2019 AIA Division III Swimming and Diving State Championship
- November 7th-8th, 2019
- Phoenix Country Day School – Dady Aquatic Center – Paradise Valley, AZ
- AIA Division III Championships – Top 24 individuals and Top 16 relays per event (Arizona smaller schools).
- SCY, prelims/finals, 8 lane – Top 16 final
- Meet Results
Girls Results:
Scottsdale Preparatory Academy won the 2019 AIA Championship title over Phoenix Country Day High School 2 weeks ago in Paradise Valley. For Scottsdale Prep, that’s the culmination of several years of ladder-climbing after finishing 26th in 2016 and then 2nd in both 2017 and 2018.
The Spartans started the meet off strong with a 2nd place finish in the 200 medley relay. The team of Tatum Good, Samantha Wareing, Taylor Bernosky, and Grace Carefoot finished in a time of 1:50.91, just .26 behind first place Phoenix Country Day School. Junior Bernosky clocked a (1:55.13) 200 freestyle, good for bronze and improving her time from the 2018 Championship meet.
Good, a junior at Scottsdale Prep, had an impressive meet in her individual events, earning silver in both the 200 IM (2:12.33) and 100 back (59.69), an improvement over last year’s meet. Bernosky’s (5:07.42) earned her bronze in the 500 freestyle while Wareing placed 2nd in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.77).
The Scottsdale Prep girls 200 freestyle relay (1:42.71) took gold with a team made up of (Good, Martens, Scott, and Carefoot) while the 400 freestyle relay (3:46.35) took silver. The lone diver, Micaela Young, placed 5th with a score of 300.15 on the 1 mtr board.
Phoenix Country Day junior Quinn Murphy kept her perfect streak alive in both the 100 freestyle (51.13) and 100 back (55.74), where she is now a 3-time champion in both races. While narrowly missing the All-America consideration time standard in the freestyle, she earned it in the backstroke by .18 seconds. All these efforts earned Murphy 2019 AIA DIII Girls Swimming of the Year.
Murphy also helped lead the Phoenix Country Day team to a victory in 2 relays. The first being the 200 medley where Murphy swam backstroke along with Siena Hayes, Charlize Szeto, and Maya Lewis with a winning time of (1:50.65). The second relay was the 400 freestyle relay featuring (Szeto, Lewis, Hayes, Murphy) where the team finished over 6 seconds faster than 2nd place (3:39.88).
Samantha Stein, a senior at Phoenix Country Day High School, earned her 4th straight 1 meter diving title with a final score of 407.20, over 76 points ahead of 2nd place. She was named the 2019 AIA DIII Diver of the Year.
Senior at Arete Prep, Amanda Zajdzinski, performed well over the weekend becoming a 2-time champion in both the 200 and 500 freestyle, clocking a 1:52.21 and 5:00.73, respectively.
Other Event Winners:
- Sophomore Charlize Szeto – Phoenix Country Day High School – 200 IM (2:11.15), an improvement from 3rd place at the 2018 Championships
- Junior Amanda Farnum – Sabino High School – 50 freestyle (24.35), an improvement from 6th place last year
- Senior Caylah Jago – Scottsdale Christian Academy – 100 butterfly (55.64), over 3.5 seconds ahead of 2nd place.
- Senior Emma Warner – Mingus High School – 100 breaststroke (1:08.20)
Top 10 Finishers
- Scottsdale Preparatory Academy – 299
- Phoenix Country Day High Schoo – 272.5
- Pusch Ridge Christian Academy – 184
- Saguaro High School – 161
- Tanque Verde High School -138.5
- Sabino High School -131
- Scottsdale Christian Academy – 129
- Arete Prep High School -122
- Chandler Prep High School -103
- Mingus High School -102
Boys Results:
The Saguaro High School Sabercats boys team clinched the 2019 AIA DIII State Championship title, an improvement from 2nd place at last year’s championship meet.
Saguaro junior Denton Smith picked up a 2nd place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:43.39) while Caden Richter landed 3rd in the 100 freestyle (47.74) and in 5th place after a 21.60 in the 50 freestyle.
Junior Devin Esser of Veritas Prep was victorious in both the 200 and 500 freestyle, touching the wall in a 1:41.50/4:37.42, respectively. Esser became a 2-time champion in 500 freestyle and earned AA-A All American qualifications. Denton Smith‘s silver in the 500 freestyle earned him automatic All-America status with a time of 4:43.71.
Saguaro’s 400 freestyle relay of Smith, Caden Sychala, Miguelangelo Miranda, and Richter won the event in a 3:15.72, more than 6 seconds ahead of 2nd place. Henry Benston of Saguaro claimed gold in the 1 meter diving event with a score of 404.65, over 44 points ahead of 2nd place.
Sophomore Maxwell Kleinman of Benjamin Franklin High was a double winner in the 100 freestyle (46.01) and 200 IM (1:51.63), narrowly missing AA-C All American consideration. San Manuel High junior, Evan Apuron, also became a 2x champion in the 100 butterfly (50.71).
Other Event Winners:
- Senior James Karam – Seton Catholic High School – 50 freestyle (21.08)
- Wyatt Nunn, Ian Choi, Jonathan Croyle, Christian Swiniuch – Pusch Ridge Christian Academy – 200 freestyle relay (1:31.03)
- Junior Michael Shiaras – Veritas Prep High School – 100 backstroke (53.29), an improvement from 4th place last year
- Junior Nathan Kempiak – Gilbert Christian High School – 100 breaststroke (58.35)
Top 10 Finishers
- Saguaro High School – 249
- Phoenix Country Day High School – 226
- Veritas Prep High School -168
- Seton Catholic High School – 162
- Pusch Ridge Christian Academy – 161
- Red Rock High School – 154
- Walden Grove High School – 102
- Tanque Verde High School – 97
- Gilbert Classical Academy High School – 93
- American Leadership Academy – 90
