Prep swimming: Skyline, East, Judge are early favorites for titles

With Thanksgiving on this week's horizon, that means that fall is almost ready to make way for winter. As far as the Utah prep sports scene is concerned, turkey, yams and pumpkin pie all mean that winter sports are now ready to take center stage.

In prep swimming, the season has already begun for Utah high schools, and the quest for state swimming supremacy will continue throughout the winter until it concludes next February on BYU's campus. And while everything can change between now and February, the initial picture looks eerily similar to last season's final outcome.

5A: It's not exactly a secret among Utah swim coaches that Skyline returns as the big favorite to repeat again in 5A on the boys and girls sides.

Having won four consecutive boys championships and three straight girls titles, the Eagles appear loaded again this season.

"We have a great program that's feeding into itself right now," said Skyline coach Rod Horton. "We're very excited about establishing a winning tradition."

George Evans leads a talented ensemble of boys swimmers that Horton said is deep in both quality and quantity. Evans, the 5A defending champion in the 50-yard freestyle and 100 freestyle, has signed a letter-of-intent with Utah.

The Eagles inherited sophomore Nathan Swallow, a distance freestyler who moved in from outside Utah. Scott Goldthorpe (200 Individual Medley and 100 backstroke) and Drew Boyles (200 individual medley and 100 breast stroke) will also compete for state championships.

John Harvey, the defending champion in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly, leads Hunter this season. The Wolverines finished seventh last season and will fight with Kearns to finish as high as second on the boys side.

Skyline won last year's girls title over Kearns in dominating fashion, beating the Cougars 542.5-379.5. While the Eagles remain the likely favorite to win again this season, Kearns returns virtually its entire team. Coach Chris Horne said he believes his team just might be able to catch the Eagles.

"Skyline is still the favorite," said Horne. "I feel like we have the potential to catch Skyline. We should be able to do some damage."

Kearns senior Jennifer Fredsall, another Utah signee, has been nationally-ranked in the 100 butterfly. Fredsall is complimented at Kearns by Natalie Edge. The talented sprinter (50 freestyle and 100 freestyler) won both of those events last year as a freshman.