PROVO — Massive classification realignment will shake up the 4A swimming championships considerably. But for the final year of the current structure, those aligned in 4A set some pretty impressive marks that will be tough to beat, no matter what the classification looks like in the future.
Five 4A state records were set during the final day of competition on Saturday in the 14 races. What's more was the youth of those setting the marks — most particularly Timpview's Rachel Oyler, who squashed the all-time mark in the 100-yard freestyle, just days before her 15th birthday.
"I'm just happy to have done it," the freshman, who swam a time of 51.69 seconds, said. "It was just amazing."
Other great marks are likely in store for Oyler, considering she still has three more years of prep competition. Turns out she set another mark, along with three other Timpview freshmen soon after her win in the 100-yard freestyle.
Racing with freshman teammates Akalia Bostock and Kate Hansen, along with junior Annie Jacob, Oyler helped set a record time in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:38.87. The hard-luck second-place finish went to Olympus, which also broke the old record yet finished a mere .15 of a second behind the Thunderbirds.
Others who broke records included Maple Mountain junior Makayla Cazier, who broke her own mark in the 100-yard backstroke, and Kearns sophomore Lily Plaudis, whose 1:04.02 time in the 100-yard breaststroke put her in the record books.
The final race of the day brought the fifth and final 4A state mark. This time it was the Timpview boys breaking records in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:11.21.
"It really is an exciting time for swimming with all the great young swimmers," said Skyline coach Joe Pereira. "Not all of these swimmers will be here next year, some will move up, some will stay with the realignment and everything, but this was definitely a fun year."
Although his swimmers weren't among those setting state records, Pereira's swimmers did very well for themselves — coming away with their second-straight team championships in both the boys and girls competitions.
The Skyline girls side won comfortably over upstart Timpview, scoring 288.5 points to the Thunderbirds' 197. Top swimmers for the Eagle girls were Becca Goodson, who took home gold in the 500-yard freestyle, and other top finishers such as Aleah Griffin and Sarah Fillerup.
"The girls team was rebuilding this year, so it was a really big accomplishment for us to win it again," Pereira said. "We had a lot of young sophomores and juniors step up for us, and then some really great senior leadership by our captains."
The Skyline boys were led by standouts like Parker Gardner, Max Trevino and Alex Zini, according to Pereira.
"It was a real team effort, and you always love to see that as a coach," Pereira said, whose team exemplified the fact that it's quality of depth, more often than not, that wins competitions. "Last year we had the type of swimmers that could go for records, but this team was different. But we did very well with what we had, and I couldn't be more proud of them."
Girls results
Final team results: 1. Skyline (288.5 points); 2. Timpview (197); 3. Corner Canyon (191); 4. Wasatch (168); 5. Kearns (160); 6. Olympus (156); 7. Highland (145); 8. Judge Memorial (130)
Day two results
100-yard butterfly: 1. Bella White, Olympus, 57.78; 2. Bergen Braun, Bountiful, 58.96; 3. Nicole Strong, Olympus, 1:00.28; 4. Kate Smith, Box Elder, 1:01.64; 5. Amani Jammoul, Judge Memorial, 1:01.66; 6. Savannah Hansen, Corner Canyon, 1:01.75; 7. Kara Ngu, Highland, 1:02.45; 8. Shanon Dowling, Maple Mountain, 1:02.67
100-yard freestyle: 1. Rachel Oyler, Timpview, 51.69; 2. Aleah Griffin, Skyline, 53.76; 3. Claire Kieffer, Wasatch, 54.52; 4. Katya Hulse, East, 54.64; 5. Katy Mayer, East, 54.89; 6. Kali Barlow, Corner Canyon, 55.01; 7. Leah Gale, Orem, 55.10; 8. Amber Neuenschwander, Woods Cross, 55.34
500-yard freestyle: 1. Becca Goodson, Skyline, 5:15.77; 2. Akalia Bostock, Timpview, 5:16.43; 3. India Phillips, Highland, 5:24.45; 4. Arden Tesch, Highland, 5:27.22; 5. Ashley Pickford, Corner Canyon, 5:27.58; 6. Kate Hansen, Timpview, 5:33.97; 7. Abbi Morris, Springville, 5:34.32; 8. Katie Christofferson, Cyprus, 5:35.32
200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Timpview (Akalia Bostock, Kate Hansen, Annie Jacob, Rachel Oyler), 1:38.87; 2. Olympus (Zarya Smith, Nicole Strong, Bella White, Emma Lofgran), 1:39.02; 3. Corner Canyon (Abbey Gates, Kali Barlow, London Jackson, Eliza Balfe), 1:41.40; 4. Skyline (Cosette Gray, Erika Kunko, Bailey Bills, Aleah Griffin), 1:42.14; 5. Wasatch (Claire Kieffer, Mia Johnson, Sydney Whitby, Storie O'Brien), 1:42.45; 6. Highland (Sarah Berg, Makayla Harris, Arden Tesch, India Phillips), 1:43.90; 7. Springville (Nicole Pope, Abbi Morris, Sarah Bush, Natalie Mertz), 1:44.61; 8. East (Katya Hulse, Margaret Mayer, Nele Kaufusi, Katy Mayer), 1:45.26
100-yard backstroke: 1. Makayla Cazier, Maple Mountain, 55.78; 2. Sarah Fillerup, Skyline, 58.59; 3. Rivers Johnson, Corner Canyon, 58.86; 4. Katya Hulse, East, 59.89; 5. Kate Hansen, Timpview, 1:01.61; 6. Kate Smith, Box Elder, 1:01.63; 6. Abby Bowler, Skyline, 1:01.63; 8. Kimerly Biesinger, Kearns, 1:02.39
100-yard breaststroke: 1. Lily Plaudis, Kearns, 1:04.02; 2. Madelyn Flower, Murray, 1:05.75; 3. Abbi Morris, Springville, 1:07.20; 4. Caroline Yannelli, Judge Memorial, 1:07.35; 5. Addie Richards, Orem, 1:08.16; 6. Megan Prince, Skyline, 1:08.96; 7. Maddy Moulton, Wasatch, 1:09.71; 8. Kate Miller, Corner Canyon, 1:09.85
400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Timpview (Rachel Oyler, Kate Hansen, Annie Jacob, Akalia Bostock), 3:38.45; 2. Skyline (Cosette Gray, Sarah Fillerup, Becca Goodson, Aleah Griffin), 3:40.36; 3. Corner Canyon (Ashley Pickford, Savannah Hansen, Kate Miller, Aliza Smith), 3:45.48; 4. Wasatch (Claire Kieffer, Anna Durrans, Sydney Whitby, Maddy Moulton), 3:46.54; 5. Woods Cross (Amber Neuenschwander, Avery Hunsaker, Xana Rogers, Kalyn Avery), 3:46.72; 6. Highland (Anna Foulks, India Phillips, Arden Tesch, Makayla Harris), 3:48.62; 7. Judge Memorial, Amani Jammoul, Erin Morgan, Caroline Yannelli, Victoria Stevens), 3:48.95; 8. Springville (Abbi Morris, Sarah Bush, Nicole Pope, Natalie Mertz), 3:49.82
Boys results
Final team results: 1. Skyline (349.5 points); 2. Timpview (225); 3. Springville (200); 4. Olympus (169); 5. Box Elder (165); 6. Wasatch (161); 7. Corner Canyon (120.5); 8. Provo (120)
Day two results
100-yard butterfly: 1. Jonah Black, Murray, 50.85; 2. Holden Knight, Highland, 53.55; 3. Calvin Giese, Wasatch, 53.85; 4. Alex Peek, Timpview, 54.69; 5. Alex Zini, Skyline, 54.85; 6. Jared Laws, Box Elder, 55.03; 7. Blake Goodsell, Olympus, 55.15; 8. Henry Springmeyer, Skyline, 55.29
100-yard freestyle: 1. Josh Skabelund, Timpview, 47.00; 2. Kaden Staker, Provo, 47.39; 3. Ian James, Wasatch, 47.42; 4. Gage Milligan, Murray, 48.43; 5. Erick Mosteller, Skyline, 48.47; 6. Brian Christofferson, Cyprus, 48.61; 7. Jake Ference, Olympus, 48.71; 8. Matt Lavey, Skyline, 48.80
500-yard freestyle: 1. Brigham Harrison, Timpview, 4:43.24; 2. Parker Gardner, Skyline, 4:49.15; 3. Addison Morris, Woods Cross, 4:52.77; 4. Cameron Green, Springville, 4:53.87; 5. Blake Goodsell, Olympus, 4:58.18; 6. Holden Knight, Highland, 4:59.50; 7. Zak Peterson, Highland, 4:59.59; 8. Alexander, Tward, Skyline, 4:59.76
200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Timpview (Josh Skabelund, Alex Peek, Brayden Bonnett, Brigham Harrison), 1:27.58; 2. Springville (Cameron Green, Cougar Pope, Brock Hargett, Jacob Anderson), 1:29.24; 3. Skyline (Erick Mosteller, Max Trevino, Henry Springmeyer, Kade Colarusso), 1:29.41; 4. Provo (Kaden Staker, Benjamin Harrison, Gannon McGinn, Bennett Harvey), 1:29.57; 5. Wasatch (Ian James, Gabe Schultz, Cody Harris, Jaden Mickelson), 1:30.41; 6. Olympus (Jake Ference, Blake Goodsell, Aleks Wozniak, Talmage Corey), 1:30.53; 7. Cyprus (Brian Christofferson, Kyle Hammond, Brenen Ketchem, Tyler Richards), 1:31.00; 8. East (Nathan Van Buren, Cameron Wright, Alex Mayer, Zach Olson), 1:33.14
100-yard backstroke: 1. Talmage Corey, Olympus, 52.30; 2. Jonah Black, Murray, 52.92; 3. Jacob Anderson, Springville, 53.87; 4. Eli Cook, Skyline, 54.59; 5. Matt Lavey, Skyline, 55.68; 6. Alex Gilson, Corner Canyon, 55.87; 7. Calvin Giese, Wasatch, 56.02; 8. Connor Peterson, Highland, 56.71
100-yard breaststroke: 1. Eric Anderson, Box Elder, 1:00.48; 2. Nathan Van Buren, East, 1:00.61; 3. Isaac Miller, Skyline, 1:01.67; 4. Sage Helton, Kearns, 1:02.36; 5. Tyler Gardner, Skyline, 1:02.58; 6. Jaden Lerohl, Box Elder, 1:03.02; 7. Cougar Pope, Springville, 1:03.41; 8. Tanner Farrer, Box Elder, 1:03.52
400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Timpview (Brigham Harrison, Jackson Hansen, Brayden Bonnett, Josh Skabelund), 3:11.21; 2. Skyline (Max Trevino, Alex Zini, Parker Gardner, Erick Mosteller), 3:17.20; 3. Olympus (Alex Cromar, Aleks Wozniak, Jake Ference, Talmage Corey), 3:17.49; 4. Wasatch (Ian James, Oliver James, Calvin Giese, Jaden Mickelson), 3:17.68; 5. Provo (Gannon McGinn, Benjamin Harrison, Bennett Harvey, Kaden Staker), 3:19.12; 6. Murray (Jonah Black, Lincoln Yospe, Soren Selph, Gage Milligan), 3:19.37; 7. Corner Canyon (Alex Gilson, Noah Afualo, Zach Bangerter, Tanner Manwaring), 3:21.04; 8. Springville (Cougar Pope, Kaden Jepperson, Michael Atwood, Spencer McQueen), 3:23.07