High school swimming: Ridgeline girls earn second straight 4A state crown, Crimson Cliff’s Josh Walker wins two individual state titles

The girls of Ridgeline High walked in the building Saturday with a goal to defend their 2022 state championship.

Not only did the RiverHawks complete their goal, but they did so in a dominant fashion. Ridgeline had garnered 449 total team points while Cedar City, who finished second, had a total of 217.

It was a night of highlights for Ridgeline, one of which being a sweep of first, second and third in the girls 200-yard individual freestyle with Sarah Cook earning third, Laura Rigby in second and Navie Powell in first.

“We have a lot of depth this year, which is something our team hasn’t had in the past,” said Ridgeline coach Taryn McEuen, who also earned the Coach of the Year award.

“I feel like in the past we’ve had stand-out athletes but not as much depth, so this year we are really lucky to have so much depth. We worked really hard, we were really wanting to build speed in every category. I feel like 200 fits our repertoire really well.

“We can hold and sustain speed and it was awesome to see those girls go one, two and three. They all trained and worked hard, they love each other and push each other, so it was very exciting.”

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One of the RiverHawks’ star athletes was the senior Powell. Powell earned first in the 200 individual freestyle, first in the 200 freestyle relay, first in the 400 freestyle relay and third in the 100 individual backstroke.

“I was actually super excited!” said Powell. “I had a lot of races I could choose from, and I chose the 200 freestyle and I have two other girls who are really close to me. We’ve been able to push each other through practices and to meet our goals.

“To be able to race them and push ourselves through the race was really awesome. I have this goal written on my wall, my mirrors, in my room, it’s on my car, and that goal this year was to be an individual state champion.

“I’ve won relays before but I wanted to take my own individual race. To be able to work towards that and finally make it happen at the very end of my senior season was so cool and I’m so happy to be able to do that.”

Ridgeline had another fun moment getting to celebrate Sara Miranda. Miranda is an impressive swimmer who will be representing Costa Rica in the Paralympics.

For the boys, Crimson Cliffs walked away with a state championship after falling to third in last year’s competition.

One major standout for the Mustangs was junior Josh Walker, who won both of his individual swims in the 200 medley and the 100 freestyle.

“It really was great. I worked really hard throughout the season in the mornings and afternoons. I put in the time, came here, and set it up well. I got into finals, swam my race and it worked out. It doesn’t always work out like that but I’m glad that it did,” said Walker.

Walker was the only swimmer for the boys team to earn a first-place finish, which proved to be monumental in the total team rankings and ultimately the state championship.

It was also a good night for Sky View’s Clayton Nye, who won first in the 200-medley relay, third in the 100 butterfly and first in the 100 breaststroke.

“It just feels really good,” said Nye.

“I worked so hard, and I didn’t let anything get me down. I just focused on my goal, and I achieved it. It was kind of a struggle for me freshman year, but I really put my head down, focused and was able to get to where I am now.”

4A girls state swim meet

At BYU

Final team scores

1. Ridgeline, 449
2. Cedar City, 217
3. Crimson Cliffs, 210
4. Desert Hills, 192
5. Sky View, 191
6. Mountain Crest, 167
7. Logan, 157
8. Green Canyon, 140

200 medley relay

1. Ridgeline (Mackenzie Hansen, Isabelle Christiansen, Ava Roberts, Brooklyn Bischoff), 1:54.89
2. Desert Hills, 1:56.98
3. Crimson Cliffs, 1:58.72
4. Green Canyon, 2:00.42
5. Cedar City, 2:00.45
6. Mountain Crest, 2:00.71
7. Logan, 2:05.25
8. Sky View, DQ

200 freestyle

1. Navie Powell, Ridgeline, 2:00.39
2. Laura Rigby, Ridgeline, 2:01.78
3. Sarah Cook, Ridgeline, 2:02.27
4. Addison Taylor, Cedar City, 2:02.51
5. Kyah Bindrup, Mountain Crest, 2:05.52
6. Aspen Simper, Cedar City, 2:05.67
7. Ava Caliendo, Ridgeline, 2:07.30
8. Olivia Price, Cedar City, 2:08.75

200 individual medley

1. Sarah Olsen, Sky View, 2:16.25
2. Claire Daley, Crimson Cliffs, 2:18.59
3. Emma Brown, Desert Hills, 2:19.27
4. Mackenzie Hansen, Ridgeline, 2:19.47
5. Rylie Corry, Green Canyon, 2:20.21
6. Isabelle Christensen, Ridgeline, 2:24.12
7. Allie Schwartz, Sky View, 2:24.43
8. Shannon Hyer, Bear River, 2:26.98

50 freestyle

1. Sorina Rom, Pine View, 24.72
2. Claire Daley, Crimson Cliffs, 25.86
3. Brynley Nielsen, Green Canyon, 25.98
4. Kate Walker, Crimson Cliffs, 26.16
5. Kendra Warren, Ridgeline, 26.23
6. Brooklyn Bischoff, Ridgeline, 26.31
7. Sydney Selinger, Cedar City, 26.38
8. Peyton Perry, Crimson Cliffs, 27.00

100 butterfly

1. Chesney Bonner, Desert Hills, 58.42
2. Sarah Cook, Ridgeline, 59.71
3. Rylie Corry, Green Canyon, 1:00.68
4. Malacha Leonard, Logan, 1:01.49
5. Kate Walker, Crimson Cliffs, 1:01.66
6. Shannon Hyer, Bear River, 1:01.89
7. Ava Roberts, Ridgeline, 1:04.13
8. Kinzlee Taylor, Logan, 1:05.23

100 freestyle

1. Brynley Nielsen, Green Canyon, 56.67
2. Dylan Romprey, Desert Hills, 56.27
3. Ava Caliendo, Ridgeline, 56.85
4. Brooklyn Bischoff, 58.03
5. Keira Mannewitz, Sky View, 58.15
6. Adalyn Jones, Ridgeline, 58.19
7. Peyton Perry, Crimson Cliffs, 59.13
8. Zoey Hunter, Mountain Crest, 59.34

500 freestyle

1. McKenzie Mugleston, Snow Canyon, 5:24.07
2. Aspen Simper, Cedar City, 5:30.84
3. Sarah Olsen, Cedar City, 5:31.56
4. Malacha Leonard, Logan, 5:32.71
5. Laura Rigby, Ridgeline, 5:33.57
6. Addison Taylor, Cedar City, 5:36.34
7. Madison Henry, Crimson Cliffs, 5:47.15
8. Amber Lawyer, Sky View, 5:48.00

200 freestyle relay

1. Ridgeline (Navie Powell, Mackenzie Hansen, Sarah Cook, Laura Rigby), 1:41.75
2. Sky View, 1:47.53
3. Cedar City, 1:48.76
4. Crimson Cliffs, 1:49.15
5. Snow Canyon, 1:49.28
6. Logan, 1:49.62
7. Pine View, 1:50.11
8. Dixie, 1:50.22

100 backstroke

1. Chesney Bonner, Desert Hills, 58.99
2. Mackenzie Hansen, Ridgeline, 1:02.03
3. Navie Powell, Ridgeline, 1:02.50
4. Kyah Bindrup, Mountain Crest, 1:02.80
5. Olivia Price, Cedar City, 1:03.19
6. Sydney Selinger, Cedar City, 1:04.34
7. Zoey Hunter, Mountain Crest, 1:04.46
8. Molly Peterson, Logan, 1:05.18

100 breaststroke

1. Sorina Rom, Pine View, 1:06.01
2. Isabelle Christensen, Ridgeline, 1:11.28
3. Emma Brown, Desert Hills, 1:12.19
4. Ava Roberts, Ridgeline, 1:12.53
5. Allie Schwartz, Sky View, 1:13.38
6. Abbie Nielsen, Mountain Crest, 1:14.81
7. Kendra Warren, Ridgeline, 1:15.18
8. McKenzie Mugleston, Snow Canyon, 1:16.01

400 freestyle relay

1. Ridgeline (Navie Powell, Laura Rigby, Ava Caliendo, Sarah Cook), 3:43.03
2. Desert Hills, 3:50.12
3. Crimson Cliffs, 3:55.17
4. Cedar City, 3:55.71
5. Mountain Crest, 4:00.79
6. Snow Canyon, 4:00.91
7. Logan, 4:03.97
8. Sky View, 4:11.51

4A boys state swim meet

At BYU

Final team scores

1. Crimson Cliffs, 355
2. Cedar City, 343
3. Desert Hills, 232.5
4. Mountain Crest, 216
5. Sky View, 209
6. Dixie, 167
7. Snow Canyon, 131
8. Green Canyon, 128.5

200 medley relay

1. Sky View (Peter Gibbons, Clayton Nye, Ben Walters, Blake Reed), 1:41.75
2. Crimson Cliffs, 1:42.25
3. Cedar City, 1:42.84
4. Desert Hills 1:42.86
5. Green Canyon, 1:46.84
6. Snow Canyon, 1:49.22
7. Mountain Crest, 1:50.61
8. Bear River, DQ

200 freestyle

1. David Leon-Moreno, Dixie, 1:48.20
2. Andrew Sagers, Cedar City, 1:48.52
3. Blake Reed, Sky View, 1:49.71
4. Mackey Cook, Crimson Cliffs, 1:49.96
5. Damon Ericksen, Dixie, 1:50.92
6. Justin Grando, Cedar City, 1:51.53
7. Soldier Shreeve, Mountain Crest, 1:52.51
8. Kyler Kwant, Mountain Crest, 1:53.19

200 individual medley

1. Josh Walker, Crimson Cliffs, 1:56.02
2. Andrew Carlile, Dixie, 1:56.70
3. Troy Eggers, Desert Hills, 1:59.50
4. Brayden Jarrett, Mountain Crest, 2:01.13
5. Ashten Krans, Cedar City, 2:03.38
6. Tanner Dodds, Cedar City, 2:04.33
7. Derek Hall, Crimson Cliffs, 2:05.34
8. Max Morley, Desert Hills, 2:06.17

50 freestyle

1. Peter Gibbons, Sky View, 22.45
2. James Smith, Cedar City, 22.46
3. Bronson Plumb, Crimson Cliffs, 22.67
4. Emery Cook, Cedar City, 23.06
5. Josh Miggin, Green Canyon, 23.09
6. Tanner Losee, Snow Canyon, 23.48
7. Tylan Murray, Cedar City, 23.52
8. Jaden Hyer, Bear River, 24.08

100 butterfly

1. Andrew Sagers, Cedar City, 53.91
2. Mackey Cook, Crimson Cliffs, 54.16
3. Clayton Nye, Sky View, 54.75
4. Kyle Lunt, Cedar City, 55.36
5. Kade Bethers, Desert Hills, 55.39
6. Solmun Pak, Desert Hills, 57.00
7. Damon Ericksen, Dixie, 57.28
8. Ivan Khimach, Green Canyon, 58.60

100 freestyle

1. Josh Walker, Crimson Cliffs, 48.13
2. Luke Eubanks, Ridgeline, 49.03
3. James Smith, Cedar City, 49.69
4. Justin Granado, Cedar City, 50.79
5. Soldier Shreeve, Mountain Crest, 51.04
6. Bronson Plumb, Crimson Cliffs, 51.04
7. Josh Miggin, Green Canyon, 51.06
8. Blake Reed, Sky View, 51.16

500 freestyle

1. David Leon-Moreno, Dixie, 4:50.83
2. Derek Hall, Crimson Cliffs, 4:56.37
3. Tanner Dodds, Cedar City, 5:02.27
4. Ben Walters, Sky View, 5:07.18
5. Anthony Finger, Crimson Cliffs, 5:15.25
6. Taylor Fox, Crimson Cliffs, 5:15.27
7. Makoa Page, Snow Canyon, 5:16.76
8. Charlie Lopez, Mountain Crest, 5:20.28

200 freestyle relay

1. Cedar City (Emery Cook, Justin Granado, James Smith, Andrew Sagers), 1:31.24
2. Sky View, 1:31.68
3. Mountain Crest, 1:33.60
4. Desert Hills, 1:33.95
5. Ridgeline, 1:34.45
6. Crimson Cliffs, 1:34.71
7. Dixie, 1:35.32
8. Green Canyon, 1:37.15

100 backstroke

1. Andrew Carlile, Dixie, 51.56
2. Brayden Jarrett, Mountain Crest, 53.34
3. Solmun Pak, Desert Hills, 55.10
4. Max Morley, Desert Hills, 56.78
5. Kala Cabana, Crimson Cliffs, 58.49
6. Peter Gibbons, Sky View, 58.70
7. Caleb Judd, Crimson Cliffs, 59.03
8. Hayden Swain-Schmit, Bear River, 1:00.04

100 breaststroke

1. Clayton Nye, Sky View, 1:02.35
2. Luke Eubanks, Ridgeline, 1:02.47
3. Ashten Krans, Cedar City, 1:02.76
4. Hunter Iverson, Desert Hills, 1:03.12
5. Troy Eggers, Desert Hills, 1:03.20
6. Chase Kehoe, Crimson Cliffs, 1:03.47
7. Tanner Losee, Snow Canyon, 1:05.39
8. Emery Cook, Cedar City, 1:05.52

400 freestyle relay

1. Cedar City (Tanner Dodds, Justin Granado, James Smith, Andrew Sagers), 3:18.63
2. Mountain Crest, 3:23.88
3. Crimson Cliffs, 3:25.35
4. Dixie, 3:27.63
5. Ridgeline, 3:28.31
6. Desert Hills, 3:28.93
7. Snow Canyon, 3:33.92
8. Bear River, 3:34.70