New team alters the Region 3 swimming landscape; Soderquist claims silvers for Lehi

Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press

There’s new kids in town, and they’ve put the rest of the Region 3 swim teams on notice that they are a force to be reckoned with. And no, it isn’t Corner Canyon, although the Chargers did join the group this season in all sports.

Wasatch High School competes in Class 5A Region 7 in all other sports, but UHSAA rules allow a school to petition to play up in specific sports or activities. The Wasps requested to compete in 6A for swimming only. The petition was granted, and Wasatch was added to the already-loaded Region 3 collection.

The Wasps hosted the pre-region meet on Thursday (Nov. 20) in Heber and swept their new league neighbors. The girls tallied 488 points, outdistancing Lone Peak at 448. Skyridge was third with 300, Corner Canyon fourth at 225, Lehi fifth at 208, and American Fork sixth at 78.

In the boys events, the margin was even bigger. Wasatch earned 485.5 points to 422 for the Knights, 399 for the Cavemen, 196 for the Falcons, and the Pioneers squeaked by the Chargers 146 to 145.5.

Following are the Lehi swimmers who earned top-eight places to contribute double-digit points to the team totals at this meet.

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In the girls division:

• Alyssa Soderquist captured silver medals in both the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke.
• Kalia Hasselbach collected a bronze medal in the 100-yard butterfly and finished in fourth place in the 100-yard backstroke.
• Ali Pendleton rounded out an impressive showing for the Pioneers in the 100-yard butterfly with fourth place. She also earned fourth place in the 200-yard individual medley.
• Lehi’s squad finished fourth in the 200-yard medley relay with Hasselbach, Brooklyn Byrd, Pendleton and Soderquist.
• The Pioneers captured fourth place in the 400-yard freestyle relay with Hasselbach, Claire Cox, Brinley Daniels and Soderquist.
• The team was eighth in the 200-yard freestyle relay with Daniels, Cox, Leah Sweeting and Pendleton.

In the boys events:

• Jeffrey Smith earned sixth place in the 100-yard breaststroke and seventh in the 200-yard freestyle.
• Samuel Rivera came in eighth in the 500-yard freestyle.
• Liam Scott claimed eighth place in the 100-yard backstroke.
• The 200-yard medley relay team finished in sixth place with Scott, Jeffrey Smith, Rivera and Colt Smith.