Mason Hemmert of Skyridge High School reacts to the clock after competing at the Utah 6A State Meet at the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024.
Marielle Scott, Deseret News
Lone Peak continued its dominance of 6A girls swimming on Saturday afternoon at BYU, while Skyridge’s boys are looking to start a dominant run of their own.
Lone Peak’s girls cruised to a fourth straight state championship, eclipsing runner-up Skyridge 480 to 271.5.
Lehi, American Fork and Pleasant Grove rounded out the top five.
Impressively, the Knights’ winning margin has gone up each of the past four years — 4, 174, 200 and 206.5.
Meanwhile, Skyridge’s boys won a second straight state championship with an impressive 365 point total, followed by Lone Peak in second with 292.
American Fork, Corner Canyon and Syracuse rounded out the top five.
A total of six state records fell Saturday — including two overall Utah state records both by Lone Peak’s girls relay teams.
Lone Peak’s team of Taylor Bennett, Emme Brewer, Kennedy Bennett and Haylee Tiffany broke a 200 free relay overall state record that dated back to 2005 with their time of 1:36.45.
It eclipsed the mark of 1:36.59 owned by Kearns for the past 19 years.
In the final race of the meet, the 400 free relay, the Lone Peak team of Tiffany, Brewer, Grace Wilson and Taylor Bennett eclipsed their own state record from the Region 3 meet three weeks ago (3:31.38) with a time of 3:30.93.
“We changed the relays from region knowing we had the opportunity in the 200 and 400 to be all-American consideration, which they got both of them,” said Lone Peak coach Celeste Tiffany, whose school has now won nine girls swimming state titles.
“That’s really what we were gunning for, was put the best configuration together and see if we could hit those times.”
Earlier in the meet, the coach’s daughter Hailey Tiffany set new 6A records in both the 100 freestyle (50.90) and the 200 freestyle (1:51.13) to cap a remarkable four-year high school career.
The other 6A record set on the girls side was by Pleasant Grove’s Sophie Scoville, who posted a time of 23.71.
For BYU commit Hailey Tiffany, she tried to enjoy every moment of her last high school meet in the same pool she’ll swim collegiately the next four years.
“I think going into it I was really worried about records, but then when I got here, I just wanted to have fun,” said Hailey Tiffany, who said the atmosphere of the relays is always the highlight.
“Standing behind the blocks, I love when it gets quiet, and then just standing on the blocks getting ready to swim, that’s my favorite part.”
Hailey Tiffany was one of three individual winners for the Knights, with Taylor Bennett winning the 200 individual medley and Emme Brewer a surprise winner in the 500 freestyle.
Skyridge’s Danielle Cannon was a double winner, as she took the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. Teammate Anya Clark dominated the 100 breaststroke, winning by five seconds.
Danielle Cannon of Skyridge High School competes at the Utah 6A State Meet at the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024.
Marielle Scott, Deseret News
For Skyridge coach Matt Cox, last year’s state championship came as a surprise. He didn’t even bring a change of clothes in case of a celebratory jump in the pool with his athletes.
He didn’t make that mistake on Saturday.
“Last year I had to borrow some sweats from one of the seniors. This year I brought a change of clothes. I was ready for it,” said Cox, who praised his seniors for making a repeat possible.
“The leadership of our seniors, Nate Moir, Nate Ogden, Lincoln Burr, were incredible. They were juniors last year, it was unexpected and they kept everybody focused and dedicated. It’s really hard to repeat. It’s really hard to say we did it once and not let your guard down.”
Skyridge’s 200 free relay team of Ogden, Sam Mortensen, Moir and Mason Hemmert set the only 6A boys record on Saturday, as they posted a time of 1:26.05. They beat their own time of 1:27.62 set the day prior in the preliminaries.
It was one of four top podium finishes for junior Hemmert, who won the 100 free (46.78) and 200 free (1:43.28) along with swimming the anchor leg in Skyridge’s winning 200 and 400 free relay teams.
Two of his teammates in those relays also won individual titles, Ogden in the 200 individual medley and Moir in the 100 breaststroke. Moir was a repeat state champ.
Hemmert said the pressure associated with trying to repeat as 6A champs was never a distraction this season.
“There’s been pressure, but we’ve also this year been trying to focus on just having fun. It’s all the seniors’ last year competing, and so we don’t want to remember the last state being so intense we didn’t have fun,” said Hemmert.
Syracuse senior Sawyer Portillo was another double winner in the boys meet, winning the 50 freestyle (21.08) and 100 butterfly (52.81).
Last season at state he finished third and second in those two events, and he was ecstatic about ending his career on the top podium individually.
“Really happy about it. I’ve been swimming for 12 years, putting in all the work leading up this,” said Portillo.
His 50 free in particular he was most pleased with as he nearly broke 21 seconds, something he never thought would be realistic. He came within 0.08 of doing so. He knows the adrenaline of the moment made it all possible.
“It’s that adrenaline, it’s that pressure, you know what you can do and you know what you should do,” he said.
“For me, I love competition. I’m very competitive. It’s that pressure that gets me in the zone and I can do my best at that point.”
Other individual winners for the boys were Bingham’s Lincoln Hymas in the 200 free and American Fork’s Truman James in the 100 back.
6A girls state swim meet
At BYU
Team scores
Lone Peak, 480Skyridge, 271.5Lehi, 183American Fork, 144Pleasant Grove, 134Herriman, 132Riverton, 125Copper Hills, 122.5
Individual results
200 medley relay
Skyridge (Danielle Cannon, Anya Clark, Ava Ellington, Ella Comire), 1:48.59Lone Peak, 1:49.40Lehi, 1:53.52American Fork, 1:53.59Pleasant Grove, 1:54.01Riverton, 1:57.57Westlake, 1:58.72Farmington, 2:00.37
200 freestyle
Haylee Tiffany, Lone Peak, 1:51.13Emme Brewer, Lone Peak, 1:56.94Waimea Barlow, Weber, 1:59.84Chloe Rasband, Layton, 2:00.54Isabella Robinson, Lone Peak, 2:01.51Meadow Tatum, Mountain Ridge, 2:02.01Kara Moir, Skyridge, 2:02.10Sophie Topham, Lone Peak, 2:03.57
200 individual medley
Taylor Bennett, Lone Peak, 2:08.21Ava Clegg, Lone Peak, 2:15.09Alexandra Lund, Riverton, 2:15.98Grace Wilson, 2:16.47Anya Clark, Skyridge, 2:16.57Alyssa Soderquist, Lehi, 2:20.58Elsie Crowell, Farmington, 2:20.61Evie Hershkop, Lone Peak, 2:22
50 freestyle
Sophie Scoville, Pleasant Grove, 23.71 (6A record)Ella Comire, Skyridge, 24.70Kennedy Bennett, Lone Peak, 24.72Breeze Ohlson, Herriman, 24.84Dylan Egbert, Lone Peak, 25.06Addie Harding, American Fork, 25.15Hayley Bachman, Copper Hills, 25.63Addi Zobrist, Lehi, 26.05
100 butterfly
Danielle Cannon, Skyridge, 59.59Grace Wilson, Lone Peak, 1:00.04Chloe Rasband, Layton, 1:00.31Breeze Ohlson, Herriman, 1:01.50Kalia Hasselbach, Lehi, 1:01.50Lucy Haymond, Riverton, 1:01.58Ava Ellington, Skyridge, 1:02.58Avery Dyer, Westlake, 1:02.83
100 freestyle
Haylee Tiffany, Lone Peak, 50.90 — 6A recordSophie Soville, Pleasant Grove, 52.70Shelby Clegg, American Fork, 54.99Meadow Tatum, Mountain Ridge, 55.20Ella Comire, Skyridge, 55.36
6. Isabella Robinson, Lone Peak, 55.86
6. Hayley Bachman, Copper Hills, 55.86
8. Madison Salazar, Syracuse, 57.66
500 freestyle
Emme Brewer, Lone Peak, 5:12.33Taylor Bennett, Lone Peak, 5:20.20Kara Moir, Skyridge, 5:22.55Waimea Barlow, Weber, 5:24.13Ellie Sintay, Skyridge, 5:29.12Sophie Topham, Lone Peak, 5:33.82Ava Ming, Herriman, 5:39.92Alexandra Lund, Riverton, 5:43.78
200 freestyle relay
Lone Peak (Taylor Bennett, Emme Brewer, Kennedy Bennett, Haylee Tiffany), 1:36.45 — new overall recordSkyridge, 1:43.57Lehi, 1:45.09Copper Hills, 1:45.52Herriman, 1:45.75Mountain Ridge, 1:46.35Layton, 1:46.50Bingham, 1:47.42
100 backstroke
Danielle Cannon, Skyridge, 58.16Kennedy Bennett, Lone Peak, 59.57Addie Harding, American Fork, 59.72Lily Hyde, Pleasant Grove, 1:00.39Kalia Hasselbach, Lehi, 1:01.02Hallie Ehat, American Fork, 1:01.04Elsie Crowell, Farmington, 1:01.36Alyssa Soderquist, Lehi, 1:01.91
100 breaststroke
Anya Clark, Skyridge, 1:03.52Ava Clegg, Lone Peak, 1:08.63Addi Zobrist, Lehi, 1:08.93Shelby Clegg, American Fork, 1:10.06Dylan Egbert, Lone Peak, 1:10.72Christian Parsons, Layton, 1:13.26Ruby Homer, Pleasant Grove, 1:14.16Avery Dyer, Westlake, 1:15.08
400 freestyle relay
Lone Peak (Haylee Tiffany, Emme Brewer, Grace Wilson, Taylor Bennett), 3:30.93American Fork, 3:46.66Riverton, 3:49.91Copper Hills, 3:51.15Herriman, 3:53.54Lehi, 3:53.54Layton, 3:55.61Mountain Ridge, 3:55.66
6A boys state swim meet
At BYU
Team scores
Skyridge, 365Lone Peak, 292American Fork, 240Corner Canyon, 172Syracuse, 171Mountain Ridge, 168Layton, 114Pleasant Grove, 106
Individual results
200 medley relay
Skyridge (Lincoln Burr, Connor Clark, Dillon Giraldi, Skyler Taylor), 1:37.64American Fork, 1:38.00Corner Canyon, 1:40.48Mountain Ridge, 1:42.02Lone Peak, 1:42.49Layton, 1:42.87Pleasant Grove, 1:43.02Syracuse, 1:43.69
200 freestyle
Mason Hemmert, Skyridge, 1:43.28Lincoln Hymas, Bingham, 1:44.34Sam Petersen, American Fork, 1:44.52Graden Tennant, Bingham, 1:47.16Garrett Barker, Davis, 1:49.06Max Dickson, American Fork, 1:49.23Jack Haney, Lone Peak, 1:50.27Nathan Dutton, Lone Peak, 1:51.10
200 individual medley
Wade Ogden, Skyridge, 1:57.30Truman James, American Fork, 1:58.04Andrew Lengler, Copper Hills, 1:59.58Weston Stewart, Lone Peak, 2:00.56Van Haney, Lone Peak, 2:02.87Konnor Spencer, Corner Canyon, 2:03.70Connor Clark, Skyridge, 2:04.99Austin Smith, Pleasant Grove, 2:08.28
50 freestyle
Sawyer Portillo, Syracuse, 21.08Xander Berg, Lone Peak, 21.62Jaxon Fellingham, American Fork, 21.64Sam Mortensen, Skyridge, 22.22Davis Miller, American Fork, 22.39Drew Moes, Herriman, 22.48Huckleberry Burton, Mountain Ridge, 22.67Devin Harris, Fremont, 22.73
100 butterfly
Sawyer Portillo, Syracuse, 52.81Beck Johnson, Lone peak, 53.29Lincoln Burr, Skyridge, 53.30Easton Adams, Weber, 53.40Dillon Giraldi, Skyridge, 54.76Brayden Towns, Corner Canyon, 55.89Jonny Janzen, Riverton, 56.81Aiden Butler, Syracuse, 57.27
100 freestyle
Mason Hemmert, Skyridge, 46.78Jaxon Fellingham, American Fork, 46.99Xander Berg, Lone Peak, 48.36Marco Luckham, Layton, 48.39Andrew Lengler, Copper Hills, 48.80Sam Mortensen, Skyridge, 48.98Jack Haney, Lone Peak, 49.68Cole Ehat, American Fork, 50.22
500 freestyle
Lincoln Hymas, Bingham, 4:43.85Nate Moir, Skyridge, 4:44.08Sam Petersen, American Fork, 4:45.41Weston Stewart, Lone Peak, 4:49.17Graden Tennant, Bingham, 4:54.91Van Haney, Lone Peak, 4:55.20Davy Hoyal, Lone Peak, 4:55.59Nathan Dutton, Lone Peak, 4:59.22
200 freestyle relay
Skyridge (Wade Ogden, Sam Mortensen, Nate Moir, Mason Hemmert), 1:26.05 — 6A recordLone Peak, 1:26,22Syracuse, 1:30.08Corner Canyon, 1:31.38American Fork, 1:31.39Mountain Ridge, 1:31.95Davis, 1:32.53Farmington, 1:33.89
100 backstroke
Truman James, American Fork, 50.99Lincoln Burr, Skyridge, 52.27Huckleberry Burton, Mountain Ridge, 53.96Davis Miller, American Fork, 54.48Drew Moes, Herriman, 55.19Marco Luckham, Layton, 55.35Payton Hill, Riverton, 55.70Beck Johnson, Lone Peak, 56.48
100 breaststroke
Nate Moir, Skyridge, 58.58Wade Ogden, Skyridge, 58.85Connor Clark, Skyridge, 1:00.12Konnor Spencer, Corner Canyon, 1:00.98Noah Wayman, Syracuse, 1:01.41Gabriel Campbell, Syracuse, 1:2.63Colton Parsons, Layton, 1:02.76Steven Collins, Mountain Ridge, 1:03.51
400 freestyle relay
Skyridge (Wade Ogden, Sam Mortensen, Nate Moir, Mason Hemmert), 3:11.31Lone Peak, 3:17.61Syracuse, 3:20.32Mountain Ridge, 3:22.25Layton, 3:22.67Corner Canyon, 3:24.50
Unified Mixed 50 freestyle
Jordan Barlow, Corner Canyon, 35.24Hailey Monson, Farmington, 42.39Jadon Medina, Corner Canyon, 50.71Karver Helco, Fremont, 1:15.88Jaymi Bonner, Herriman, 1:30.05Bryce Armendariz, Corner Canyon, 2:10.72
Unified Mixed 100 freestyle relay
Herriman/Corner Canyon, 1:28.34Corner Canyon, 1:43.57
Unified Mixed 100 freestyle
Hailey Monson, Farmington, 1:37.73Karver Helco, Fremont, 2:58.46