Carbon Girls Repeat, Union Boys Win First-Ever Utah 3A State Championship Titles

Photo Courtesy: UHSAA Twitter (@UHSAAinfo)

The 2020 Utah 3A State Championships took place on February 8 at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

On the girls’ side, Carbon won the opening relay to repeat as state champions with a total of 309 points. Despite not winning any races, the Union boys showed their impressive depth to capture their first-ever championship crown in program history with a final score of 212, only one point ahead of runner-up Judge Memorial.

Click HERE for full results and team scores.

Girls Meet

Top 5 Team Scores:

1. Carbon – 309
2. Richfield – 273
3. Rowland Hall – 199
4. Emery – 190
5. Judge Memorial – 179

Carbon began their winning ways as Nicole Swasey (32.73), Tyrca Jaramillo (32.97), Sofia Crompton (28.81), and Emily Jespersen (27.49) won the opening 4×50 medley relay in 2:02.00, only three-tenths ahead of runner-up Emery’s 2:02.36.

Grantsville’s Hadlee Begay dominated the 200 free, winning the event by 11 seconds in a final time of 1:58.57 as the only swimmer in the field under the two-minute marker. Soon after, she successfully defended her state title in the 500 free in 5:16.12 – 19 seconds ahead of the competition.

Rowland Hall’s Grace Smith cruised to first in the 200 IM for the second-straight season, posting an eight-second victory in 2:13.70 and knocking off nearly six seconds from her prelims time. She also earned gold in the 100 breast to defend her title, shaving off nearly three seconds from prelims in a final time of 1:10.522.

Wasatch Academy’s Gen Jones splashed-and-dashed her way to the gold medal in the 50 free, stopping the clock in 25.06 as the only racer to crack the 26-second mark. Her second individual gold medal of the day came in the 100 back when she powered home in 1:04.30 for the victory.

Morgan’s Rachel Wheelwright flew to the top of the podium in the 100 fly, touching the wall in 1:03.30 for the win to edge out runner-up Grace Sherman (1:03.47) of Judge Memorial. Richfield’s Aubri Kling earned the gold medal in the 100 free after sprinting to the wall in 57.08 ahead of runner-up Kacee Barrett (57.64) of Carbon.

Richfield’s Kling (26.15), Annalee Thompson (27.02), Marisol Mikesell (26.26), and Alexis Kling (26.09) won the 4×50 free relay in 1:45.52, two seconds ahead of the field. Aubri Kling (57.59), Thompson (1:00.15), Mikesell (59.61), and Alexis Kling (58.93) gave Richfield the 4×100 free relay title in 3:56.28.

Boys Meet

Top 5 Team Scores:

1. Union – 213
2. Judge Memorial – 212
3. Richfield – 210
4. North Summit – 169
5. Grand County – 135

The boys’ meet began as Judge Memorial’s Nico Morton (27.10), Buddy Yanelli (26.86), Ben Yarrish (26.33), Seth Overman (22.88) won the opening 4×50 medley relay in 1:43.17 for a six-second victory. Overman (51.45), Yarrish (53.66), Morton (51.48), and Yanelli (52.26) also won the 4×100 free relay in 3:28.85.

Soon after helping his medley relay team win gold, Yanelli was back in the water to claim an individual title in the 200 IM after posting a six-second victory in 2:06.03. He went four-for-four in gold medals during the meet after he won the 100 breast by getting his hands to the wall in 59.99, just cracking the minute-marker.

American Leadership Academy’s Patrick Bless cruised to first in the 200 free, stopping the clock in 1:50.98 to edge out runner-up Zane Thomas (1:51.34) of Grantsville. For the second-consecutive season, Bless earned the 500 free state title after finishing in 4:58.24 to beat Morton’s 4:59.79. Thomas also defended his title in the 100 back with a time of 56.49.

Telos Academy’s Guil Ware sprinted to the wall in 21.69 for a win in the 50 free, finishing over a second ahead of the field as the only swimmer under 22 seconds. Shortly after, Ware proved his sprint prowess by claiming the 100 free in a quick 48.26 to win the event by four seconds.

Rowland Hall’s Lucas Erickson flew to the top spot in the 100 fly, getting his hands to the wall the fastest in 54.79 as the first of only five swimmers in the race to crack one minute. North Summit’s Jake Ison (23.89), Michael Townley (24.64), Liam Stephens (24.59), and Cody Piotrowski (23.31) combined to win the 4×50 free relay in 1:36.43.

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