Taylorsville swimmers finish 4th in Region 2

Comfortable but not satisfied.

That was the verdict rendered by Skyline coach Joe Pereira on the heels of the Region 2 swimming championships this past weekend.

Both of the Eagles' teams swam reasonably well, but Pereira will be looking for significant improvement at the 5A state meet next weekend.

"I was comfortable with the swims but not satisfied," he said. "I liked what I saw, but I'm hoping we can swim a lot faster at state."

Generally, coaches use the region meet merely as a stepping stone for state. You don't shoot for a top time at region because you want to peak at the state championships.

"You can't peak twice," explained Pereira.

As expected, Skyline comfortably won the region meet on both sides. The Eagles' boys team bested Brighton 385 points to 310, while the girls squad beat Brighton 433-337.

Meanwhile, Taylorsville notched a fourth-place finish on the girls side.

Alisha Whitehead and Courtney Richens performed well for the Warriors.

Considering the immense depth of Skyline's girls team, the Bengals actually did very well to keep the gap fairly small.

"The (girls) meet was never in doubt," Pereira said.

Coaches may only enter four swimmers into each individual event at state, and because of that rule, a handful of Skyline's swimmers won't be able to swim next week at BYU.

"I'm leaving some girls home," said Pereira.

Ironically, the Eagles unofficially set three state records at the Region 2 meet.

Skyline's girls 200-yard medley relay team (1:48.29), KC Albiston in the 500 free (5:01.69) and Sara Nicponski in the 100 breast (1:04.77) each bested the state record, though the marks won't count because they didn't occur at the state meet.

Albiston and Nicponski are just two swimmers from a deep pool of talented Eagles.

Swimmers like Anna Crandall, Kristina Evans, Katie Maasberg and others should all make a big splash at the state meet.