High School State Championships: Arizona Division 1, 2

MESA, Arizona, November 7. SWIMMERS from around the state of Arizona competed in two divisions at the state high school championships Nov. 4-5 in Mesa. In partnership with AIA365.com, SwimmingWorld.TV streamed the event live. Full on-demand footage from the two divisions will be available shortly at the Division I and Division II Landing Pages.

Division 1
Xavier Prep dominated the competition, scoring a total of 429 points. Pinnacle was second (194). Mountain View Mesa squeezed out Chaparral by four points for third, 172-168. Desert Vista came in fifth with 149 points.

Xavier swept the relays. The team of junior Hayden Walker, sophomore Christina Valenzuela, senior Talie Anchustegui and junior Madeline Wells combined for a 1:46.03 in the 200 medley relay. Pinnacle was second in 1:49.49, followed by Catalina Foothills with their 1:51.38. In the 200 free relay, freshman Aimee Hatfield, Wells, junior Kathleen Mulligan and senior Alisha Bender posted a 1:37.74 win with Red Mountain claiming second in 1:38.32 and Desert Vista's third-place 1:39.29. Anchustegui, Mulligan, Walker and Bender closed out the girls' meet with a victory in the 400 free relay of 3:31.47. Pinnacle placed second in 3:32.64, followed by Chaparral's 3:35.14.

Mountain View-Mesa junior Kat Simonovic placed first in the 200 free with her 1:48.99. Rincon freshman Brianna Leverenz took second in 1:51.24, with Mountain Pointe junior Clara Jenck claiming third in 1:52.27. Simonovic made it a double with her 51.02 triumph in the 100 free, touching out Canyon de Oro senior Maggie McCord (51.17). Pinnacle freshman Victoria Toris was third in 51.84.

Earlier in the meet, McCord claimed the 50 free title with her 23.09 in front of a pair of juniors – Red Mountain's Samantha Guttmacher (23.70) and Desert Vista's Mary Geavarass (24.40). Guttmacher triumphed in the 100 fly with her 55.17. Xavier's Anchustegui finished second in 56.11, with Pinnacle junior Kendra Griffin in third (57.36).

Anchustegui once again found herself finishing second, this time to Mountain Pointe junior Clara Jenck in the 100 back, 56.51-57.56. Pinnacle's Toris (57.68) wound up third 13-hundredths back.

Chaparral senior Megan Cox finished her high school swimming by coming in first in the 200 IM (2:05.15). Shadow Mountain freshman Hannah Holman followed in 2:07.27, with Xavier's Wells taking the third spot in 2:08.70. Ironwood Ridge junior Sara Borendame triumphed in the 100 breast (1:04.03) with Xavier's Wells (1:05.65) in second and sophomore Christina Valenzuela (1:06.92) placing third.

Less than seven points separated the first three divers: Corona del Sol's Chloe Hacker (378.70), Cienega's Megan Johnson (375.15) and Westwood's Kyra Tatlow (371.05).

Like Xavier Prep in the girls race, Brophy Prep equally dominated in the boys competition. Brophy Prep scored 412 points to Mountain View Mesa's 244, Highland's 202, Desert Mountain's 164.5 and Red Mountain's 124.

Senior Chris Webb, who triumphed in both the 200 free (1:39.60) and 500 free (4:28.40), led Brophy. Teammate Lukas Williams, a junior, finished second in both races, posting times of 1:42.59 in the 200 and 4:42.57 in the 500. Mountain Pointe's Ben Fitch challenged him, who claimed third in both events. He came within 27-hundredths of Williams in the 200 with his 1:42.86 and less than a second in the 500 in 4:43.48.

Also finding himself atop the podium as a result of winning both sprint free events was Mountain View Mesa's Payton Sorenson. In the 50, Sorenson clocked 20.42 to Brophy junior Gabriel Espinosa's 20.88 and Mountain View Mesa senior Derek Buckley's 21.03. Sorenson came back in the 100 for a second victory over Espinosa, 46.10-46.27. Mesquite junior Seth Maddy placed third, 3-tenths back, in 46.57.

There was a tie for first in the 200 IM, Both Catalina Foothills junior Jason Alentado and Desert Mountain senior Brandon Hughes finished in 1:53.84. Highland freshman Kyle Ewoldt took third with his 1:55.37 clocking.

Rincon senior Red Patterson and Alentado put on a close race in the 100 fly with Patterson coming out on top, 50.52-50.68. Prescott sophomore Grant Temple finished third in 51.10. Gilbert junior Alex Schultz earned first in the 100 back with his 50.95, ahead of Pinnacle senior Hunter Thompson's 52.29 and Brophy senior Timmy Frakes' 52.63.

Three seniors closed out their careers by finishing in the top three of the last individual event, the 100 breast. Brophy's Michael Nelson found victory with his 57.13, ahead of Mountain View Mesa's Derek Maske (59.96). He finished a mere 7-hundredths ahead of Highland's Spencer Tippetts (1:00.03).

Highland's Bryce Farabee was the top diver, scoring 423.30 points. Catalina Foothills' Nathan Belch (395.20) took second, with Ironwood's Manasseh Oso close behind in third (390.20).

Mountain View Mesa's quartet of Sorenson, senior Derek Maske, junior Edgar Febres and senior Derek Buckley claimed the 200 medley relay title in 1:33.75, followed by Brophy (1:35.46) and Highland (1:36.31). Mountain View's team doubled via their win in the 200 free relay (1:23.71). Brophy was again second, with Mesquite taking third in 1:29.32. Brophy's squad of Webb, sophomore Bradley Dorsey and juniors Gabriel Espinosa and Lukas Williams was victorious in the 400 free relay (3:10.63), with Desert Mountain claming second (3:13.42) and Highland taking third (3:13.61).

Division 2
A tighter race for the team leader could be found in the Division 2 girls race. Arcadia emerged on top with 289 points. Salpointe Catholic squeaked by Verrado for second by a single point, 262-261. Notre Dame took fourth with 217 points, with fifth place going to Phoenix Country Day (163).

Danielle Lee, a senior at Phoenix Country Day, claimed two event wins. In the 200 free she posted a 1:51.42; Arcadia senior Carley Stevens took second in 1:53.22, with Verrado sophomore Picabo Bender coming in third with her 1:57.11 effort. Lee also was atop the leader board at the end of the 100 back in 55.24. Verrado freshman Amy Bilquist finished in second (56.36), followed by Notre Dame senior Alexis Daswick (1:00.34).

Brianna Jurries, a junior at Valley Christian, also emerged from the meet with two first-place awards. She outswam Notre Dame sophomore Samantha Getzen in the 100 fly, 56.23-56.32, with Phoenix Christian sophomore Ange VanHofwegen taking third in 57.74. Jurries' 1:04.98 was good for her 100 breast championship, ahead of juniors Jaimie Bryan from Phoenix Christian (1:08.79) and Sydelle Harris of Arcadia (1:09.77).

Bilquist came in ahead of VanHofwegen in the 50 free, 23.67-23.87. Carly Wilson, who took third in the 50 with her 24.41, emerged as champ of the 100 free in 52.54. Notre Dame's Getzen once again finished second via her 100 free time of 54.61, with Salpointe Catholic's Payton Stauch in third with her 55.16.

Two other runners-up claimed titles of their own. Stevens, runner-up in the 200 free, was tops in the 500 free with her 5:06.67. Megan Birch, a freshman at Sabino, was second in 5:07.53, with Verrado's Binder third in 5:12.79. In the 200 IM, Bryan (second in the 100 breast) was tops with her 2:15.03. Salpointe Catholic freshman Cecilia Crooman was runner-up in 2:17.02, followed by Arcadia's Lizzie Mangone. The senior finished in 2:19.81.

Arcadia's Emily Harrison, a sophomore, joined sister Sydell and seniors Laura Gonzales and Stevens for a triumph in the 200 medley relay 1:53.78), Salpointe Catholic finished in second with their 1:55.20, followed by Phoenix Country Day's 1:56.01. Verrado's 200 free relay team of Danielle Badger (junior), Nicole Kosowski (sophomore), Michelle Detka (senior) and Bilquist came together for a 1:40.26 victory in the 200 free relay; Notre Dame (1:41.72) and Salpointe Catholic (1:43.20) were runners-up. Bender came on board with Badger, Detka and Bilquist to claim the 400 free relay title in 3:37.95. This time, Salpointe came out on top over Notre Dame for second, 3:42.14-3:43.58.

Campo Verde's Marlee Kersting was the top diver, scoring 436.80 points to Sunrise Mountain's Rachael Hicks (412.05) and Campo Verde's Kylie Fonseca (402.35).

Salpointe Catholic boys' team was first, scoring an even 400 points. Arcadia was second with 314 points, with Queen Creek (157), Casa Grande (154) and Notre Dame (121) taking the next three spots.

Salpointe Catholic topped all three relay races. In the 200 medley, the quartet of seniors Tyler Mattingly and Jojo Simonson, along with juniors J.C. Balserak and Andy Trouard, claimed first with their 1:40.12. Trouard joined seniors John Hines and Mike Botelho, along with classmate Billy Early, for their 1:29.99 triumph in the 200 free relay. Mattingly, Simonson, Hines and Botelho to close things out in the 400 free relay in 3:15.04.

In the 200 medley relay, Arcadia was second in 1:41.83 with Casa Grande taking third (1:43.86). Sunrise Mountain was runner-up in the 200 free relay (1:33.58), with Notre Dame third (1:34.36). Arcadia's 400 free relay placed second in 3:20.27 and Desert Christian was third (3:30.91).

Individually, Mattingly posted wins in both the 200 free (1:43.24) and 500 free (4:41.16). Arcadia senior Ben Gustafson placed second in both events (1:50.17, 4:49.21). Joseph Starkweather, a sophomore at Notre Dame, took third in the 200 free (1:51.00), while Casa Grande's David Olson, a junior, was third in the 500 (4:56.70).

Brandon Young, a senior at Douglas, also was tops in two events. His 1:59.51 in the 200 IM put him ahead of seniors Nathan Anderson of Arcadia (2:00.10) and J.T. Oliver from Sabino (2:02.65). Young also swam ahead of two seniors in the 100 breast, taking home the title in 58.13 to Simonson's 1:00.41 and Arcadia's Joe Gard a half-second later (1:00.95).

Anderson captured the top spot in the 100 fly in 52.01. Casa Grande junior Steven Koppel was second with his 52.63, with Gard in third via his 54.69.

Notre Dame's Jack Poupore finished first in the 50 free, splashing to a 21.70. He finished ahead of a fierce battle between Trouard and Botelho, 22.34-22.42. In the 100 free, Simonson finished victorious in 47.74, with Bourgade Catholic junior Jake Lambros and Sabino senior Galen Fink tied for second, each posting a 47.92.

Just 21-hundredths separated first from third in the 100 back. Cortez freshman Max Mountour finished in first (54.48); Sabino senior Galen Fink was just 4-hundredths ahead of Bourgade Catholic junior Jake Lambros for second (54.65-54.69).

The diving competition was won by Arcadia's Hayden Sells (424.60 points). Sheldon Solomon, diving for Queen Creek, came in second just under two points ahead of Flagstaff's Brian Allen (373.70-371.95).

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