PROVO — The Sky View girls swimming team won't likely be winning any awards for its rendition of the school song, but it could for tossing its coach into the pool.
The girls made sure to grab hold of coach Marcus Singleton at the end of all the events on Friday, and drench him into the depths of the diving pool at Brigham Young University — thrilled with their team's overall performance.
The coach emerged from the depths smiling and just grateful to be able to coach at his current position.
"It's a pretty awesome feeling because of the girls and all the hard work they put in," Singleton said, while his swimmers broke into an impromptu rendition of the Sky View school song. "They believe they can do it and they go after it. They don't let anything get in their way."
Turns out Sky View's real and ultimate award won on Friday was that 5A state swimming championship, the program's second in as many years. Last season the Bobcats surprised many en route to victory. This time around, there were few surprises, as Singleton's girls tallied 322 team points, a full 60 points away from second place Cottonwood (262.)
Gold medalists for the Bobcats included Alexa Walters, who took first place in the 100-yard breaststroke and both the 200-yard and 400-yard relay teams.
Singleton credits his girls' dedication and sense of team first.
"We really had the focus of being a team this year and the girls really responded well to it," he said. "I was fortunate to come into this program at a great time and hopefully we can continue this."
Yes, Singleton is in just his second season at Sky View, but he has already established a program that's the envy of many traditional 5A powers to the south.
Meanwhile, in the boys competition, Lone Peak won overwhelmingly with 315.5 team points, outdistancing second-place Pleasant Grove (188).
While leading throughout, the punctuation on the eventual team win likely came at the finish of the 100-yard backstroke competition. Josh Ries touched the wall first for the Knights, with a winning time of 50.57, followed closely by teammate Braden Tiffany, and his time of 53.46.
Ries and Tiffany celebrated loudly, as the top two finishers suddenly vaulted the Knights to a triple-digit lead with just two races remaining.
"It feels amazing," Ries said of winning a state championship. "We believed in ourselves from the beginning and as a team. It was just as important to believe in each other."
Gold medalists for the Knights, along with Ries, were all three relay teams, which spoke loudly to the team's overall depth and unity.
Individual standouts during the championships included Cottonwood's Ryhan White, who took home gold in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard backstroke. Sisters Mariah and MJ Maile stood out for Viewmont, with Mariah taking home gold in both the 100 and 200-yard freestyles and MJ in the 100-yard butterfly.
Girls results
Final team results: 1. Sky View (322 points); 2. Cottonwood (262); 3. Brighton (231.5); 4. West (211); 5. Lone Peak (156); 6. American Fork (151); 7. Viewmont (113.5); 8. Fremont (101)
Day 2 results
100-yard butterfly: 1. MJ Maile, Viewmont, 58.82; 2. Kenzie Chesler, Lone Peak, 1:00.39; 3. Brooke Van Brocklin, Brighton, 1:00.62; 4. Emily Dixon, West, 1:00.89; 5. Rachel Johansen, Riverton, 1:00.94; 6. Gretchen Hyer, Jordan, 1:01.42; 7. Riyanna Day, American Fork, 1:01.47; 8. Julia Sherman, West, 1:01.63
100-yard freestyle: 1. Mariah Maile, Viewmont, 51.38; 2. Megan Brimhall, Sky View, 52.66; 3. Millie Miggin, Sky View, 54.40; 4. Kaylee Richards, Lehi, 55.15; 5. Taylor McAleavy, Lone Peak, 55.77; 6. Olyvia Mayer, Fremont, 55.89; 7. McKenna Fowler, Westlake, 56.01; 8. Anna Hibbard, Brighton, 56.18
500-yard freestyle: 1. Rachel Butler, Brighton, 5:03.61; 2. Emma Walker, Cottonwood, 5:17.01; 3. Shelby Graves, American Fork, 5:17.89; 4. Jessica Lloyd, Cottonwood, 5:22.34; 5. Emily Speth, Sky View, 5:23.12; 6. Hannah Roberts, Bingham, 5:26.74; 7. Marina Gerton, West, 5:27.17; 8. Amy Buker, American Fork, 5:27.19
200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Sky View (Alexa Walters, Lexi Stimpson, Millie Miggin, Megan Brimhall), 1:36.97; 2. Lone Peak (Natalie Davis, Megan Mickelson, Taylor McAleavy, Kenzie Chesler), 1:40.68; 3. Lehi (Skylar Peterson, Erin Byrne, Grace Sturgill, Kaylee Richards), 1:41.80; 4. Cottonwood (Katelyn Price, Grace Stewart, Hannah Dibb, Jessica Loyd), 1:43.78; 5. American Fork (Amelia Edwards, Madi Child, Sara Edwards, Shelby Graves), 1:44.08; 6. Brighton (Abigail Capener, Caroline Taylor, Michaela Page, Ava Binder), 1:44.20; 7. West (Emily Dixon, Marina Gerton, Juyoung Kim, Arcadia Chomjak), 1:44.59; 8. Jordan (Gabi Wagner, Isabelle Paulsen, Haley Wiese, Gretchen Hyer), 1:44.79
100-yard backstroke: 1. Rhyan White, Cottonwood, 53.79; 2. Fane Wolfgramm, West, 57.18; 3. Natalie Davis, Lone Peak, 58.95; 4. Vivienne Colbert, West, 1:00.69; 5. Hannah Dibb, Cottonwood, 1:00.90; 6. Brylee Weaver, Syracuse, 1:01.01; 7. Brynn Gibbons, Sky View, 1:02.47; 8. LynDea Turner, Syracuse, 1:02.68
100-yard breaststroke: 1. Alexa Walters, Sky View, 1:05.46; 2. Emma Walker, Cottonwood, 1:06.52; 3. Katelyn Price, Cottonwood, 1:08.32; 4. Kyrie Sutherland, Fremont, 1:08.40; 5. Ava Binder, Brighton, 1:08.60; 6. Sarah Scott, Mountain Crest, 1:09.41; 7. Haley Wiese, Jordan, 1:10.94; 8. Elsa Mumford, Davis, 1:11.38
400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Sky View (Millie Miggin, Lexi Stimpson, Emily Speth, Megan Brimhall), 3:37.12; 2. Cottonwood (Jessica Loyd, Katelyn Price, Emma Walker, Rhyan White), 3:37.65; 3. Brighton (Anna Hibbard, Abigail Capener, Brooke Van Brocklin, Rachel Butler), 3:39.76; 4. Viewmont (Mariah Maile, Kylee Wesemann, Catherine Bothell, MJ Maile), 3:40.70; 5. West (Fane Wolfgramm, Emily Dixon, Vivienne Colbert, Julia Sherman), 3:43.03; 6. Lone Peak (Kenzie Chesler, Megan Mickelson, Taylor McAleavy, Natalie Davis), 3:43.15; 7. American Fork (Amelia Edwards, Riyanna Day, Sara Edwards, Shelby Graves), 3:46.37; 8. Fremont (Teneille Troescher, Olyvia Mayer, Lizzie Drake, Kyrie Sutherland), 3:49.04
Boys results
Final team results: 1. Lone Peak (315.5 points); 2. Pleasant Grove (188); 3. Mountain Crest (186.5); 4. Cottonwood (175); 5. Brighton (167); 6. Sky View (166); 7. Viewmont (148); 8. American Fork (116)
Day 2 results
100-yard butterfly: 1. Zachary Julien, Viewmont, 51.14; 2. Jack Binder, Brighton, 51.64; 3. Jordan Tiffany, Lone Peak, 52.96; 4. Cade Black, Mountain Crest, 53.12; 5. Chase Miyagishima, Brighton, 53.43; 6. Josh Provost, Fremont, 53.89; 7. Braden Tiffany, Lone Peak, 53.90; 8. Nicholas Tronson, Lehi, 54.06
100-yard freestyle: 1. Christian Simon, Cottonwood, 47.13; 2. Kimble Petersen, Westlake, 48.36; 3. Bryant Karratti, Lone Peak, 48.49; 4. Cade Black, Mountain Crest, 48.64; 5. Kade McLeod, Pleasant Grove, 48.76; 6. David Johnson, Sky View, 49.11; 7. Tom Mi, Davis, 49.67; 8. Brandon Denully, Syracuse, 49.84
500-yard freestyle: 1. Mitchell Simon, West, 4:41.99; 2. Devin Bunnell, Pleasant Grove, 4:45.93; 3. Dallin Bunnell, Pleasant Grove, 4:53.88; 4. Landon Stalnaker, Bingham, 4:54.73; 5. Jake Mickelson, Lone Peak, 4:57.54; 6. Jaxon Jensen, Sky View, 4:57.93; 7. Connor Moore, American Fork, 4:58.20; 8. Tate Jensen, Mountain Crest, 5:00.83
200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Lone Peak (Bryant Karratti, Jordan Tiffany, Nick Mortenson, Ben Verdejo), 1:29.15; 2. Brighton (Chase Miyagishima, Nicholas Nelson, Eric Wagner, Jack Binder), 1:29.27; 3. Cottonwood (Seth Roundy, Colin Dailey, Blayze Kimble, Christian Simon), 1:29.78; 4. Mountain Crest (Cade Black, Brayden Rigby, Brandon Black, Ryan Jarrett), 1:30.12; 5. Pleasant Grove (Kade McLeod, Dallin Bunnell, Brett Andersen, Devin Bunnell), 1:30.38; 6. Westlake (Kimble Petersen, Denton Anderson, Greg Simonsen, Isaac Woodruff), 1:30.82; 7. Davis (Austin Halls, Max Deller, Tom Mi, Andrew Simonsen), 1:30.87; 8. Sky View (David Johnson, Cameron Slade, Spencer Conley, Jaxon Jensen), 1:32.45
100-yard backstroke: 1. Josh Ries, Lone Peak, 50:57; 2. Braden Tiffany, Lone Peak, 53.46; 3. Jake Walters, Sky View, 53.77; 4. Payson Cunningham, Syracuse, 54.73; 5. Zerin Wolfgramm, West, 54.90; 6. Fa'alataitaua Fitisemanu, Brighton, 54.91; 7. Joe Harding, American Fork, 55.78; 8. Bryant Israelsen, Sky View, 57.25
100-yard breaststroke: 1. Jack Binder, Brighton, 57.93; 2. Blayze Kimble, Cottonwood, 58.31; 3. Ben Verdejo, Lone Peak, 59.26; 4. Cy Dunkley, American Fork, 1:00.56; 5. Denton Anderson, Westlake, 1:00.78; 6. Tyler Nelson, Copper Hills, 1:00.88; 7. Colin Dailey, Cottonwood, 1:01.44; 8. Zachary Sannar, Viewmont, 1:01.45
400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Lone Peak (Josh Ries, Braden Tiffany, Jake Mickelson, Bryant Karratti), 3:14.10; 2. Cottonwood (Colin Dailey, Seth Roundy, Blayze Kimble, Christian Simon), 3:14.65; 3. Mountain Crest (Ryan Jarrett, Brayden Rigby, Tate Jensen, Cade Black), 3:16.21; 4. Pleasant Grove (Kade McLeod, Dallin Bunnell, Brett Andersen, Devin Bunnell), 3:16.46; 5. Viewmont (Zachary Julien, Josh Arndt, Austin Kunzler, Zachary Sannar), 3:18.42; 6. Davis (Austin Halls, Andrew Simonsen, Nathan Skonnard, Tom Mi), 3:20.34; 7. Sky View (Jake Walters, Bryant Israelsen, Jayse Storrs, Jaxon Jensen), 3:22.61; 8. West (Mitchell Simmons, Eddie Huang, Kiyan Mohebbizadeh, Zerin Wolfgramm), 3:23.08
Email: bgurney@desnews.com
Twitter: @BrandonCGurney