Falcon girls edge Knights for 2nd place at state swim meet

Beky Beaton and Ryann Anderegg / Lehi Free Press

The Skyridge High School swim team surprised the field to capture the silver trophy in the girls division and finished sixth in the boys events at the 6A state championships, which concluded Saturday (Feb. 21) at Brigham Young University.

Wasatch was the clear winner of the girls title as expected, with the Wasps posting several record-shattering performances on their way to 311 points.

The Falcons engaged in a tight battle for second place with Lone Peak, and the outcome was unclear until the final event was over.

The Knights topped Skyridge by a hefty margin at the Region 3 swim meet just three weeks ago, but this time the Falcons put together just enough to come out ahead by 257-251.5 points.

It was the race for first place that provided the drama on the boys side, and there Lone Peak prevailed with 315 points ahead of Mountain Ridge at 302. American Fork finished third at 247. The Skyridge boys tallied 117 points for their efforts.

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“I’m really happy,” said Coach Grant Gibbs. “The kids have been great. Our girls team swam lights-out.

I’m really proud of them. I think anytime we can enter a championship meet and most kids are getting in their lifetime bests, that’s a great goal.

“So, I’d like to kind of continue that trajectory of every kid getting better every year,” the coach said. “We like to be competitive as much as we can, but, you know, at the end of day, it’s about a personal improvement and character throughout. I think we achieved that this year. Go Falcons.”

Following are the Skyridge athletes who earned points towards the team total in their state events.

In the girls division:

• Junior Ellie Sintay cut about 3.5 seconds off her seed time as she claimed the silver medal in the 500-yard freestyle plus she also came in fifth in the 200-yard freestyle.

“It felt good,” Sintay said of her swim in the 500 free. “I paced it really well. I love it and am happy with how everything went.”

• Senior Kara Moir garnered the bronze medal in the 200-yard freestyle event and finished fourth in the 500-yard freestyle.

“It’s been so incredible to be surrounded by so many amazing teammates and coaches throughout all my years of high school,” Moir said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better team!”

• Junior Jane Beardall finished in fourth place in the 100-yard butterfly and got sixth the 100-yard backstroke.
• Sophomore Victoria La Roche came in fifth in the 100-yard butterfly plus shaved about 2.5 seconds off her time in the prelims to move up to sixth place in the 200-yard individual medley.
• Junior Lexi Bassett improved about 1.5 seconds from her seed time to come in fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke.
• Junior Chloe Bowman finished seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke.
• Senior Ava Ellington claimed 10^th place in the 100-yard freestyle and earned the 14^th spot in the 50-yard freestyle.
• Senior Alexis Griffeth dropped more than a second from her preliminary time and three seconds from her seed time to get 11^th in the 200-yard freestyle. She shaved more than a second from her seed time to move up to 11^th from 14^th in the 100-yard butterfly on a day when every point mattered.
• The Falcons earned the silver medal in the 200-yard medley relay with Beardall, Bowman, La Roche and Ellington.
• In the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Skyridge squad captured fourth place with Ellington, Griffeth, Sintay and Moir.
• The Falcons earned fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle relay with Bowman, Griffeth, La Roche and Moir.

In the boys events:

Senior Connor Clark moved up from fourth place in the preliminaries with a half-second time drop to garner the silver medal in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing a tiny fraction of a second behind first place. He shaved nearly a second from his seed time to capture the bronze medal in the 100-yard freestyle.

“I feel really happy with how I performed in the 100 breast,” Clark said. “I wanted to win and go back-to-back state champ, and I can’t really complain about it because I swam with all my best friends. I’m stoked about that.

“It was almost a tie, but that’s the most fun I’ve had at 100 breast (even though) I didn’t win,” he continued. “The 100 free was kind of just like another event for fun and that I performed really well and won a best time.

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“It’s just been a great meet, and I’ve just been happy to swim with all my best friends, so It’s great,” Clark said.

• Senior Daniel Wang ended up 10^th in the 100-yard breaststroke and came in 15^th in the 200-yard individual medley.
• Freshman Matt Moir earned 12^th place in the 500-yard freestyle and was 16^th in the 200-yard individual medley.
• Senior Connor Woolley finished 14^th in the 100-yard freestyle and in the 100-yard breaststroke.
• Sophomore Logan Southwick swam for 16^th place in the 500-yard freestyle.
• Skyridge placed fifth in the 200-yard medley relay with Moir, Wang, Clark and Woolley.
• In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Falcons improved nearly two seconds to move up to sixth place with Clark, senior Ryder Shorten, Wang and Woolley.
• In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Skyridge managed 13^th place with freshman Ryker Tidwell, senior Dawson McEwen, Shorten and Southwick.