Kearns takes Region 3

MURRAY — What was the moral of the Region 3 swim championships, held last week at the Murray Park Center?

If you're going to personally challenge Kearns, be prepared to deal with the backlash.

That's what Bingham found out.

The Miners showed up to the Region 3 championships wearing T-shirts that stated, "What it means to take region."

Bingham was tapered and ready for Kearns, but in the end, it was the Cougars who found out what it meant to become region champions.

Kearns girls beat out Bingham 429 points to 215 en route to the title, while the Cougars' boys team held off surprising West Jordan for the championship, winning 268-240.

"You come showing up with that," Kearns senior Todd Bradley said of the T-shirts, "and you're asking for it."

Kearns has had one of the state's elite swim programs during the new millennium, but because they were in the same region as Skyline, the Cougars came away from the previous four Region 3 championships empty-handed.

Accordingly, last week marked Kearns' first region boys championship since 1977, while the girls won their first region title since 2001.

"It means a lot to win a region championship," said coach Chris Horne.

On the other hand, nearby Hunter fared pretty well at the region meet. The Wolverines barely missed out on second place on the girls side, finishing two points behind Bingham, 215-213.

Marisa Dobie anchored that squad, winning the 200-yard individual medley and 100 butterfly. Rachel Coombs finished second in the 100 back.

Hunter's boys team finished fourth.

Kearns, Hunter and the rest of Region 3 will conclude their seasons this weekend at the 5A state championships, which begins at 5 p.m. tonight inside BYU's Richards Building.

Swimmer of the Year candidate Natalie Edge led the Cougars girls team. The sprinter won both her events easily (50 freestyle and 100 free), and also helped her team to victories in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

Megan Raby (200 free), Lauren Stapley (500 free) and Adelin Marsh (100 back) also had individual wins on the girls side.

Meanwhile, Kearns boys gritted their way to the region championship. They had three individual wins (Bradley in the 100 back, David Chandler in the 200 free, and Cory McLaughlin in the 100 free), and the Cougars had enough boys come up with outstanding swims to hang on their first region title in nearly 30 years.

Horne was particularly pleased with the swims of Jeff Larsen (200 free and 500 free) and Justin Christensen (100 fly and 100 back).

"They had best times by a long way," said Horne.

Kearns main focus all season has been this weekend's state championships, and Horne was pleased with the way his squad performed at region.