Arizona High School State Division II Championships

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By Lauren Sampl, Swimming World intern

MESA, Arizona, November 12. CATALINA Foothills roared to both the girls' and boys' team titles at Arizona's High School State Division II Championships, held Nov. 4-6 at the Kino Aquatics Complex. Catalina Foothills topped the girls' division with 398 points, while Arcadia finished second with 258 points and Notre Dame third with 226 points. On the boys' side, Catalina Foothills put up 310 points, followed by Arcadia with 234.50 points. McClintock rounded out the top three with 181 points.

Perhaps the biggest story of the meet was the record-breaking performances of Desert Edge's Tyler Messerschmidt. The sprint phenom, headed to NCAA perennial power California next fall, took down two state records at the meet, one of which was the seemingly untouchable 100 free record held by Gary Hall Jr. since 1994. Messerschmidt blasted to a time of 43.71, clipping Hall Jr.'s record by 14 one-hundredths of a second. In the 200 free, Messerschmidt broke his own record of 1:38.00 from last year with a sizzling time of 1:36.33.

Catalina Foothills kicked off its run to the championship when the tandem of Harrison Luko, Matthew Kautz, Jason Alentado and Griff CarterDoyle teamed up to win the opening medley relay in 1:39.63. Notre Dame followed in 1:40.91 and Sabino touched just behind at 1:41.27.

Tyler Messerschmidt of Desert Edge took down the first state record of the competition in the 200 free, scorching his previous state record of 1:38.00 with a 1:36.33. Chris Pickard of Arcadia also bested Messerschmidt's record from last year, finishing in 1:37.69. Ben Brouwer of Notre Dame earned third place honors in 1:42.86.

In the 200 IM, two swimmers cracked the 2:00 barrier as Jason Alentado of Catalina Foothills raced to victory in 1:57.58, and Brandon Young of Douglas earned second in 1:59.04. Sedona Red Rock's Evan Decker rounded out the top three with a time of 2:01.59.

Alex Brouwer of Notre Dame sprinted to his first state title of the meet, stopping the clock in 21.02 to win the 50 free. Cole Puchi of Catalina Foothills wound up second in 21.31, and Ian McLeod of Sabino took third in 21.55.

In the diving well, Arcadia's Hayden Sells ran away with the title, amassing 410.45 points en route to the title. Sheldon Soloman of Queen Creek scored 358.35 points for second place, while Mathew Quaranta of Peoria recorded 345.60 points to finish third.

Arcadia's Chris Pickard, the second place finisher in the 200 free, rattled off a sizzling time of 48.81 to win the 100 fly. Catalina Foothills' Jason Alentado, winner of the 200 IM earlier in the meet, finished second in 50.88. Nathan Anderson of Arcadia raced to third in 53.17.

All eyes were on Tyler Messerschmidt of Desert Edge as he returned to his record-setting ways, this time in the 100 free. After standing 16 years, Gary Hall, Jr.'s insanely fast state record of 43.85 finally went down. Messerschmidt rocketed to a time of 43.71 to bump Hall, Jr. from the record books. Cole Puchi of Catalina Foothills finished more than two seconds behind at 45.92 for second place, and Thomas Wahlers of Sunrise Mountain stopped the clock in 46.83 for third.

In the 500 free, McClintock's Londen Thomas cruised to victory in 4:42.33. Second place went to Ben Brouwer of Notre Dame (4:45.62), and third went to Harrison Luko of Catalina Foothills (4:46.87).

Ian McLeod, Joey Heiman, J.T. Oliver and Christian Bidegain of Sabino combined to win the 200 free relay in 1:30.74. The squad from McClintock posted a 1:31.28 for second, and Sunrise Mountain rounded out the top three finishers with a 1:32.03.

Alex Brouwer of Notre Dame claimed his second state title of the competition, racing to a time of 51.90 in the 100 back to add to his 50 free win. Sunnyslope's Walter Ross hit the pads in 53.09 to finish second, and Evan Decker of Sedona Red Rock added another third place medal to his collection with a showing of 54.92.

In the 100 breast, Brandon Young of Douglas hit the touchpads in 57.45 to claim the top spot on the podium. Thomas Wahlers of Sunrise Mountain also broke the 1:00 barrier, finishing in 59.04. Arcadia's Scott Angell earned third place in 1:02.06.

Catalina Foothills closed out the state championships much in the same fashion it began, with a relay victory. Joen Brynnel, Ambjorn Brynnel, Harrison Luko and Cole Puchi, led by Puchi's anchoring split of 45.39, combined for a time of 3:11.58.
Notre Dame's contingent finished in 3:13.46 to earn second place, and Arcadia posted a time of 3:16.82 for third place.

On the girls' side, Alexis Souza, Daniella Emami, Claire Houlton, and Krista Duffield of Catalina Foothills joined forces to win the opening medley relay in 1:52.08, beating out the squads from Arcadia (1:54.67) and Valley Christian (1:54.99).

In the 200 free, Danielle Lee of the Phoenix Country Day School raced to victory in 1:50.23, just off her prelim effort of 1:49.74. Carly Stevens of Arcadia earned second in 1:52.55, while Sabino's Caitlin Wright finished third in 1:54.50.

Daniella Emami, shortly after her team's relay victory, returned for an individual title in the 200 IM, posting a time of 2:13.42. Courtney Dangremond of Sabino was just behind her, clocking a 2:15.08 for second place, while third went to Evelyn Beguiristain of Saguaro in 2:15.77.

Sunnyslope's Taryn Collura asserted herself as the fastest 50 freestyler at the meet, winning in 23.66. Carly Wilson of Tanque Verde touched just behind Collura in 23.84. Phoenix Christian's Angel VanHofwegen earned the final podium spot with her 24.10 effort.

In the one-meter diving competition, Sunrise Mountain's Rachel Kicks recorded 378.10 points on her way to victory. Second place went to Katie Dallmann (348.95 points) of the Phoenix Country Day School, while Issy Diamond of Catalina Foothills took third with 340.60 points.

Valley Christian's Briana Jurries returned after the diving break to post a 56.37 en route to winning the 100 fly. Just over a second behind her were Belen Enguidanos of Cactus Shadows, registering a time of 57.54, and Samantha Getzen of Notre Dame (57.69).

Fifty free champ Taryn Collura of Sunnyslope took her second individual state title when she touched in 51.00 to win the 100 free. Carly Wilson of Tanque Verde grabbed another second place medal in 52.12, and Bonnie Diamond of Catalina Foothills rounded out the top three in 54.42.

Arcadia's Carly Stevens, the second place finisher in the 200 free, cracked the top spot on the podium with her winning time of 4:58.48 in the 500 free. LeighAnne Oliver of Sabino swam to second place in 5:04.89, while Anlise Chiamentti of Catalina Foothills claimed third in 5:09.66.

Catalina Foothills was back to its winning ways in the 200 free relay, with the quartet of Krista Duffield, Jessica Honea, Bonnie Diamond, and Daniella Emami posting a 1:41.26 for the title. The team from Verrado finished second in 1:43.21, while Sunnyslope, paced by Taryn Collura's 23.45 anchor split, garnered third in 1:44.15.

Danielle Lee of Phoenix Country Day School picked up her second individual state title of the meet with a convincing win in the 100 back. She finished in a time of 57.10, well ahead of second place finisher Alexis Daswick (59.63) of Notre Dame and Claire Houlton (1:00.30) of Catalina Foothills.

One hundred fly champ Briana Jurries of Valley Christian showed off her versatility, winning the 100 breast in 1:05.30. Sabino's LeighAnne Oliver was right on her heels, clocking a time of 1:05.78. Daniella Emami of Catalina Foothills was well behind the top two, earning third place with an effort of 1:11.88.

The girls' portion of the meet ended with a bang, as Catalina Foothills and Sabino tied for first place in the 400 free relay. Catalina Foothills, represented by Claire Houlton (54.90), Brianna Schwanenberger (55.16), Bonnie Diamond (53.52), and Anlise Chiamentti (54.02), led the entire race, but Sabino's LeighAnne Oliver (52.24) pulled her team even at the end. Both schools finished in a time of 3:37.60. Michaela Valentine (58.08), Courtney Dangremond (52.54), and Caitlin Wright (54.74) were the other members of Sabino's championship relay.

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