4A state swim championships: Crimson Cliffs boys win title, Cedar boys and girls each place 2nd

Written by Jeff Richards
February 12, 2023

ST. GEORGE — Crimson Cliffs High School won their first state championship in swimming on Saturday, as the Mustang boys brought home the 4A title. 

Crimson Cliffs swimmers celebrate their 4A state swim championship at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, Feb. 10, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Heather Cook, St. George News

In the girls meet, Crimson Cliffs placed third overall, while Region 10 rival Cedar High took second in both the boys and girls competitions.

“I wanted this win for them so bad,” Crimson Cliffs head coach Mary Ellen Cox told St. George News afterward. “They showed up, put in the work, and deserved that trophy.”

“It was a hard-fought battle, where we came into the day almost 40-point underdogs and ended up taking it all,” said assistant coach Braiden Hustead. “These guys gave their all and left nothing to chance. Don’t aim for the moon when you’re going to Mars!”

Crimson boys ended up scoring 355 team points to runner-up Cedar’s 343. In the final event of the meet, the 4×100 freestyle relay, Cedar came in first place and scored 40 points, meaning that Crimson needed to finish at least 10th place or better in that last race to take state. The Mustangs ended up finishing third in that event, thereby taking first overall by 12 points.

Leading the way for Crimson boys was junior Josh Walker, who won both of his individual events. Walker won the 200-yard individual medley in a personal-best time of 1:56.02, edging Dixie’s Andrew Carlile, who finished second with a time of 1:56.70. Walker also won the 100 free in a time of 48.13 seconds.

Walker had plenty of help from his Mustang teammates, including the following swimmers who all had one or more top-six finishes in individual events: Bronson Plumb, Mackey Cook, Derek Hall, Anthony Finger, Taylor Fox and Chase Kehoe. The Crimson boys also placed second in the 200 medley relay.

A celebratory parade honoring the champion Mustang swimmers is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 3 p.m., starting from Staheli Farms and ending at the roundabout in front of Crimson Cliffs High School’s athletic building.

Following are further details about individual performances at the 4A state meet, highlighting top-six finishes by Southern Utah athletes:

Boys 

In addition to Crimson Cliffs’ Josh Walker, who won both the 200 IM and the 100 free, Dixie junior David Leon-Moreno also won both of his individual events. Leon-Moreno won the 500 free in a time of 4:50.83, cutting 5.55 seconds off his time in the preliminaries the day before. Meanwhile, Leon-Moreno’s teammate, Andrew Carlile, also a junior, won the 100 back in a personal-best time of 51.56 seconds. He also placed second to Walker in the 200 IM, after beating Walker in Friday’s prelims. Carlile, whose runner-up time in the 200 IM was 1:56.70, nevertheless was named the top male swimmer of the meet.

Swimmers compete in preliminaries at the 4A state swim meet at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, Feb. 10, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

Cedar senior Andrew Sagers was his team’s top point-earner, taking first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.91 seconds. He also took second in the 200 free, his time of 1:48.52 coming in less than a third of a second behind Dixie’s Leon-Moreno. 

Sagers anchored both of Cedar’s freestyle relay teams, each of which took first place. In the 200 free relay, which the Reds won in 1:31.24, Cedar’s lineup featured Emery Cook, Justin Granado, James Smith and Sagers, while the Reds’ winning 400 free relay squad consisted of  Tanner Dodds, Granado, Smith and Sagers.

Crimson Cliffs junior Mackey Cook, who placed second to Sagers in the 100 fly, also took fourth place in the 200 free. Cook’s teammate Bronson Plumb, also a junior, took third in the 50 free and fifth in the 100 free. Crimson also picked up 44 team points in the 500 free, with Derek Hall taking second, Anthony Finger placing fifth and Taylor Fox coming in sixth. Also for the Mustangs, junior Kala Cabana placed fifth in the 100 back while Chase Kehoe placed sixth in the 100 breast.

Cedar’s Smith, a senior, placed second in the 50 free with a time of 22.46 and third in the 100 free with a time of 49.69. Also for the Reds, senior Tanner Dodds placed third in the 500 free and junior Ashten Krans placed third in the 100 breast. Krans’s time was 1:02.35, less than a half second behind winner Clayton Nye of Sky View (1:02.35) and runner-up Luke Eubanks of Ridgeline (1:02.47). 

Also for Cedar, junior Justin Granado, senior Emery Cook and senior Kyle Lunt each brought home a fourth-place medal for their respective finishes in the 100 free, the 50 free and the 100 fly.

The Desert Hills Thunder, which finished third overall, also saw some top performances. Senior Troy Eggers placed third in the 200 IM with a time of 1:59.50. He also took fifth in the 100 breast. Also for the Thunder, senior Kade Bethers placed fifth in the 100 fly, junior Max Morley took fourth in the 100 back, sophomore Hunter Iverson took fourth in the 100 breast, while freshman Solmun Pak took third in the 100 back and sixth in the 100 fly.

Girls 

Cache County’s Ridgeline High was the runaway winner of the 4A girls meet, accumulating a total of 449 points, more than the two next highest placing schools combined. Cedar placed second with 217 points, just ahead of Region 10 rival Crimson Cliffs’ 210. Desert Hills took fourth overall with 192 points.

Pine View’s Sorina Rom and other individual medalists atop podium at 4A state swim championships, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, Feb. 11, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Heather Cook, St. George News

Two swimmers from Southern Utah’s Region 10 won both of their individual events at state. Pine View junior Sorina Rom won the 50 free in a time of 24.72 seconds, a personal record. Rom also won the 100 breast in a personal-best time of 1:06.01 and was named the top female swimmer of the meet.

Also winning both of her races at state was Desert Hills freshman Chesney Bonner, who won the 100 back in a time of 58.99 and the 100 fly in 58.42, with both times being personal bests.

Cedar High distance swimmers Addison Taylor and Aspen Simper both placed among the top six in both the 200 free and the 500 free. Simper, a senior, placed second in the 500 and sixth in the 200, while Taylor, a junior, took fourth in the 200 and sixth in the 500. Although she added time in the finals, Taylor established a new school record in the 500 prelims the day before, with a time of 5:24.85.

Also for Cedar, Olivia Price and Sydney Selinger took a respective fifth and sixth place in the 100 back.

For Crimson Cliffs, freshman Claire Daley placed second in both the 200 IM and the 50 free. Freshman teammate Kate Walker took fourth in the 50 free and fifth in the 100 fly. 

Desert Hills senior Emma Brown capped off her high school career with third-place finishes in both the 200 IM (2:19.27) and the 100 breaststroke (1:12.19). Her teammate, freshman Dylan Romprey, took second in the 100 free with a time of 56.27. Desert Hills also placed second in two of the relay events (the 200 medley and the 400 free).

And for Snow Canyon, freshman McKenzie Mugleston won the 500 free in a time of 5:24.07.

Cedar head coach Megan Moses, who was named the girls coach of the year for the second straight year, said the Reds broke multiple school records over the weekend. 

“I’m proud of our team for stepping up and working together,” Moses said. “They have worked so hard this year, and their hard work has paid off.”

For complete official meet results, click here.

4A state swim championships

Brigham Young University, Provo, Feb. 10-11, 2023

Boys team results

  1. Crimson Cliffs, 355.
  2. Cedar, 343.
  3. Desert Hills, 232.5.
  4. Mountain Crest, 216.
  5. Sky View, 209.
  6. Dixie, 167.
  7. Snow Canyon, 131.
  8. Green Canyon, 128.5
  9. Ridgeline, 119.
  10. Bear River, 84.
  11. Hurricane, 56.
  12. Logan, 32.
  13. Pine View, 22.

Girls team results

  1. Ridgeline, 449.
  2. Cedar, 217.
  3. Crimson Cliffs, 210.
  4. Desert Hills, 192.
  5. Sky View 191.
  6. Mountain Crest, 167.
  7. Logan, 157.
  8. Green Canyon, 140.
  9. Snow Canyon, 119.
  10. Pine View, 90.
  11. Dixie, 82.
  12. Bear River, 44
  13. Hurricane, 38.

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons and one granddaughter. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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