Crimson Cliff High School’s men’s swim team jumps into the pool to celebrate taking first place at the 4A State Swim Meet at the Brigham Young University Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024.
Megan Nielsen, Deseret News
A year ago, the Ridgeline girls swim team and the Crimson Cliffs boys swim team walked away as 4A state champions.
On Saturday, the RiverHawks and the Mustangs performed once again and ended the state meet atop the 4A throne.
It is the third consecutive team championship for Ridgeline. The RiverHawks had two wins in the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay and still clinched the 4A crown despite not having any individual swimmers take first place.
“We had to be more strategic. We couldn’t just bank on a lot of individual first places,” said Ridgeline head coach Taryn McEuen. “So we were trying to collect points from 4-7 just to help out a little bit more and they did it. They understood that they had to do really good yesterday to put us in position today.
“It is really exciting. We put in a lot of time and effort and it’s really nice to see that pay off. We have a goal every year (that) we want to win, and I think that that it was challenging for us. We lost some depth coming into this year and we just worked so hard and gutted it out and it was amazing to get the win.”
Crimson Cliffs had a similar story for its boys swim team. The Mustangs didn’t take an individual win home but performed well enough in all the events to still take home the title.
“The boys did really well. We thought it was going to be a much tighter competition and so the fact that they won by so much shows just how much work they put into it. I am just so proud of them,” said Crimson Cliffs head coach Maryellen Cox.
Added assistant coach Grace Luque: “Swim season is so long. They’ve worked through the holidays and everything to get to this moment. They worked for it and took it. When an athlete decides to swim, they know it’s not like any other sport. They know it’s a hard sport and it’s competitive and that’s the biggest thing, we have top tier kids who want to put in that effort.”
Jordan’s Robert Barton had a strong finish to his last high school swim meet. Barton helped his team take first place in the 200-yard medley relay, third in the 200-yard freestyle relay and took two individual state titles, in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly
“I just wanted to come have fun today,” said Barton. “It’s my last high school meet, and I just love competing. I just wanted to go out with a bang and just really pushed myself to my limits and see how fast I could go.”
Baron emphasized how rewarding the relay wins were for both him and the Beetdiggers.
“We did awesome in those relays,” he said. “We weren’t expected to win that (200-yard medley relay), but we did so that was huge for our team and we got some guys on the podium that have never been there, so it was a super cool experience with my team.
“This is the best I’ve done at a high school state meet. I’m really happy with how I swam today and it was a really successful day.”
4A girls state swim meet
At BYU
Final team scores
Ridgeline, 292Park City, 261Murray, 177Desert Hills, 153Payson, 152Crimson Cliffs, 125
6. Cottonwood, 125
8. Provo, 118
8. Cedar City, 118
200 medley relay
Ridgeline, 1:54.14 (Laura Rigby, Isabelle Christensen, Ava Roberts, Kendra Warren),Cottonwood, 1:54.65Park City, 1:55.34Crimson Cliffs, 1:57.55Cedar City, 2:00.22Snow Canyon, 2:00.42Green Canyon, 2:01.61Sky View, 2:02.10
200 freestyle
Avery Bulkley, Payson, 1:54.54Gretchen Lane, Park City, 1:56.33Lauren Biglow, Park City, 1:58.73Laura Rigby, Ridgeline, 1:58.82Dylan Romprey, Desert Hills, 1:59.45McKenzie Mugleston, Snow Canyon, 2:02.28Tayte Swenson, Park City, 2:02.62Addison Taylor, Cedar, 2:04.57
200 individual medley
Kathleen Richter, Murray, 2:11.93Chesney Bonner, Desert Hills, 2:11.94Adessa Talbot, Cottonwood, 2:14.84Sarah Cook, Ridgeline, 2:17.68Emma Stevens, Desert Hills, 2:19.28Maisey Preece, Payson, 2:21.22Isabelle Christensen, Ridgeline, 2:23.39Claire Pocock, Provo, 2:28.68 (DQ)
50 freestyle
Raiden Harris, Timpanogos, 23.85Brooklyn Richter, Murray, 24.07Natty Alonso, Cottonwood, 24.70Sydney Weeks, Provo, 25.03Kendra Warren, Ridgeline, 25.11Haley Bott, Payson, 25.77Brooklyn Bischoff, Ridgeline, 25.82Hannah Quinn, Park City, 26.19
100 butterfly
Chesney Bonner, Desert Hills, 57.87Sarah Cook, Ridgeline, 59.05Adessa Talbot, Cottonwood, 59.22Malacha Leonard, Logan, 1:01.15Rylie Corry, Green Canyon, 1:01.59Kinzlee Taylor, Logan, 1:02.16Shyanne Standing, Hurricane, 1:03.41Kate Walker, Crimson Cliffs, 1:03.48
100 freestyle
Brooklyn Richter, Murray, 52.41Claire Daley, Crimson Cliffs, 53.32Sydney Weeks, Provo, 54.71Bryn Nielsen, Green Canyon, 55.91Maisey Preece, Payson, 56.19Hannah Quinn, Park City, 56.73Zoey Hunter, Mountain Crest, 56.77Addison Taylor, Cedar, 57.41
500 freestyle
Avery Bulkley, Payson, 5:01.67Gretchen Lane, Park City, 5:13.25Laura Rigby, Ridgeline, 5:22.95Dylan Romprey, Desert Hills, 5:25.81McKenzie Mugleston, Snow Canyon, 5:26.18Tayte Swenson, Park City, 5:29.87Kaitlyn Bonnett, Provo, 5:30.69Amber Lawyer, Sky View, 5:40.26
200 freestyle relay
Ridgeline, 1:40.60Murray, 1:42.93Provo, 1:43.14Payson, 1:43.78Desert Hills, 1:44.66Snow Canyon, 1:45.86Park City, 1:46.33Timpanogos, 1:47.37
100 backstroke
Raiden Harris, Timpanogos, 57.58Natty Alonso, Cottonwood, 58.57Lauren Biglow, Park City, 1:00.70Kathleen Richter, Murray, 1:00.85Tayley Meyerson, Sky View, 1:02.23Kaitlyn Bonnett, Provo, 1:03.00Zoey Hunter, Mountain Crest, 1:03.08Olivia Price, Cedar, 1:05.48
100 breaststroke
Claire Daley, Crimson Cliffs, 1:09.30Isabelle Christensen, Ridgeline, 1:11.03Kendra Warren, Ridgeline, 1:11.50Ava Roberts, Ridgeline, 1:11.81Maddie Nicholson, Tooele, 1:13.27Rylie Corry, Green Canyon, 1:14.04Annelise Han, Park City, 1:14.65Paloma Manriquez, Cedar, 1:15.53
400 freestyle relay
Park City, (Lauren Biglow, Hannah Quinn, Tayte Swenson, Lane Gretchen) 3:40.69Murray, 3:44.93Ridgeline, 3:46.42Provo, 3:47.77Desert Hills, 3:48.34Payson, 3:48.94Crimson Cliffs, 3:51.69Cedar, 3:55.37
4A boys state swim meet
At BYU
Final team scores
Crimson Cliffs, 338Murray, 248.5Sky View, 163Jordan, 161Mountain Crest, 160Park City, 148Desert Hills, 111Orem, 110
8. Cedar, 110
200 medley relay
Jordan (Robert Barton, Will Coccimiglio, Nick Nigbur, Owen Hirschi), 1:40.34Crimson Cliffs, 1:41.26Sky View, 1:41.30Uintah, 1:41.98Desert Hills, 1:42.05Orem, 1:42.16Hillcrest, 1:42.19Cedar, 1:43.87
200 freestyle
Robert Barton, Jordan, 1:41.41Jaime Taylor, Park City, 1:46.20Mackey Cook, Crimson Cliffs, 1:46.72Jagger Morton, Uintah, 1:47.54David Leon-Moreno, Dixie, 1:48.69Marcus Richter, Murray, 1:49.16Chris Lopez, Mountain crest, 1:50.56James Christensen, Orem, 1:52.17
200 individual medley
Mateo Flores Montes De Oca, Orem, 2:03.10Kyler Kwant, Mountain Crest, 2:03.27Ashten Krans, Cedar City 2:04.19Taylor Fox, Crimson Cliffs, 2:04.79Thomas Powers, Hillcrest, 2:05.32Riser Lundeberg, Murray, 2:05.32Bode Anders, Cottonwood, 2:05.33Chase Kehoe, Crimson Cliffs, 2:06.47
50 freestyle
Andrew Carlile, Dixie, 21.21Owen Hirschi, Jordan, 21.68Bronson Plumb, Crimson Cliffs, 21.87Peter Gibbons, Sky View, 21.93Keegan Elgie, Park City, 21.98Austin Sorensen, Murray, 22.02Soldier Shreeve, Mountain Crest, 22.47Aiden Martin, Murray, 22.72
100 butterfly
Robert Barton, Jordan, 49.97Jagger Morton, Uintah, 52.65Ben Walters, Sky View, 52.66Derek Hall, Crimson Cliffs, 52.93Mackey Cook, Crimson Cliffs, 53.91Somun Pak, Desert Hills, 54.72Jaten Barraclough, Uintah, 55.85Bode Anders, Cottonwood, 54.69 (DQ)
100 freestyle
Zach Richter, Murray, 47.09Peter Gibbons, Sky View, 47.59Owen Hirschi, Jordan, 47.79Bronson Plumb, Crimson Cliffs, 48.52Jaime Taylor, Park City, 49.20Austin Sorensen, Murray, 49.76Soldier Shreeve, Mountain Crest, 49.88Aiden Martin, Murray, 53.69
500 freestyle
Keegan Elgie, Park City, 4:42.14David Leon-Moreno, Dixie, 4:55.98Marcus Richter, Murray, 4:56.37Derek Hall, Crimson Cliffs, 4:58.67Harris Bae, Park City, 4:59.63Anthony Finger, Crimson Cliffs, 5:05.24Cody Judd, Crimson Cliffs, 5:09.22Blake Reed, Sky View, 5:14.89
200 freestyle relay
Murray, 1:29.20Crimson Cliffs, 1:29.75Jordan, 1:30.22Mountain Crest, 1:31.51Park City, 1:31.89Desert Hills, 1:34.13Payson, 1:34.98Bear River, 1:35.72
100 backstroke
Andrew Carlile, Dixie, 51.32Solmun Pak, Desert Hills, 53.42Justin Granado, Cedar, 54.09Kala Cabana, Crimson Cliffs, 55.92Alex Skorut, Hillcrest, 55.97Anthony Finger, Crimson Cliffs, 56.50Jaden Hyer, Bear River, 56.66Brigham Skinner, Mountain Crest, 56.81
100 breaststroke
Zach Richter, Murray, 59.66Thomas Powers, Hillcrest, 59.96Ben Walters, Sky View, 1:00.22Chase Kehoe, Crimson Cliffs, 1:01.42Ludwig Ibarra, Orem, 1:01.98Riser Lundeberg, Murray, 1:02.49Hunter Iverson, Desert Hills, 1:03.17James Christensen, Orem, 1:01.60 (DQ)
400 freestyle relay
Murray, (Austin Sorensen, Marcus Richter, Aiden Martin, Zach Richter), 3:16.42Crimson Cliffs, 3:19.10Sky View, 3:19.13Park City, 3:19.97Mountain Crest, 3:20.85Uintah, 3:22.79Cedar City, 3:28.94Hillcrest, 3:29.03