PROVO — The 4A state swimming championships were a tale of two teams from Utah County that had vastly different expectations coming in.
For Springville's boys, it was a chance to finally get over the hump of not winning a team title after spending the last few years in contention.
The Timpview girls, on the other hand, knew that it would be an uphill battle to keep up for a team title. But that didn't stop several of the T-Birds from taking a few races.
It was the Red Devils' turn, though, to be crowned as champions.
After Day 1 on Friday, the boys led over their closest competitor Murray, 139-113. The second day saw Springville win the two relays — ever more crucial since points are doubled for those — that helped lead the team to a 53-point margin over Snow Canyon.
"They really decided what they wanted," said Springville coach Aymee Hargett. "They said they will be committed to this, and put in the time and made the workouts."
A crucial third and fourth-place finish — by Bryant Taylor and Eric Buzbee, respectively — in the 100-yard freestyle gave the Red Devils 31 points right there. Channing Miller and Garrett Pope added 11 points for eighth-place and four points for 13th, respectively, to give Springville 46 points from one race alone.
Another race that brought home points from four swimmers was the 50 free that closed out Friday's first day of competition. Taylor won, Tim Call finished third, Miller ended up 11th and Pope finished 14th. All told, this racked up another 45 points.
"The kids were a really deep team in freestyle," Hargett said.
Winning the 200 free and the 400 free relays helped seal the deal as Springville snatched 80 points for emerging victorious in those. Plus, the Red Devils finished second in the 200 medley relay.
Calvin Clark came up second in the 200 individual medley and finished fourth in the 500 free for a great meet for him. Call also finished third in the 100 backstroke, and Cody Fullmer closed out the list of medalists for Springville with a fifth-place showing in the 100 backstroke.
Hargett said she told her team before the start of Day 2 not to rest on its laurels. "Yesterday we did great," Hargett said. "That's awesome, but it's a new day."
Timpview's girls were in second after the first day — down 145-117 behind eventual repeat champions East. The Leopards were dominant throughout on Day 2 by winning both relays on Saturday and two individual events, as Timpview just didn't have enough numbers to stay in the hunt.
The T-Birds were nipped by Murray 292-287 for second place at the end.
"One of the things we need to work on is we need to try to get deeper to win championships," said Timpview coach Brian Sorenson, adding "4A has gotten a lot deeper and better in the last two to three years."
The winners for Timpview included Meagan Stone in the 100 back and 200 IM, and Kylie Harper in the 100 breast. Harper also finished second in the 50 free.
Finishing off the T-Birds' medal-winners were McCall Blake in the 200 IM (fourth) and the 100 back (sixth), Caitlin MacKay in the 200 IM (fifth) and 500 free (fourth), and Natalya Skabelund in the 100 butterfly (fourth) finished off the medal winners for the T-Birds.
"I can't complain," Sorenson said about the girls' swims as he said a few of the performances were likely new school records.
A few other local swimmers did well in individual events to buck the trend of the top teams dominating the results sheets.
Orem's Kelsey Wells won the 500 free and placed third in the 200 free. Paul Woodruff earned a second-place medal for the Tigers in the 100 free and finished fifth in the 200 free. Spencer Robinson rounded out the list of Orem medalists by coming in fifth in the 100 butterfly.
Mountain View's Char Hafen was the only medalist for the Bruins as he finished sixth in the 100 fly.