High school swimming: American Fork boys return to 6A glory, Lone Peak girls make it 5 straight state titles

Buoyed by star power and some great depth, American Fork’s boys swimming team is back on top of 6A.

As for the girls side, a similar storyline unfolded once again Saturday at BYU as Lone Peak captured its fifth straight 6A state championship.

The difference between the two: Lone Peak’s title was never in jeopardy as it won by over 200 points, while American Fork’s celebrations had to wait until the final race of the meet.

It was worth it.

The Cavemen won that final 400 freestyle relay, securing the school’s first state title since back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. They finished with 322 team points, with Mountain Ridge a close second with 310 points and Lone Peak in third with 302.5 points.

“All meet we just talked about taking care of our own business and making sure that we do what we should do, and we had a job, and the team executed almost perfectly, flawless,” said American Fork coach Michael King.

“The relay was just the last part. We knew we didn’t have to win the relay as long as we were smart and had good exchanges.”

Truman James won two events to lead the way for American Fork (100 fly, 100 back), with Jaxon Fellingham (100 free) also winning an individual title.

The Cavemen also won two of the three relays, the last the title-clinching 400 free relay as the William Tell Overture blared over the Richards Building speakers at BYU.

“I had a little nerves, but I had a quick prayer and I felt a lot of energy coming in my last high school swim. It was do or die,” said James, who swam the third leg in the relay.

For the Lone Peak girls, incredibly its margin of victory has swelled every year during its title streak, from four to 174 to 200 to 209 and then 229 on Saturday.

Coach Celeste Tiffany chalks it up to team camaraderie.

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“This year was a little different than the rest. The way these kids came together, I’ve never really quite seen something so unified. Scoring out the meet, the margin was less than the years before, but you can see what you can do when you’re a team,” said Tiffany.

Lone Peak won all three relays and then had two individual winners, two from Taylor Bennett (50 and 100 free) and another from Sarah Favero (200 free).

For Bennett, this year’s state meet had a totally different vibe.

In her previous three state meets, Bennett swam the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle. She won the 200 I.M. all three years, and in the 500 free she had one first-place finish and two runner-up finishes.

Instead of trying to go for the 4-peat in the 200 IM, the BYU commit wanted the sprints to be her focus this year.

“She’s always been capable of that 50 and 100 free, so discussing that was kind of molding that into the state meet. That’s always been a really strong skill set of hers, and it was so neat to see her completely embrace that this year, work on her starts and water transitions, and huge credit to her club coaches for stepping in and us being able to work well together,” said Tiffany.

The end results unfolded better than Bennett ever dreamed they could. She set a new 6A record in the 50 freestyle prelims on Friday, and then in Saturday’s final swam the fastest 50 free race in Utah history, posting a time of 23.06.

Later in the meet she won the 100 freestyle with a 6A record time of 50.67. She also contributed to a pair Lone Peak winning relay teams.

Not bad for a senior who was “really, really nervous” all week in the lead up to the state meet.

“The meet went way better than I expected it to go. Really I was just in competition with myself, and I chose events I haven’t done that past three years for the first time at state,” said Bennett.

“Being able to do these events for the first time at state and doing as well as I have has been so rewarding and out of this world. I am just so grateful for everything I’ve put in this season and the outcome of it has been so fulfilling.”

Despite four easy wins at state during her high school career, Bennett said the euphoria of the experience never dulls.

“It doesn’t get old winning state all together, especially ‘cause last year we lost so many seniors. We weren’t necessarily expected to win by such a big sweep, but our freshmen girls have been so amazing this entire season,” said Bennett

The other 6A individual girls winners were Syracuse’s LayLeigh Turner (200 I.M.), Lehi’s Alyssa Soderquist (100 fly), Skyridge’s Kara Moir (500 free), American Fork’s Addie Harding (100 back) and Pleasant Grove’s Ruby Homer (100 breast).

While Lone Peak won in a runaway, the boys team standings were tight all meet with American Fork, Lone Peak and Mountain Ridge shuffling back and forth event after event.

Coach King thought Fellingham’s win in the 100 freestyle was one of the big turning points. Even though American Fork still trailed by 14 points after that race, King knew that the upcoming backstroke and breaststroke races lined up very well for his team to pick up big points.

“It brought that momentum and energy back. We talked all week with the boys about making sure you ride those energy waves when they come in so keep yourself grounded so you can seize those opportunities,” said King.

Other individual wins for the boys were Bingham’s Lincoln Hymas (200 free), Mountain Ridge’s Huckleberry Burton (200 IM), Skyridge’s Mason Hemmert (50 free), Bingham’s Lincoln Humas (500 free)and Skyridge’s Connor Clark (100 breast).

6A girls state swim meet

At BYU

Team scores

1. Lone Peak, 404
2. Skyridge, 175
3. Lehi, 173
4. Bingham, 159
5. Mountain Ridge, 155
6. Corner Canyon, 131
7. Syracuse, 127
8. Farmington, 123
9. Riverton, 117
10. Pleasant Grove, 99

Individual results

200 medley relay

1. Lone Peak (Sarah Favero, Taylor Bennett, Grace Wilson, Anastyn Kennard), 1:48.74
2. Lehi, 1:55.87
3. Corner Canyon, 1:6.06
4. Farmington, 1:57.24
5. Bingham, 1:59.38
6. Riverton, 1:59.61
7. Weber, 2:02.10

200 freestyle

1. Sarah Favero, Lone Peak, So., 1:59.59
2. Sophie Topham, Lone Peak, Sr., 2:01.14
3. Waimea Barlow, Weber, Jr., 2:02.53
4. Liberty Harris, Layton, So., 2:02.73
5. Ellie Sintay, Skyridge, So., 2:03.05
6. Ava Ellington, Skyridge, Jr., 2:04.65
7. Kara Moir, Skyridge, Jr., 2:06.21
8. Ruby Lynn, Herriman, Jr., 2:06.23

200 individual medley

1. LayLeigh Turner, Syracuse, Fr., 2:12.97
2. Elsie Crowell, Farmington, So., 2:14.46
3. Alexandra Lund, Riverton, Jr., 2:15.76
4. Grace Wilson, Lone Peak, Sr., 2:17.42
5. Sydney Bahr, Lehi, So., 2:22.08
6. Halle Walker, Corner Canyon, Sr., 2:23.83
7. Evie Hershkop, Lone Peak, Jr., 2:24.07
8. Emily Grossarth, Mountain Ridge, Jr., 2:26.77

50 freestyle

1. Taylor Bennett, Lone Peak, Sr., 23.06
2. Sophie Scoville, Pleasant Grove, Sr., 23.41
3. Addie Harding, American Fork, Sr., 24.07
4. Meadow Tatum, Mountain Ridge, So., 24.80
5. Berkeley Hansen, Corner Canyon, Fr., 25.13
6. Anastyn Kennard, Lone Peak, Fr., 25.41
7. Madison Salzman, Syracuse, Sr., 25.94
8. Nahlia Stewart, Davis, Jr., 26.30

100 butterfly

1. Alyssa Soderquist, Lehi, Jr., 59.25
2. Grace Wilson, Lone Peak, Sr., 59.51
3. Lucy Haymond, Riverton, Sr., 1:00.34
4. Avery Dyer, Westlake, So., 1:01.90
5. Caroline Johnson, Lone Peak, Fr., 1:01.92
6. Natalie Tzvetcoff, Mountain Ridge, Sr., 1:02.34
7. Kalia Hasselbach, Lehi, Jr., 1:03.00
8. Ava Ellington, Skyridge, Jr., 1:03.16

100 freestyle

1. Taylor Bennett, Lone Peak, Sr., 50.67
2. Sophie Scoville, Pleasant Grove, Sr., 52.61
3. Berkeley Hansen, Corner Canyon, Fr., 54.43
4. McKenna Garlick, Lone Peak, So., 56.10
5. Madison Salzman, Syracuse, Sr., 56.55
6. Autumn Sutherland, Lone Peak, Sr., 56.90
7. Raegan Whipple, Bingham, Sr., 57.01
8. Millie Neidig, Bingham, Fr., 57.73

500 freestyle

1. Kara Moir, Skyridge, Jr., 5:24.51
2. Ellie Sintay, Skyridge, So., 5:25.41
3. Sophie Topham, Lone Peak, Sr., 5:31.20
4. Waimea Barlow, Weber, Jr., 5:32.62
5. Liberty Harris, Layton, So., 5:32.85
6. Alexandra Lund, Riverton, Jr., 5:32.88
7. Natalie Tzvetcoff, Mountain Ridge, Sr., 5:35.07
8. Jacie Nielson, Farmington, So., 5:43.80

200 freestyle relay

1. Lone Peak (Taylor Bennett, McKenna Garlick, Sophie Topham, Anastyn Kennard), 1:38.78
2. Syracuse, 1:43.23
3. Corner Canyon, 1:43.67
4. Bingham, 1:43.98
5. Mountain Ridge, 1:43.99
6. Farmington, 1:46.32
7. Layton, 1:47.19

100 backstroke

1. Addie Harding, American Fork, Sr., 57.74
2. Elsie Crowell, Farmington, So., 59.52
3. Meadow Tatum, Mountain Ridge, So., 59.54
4. Alyssa Soderquist, Lehi, Jr., 59.64
5. Sarah Favero, Lone Peak, So., 1:01.96
6. Kalia Hasselbach, Lehi, Jr., 1:02.00
7. Lucy Haymond, Riverton, Sr., 1:03.38
8. Darcee Smith, Lehi, Fr., 1:04.11

100 breaststroke

1. Ruby Homer, Pleasant Grove, Sr., 1:09.70
2. LayLeigh Turner, Syracuse, Fr., 1:10.94
3. Avery Dyer, Westlake, So., 1:11.28
4. Evie Hershkop, Lone Peak, Jr., 1:12.05
5. Jacie Nielson, Farmington, So., 1:12.25
6. Christiana Parsons, Layton, Jr., 1:12.71
7. Ruby Lynn, Herriman, Jr., 1:13.19
8. Molly Thatcher, Bingham, Fr., 1:13.82

400 freestyle relay

1. Lone Peak (Sarah Favero, Sophie Topham, Grace Wilson, McKenna Garlick), 3:40.75
2. Mountain Ridge, 3:47.48
3. Skyridge, 3:49.27
4. Syracuse, 3:49.81
5. Pleasant Grove, 3:51.04
6. Lehi, 3:51.75
7. Bingham, 3:52.03
8. Weber, 3:52.51

6A boys state swim meet

Team scores

1. American Fork, 322
2. Mountain Ridge, 310
3. Lone Peak, 302.5
4. Skyridge, 230
5. Farmington, 148
6. Corner Canyon, 135
7. Bingham, 128.5
8. Pleasant Grove, 125
9. Riverton, 94.5
10. Westlake, 88.5

Individual results

200 medley relay

1. American Fork (Truman James, Zack Stevens, Jaxon Fellingham, Makai Smith), 1:36.15
2. Lone Peak, 1:38.72
3. Mountain Ridge, 1:40.24
4. Riverton, 1:43.42
5. Corner Canyon, 1:44.17
6. Pleasant Grove, 1:44.19
7. Farmington, 1:45.46

200 freestyle

1. Lincoln Hymas, Bingham, Sr., 1:41.46
2. Sam Petersen, American Fork, So., 1:43.84
3. Max Dickson, American Fork, Sr., 1:45.16
4. Jack Haney, Lone Peak, Sr., 1:48.98
5. Caleb Sorensen, Bingham, Sr., 1:48.99
6. Jacob Hamblin, Corner Canyon, Jr., 1:49.99
7. Brody Schvaneveldt, Riverton, So., 1:50.08
8. Jake Ikemiyashiro, Mountain Ridge, Jr., 1:50.84

200 individual medley

1. Huckleberry Burton, Mountain Ridge, Sr., 1:57.86
2. Ethan Brown, Mountain Ridge, So., 1:59.23
3. Van Haney, Lone Peak, Jr., 2:00.08
4. Makai Smith, American Fork, Sr., 2:00.52
5. Sam Poulson, Pleasant Grove, Sr., 2:02.61
6. Noah Christensen, Skyridge, So., 2:03.36
7. Connor Clark, Skyridge, Jr., 2:04.12
8. Dillon Giraldi, Skyridge, Sr., 2:07.56

50 freestyle

1. Mason Hemmert, Skyridge, Sr., 21.13
2. Jaxon Fellingham, American Fork, Sr., 21.55
3. Xander Berg, Lone Peak, Jr., 21.80
4. Sam Mortensen, Skyridge, Sr., 21.89
5. Tyler Cedor, Mountain Ridge, Jr., 22.14
6. Bridger Isbell, Mountain Ridge, Jr., 22.20
7. Jack Smart, Farmington, So., 22.53
8. Tate Johnson, Corner Canyon, Jr., 23.48

100 butterfly

1. Truman James, American Fork, Sr., 50.26
2. Beck Johnson, Lone Peak, So., 51.35
3. Aiden Tarin, Mountain Ridge, Sr., 53.51
4. Sam Lloyd, Corner Canyon, Sr., 53.65
5. Tate Johnson, Lone Peak, Sr., 53.81
6. Jonny Janzen, Riverton, Sr., 54.52
7. Caleb Sorensen, Bingham, Sr., 54.52

100 freestyle

1. Jaxon Fellingham, American Fork, Sr., 47.16
2. Mason Hemmert, Skyridge, Sr., 47.18
3. Xander Berg, Lone Peak, Jr., 47.72
4. Sam Mortensen, Skyridge, Sr., 47.98
5. Tyler Cedor, Mountain Ridge, Jr., 48.91
6. Jack Smart, Farmington, So., 49.12
7. Jack Haney, Lone Peak, Sr., 49.28
8. Clarke Tholl, Farmington, Sr., 49.88

500 freestyle

1. Lincoln Hymas, Bingham, Sr., 4:37.94
2. Sam Petersen, American Fork, So., 4:43.79
3. Van Haney, Lone Peak, Jr., 4:53.49
4. Brody Schvaneveldt, Riverton, So., 4:55.36
5. Max Dickson, American Fork, Sr., 4:56.37
6. Bridger Scott, Mountain Ridge, Jr., 4:57.38
7. Jake Ikemiyashiro, Mountain Ridge, Jr., 4:58.21
8. Jacob Hamblin, Corner Canyon, Jr., 4:59.53

200 freestyle relay

1. Lone Peak (Xander Berg, Tate Johnson, Jason Dumas, Beck Johnson), 1:27.13
2. Mountain Ridge, 1:27.60
3. Pleasant Grove, 1:30.40
4. American Fork, 1:30.75
5. Skyridge, 1:31.64
6. Westlake, 1:31.75
7. Farmington, 1:31.90
8. Bingham, 1:33.44

100 backstroke

1. Truman James, American Fork, Sr., 50.41
2. Huckleberry Burton, Mountain Ridge, Sr., 52.97
3. Sam Lloyd, Corner Canyon, Sr., 54.13
4. Beck Johnson, Lone Peak, So., 54.62
5. Evan Layton, Skyridge, Sr., 54.91
6. Oakley James, American Fork, So., 55.64
7. Easton Adams, Weber, Jr., 55.84
8. Tyce Morrill, Riverton, So., 56.28

100 breaststroke

1. Connor Clark, Skyridge, Jr., 59.47
2. Ethan Brown, Mountain Ridge, So., 59.72
3. Noah Wayman, Weber, Sr., 59.94
4. Sam Poulson, Pleasant Grove, Sr., 1:00.34
5. Makai Smith, American Fork, Sr., 1:00.57
6. Porter Wilde, Westlake, So., 1:01.23
7. Clarke Tholl, Farmington, Sr., 1:01.2.72
8. Daniel Wang, Skyridge, Jr., 1:02.73

400 freestyle relay

1. American Fork (Sam Petersen, Max Dickson, Truman James, Jaxon Fellingham), 3:10.54
2. Skyridge, 3:12.94
3. Mountain Ridge, 3:15.70
4. Lone Peak, 3:16.95
5. Corner Canyon, 3:19.55
6. Bingham, 3:22.00
7. Farmington, 3:22.45
8. Weber, 3:23.97

6A Unified swim meet

Individual results

Girls 50 freestyle Division 1

1. Jaymi Bonner, Herriman, 1:17.92

Boys 50 freestyle Division 1

1. Jordan Barlow, Corner Canyon, 29.70
2. Logan Blauser, Layton, 31.25
3. Benjamin Lund, Herriman, 55.79
4. Bryce Armendariz, Corner Canyon, 1:16.60

Girls 50 freestyle Division 2

1. Hailey Monson, Farmington, 42.67

Girls 100 freestyle Division 2

1. Hailey Monson, Farmington, 1:32.44

Mixed 100 freestyle Relay

1. Bingham, 59.12
2. Herriman, 1:20.55
3. Corner Canyon, 1:27.03