The state’s top swimmers in 5A and 6A will converge on BYU this weekend for the state championship meet. Preliminaries will be held on Friday, while the finals are set for Saturday, with 5A at 9:30 a.m. and 6A at 3:45 p.m.
Here’s a look at the top contenders in both classifications.
Class 6A
A year ago at the 6A state swimming meet, Lone Peak’s boys and American Fork’s girls dominated en route to repeat state titles.
If last week’s Region 4 meet is any indicator, expect much of the same. Both teams won by fairly comfortable margins in the buildup to this weekend’s state meet.
Lone Peak’s boys will be gunning for a fourth straight state championship in what will also be the swan song for arguably the best high school swimmer the state has ever produced.
Jordan Tiffany is already the state record holder in three events and this season owns the best time in the state in six of eight individual events. At state he’ll swim the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.
He set the state records in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly at state last year, and at the Region 4 meet two weeks ago the University of Tennessee signee set a new 100 backstroke state record.
Lone Peak coach Celeste Tiffany, also his mother, said Jordan Tiffany isn’t worried about individual records in his last meet, saying he’s just excited to race with the friends he grew up with one last time.
“A lot of these boys have swam together for years and years and years, so they really work well together, they enjoy being together and that team dynamic is really huge how they’ll all pull together,” said Celeste Tiffany.
Jordan Tiffany could’ve tried breaking his 200 individual medley record at state again, but with four other strong medley swimmers on Lone Peak this year, moving to another event opened the door for someone else at state.
Kevin Dew and Josh Griener should be big contributors at state for the Knights.
Some of the other top swimmers to watch this weekend are West’s Rhys Winter, Westlake’s Cameron Barney, Pleasant Grove’s Landry Hill and Cyprus’ Sohnnie Wesemann.
On the girls side, it will take a big effort for someone to unseat two-time champion American Fork.
Talia Thomas owns the best times in the entire state in the 100 and 200 freestyle events, while Allie Hill owns the best mark in the 500 freestyle. Annalyn Dean and Kate Pasquini are two other Cavemen swimmers who could score big points.
“They’ve got some great girls, and they’ve swam very well and very consistent all year and you’re going to see some very good swims out of American Fork,” said Celeste Tiffany, whose Lone Peak team was a runner-up at state last year to American Fork.
Lone Peak senior Summer Shreeve is the top qualifier in the 100 butterfly, while big things are also expected from teammates Lauren Favero, Maya Hughes, Megan Mickelson and Sarah Wilson.
Other top swimmers to watch this weekend are Corner Canyon’s Rivers Johnson, Davis’ Lauryn Hall and Riverton’s Skyler Lyon.
Class 5A
Defending girls champion Wasatch and boys champion Brighton are both slight underdogs heading into this weekend’s state championship, but both should still be right in the mix as the finals unfold on Saturday at BYU.
Brighton knows exactly what needs to happen to be crowned repeat champion — make up 24.5 points on Olympus.
At the Region 6 meet two weeks ago, Olympus finished first in eight of 11 events, including all three relays, to beat the Bengals 426.5 to 402.
Brighton finished second in all three of those relays, and the combined distance between the teams in the three races was just 2.27 seconds.
Flipping some of those relays, not to mention a few other races will be key for Brighton, which was led by Daniel Detjen at the Region 6 meet. Olympus had four different individuals finish first at the region meet, with Evan VanBrocklin the lone double winner in the 100 butterfly and 500 freestyle.
While the race for the team title goes through Region 6, the other three region champs (Box Elder, Timpview and Wasatch) are hoping to make some noise as well.
Some of the other top swimmers to watch this weekend are Spanish Fork’s Austin Butler, Highland’s Michael Wallis, Springville’s Cameron Green and Olympus’ Ryan Garstang.
On the girls side, Wasatch coach Shawn Marsing sees parallels to the buildup to last year’s state meet.
His team was not the favorite by any means last year, but edged Timpview by two points to claim its first state title since 2013. Timpview wasn’t necessarily a favorite either after finishing 78 points behind Brighton at region, but at state it finished 98 points ahead of Brighton — a miraculous 176-point swing.
It’s proof that anything can happen at state when the state’s best swimmers gather.
“We’re finding ourselves in the same spot we were last year. I think Timpview is the favorite for sure, but I definitely think if our girls swim like they did last year we have an opportunity to win for sure,” said Marsing.
Timpview is led by standout senior Rachel Oyler, who owns 5A’s top qualifying time in the 100 buttefly and who last year at state set the overall state record in the 100 freestyle.
Haley Altman is Wasatch’s top threat to finish top podium as she owns 5A’s best mark in the 100 breaststroke.
Some of the other top swimmers to watch this weekend are Park City’s Helena Djunic, Cottonwood’s Emma Walker, Bountiful’s Elliott Howe, Spanish Fork’s Madison Parker and Cottonwood’s Jessica Loyd