High school swimming: Mountain Crest boys beat Springville by 4 points to claim 4A crown

“We like to tell people we were separated at birth,” said Zoe Phillips, who won the 100 back with a time of 57.49 seconds. “Actually our parents just wanted to keep their last names with their children.”

Phillips’ sister, Eva Gontrum, won the 500-yard freestyle easily with a time of 5:12.34. It was her second championship of the weekend.

The boys 500 free champion was also young as sophomore Connor Anderson outstretched Watts, the 4A male swimmer of the year, by just 0.47 seconds with a time of 4:37.11.

“It’s an exhausting race,” Anderson said afterward. “It’s one of the hardest races for sure, but when you swim fast and get a good time, it’s really rewarding.”

The Skyline boys defeated Springville in the 200 free relay by just six-hundredths of a second thanks to the efforts of freshmen Adam Shelton.

“I took a gamble on a freshman and he gave me everything he had,” Pereira said. “He swam a second-and-a-half faster than he’d ever been in his life. That made the difference.”

Eagle swimmers sophomore Mckay Chamberlain, Shelton, senior Phill Ogden and junior James Sorensen touched the wall in 1:28.91.

Jarom Chamberlain of Olympus won the 100 fly with a time of 52.79 and John Morris of Springville won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.54. In the girls 100 breaststroke, Woods Cross junior Alexis Ralph enduring a clock malfunction before learning she had edged Highland sophomore Tyler Stephenson by just two-tenths of a second.

“I saw my dad on the side and he was cheering, and I saw Tyler really, really close to me. When I finished I didn’t know what place I got and the clock was wrong,” said Ralph, who had a time of 1:09.73.

“My goal at the beginning of the season was to win this,” Ralph added. “(Stephenson) moved here from (out of state) this year and I wasn’t planning on her being here. But it makes winning it more special because it’s a greater accomplishment.”

Sarah Thomas is a graduate of the University of Utah and has been covering sports for the Deseret News since 2008. EMAIL: sthomas@desnews.com