We just had a group of kids who wanted to swim. Today was just a culmination of all their hard work. – Park City coach Mike Werner
PROVO — Park City's Joelle Hess had just swam the race of her life — breaking the 3A state record in the 100-yard breaststroke, with a time of 1:05.51. But instead of bask in the accomplish, or even take a little time to celebrate, the senior swimmer was back in the pool a little less than 15 minutes later.
Hess was a fill-in this season for the team's 400-yard freestyle relay, a stroke that isn't her forte, and one she had to prepare to swim immediately following her breaststroke championship.
"It was weird because I spent all this time waiting for the breaststroke and then (immediately after), the relay," Hess said. "My legs were still shaking from the breaststroke, so I was like yeah, 'hopefully it will go well.'"
Hess's hopes bore out, as the Miners' final relay team swam for not only a gold medal, but another 3A state record, the same record the 400-yard relay team broke the year before.
"It was really hard," Hess said. "I'm just glad that everyone swam well."
The Miners' state record time in the 400-yard freestyle relay was 3:34.82, which is yet another mark set by the state's most dominant 3A swimming program.
Oh yeah, Park City won both the girls and boys 3A state championships — a feat that surprised no one, given the program's history and overwhelming success this past season, and most seasons before it.
"We just had a group of kids who wanted to swim. Today was just a culmination of all their hard work," said Park City coach Mike Werner, speaking of the boys team, specifically. "We're just fortunate to have a team where everyone steps up and works as hard as they can leading up to it."
The Park City boys accumulated 369 total points — over 100 points clear of second-place finisher Cedar City (256.5.)
But the boys side wasn't even the most impressive one for the Miners. The girls team — led by Hess and swimmer of the year Rozie Selznick — obliterated the competition — scoring a total of 466 points to second-place finisher Desert Hills' 275.
"Those two have set the bar high, and the great thing is, is that we have a group of kids that want to be just like them," Werner said of his top two swimmers. "Hopefully we can just keep the pipeline going, because we're going to miss those two after this year."
Hess and Selznick were also part of the 200-yard medley relay team, which smashed yet another 3A state record during the first day of competition.
Hess was also a gold medalist in the 200-yard individual medley while Selznick won gold in both the 100- and 50-yard freestyle competitions.
Leading the Park City boys were Alex Yokubison, who won the 100-yard freestyle, and Cole Peterson, who won gold in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard individual medley.
Girls results
Final team results: 1. Park City (466 points); 2. Desert Hills (275); 3. Cedar City (238); 4. Snow Canyon (190); 5. Ridgeline (168); 6. Dixie (166.5); 7. Juan Diego (110.5); 8. Stansbury (89)
Day two results
100-yard butterfly: 1. Katelyn Gross, Cedar City, 58.32; 2. Katie Hale, Park City, 59.30; 3. Stephanie Dansie, Snow Canyon, 1:01.60; 4. Maddie Royle, Tooele, 1:02.38; 5. Kally Morris, Stansbury, 1:03.13; 6. Erynn Swinson, Pine View, 1:03.69; 7. Sabine Caplin, Park City, 1:04.03; 8. Abby McCoy, Desert Hills, 1:04.35
100-yard freestyle: 1. Rozie Selznick, Park City, 51.87; 2. Kristen Gross, Cedar City, 53.80; 3. Abby Whittington, Juan Diego, 55.04; 4. Aspen Bonzo, Cedar City, 56.53; 5. Mya Ottenschot, Desert Hills, 56.67; 6. Molly McCoy, Desert Hills, 56.95; 7. Taylee Banham, Ridgeline, 57.30; 8. Danielle Jensen, Park City, 57.92
500-yard freestyle: 1. Elise Beller, Park City, 5:16.16; 2. Nicole Christensen, Snow Canyon, 5:21.80; 3. Sabine Caplin, Park City, 5:32.69; 4. Taylor Porter, Desert Hills, 5:33.20; 5. Sydney Senn, Park City, 5:35.22; 6. Hailey Checketts, Ridgeline, 5:35.85; 7. Trinity Schimbeck, Desert Hills, 5:37.21; 8. McKenna Ehrmantraut, Park City, 5:39.22
200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Cedar City (Katelyn Gross, Aspen Bonzo, Elisa Price, Kristen Gross), 1:39.06; 2. Park City (Elise Beller, Bella Buchanan, Emma Strong-Conklin, McKenna Ehrmantraut), 1:43.43; 3. Desert Hills (Mya Ottenschot, Taylor Porter, Molly McCoy, Abby McCoy), 1:45.46; 4. Ridgeline (Hailey Checketts, Grace Sorensen, Lindsay Rigby, Taylee Banham), 1:45.99; 5. Juan Diego (Abby Whittington, Jamie Espinoza, Maddie Lambert, Olivia Ballerd), 1:46.38; 6. Tooele (Maddie Royle, Aspen Grgich, Kelsey Nield, Sydnie Hardy), 1:50.78; 7. Dixie (Keonna Pantelakis, Sierra Johnson, Sage Holt, Ashlee McBride), 1:51.03; 8. Logan (Mikayel Miller, Roxie Anderson, Bethany Schiffman, Tori Geller), 1:53.18
100-yard backstroke: 1. Katie Hale, Park City, 56.86; 2. Elisa Price, Cedar City, 59.52; 3. Sarah Hansen, Desert Hills, 1:01.66; 4. Emma Strong-Conklin, Park City, 1:01.96; 5. Ashley Noelle Burton, Snow Canyon, 1:04.24; 6. Silvia Leon-Moreno, Snow Canyon, 1:04.95; 7. Grace Sorensen, Ridgeline, 1:05.12; 8. Siena Osborn, Cedar City, 1:05.66
100-yard breaststroke: 1. Joelle Hess, Park City 1:05.51; 2. Savannah Thomas, Grantsville, 1:09.30; 3. Tori Geller, Logan, 1:10.71; 4. Abby McCoy, Desert Hills, 1:11.15; 5. Victoria Greenwood, Richfield, 1:12.08; 6. Maddie Royle, Tooele, 1:12.42; 7. Jessi Beyer, Park City, 1:12.49; 8. Taylor Porter, Desert Hills, 1:12.99
400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Park City (Katie Hale, Elise Beller, Joelle Hess, Rozie Selznick), 3:34.82; 2. Cedar City (Katelyn Gross, Aspen Bonzo, Elisa Price, Kristen Gross), 3:41.46; 3. Desert Hills (Mya Ottenschot, Trinity Schimbeck, Sarah Hansen, Molly McCoy), 3:47.99, 4. Dixie (Samari Nelson, Keonna Pantelakis, Hailey Greer, Alina Barnes), 3:52.08; 5. Snow Canyon (Stephanie Dansie, Silvia Leon-Moreno, Hallie King, Nicole Christensen), 3:55.02; 6. Ridgeline (Grace Sorensen, Hailey Checketts, Savannah Christensen, Taylee Banham), 3:56.23; 7. Juan Diego (Abby Whittington, Jamie Espinoza, Maddie Lambert, Shavaun Carlisle), 3:56.72; 8. Carbon (Amanda Liu, Shannon Baker, Megan Swasey, Veronica Ibanez), 4:05.57
Boys results
Final team results: 1. Park City (369 points); 2. Cedar City (256.5); 3. Desert Hills (208); 4. Juan Diego (184); 5. Logan (160); 6. Dixie (156); 7. Tooele (122); 7. Hurricane (122.)
Day two results
100-yard butterfly: 1. Ryan Bunn, Hurricane, 54.83; 2. Alec Chournos, Bear River, 54.91; 3. Connor Waterman, Logan, 54.93; 4. Quentin Tyler, Park City, 55.52; 5. Jedd Kjar, Cedar City, 55.67; 6. Hunter Sherwood, Tooele, 56.99; 7. Ian Pascual, Juan Diego, 57.42; 8. Cai Sharrock, Park City, 57.78
100-yard freestyle: 1. Alex Yokubison, Park City, 48.26; 2. Dennis Djunic, Park City, 48.54; 3. Karson Christensen, Ridgeline, 48.99; 4. Noah Ashton, Desert Hills, 49.65; 5. Nathan Hook, Dixie, 50.07; 6. Calvin Brown, Cedar City, 50.17; 7. Daken Steele, Hurricane, 51.12; 8. Joe Davis, Stansbury, 51.77
500-yard freestyle: 1. JR Gustat, Juan Diego, 5:03.10; 2. Jack Troxel, Park City, 5:04.38; 3. Matt Whipple, Park City, 5:05.80; 4. Zaxton Hillman, Stansbury, 5:09.96; 5. Forrest Nichols, Tooele, 5:10.32; 6. Tucker Hathaway, Dixie, 5:13.89; 7. Keegan Wawrzyniak, Desert Hills, 5:15.14; 8. Gavin Crawford, Desert Hills, 5:16.44
200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Cedar City (Garrett Dotson, Wyatt Kjar, Jedd Kjar, Calvin Brown), 1:31.79; 2. Desert Hills (Noah Ashton, Ashton Anderson, Payton Plumb, Trevor Larson), 1:31.89; 3. Juan Diego (JR Gustat, William Anderson, Evan Stolfa, Alexander Gustat), 1:32.69; 4. Park City (Jack Loyens, Trevor Malpede, Xai Sharrock, Matt Whipple), 1:34.52; 5. Canyon View (Daniel Armijo, Johnathan Edwards, Drew Hansen, Cayden Eastman), 1:35.51; 6. Hurricane (Daken Steele, Josh Lemmon, Ethan Kochel, Ryan Bunn), 1:36.41; 7. Ridgeline (Tiler Zwygart, Spencer Hunsaker, Brian Kwon, Karson Christensen), 1:36.44; 8. Stansbury (Joe Davis, Dallin Curtis, Daniel Christensen, Zaxton Hillman), 1:36.90
100-yard backstroke: 1. Cole Peterson, Park City, 52.43; 2. Quentin Tyler, Park City, 52.84; 3. Braxton Higgs, Ben Lomond, 56.62; 4. Payton Plumb, Desert Hills, 57.54; 5. Trevor Larson, Desert Hills, 57.64; 6. Carson Brown, Cedar City, 57.94; 7. Jimmy Healy, Logan, 58.51; 8. Nathan Hook, Dixie, 58.68
100-yard breaststroke: 1. Garrett Dotson, Cedar City, 1:01.73; 2. Alexander Gustat, Juan Diego, 1:02.74; 3. Leon Weingartner, Cedar City, 1:03.40; 4. David Kim, Logan, 1:04.02; 5. Mikal Peterson, Park City, 1:04.39; 6. Drew Hansen, Canyon View, 1:04.96; 7. Chandler Purdy, Ben Lomond, 1:05.95; 8. Dallin Curtis, Stansbury, 1:06.05
Email: bgurney@desnews.com
Twitter: @BrandonCGurney