UTAH HIGH SCHOOL 4A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Feb. 23-24, 2024
- BYU Richards Building Pool
- Provo, Utah
- SCY (25 yards)
- PDF results
- 6A recap
- 5A recap
- 4A recap
Boys Team Scores
- Judge Memorial – 335
- Canyon View – 324
- Ogden – 220
- Juan Diego – 192
- Union – 181
Leading by just five points heading into the final 400 freestyle relay, the Judge Memorial boys pieced together some clutch performances to claim their fourth team crown in a row at the Utah 2A/3A Championships last month in Provo.
Canyon View junior Kurt Morgan posted the fastest anchor in the field at 45.02, but it wasn’t quite enough to catch Judge Memorial senior Benji Gillespie (47.66 split) down the stretch. Judge Memorial (335) finished just 11 points ahead of the Canyon View boys (324) after holding them off by just a few tenths in the 400 free relay (3:17.08 to 3:17.43).
Judge Memorial junior Levi Galaviz lowered his lifetime best in the 500 free by more than three seconds on his way to the win in 5:07.69. Canyon View senior Nick Bittmenn was even faster in prelims (5:06.60), but he couldn’t replicate that speed in the final (5:08.02). Galaviz anchored the winning 200 medley relay (1:39.83) with a 22.25 split while leading off the triumphant 400 free relay with a time of 49.47. Judge Memorial junior Frank Sankovitz (51.56 split) and junior Matt Eagar (48.39 split) joined Galaviz and Gillespie on the 400 free relay.
Morgan cruised to victory in the 200 free (1:42.98) by more than eight seconds, reaching the wall just about a second shy of Lucas Hess’s 3A record of 1:41.89 from 2016. He shaved a couple tenths off his previous-best 1:43.26 from November. Morgan added a 20.72 anchor in the 200 free relay (1:30.23), where Canyon View won and Judge Memorial was disqualified. He also earned a runner-up finish in the 100 fly (50.19) dropping a couple tenths off his previous-best 50.42 from November.
Saint Joseph junior Gabe Jones took down a pair of Utah 2A records along with two individual titles, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Will Jones, a current Navy freshman. First Gabe repeated in the 100 fly (49.27), in the process erasing the old 2A record of 49.91 clocked by Maeser Prep’s Anthony Puertas in 2018. Then he touched first in the 100 back (50.11), not far off his brother’s 2A record of 49.37 set last year. Gabe ended his meet with a personal-best 47.49 leadoff on Saint Joseph’s 400 free relay, crushing the 2A standard of 48.26 tallied by Telos Academy’s Guil Ware in 2020. It was his third 2A record of the month after breaking Will’s 100 breast mark at regionals earlier in February.
Union senior Boston Bennett swept the sprint freestyle events, taking the 50 free title in 21.52 and the 100 free crown in 47.36. He improved slightly from his previous bests from regionals in January (21.63/47.44).
The 100 breast featured a fun battle between Juan Diego senior Charlie Gleason (1:02.72) and South Summit senior James Keddington (1:02.83). Though he lost that race, Keddington topped the podium in the 200 IM with a personal-best 2:00.79, dropping a couple tenths off his previous-best 2:01.07 from regionals.
Girls Recap
Team Scores
- Judge Memorial – 320
- Carbon – 251
- Canyon View – 214
- Juan Diego – 155
- Ogden – 149
Judge Memorial junior Delaney Dolan captured 1st-place finishes in the 200 free (2:02.06) and 500 free (5:31.86) to carry her program to a three-peat at the Utah 2A/3A Championships.
Dolan was just off her lifetime bests in the 200 free (2:01.41) and 500 free (5:24.00) from December. She also anchored two winning relays for Judge Memorial, splitting 25.68 swimming freestyle on the 200 medley relay (1:56.98) along with a 55.90 split on the 400 free relay (3:52.38). She helped account for 80 points between her four wins, the difference in Judge Memorial’s 69-point margin of victory over Carbon (251 points).
Layton Christian junior Pinar Donmez shined with two individual victories in the 100 breast (1:05.22) and 200 IM (1:08.54). The Turkish standout was even faster in the 100 breast prelims at 1:04.71, within a second of her own 3A record from November (1:03.96). Donmez dominated the 200 IM by almost nine seconds, barely missing a decade-old 3A record belonging to Amelie Draney (2:08.31) from 2014.
Her twin sister, Layton Christian junior Nehir Donmez, defended her 100 fly title with a time of 1:01.53. Last year, she won the 100 fly (59.46) and 500 free (5:32.01) at this meet.
The other double winner on the girls side was South Summit sophomore Alli Henneuse, who secured state titles in the 50 free (24.84) and 100 back (1:02.01), both in lifetime bests. She knocked more than half a second off her best 50 free time from November (25.37) while slicing almost two seconds off her best 100 back time from January (1:03.89).
Richfield junior Avah Kling had a huge drop to claim the 100 free crown in 55.25. She was even faster in prelims at 54.77, almost three seconds faster than her previous-best 57.71 from her 3rd-place showing last year. Kling also placed 2nd in the 100 back with a personal-best 1:02.75, dropping a whopping five seconds off her previous-best 1:07.85 from January.
