Arizona 5A Division 1 State High School Championships

By Brian Savard

TEMPE, Arizona, November 5. THREE swimmers joined the ranks of some of the most elite athletes swimming has to offer as three individual state marks fell at the Arizona 5A Division 1 State Championships.

Team Scores
Xavier rode two relay wins en route to nabbing the women's title with 411 points. Desert Mountain corralled the second-place spot (348.5), while Desert Vista placed third (217).

Brophy Prep absolutely dominated the men's field, compiling a whopping 538 points. Desert Vista (239) and Desert Mountain (213) each took second and third, respectively.

Women's Individual Results
Traycie Swartz of Dobson defended a preliminary time that stood a full second faster than any other competitor and capitalized on a perfect race as she set a state standard in the 100 freestyle finals (49.50). Emily Mastin of Xavier owned the former standard of 49.72 that she set in the 1995 state championship meet.

Swartz went on in the 100 backstroke to touch the wall in an impressive 55.16 time that easily won her the race.

Strong swims from the leadoff to anchor leg led the Desert Mountain quartet of Angela Duckworth, Ally Loper, Emily Barton and Whitney Lopus to a state-record time of 3:27.63 in the 400 freestyle relay. Xavier set the former standard in 2004 with a 2:28.73.

Lopus then wowed the swimming community with solid swims in her individual events. She fell just short of both state records but beat the field, swimming a blistering fast 100 butterfly (53.18) and 200 freestyle (1:47.39). Misty Hyman has the Arizona state and national high school record in the 100 butterfly with a 52.41.

Christine Olsen of Mesquite came back in her second 50 after touching second at the halfway mark in her 100 breaststroke and eventually won the event with a 5A-record 1:02.42 time. Olsen had set the former standard in 2005 with a 1:02.82 swim.

Two Xavier relays took home state titles. The 200 medley relay contingent of Sarah Lindberg, Elaine Casap, Cimone Miner and Haley Krakoski used a 22.51 Krakoski freestyle leg to pass Desert Mountain and win the event. Elizabeth Keenan, Amber Kerrigan, Allison Kiefer and Krakoski joined together in the 200 freestyle relay, taking the event in a 1:38.19 time.

Men's Individual Results
Adam Small of Corona del Sol stole the limelight in the men's meet, erasing the 1994 Gary Hall Jr. 50 freestyle state record (20.30). Small pounded the wall in 20.22, which stands as the top high school 50 freestyle time in the nation this year. Small also blitzed the 100 freestyle field, covering the four-lap sprint in a 45.32 time.

Austen Thompson of Brophy Prep slipped under the 500 freestyle state record with a 4:28.24 performance. Tyler DeBerry of Sabino set the old standard in 2001 with a 4:28.59 swim. Thompson nearly clipped the Dave Rollins 200 IM record, but he did come away with the state title nonetheless (1:49.66).

Brophy Prep crushed the competition in all three relays. The 200 medley relay grouping of Alex Lendrum, Robert Mitchell, John Wojciechowski and Austen Thompson stormed its way to a 1:33.84 win. Wojciechowski, Brian Stevens, Graham Righi and Thompson teamed up in the 200 freestyle relay, clocking a meet-best 1:25.20. Brophy Prep's foursome of Stevens, Brian Crouch, Michael Johnson and Lendrum closed out the meet by pacing the 400 freestyle field (3:08.40).

Diving Results
Mikenna Cloward of Mountain View in Mesa bested the women in the diving competition, scoring 442.90 points. Marissa Johnson of Xavier captured the second-place spot with 393.40 points while Syrena Miskin from Mt. View-Mesa took third.

Sam Hatch of Gilbert mined gold on the men's side, earning a 468.75 score. Sean Perks of Desert Vista placed second (392.55) while teammate Connor Dignan earned the third-place spot (381.85).

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