Throw as many superlatives out there as you want, they’d all describe the drama and greatness of the 5A state swimming meet at BYU over the past two days.
Of the 22 events, a whopping 12 featured a new state record — 10 of which were overall state records.
There were seven overall individual state records, three overall relay state records, one 5A individual state record and one 5A relay state record set.
As one 5A coach said who’s been involved with high school swimming for over 30 years, he’s never seen a meet quite like that.
Olympus’ Abe Astle accounted for four of those overall state records, while Highland’s Veronica Black broke two of them and Brighton’s Luan Barnard another.
There was some great drama at the end of the meet as well. Even though Olympus’ boys ran away with the team title, winning by almost 200 points, the girls team title was very much up in the air heading into the final race of the meet, the 400 free relay.
Skyline had a six-point lead over Olympus heading into the finale and the difference between first and second in the relays is six points, so the Titans knew that a relay win could create a tie for first place.
Skyline, however, went wire to wire, with Jade Garstang widening the lead in the final leg as the Eagles narrowly won the title.
“Honestly it was really stressful because it’s my senior year, so I obviously wanted to win,” said Garstang, who also won two individual championships on Saturday (100 free and 100 backstroke).
Skyline led Olympus by nearly two seconds midway through the race, but Olympus’ third swimmer, Rainie Moran, whittled that deficit to just two-tenths heading into the last leg.
The energy in the Richards Building at BYU was buzzing.
“It was probably one of the most exciting things I’ve seen in my life, trumped things that I have seen or done in my swimming career and that’s what I love most about coaching. Everything feels a bit better when it’s for the kids,” said Skyline coach JP Hynes.
In the end, Skyline finished with 360 team points to win its second team title in the past three years. Olympus finished second with 348 points, with Wasatch in third with 272 points.
“I knew it was going to be close, but I didn’t see it coming down to the last race, but Olympus, they swam out of their minds. A really great performance for them,” said Hynes.
Hynes said placing four swimmers in the top nine in the 500 freestyle was massive, as were some unlikely points in the 100 breaststroke from freshman Ella Bergen and sophomore Lauren Vinik.
“One thing I’ve learned, it’s a numbers game and every point counts,” said Hynes.
As expected, Olympus ran away with its second straight boys title and fifth in the past six years as it tallied 470 team points. Skyline finished second with 283 points.
“They’re so phenomenal. The thing that I worry about is when will I see a group like this again, on the boys side and the girls,” said Olympus coach Tom Thorum, who acknowledged that he said something similar four years ago.
Olympus captured titles in three individual events and two of three relays. Astle, who in Friday’s preliminaries set four new overall state records, won individual titles on Saturday in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley.
He lowered his 50 free time, posting a 20.08 in the opening leg of Olympus 200 free relay.
“It’s just a dream ending, setting so many records and being with all of my teammates, my family, my friends. Honestly I can’t imagine a better way to finish out my high school career,” said Astle, who is committed to BYU.
Thorum credits Astle’s great career to hard work and the right mentality.
“I didn’t do anything out of the routine specifically for Abe. Abe just applied himself to what we were doing with the team. He didn’t get any special attention or any special training sessions. He just showed up, worked hard and listened carefully. He always had a winner’s mindset from the time he was really young,” said Thorum.
Astle contributed to Olympus record-setting 200 and 400 free relay teams as well, finishing the meet with four individual records and two relay records.
Skyline’s boys team opened the meet setting a new overall record in the 200 medley relay.
Like Astle, Brighton’s Barnard won two events on Saturday (200 free and 100 backstroke). His time of 47.53 in the backstroke broke the overall state record.
“It feels amazing to be able to come out here and swim my best and do what I did in practice,” said Barnard. “Just being able to come here and swim my heart out and see how far I’ve come from last year, just pushing myself to the limit and faster than I thought I could ever go, so it’s an amazing feeling overall to be here today.”
Other individual winners for the boys were Viewmont’s Isaac Hale (50 free), Olympus’ Benjamin Hatchard (100 fly), East’s Glen Tanner (100 free) and Skyline’s Chase Johnson (500 free).
While Astle stole the show for the boys, Black did the same in the girls meet. The Highland senior set new overall state records in both the 200 individual medley (2:02.33) and the 100 breaststroke (1:00.51).
The San Diego State commit came into the state meet believing she could push for a couple state records, but she never likes to put that kind of pressure on herself.
“I try not to expect anything out of myself because records are records and sometimes you get really close and you don’t break it,” said Black, who already owned the 100 breast record from a race a few weeks ago.
When Black stepped into the blocks for her 200 IM final on Saturday, any pressure she might’ve felt had already vanished. The day before in her preliminary race, Black broke the overall 200 IM state record with a time of 2:03.09.
When she dropped more time off the record in Saturday’s finals, touching the wall in 2:02.33, she was pleasantly surprised.
“I’m really excited. I think Utah swimming is evolving as something that used to not be that popular of a spart in Utah. It’s getting bigger and that’s exciting for me to see that and to see the girls in the classes below me, who I hope one day will break the records that I just set. It’s exciting to see Utah swimming grow,” said Black.
Other individual winners for the girls were Spanish Fork’s Coco Riding (200 free), Olympus’ Fran Hunt (50 free), Wasatch’s Ana Diedrichs (100 free) and Olympus Rainie Moran (500 free).
5A girls state swim meet
At BYU
Final team scores
- Skyline, 360
- Olympus, 348
- Wasatch, 272
- Highland, 114
- Timpview, 168
- Springville, 114
- Woods Cross, 97.5
- Alta, 88
- Box Elder, 82
- Brighton 81
Individual results
200 medley relay
- Olympus (Sadie Macdonald, Fran Hunt, Rainie Moran, Sophie Wrona), 1:45.15
- Wasatch, 1:45.33
- Skyline, 1:46.88
- Highland, 1:49.43
- Box Elder, 1:53.02
- Springville, 1:53.17
- Alta, 1:53.57
- Woods Cross, 1:56.97
200 freestyle
- Coco Riding, Spanish Fork, Sr., 1:54.81
- Vienna Lemmon, Olympus, Jr., 1:56.63
- Rori Sorenson, Skyline, So., 1:56.64
- Aulia Leauanae, Springville, Fr., 1:57.72
- Greta Doretto, Olympus, So., 1:58.30
- Shayla Zulcic, Skyline, So., 1:58.57
- Avery Haynes, Wasatch, Sr., 1:59.38
- Ellie Plant, Highland, Sr., 2:00.83
200 individual medley
- Veronica Black, Highland, Sr., 2:02.33
- Rainie Moran, Olympus, So., 2:06.71
- Elaine Liu, Skyline, Sr., 2:07.27
- Kate Reichner, Timpview, Sr., 2:08.86
- Ava Glissmeyer, Woods Cross, So., 2:10.42
- Sadie Macdonald, Olympus, Jr., 2:10.80
- Paige Hicken, Wasatch, So., 2:10.89
- Linnea Nelson, Salem Hills, Sr., 2:11.21
50 freestyle
- Fran Hunt, Olympus, Jr., 23.89
- Ofa Fa, West, Sr., 24.44
- Bella Williams, Skyline, Sr., 24.75
- Eva Phillips, Timpview, Sr., 24.93
- Sophie Wrona, Olympus, So., 25.04
- Elsa Bringard, Skyline, Jr., 25.21
- Reece Andrews, Wasatch, Jr., 25.33
- Elsie Malinka, Wasatch, Jr., 25.72
100 butterfly
- Jade Garstang, Skyline, Sr., 53.66
- Vienna Lemmon, Olympus, Jr., 57.24
- Elaine Liu, Skyline, Sr., 57.27
- Kate Reichner, Timpview, Sr., 58.08
- Reece Andrews, Wasatch, Jr., 58.35
- Sofie Anders, Alta, Jr., 59.05
- Eva Phillips, Timpview, Sr., 59.32
- Santi Hunt, Olympus, Fr., 59.46
100 freestyle
- Ana Diedrichs, Wasatch, Jr., 50.71
- Reagan Patterson, Bonneville, Sr., 52.10
- Coco Riding, Spanish Fork, Sr., 52.54
- Ofa Fa, West, Sr., 53.31
- Bella Williams, Skyline, Sr., 53.87
- Shayla Zulcic, Skyline, So., 53.99
- Greta Doretto, Olympus, So., 54.24
- Avery Haynes, Wasatch, Sr., 55.81
500 freestyle
- Rainie Moran, Olympus, So., 5:09.75
- Linnea Nelson, Salem Hills, Sr., 5:12.33
- Rori Sorenson, Skyline, So., 5:13.49
- Sadie Macdonald, Olympus, Jr., 5:16.80
- Keira Jameson, Skyline, Jr., 5:17.20
- Ellie Plant, Highland, Sr., 5:23.05
- Ellie Long, Maple Mountain, Jr., 5:26.92
- Ryli Jonart, Skyline, Jr., 5:29.61
200 freestyle relay
- Olympus (Vienna Lemmon, Sydney McElwee, Greta Doretto, Sophie Wrona), 1:38.62
- Skyline, 1:39.06
- Wasatch, 1:40.06
- Timpview, 1:40.28
- Springville, 1:42.58
- Alta, 1:42.82
- Box Elder, 1:43.56
- Brighton, 1:45.10
100 backstroke
- Jade Garstang, Skyline, Sr., 53.63
- Ana Diedrichs, Wasatch, Jr., 54.66
- Aulia Leauanae, Springville, Fr., 57.06
- Ava Glissmeyer, Woods Cross, So., 58.00
- Santi Hunt, Olympus, Fr., 58.39
- Claire Hamula, Highland, Sr., 59.12
- Felicia Shi, Skyline, Sr., 1:00.07
- Brinley Weight, Springville, Sr., 1:00.64
100 breaststroke
- Veronica Black, Highland, Sr., 1:00.51
- Fran Hunt, Olympus, Jr., 1:02.77
- Reagan Patterson, Bonneville, Sr., 1:05.73
- Paige Hicken, Wasatch, So., 1:06.01
- Camryn Tanton, Timpview, Fr., 1:06.57
- Sofie Anders, Alta, Jr., 1:08.10
- Kasenya Keller, Wasatch, So., 1:08.28
- Grace Cannon, Wasatch, Jr., 1:08.48
400 freestyle relay
- Skyline (Bella Williams, Rori Sorenson, Shayla Zulcic, Jade Garstang), 3:31.08
- Olympus, 3:31.95
- Wasatch, 3:34.95
- Timpview, 3:43.91
- Highland, 3:44.68
- Woods Cross, 3:46.49
- Maple Mountain, 3:55.27
5A boys state swim meet
At BYU
Final team scores
- Olympus, 470
- Skyline, 283
- Wasatch, 219
- Brighton, 180
- Viewmont, 168
- Timpview, 121
- Kearns, 116
- Alta, 94
- Bountiful, 81
- Box Elder, 80
Individual results
200 medley relay
- Skyline (Nash Hale, Yunpeng Tao, Chase Johnson, Ben Goetsch), 1:31.74
- Brighton, 1:33.30
- Olympus, 1:37.70
- Alta, 1:40.15
- Wasatch, 1:40.42
- Timpview, 1:43.66
- Clearfield, 1:43.10
200 freestyle
- Luan Barnard, Brighton, Jr., 1:38.70
- Benjamin Hatchard, Olympus, Sr., 1:39.57
- Jackson Hatchard, Olympus, Jr., 1:44.39
- Conner Swensen, Olympus, Sr., 1:44.91
- Casey Cummard, Timpview, Sr., 1:45.57
- Kai Hale, Skyline, So., 1:46.33
- Ammon Kamauu, Woods Cross, Sr., 1:47.62
- Andrew Webster, Viewmont, Sr., 1:48.12
200 individual medley
- Abe Astle, Olympus, Sr., 1:46.01
- Nash Hale, Skyline, Sr., 1:51.33
- Isaac Wardle, Olympus, Sr., 1:51.82
- Glen Tanner, East, Sr., 1:53.97
- Laiken Swensen, Olympus, Sr., 1:56.44
- Benjamin Schiffman, Brighton, Sr., 1:57.59
- Thomas Chamberlain, Viewmont, So., 1:57.70
- Brayden Stoddard, Wasatch, Jr., 1:57.99
50 freestyle
- Isaac Hale, Viewmont, Sr., 20.89
- Ben Goetsch, Skyline, Sr., 21.30
- Liam Glissmeyer, Bountiful, Sr., 21.42
- Kevin Tu, Olympus, Sr., 21.47
- Dylen Graff, Wasatch, Jr., 21.85
- Lincoln Hatch, Kearns, Jr., 21.87
- Jaydon Courtney, Olympus, Sr., 22.37
- Finnegan Vorwaller, Skyline, Sr., 22.73
100 butterfly
- Benjamin Hatchard, Olympus, Sr., 48.18
- Sebastian Wrona, Olympus, Sr., 48.24
- Chase Johnson, Skyline, Sr., 50.72
- Bohdan Olevych, Olympus, Sr., 52.37
- Brayden Stoddard, Wasatch, Jr., 52.66
- Oliver Northway, Olympus, Fr., 53.64
- Max Wesemann, Kearns, So., 54.12
- Emmett Stirling, Wasatch, So., 55.03
100 freestyle
- Glen Tanner, East, Sr., 45.84
- Drake Doyle, Brighton, Sr., 46.35
- Kevin Tu, Olympus, Sr., 46.88
- Ben Goetsch, Skyline, Sr., 46.97
- Liam Glissmeyer, Bountiful, Sr., 47.12
- Lincoln Hatch, Kearns, Jr., 48.39
- Andrew Webster, Viewmont, Sr., 48.97
- Dylen Graff, Wasatch, Jr., 49.58
500 freestyle
- Chase Johnson, Skyline, Sr., 4:40.09
- Jackson Hatchard, Olympus, Jr., 4:47.08
- Thomas Chamberlain, Viewmont, So., 4:49.71
- Casey Cummard, Timpview, Sr., 4:49.91
- Ammon Kamauu, Woods Cross, Sr., 4:51.18
- Benjamin Schiffman, Brighton, Sr., 4:51.31
- Henry Long, Bountiful, So., 4:52.69
- Bryton Bushnell, Wasatch, Sr., 4:57.47
200 freestyle relay
- Olympus (Abe Astle, Kevin Tu, Benjamin Hatchard, Sebastian Wrona), 1:21.43
- Viewmont, 1:227.63
- Wasatch, 1:29.08
- Skyline, 1:29.77
- Timpview, 1:30.20
- Box Elder, 1:31.85
- Kearns, 1:31.85
- Alta, 1:32.36
100 backstroke
- Luan Barnard, Brighton, Jr., 47.53
- Nash Hale, Skyline, Sr., 48.38
- Sebastian Wrona, Olympus, Sr., 49.25
- Conner Swensen, Olympus, Sr., 52.33
- Kai Hale, Skyline, So., 52.64
- Dallin McKee, Box Elder, Sr., 53.05
- Jake Funk, Wasatch, Sr., 53.71
- Benson Mortensen, Wasatch, Fr., 53.89
100 breaststroke
- Abe Astle, Olympus, Sr., 54.95
- Isaac Wardle, Olympus, Sr., 56.69
- Drake Doyle, Brighton, Sr., 57.69
- Laiken Swensen, Olympus, Sr., 57.99
- Henry Helgesen, Viewmont, Jr., 58.66
- Thomas Powers, Brighton, Sr., 59.24
- Blake Abney, Alta, Jr., 1:00.12
- Isaac Hale, Viewmont, Sr., 1:00.79
400 freestyle relay
- Olympus (Kevin Tu, Benjamin Hatchard, Sebastian Wrona, Abe Astle), 3:00.76
- Skyline, 3:07.52
- Brighton, 3:09.09
- Viewmont, 3:13.92
- Wasatch, 3:20.93
- Box Elder, 3:21.48
- Kearns, 3:23.35
- Timpview, 3:23.86
5A Unified state swim meet
Girls 50 freestyle, Division 1
- Skyla Strehie, Alta, Fr., 42.09
- Lillian Peterson, Kearns, 52.83
- Skye Bowen, Wasatch, 54.82
- Ella Thompson, Timpview, 1:14.65
- Sara Thompson, Timpview, 1:23.46
Boys 50 freestyle, Division 1
- Garrett Draper, West Jordan, Jr., 30.62
- Colton Reddon, Cyprus, 32.78
- Westin Stewart, Salem Hills, 34.84
Girls 50 freestyle, Division 2
- Addie Gassman, Highland, So., 28.19
- Lily Orton, West, So., 1:26.35
Boys 50 freestyle, Division 2
- Dylan Etherington, Brighton, 39.01
- Zachary Anderson, Cedar Valley, 1:15.53
Mixed 100 freestyle, Division 2
- Addie Gassman, Highland, Sr., 1:03.57
- Lily Orton, West, So., 3:05.10
Mixed 100 freestyle, Division 2
- Dylan Ehterington, Brighton, Sr., 1:39.53
Mixed 100 freestyle relay, Division 2
- Cyprus/West Jordan (Garrett Draper, Seth Bottomly, Colton Reddon, Kayden VanCott), 56.43
- Kearns/Alta, 1:15.61
- Timpview, 1:35.79