involved in diverse experiences. He added that everyone should hold on to areas of life that are constructive and get rid of things that are destructive.

Wayne Clayson, the oldest man at the celebration on Tuesday, said his advice to younger people is that “they should learn how to be friends.”

Clayson, along with multiple other members of the Century Club said that attitude is a huge part of living a long time, if you have a good attitude it makes life better.

Esther Orr, 104, another veteran who served in the Army during World War II, echoed that same sentiment.

“My two words are attitude, perseverance,” Orr said when asked her secret to living so long. “And always be happy.”

Orr also shared that she believes the young people today should “be kind to others, and volunteer, if possible, to help others.”

Helen Joe Stoddard, 102, who used to teach nutrition shared that she believes good nutrition has helped her live past the age of 100.

Another thing that was repeated by multiple centenarians sharing how they have lived so long is “staying active,” and being around other people such as friends and family.

Utah’s ‘Century Club’ by the numbers

• There are a total of 154 centenarians currently living in Utah, 124 women and 30 men. At Tuesday’s event 56 centenarians were present, 46 women and 10 men.
• The oldest people in Utah are three women; Betty Mendoza, who is 113, and Lucille Robbins and Vera Dugdale, who are both 112.
• The oldest men in the Century Club are Milton Christensen, Paul Nkoy and Leon Tapia, who are all 110.
• Salt Lake County has the highest number of Utah’s centenarians with 84, followed by Utah County with 18 and Weber County which has 16.