Skyline rolls to 5A state swim titles

No senior on Skyline's swim teams had experienced defeat at the state-championship level and there weren't any Eagles who wanted to find out what it felt like to lose during the 5A state championships this weekend.

Favored heavily after the region meets, Skyline more than lived up to its billing as top dog at the 5A State Meet on Saturday. Their boys team rolled past Kearns 490.5 points to 288, while Skyline's girls team comfortably beat Kearns 523 points to 383.

Saturday marked the fifth-straight boys title for Skyline and its fourth-consecutive girls championship.

"It was a great meet," said Skyline coach Rod Horton, who was named outstanding boys coach. "They know how to perform when the pressure's on."

While Skyline's quality depth has been crucial to its success over their long championship run, the Eagles seemingly drop times across the board each year at state.

"It's definitely a science," said Skyline assistant coach Matt Vicario. "The key is knowing each swimmer individually."

Nowhere, perhaps, was Skyline's ability to drop times better illustrated than in the 100-yard breaststroke. After trying to break the one-minute throughout his high school career, Skyline's Drew Bowles, the No. 4 qualifier, finally did get under a minute at 0 minutes and :59.72 seconds. In the process, he won the 100 breaststroke and notched his second individual victory of the meet.

"Our team has a winning formula," said Bowles.

On the boys side, Skyline's other individual win came from George Evans, who won in the 100 freestyle. The University of Utah-signee was named outstanding boys swimmer.

Skyline's KC Albiston failed to break her own record in the 500 freestyle, though she won the event by almost five seconds.

Sophomore Sara Nicponski notched the other Skyline girls team win, breaking the 1:06 mark and finishing at 1:05.41. With two years of eligibility remaining, Nicponski said one of her goals will be to try and break the state record in the 100 breaststroke, which is currently 1:04.78.

"Hopefully I can set the state record," she said.

The highly-anticipated 100 butterfly duel between Kearn's Jennifer Fredsall and Brighton's Ana Agy managed to live up to the hype.

In the end, it was Fredsall, a University of Utah signee, who emerged on top. The Kearns senior beat Agy :54.97 to :55.66 for the third-straight year. In the process, she shattered the state record, which was set at :55.63 in 1996 by Cottonwood's Heidi Hausknecht.

Fredsall also tied a state record in the 50 freestyle on Friday.

"I really don't know what to say — I'm so happy," she said.