PROVO — The fourth time around finally proved the charm for Timpview senior swimmers Rachel Oyler and Kate Hansen and the other T-Bird upperclassmen.
Fraught with coming up just short the past three years, Timpview made certain to not let it happen again on Saturday, taking home the 5A girls swimming championship in impressive fashion. From the start, the T-Birds set out strong and didn’t let up throughout, ultimately taking a 56 team point advantage over second-place Olympus to the medal podium.
“We wanted to make sure to leave no doubt this year, and we just came together and finally were able to come out on top,” Hansen said. “It feels amazing, especially after coming so close last year.”
“We made certain to leave nothing to chance. We prepared so hard for this meet today because we learned last year how just one little certain thing overlooked can cost you.” — Timpview coach Jefferson McClain
Last year marked the second bridesmaid spot for Hansen and her fellow seniors, although coming just two points short of a championship made it particularly tough. But Timpview bridled all that disappointment into working to make certain it never happened again.
On Saturday, the T-Birds set the pace early, taking first place in the 200-yard medley relay — the very first championship event. From there, it was Oyler who took the spotlight, taking gold medals in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly, and thereby letting the competition know who the championship belonged to this time around.
“Last year’s disappointment definitely made us a better team and better coaches,” said Timpview coach Jefferson McClain. “We made certain to leave nothing to chance. We prepared so hard for this meet today because we learned last year how just one little certain thing overlooked can cost you.”
Of course most of the hard work occurred in the offseason, with McClain’s swimmers working harder than ever to prepare for the season.
“They’ve definitely had more direction and goals this year,” McClain said of his swimmers, who earned Timpview’s first championship in swimming since 2009. “State isn’t given to you — you have to take it, and we did that this year.”
As can well be imagined, it was a perfect way to end things for Hansen and her fellow seniors.
“It feels really awesome. No doubt about it,” Hansen said. “I’ve come in second place twice on this team, and third place once, but first place is definitely a great way to end it.”
Swimmer of the year in the girls competition went to Cottonwood’s Emma Walker, who won gold medals in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke.
In the boys competition, it was Olympus taking home first place, getting by defending champion Brighton by 60 points. Led by swimmer of the year Ryan Garstang, the Titans left little doubt throughout the day who was going to come out on top, much like the Timpview girls.
“I’m just lucky to have really great kids who have great habits,” said Olympus coach Thomas Thorum. “We had great leaders with some really good younger kids, and it all just came together this year.”
As for Garstang, he took home four gold medals on the day, including two individual gold medals in the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley. His two other golds were won by heading both the freestyle and medley relays.
“Ryan has just been fantastic, and even as impressive as he was today, those weren’t his best times,” Thorum said. “He’s a great leader and has great habits. He shows up every day to work hard and we’ve been lucky to have him in our program.”
5A state championship results
at Brigham Young University
Girls final team results
1. Timpview, 290; 2. Olympus, 234; 3. Wasatch, 199.5; 4. Park City, 150; 5. East, 149; 6. Skyline, 143
5A Girls results
200-yard medley relay
1. Timpview (Annie Reichner, Kate Hansen, Rachel Oyler, Katelyn Teng), 1:47.31; 2. Bountiful, 1:47.99; 3. Olympus, 1:49.73; 4. Skyline, 1:51.41; 5. Woods Cross, 1:57.10; 6. Park City, 2:00.29
200-yard freestyle
1. Madison Parker, Spanish Fork, 1:50.67; 2. Elizabeth Mayer, East, 1:52.35; 3. Helena Djunic, Park City, 1:54.26; 4. Jessica Loyd, Cottonwood, 1:56.70; 5. Hanna Sasivarevic, Brighton, 1:57.97; 6. Margaret Mayer, East, 1:58.33
200-yard individual medley
1. Emma Walker, Cottonwood, 2:04.62; 2. Colleen MacWilliams, Olympus, 2:08.79; 3. Addie Richards, Orem, 2:11.77; 4. Ellie Boyer, Springville, 2:12.16; 5. Kate Hansen, Timpview, 2:12.96; 6. Sara Wall, Park City, 2:13.41
50-yard freestyle
1. Rachel Oyler, Timpview, 23.54; 2. Elliott Howe, Bountiful, 24.10; 3. Trevi Ogilvie, Wasatch, 24.25; 4. Gracie Crandall, Timpview, 24.40; 5. Ally Boynton, Woods Cross, 24.69; 6. Haley Altman, Wasatch, 24.72
100-yard butterfly
1. Rachel Oyler, Timpview, 56.43; 2. Ellie Boyer, Springville, 58.63; 3. Liza Slade, Skyline, 58.78; 4. Alyssa Kotter, Olympus, 1:00.19; 5. Nohea Kamauu, Woods Cross, 1:00.33; 6. Trevi Ogilvie, Wasatch, 1:00.38
100-yard freestyle
1. Madison Parker, Spanish Fork, 50.89; 2. Helena Djunic, Park City, 52.16; 3. Gracie Crandall, Timpview, 52.94; 4. Taya Riser, Timpanogos, 53.80; 5. Hanna Sasivarevic, Brighton, 53.96; 6. Katya Hulse, East, 54.01
500-yard freestyle
1. Jessica Loyd, Cottonwood, 5:04.82; 2. Colleen MacWilliams, Olympus, 5:07.70; 3. Elizabeth Mayer, East, 5:10.06; 4. Sara Wall, Park City, 5:10.47; 5. Kaiya Lawson, Olympus, 5:21.24; 6. Alyssa Kotter, Olympus, 5:24.43
200-yard freestyle relay
1. Wasatch (Trevi Ogilvie, Addison Lay, Meg Harris, Madi Christensen), 1:39.85; 2. Timpview, 1:40.04; 3. Olympus, 1:40.73; 4. Brighton, 1:41.75; 5. Park City, 1:42.48; 6. Bountiful, 1:42.87
100-yard backstroke
1. Elliott Howe, Bountiful, 55.81; 2. Katya Hulse, East, 57.89; 3. Annie Reichner, Timpview, 57.96; 4. Ally Boynton, Woods Cross, 58.83; 5. Anna Wekluk, Mountain Ridge, 58.84; 6. Kate Hansen, Timpview, 59.27
100-yard breaststroke
1. Emma Walker, Cottonwood, 1:02.70; 2. Haley Altman, Wasatch, 1:04.15; 3. Maddy Moulton, Wasatch, 1:07.03; 4. Sadie Duke, Bountiful, 1:07.29; 5. Lucy Johnson, Skyline, 1:07.30; 6. Addie Richards, Orem, 1:07.97
400-yard freestyle relay
1. Timpview (Rachel Oyler, Annie Robinson, Kate Hansen, Gracie Crandall), 3:32.09; 2. East, 3:38.80; 3. Olympus, 3:40.87; 4. Brighton, 3:41.67; 5. Park City, 3:43.00; 6. Wasatch, 3:44.23
Boys final team results
1. Olympus, 297; 2. Brighton, 237; 3. Wasatch, 184; 4. Viewmont, 167; 5. Springville, 152; 6. Skyline, 143
5A boys results
200-yard medley relay
1. Olympus (Ryan Garstang, Alexander Turney, Evan VanBrocklin, Bridger Sink), 1:34.63; 2. Brighton, 1:37.22; 3. Viewmont, 1:37.89; 4. Cottonwood, 1:38.40; 5. Wasatch, 1:38.97; 6. Highland, 1:40.49
200-yard freestyle
1. Austin Butler, Spanish Fork, 1:42.46; 2. Daniel Detjen, Brighton, 1:42.95; 3. Jack Troxel, Park City, 1:45.28; 4. Trevan Staker, Provo, 1:45.53; 5. Luke Harris, Viewmont, 1:45.80; 6. Ian Conner, Olympus, 1:45.93
200-yard individual medley
1. Ryan Garstang, Olympus, 1:53.09; 2. Michael Wallis, Highland, 1:56.41; 3. Kaleb Feland, Spanish Fork, 1:57.47; 4. Andrew Lemon, Timpview, 1:58.07; 5. Charlie Simmons, Brighton, 1:58.72; 6. Seth Chamberlian, Viewmont, 1:59.98
50-yard freestyle
1. Cameron Green, Springville, 20.92; 2. Ethan Grothe, Viewmont, 21.55; 3. Brandon Bills, Skyline, 21.95; 4. Braxton Armstrong, Springville, 22.35; 5. Jackson Bryson, Park City, 22.47; 6. Oliver James, Wasatch, 22.51
100-yard butterfly
1. Evan VanBrocklin, Olympus, 50.79; 2. Aaron Samms, Brighton, 50.96; 3. Martin Anders, Cottonwood, 52.17; 4. Kaleb Feland, Spanish Fork, 52.71; 5. Andrew Lemon, Timpview, 53.19; 6. Zak Peterson, Highland, 53.55
100-yard freestyle
1. Cameron Green, Springville, 46.23; 2. Trevan Staker, Provo, 47.69; 3. Jacob Ricci, Cottonwood, 48.25; 4. Sebastian McFarland, Timpview, 48.78; 5. Ethan Astle, Olympus, 48.80; 6. Braxton Armstrong, Springville, 48.87
500-yard freestyle
1. Austin Butler, Spanish Fork, 4:37.53; 2. Daniel Detjen, Brighton, 4:40.60; 3. Luke Harris, Viewmont, 4:44.80; 4. Evan VanBrocklin, Olympus, 4:45.88; 5. Jack Troxel, Park City, 4:46.44; 6. Sean Farrenkopf, Brighton, 4:49.13
200-yard freestyle relay
1. Springville (Austin Mertz, Braxton Armstrong, Jordan Pugmire, Cameron Green), 1:26.56; 2. Spanish Fork, 1:28.73; 3. Skyline, 1:28.90; 4. Wasatch, 1:30.27; 5. Olympus, 1:30.28; 6. Brighton, 1:30.39
100-yard backstroke
1. Ryan Garstang, Olympus, 48.71; 2. Aaron Samms, Brighton, 51.27; 3. Jacob Ricci, Cottonwood, 51.95; 4. Michael Wallis, Highland, 52.54; 5. Kyle Snowder, 52.63; 6. Gauge Tobiasson, Mountain Vieww, 53.10
100-yard breaststroke
1. Gavin Willis, Viewmont, 58.20; 2. Jayden Hicken, Wasatch, 58.99; 3. Alexander Turney, Olympus, 59.02; 4. Charlie Simmons, Brighton, 59.77; 5. Bridger Sink, Olympus, 1:00.24; 6. Martin Anders, Cottonwood, 1:00.62
400-yard freestyle relay
1. Olympus (Ethan Astle, Evan VanBrocklin, Ian Conner, Ryan Garstang), 3:10.83; 2. Springville, 3:13.50; 3. Spanish Fork, 3:14.14; 4. Brighton, 3:15.91; 5. Cottonwood, 3:19.35; Wasatch, 3:19.68