High school 3A girls swimming: Judge sends seniors out in style

PROVO — Once it came time to swim in the 400 freestyle relay, Judge Memorial had essentially clinched another 3A girls team title.

But the Bulldogs weren't about to roll over and ignore that last event.

They felt good about their chances to win it. And earning a victory in that final event also seemed like a perfect ending to a high school career for the three Judge seniors on that relay team.

"We were trying to focus on ourselves this whole meet and see what we could do and how great we could go out," said Garam Kim, one of those seniors. "We weren't really trying to focus on anyone else."

Kim, who swam the anchor leg, held off a charge from Park City junior Mia Greenwald to help the Bulldogs outlast the Miners and win the 400 in 3:46.85.

It helped propel Judge to its sixth girls team title in seven years on the final day of the 3A state meet at BYU. The Bulldogs finished with 388 points. Park City took second with 330 and Logan came in third with 288.

"Last year, we got second by five," Judge Matt Finnigan said. "In some ways, it makes this one a lot sweeter than some of the other years."

Kim was also responsible for Judge's other event win. She started things off by taking first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.63 seconds. It was a satisfying moment for the senior, who had finished second in the event two consecutive years before Saturday.

"She's been (a) runner-up two years in a row and this year she was determined to take it," Finnigan said.

Logan junior Janessa Gammill became a three-time state champion in yet another event when she finished first in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:24.07. Gammill used a burst in the last half of the race to pull away from the pack and finish nearly 12 seconds ahead of the next closest swimmer.

Greenwald and Wasatch junior Veronica Hunsaker were the other individual event winners. Hunsaker claimed first place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:11.52. Greenwald took home a victory in the 100 fly with a top time of 1:00.33.

Wasatch won the other remaining event. The Wasps took the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:43.40.

Finnigan was named outstanding 3A girls coach of the year.

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