Records fell left and right at Utah 2A State Championships, but ultimately, the women of Grand County and the men of North Summit went home with the state titles. The North Summit women and the Emery men each came in a close second.
Julia Sanderson of Rowland Hall won three titles to take the Women’s Swimmer of the Meet award, and Elliot Watt of Telos Academy swept the sprint free events to win the men’s award.
The women of Grand County High School won the 200 medley relay by a solid thirteen seconds. Mary Kimmerle, River Richards, London Richards, and Alexa Pierce came together for 1:59.87. North Summit finished second with 2:13.00, and Emery High School hit third with 2:16.46.
The men of North Summit also won their 200 medley by a huge margin. Trystin Hellander, Eisley Scholes, Sam Crittenden, and Eli Crittenden blasted a 1:49.41, for a new 2A record, taking down Emery’s 1:51.47 from last season. Emery’s team finished second in 1:55.81, followed by South Summit in 1:57.81.
Alexa Pierce of Grand took down another 2A record in the 200 freestyle. She dropped three seconds from her seed time to hit in 1:59.96. Her time was nearly five seconds ahead of the previous record.
The men’s 200 free was a close race between McKinley Card of South Summit and Braxton Pierce of Grand. Pierce used closing speed to win the race, clocking 1:51.95 to win the event. Card finished in 1:53.06.
Senior Sanderson of Rowland Hall won her first title in the 200 IM by a 16 second margin, finishing in 2:16.77. Summit Academy’s Johan Boer won the men’s event in 2:10.98, finishing a second ahead of Rowland Hall’s Isaac Landau (2:11.20).
A pair of underclassmen took the 50 titles, as freshman Drew Roper of Millard won the women’s 50 free in 26.06 and sophomore Watt of Telos took the men’s 50 in 21.73. Watt took the 2A record by a second and a half, taking down Dominic Stagg’s 23.35 from last year.
Alexa Pierce won her second title with 1:01.75 in the 100 fly, winning the event by 9 seconds. She took down her own 2A record from last year, a 1:02.29. Jayden Grose scored big points for Millard with his win in the men’s event, finishing in 57.98.
A pair of freshmen took the top two spots in the women’s 100 free; Grand’s Mary Kimmerle took the title, dropping five seconds from her seed time to hit 56.48. Wasatch’s Clista Galecki took second in 1:01.15.
The top four men came in under the old 100 fly record 55.81, but Watt took the top slot, clocking 48.32 for the title and the record.
Sanderson took her second title in the 500 free by an absolute landslide. She finished in 5:18.14, forty seconds and a lap ahead of the competition. She took down the old record by eight seconds, and nearly came in ahead of the boys’ winner. Braxton Pierce also had a mid-distance freestyle sweep, winning the event in 5:18.00.
The Rowland Hall women took a win in the 200 free relay, when Alison Puri, Sophie Hannah, Bella Goh, and Sanderson teamed up for a new record 1:51.58, taking down the old record by a second and a half.
The 200 free relay was a close race on the men’s side, a fight between Emery and Rowland Hall. The final leg made the difference, when Emery’s Daryl Guymon and Rowland’s Donovan Murphy went head to head. Guymon prevailed, and he and his teammates, Nate Gilbert, Keldan Guymon, and Dakota Wright prevailed, clocking 1:38.56. Emery took second in 1:39.25.
Roper took her second title in the 100 back, swimming a new 2A record 1:03.23. Johan Boer took his second title as well, finishing in 57.13 for another record.
Wasatch senior Jessica Rasmussen won the 100 breast in 1:13.78, and North Summit junior Eisley Scholes took the men’s title with 1:04.20, a new record.
The final relays of the day went to the Grand County women and the North Summit men. Alexa Pierce, River Richards, London Richards, and Kimmerle teamed up again for their second relay title and record of the night, clocking 3:54.50. Scholes, Eli Crittenden, Hellander, and Sam Crittenden did the same, winning the title and the record in 3:36.15.
Women’s team scores:
1 Grand County High School: 237
2 North Summit High School: 229
3 Emery High School: 205
4 Rowland Hall High School: 167
5 Wasatch Academy High School: 97
6 American Leadership Academy: 94
7 South Summit High School: 76
8 Gunnison Valley High School: 57
9 Millard High School: 32
10 Summit Academy High School: 28
Men’s team scores:
1 North Summit High School: 250
2 Emery High School: 225
3 Rowland Hall High School: 157
4 Grand County High School: 146
5 South Summit High School: 110
6 Summit Academy High School: 75
7 Oakley High School: 63
8 Wasatch Academy High School: 56
9 Delta High School: 51
10 Telos Academy High School: 32
11 Millard High School: 27
12 American Leadership Academy: 26
13 Gunnison Valley High School: 8
