ST. GEORGE — The Snow Canyon High School boys swim team won its first state championship Saturday.

At the 4A state meet held at the South Davis Recreation Center in Bountiful, the Warriors scored 352 team points, 91 more than second-place finisher Sky View’s 261.

In the 4A girls meet held earlier in the day at the same venue, the Snow Canyon girls placed third overall, scoring 253 points to winner Sky View’s 332 and runner-up Ridgeline’s 262.

Last year at state, Snow Canyon had finished second in both the boys and girls, with Desert Hills winning both 4A state titles.

“There really aren’t any words to describe the joy we’re all feeling,” Snow Canyon head coach Charlie Barnett told St. George News Saturday night. “We’re simply excited and humbled that we were even able to be a part of this state meet. What a wonderful way for us to end, with the boys bringing home our first ever state title!”

Barnett further described the stat meet as “the perfect way to end a completely imperfect season.”

“The boys and girls, in the end, were able to execute exactly what we’ve talked about all year,” he said. “The only thing I asked of them was to have the right attitude and right effort. Their good attitude through an uncertain season was always positive, optimistic, and full of hope. That in turn, helped all of us to put the best effort forward and come away with the best result possible.”

Snow Canyon’s boys, who won all three relay events in addition to finishing first place in four individual races, made several other strong performances – both in Friday’s preliminaries and in Saturday’s finals. Snow Canyon seniors Max Barnett and Grant Gibbs each won both of their individual events, in addition to being on two of the three relay teams. 

Meanwhile, in the girls meet, Snow Canyon’s Kylie Barber won both of her individual events, while teammate Afton Page won one race and took second in another. The Warriors also won the 400 free relay and took second place in the 200 medley relay.

Numerous other Region 9 athletes also turned in strong performances. Here’s a recap of the region’s top finishers at state:

Girls

Desert Hills senior Caitlyn Romprey capped off a stellar swimming career by placing first in both of her individual events. She won the 200 free in a time of 1:58.92 and the 100 back in a time of 57.11 seconds. She also swam the first leg of the first relay and the anchor leg of the last, helping the Thunder to fourth-place finishes in both.

For Snow Canyon, junior sprinter Kylie Barber won the 50 free in a time of 24.86 and the 100 free in a time of 53.09. Teammate Afton Page, also a junior, won the 100 fly in 1:01.53 and placed second to Romprey in the 100 back with a time of 1:01.88. Meanwhile, Olivia Jenkins, another Snow Canyon junior, placed third in the 500 free and fourth in the 200 IM.

Desert Hills senior Mykela Hansen placed fourth in both the 200 free and the 500 free.

Crimson Cliffs senior Kyleigh Messinger took third in the 50 free and sixth in the 100 breast, while sophomore Kensley Messinger took fourth in the 100 back.

Jesi Anderson and Addison Taylor, both of Canyon View, placed a respective third and fourth in the 100 free. Teammate Kylie Reynolds placed fifth in the 100 back.

For the complete girls results, including preliminaries and finals, click here.

Boys

Snow Canyon’s Max Barnett won the 200-yard individual medley in a time of 1:54.48, cutting more than three seconds off his preliminary time of 1:57.64, which he swam on Friday to earn the event’s top seed. Earning second place in the 200 IM was Cedar’s Tobler Dotson, who posted a time of 2:01.07. Tobler’s preliminary time was 2:00.84; both of his times eclipsed the Cedar High School record of 2:02.89 that had stood for 30 years, according to Cedar coach Megan Moses.

Max Barnett, who is coach Charlie Barnett’s younger brother, also won the 500 free. His personal best time of 4:50.72 was more than 14 seconds faster than runner-up Tanner Dodds of Cedar, who finished in 5:05.24. Snow Canyon senior Parker Christensen placed third in 5:05.48, while Cedar freshman Ashten Krans took fifth in 5:06.41.

 

Region 9 swept the top 3 spots in the boys 500 free at 4A state finals. Max Barnett of SC 1st (4:50.72), Tanner Dodds of Cedar 2nd (5:05.24), Parker Christensen of SC 3rd (5:05.48). With four events remaining, Snow Canyon has 241 team points to 2nd place Ridgeline’s 143. pic.twitter.com/bGJb28Cgkm

— St. George News Sports (@STGnewsSports) February 13, 2021

Another Max-level swimmer from Region 9, junior Max Cannon of Canyon View also earned two individual golds at state. Cannon won the 100 fly in a time of 51.75 seconds and the 100 breast in 56.68. The latter time was a new state record, eclipsing the previous 4A record of 57.57 set by Jason Hayes in 1988 (see Ed. Note).

Snow Canyon senior Grant Gibbs also won gold medals in both of his individual events. Gibbs won the 200 free in a time of 1:44.30, more than six seconds faster than the runner-up. Other top finishers from Region 9 in the 200 free were Dallas Schimbeck of Desert Hills in third place, Zachary Douglas of Cedar in fourth and Parker Christensen of Snow Canyon in fifth.

Gibbs also won the 100 free in a time of 47.55. Also in that event, Snow Canyon senior Tyler Foggin and Dixie’s Ned Hill placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the 50 free, Region 9’s top finishers Snow Canyon’s Foggin, who took third with a time of 22.77, and Dixie senior Dusty Hart, who took fourth with a time of 22.81. Only 1.5 seconds separated the first and eighth place finishers in that race.

Snow Canyon’s Daxton Green and Desert Hills’ Kade Bethers placed third and fourth in the 100 fly, respectively. Green also placed second in the 100 back with a time of 54.96, while Crimson Cliffs freshman Josh Walker placed third in that event with a time of 55.29. Cedar’s Dotson placed second in the 100 breast with a time of 59.89.

Although Snow Canyon swept first place in all three relays, five other Region 9 schools posted top-five finishes in one or more relay events. For complete boys meet results from both days, click here.

A total of 19 schools in the 4A classification participated in the state meets, which due to COVID-19 restrictions were staged separately for girls and boys for the first time. This also prevented parents and fans from attending in person.

Ed Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed Canyon View junior Max Canyon’s time in the 100-yard breaststroke as 57.27. That was his preliminary time on Friday, which broke the 33-year-old state 4A record. Cannon then swam even faster in Saturday’s finals, posting a winning time of 56.68.

Team results, 4A boys state swim championships 

1. Snow Canyon 352
2. Sky View 261
3. Ridgeline 239
4. Desert Hills 163
5. Cedar City 146
6. Dixie 137
7. Crimson Cliffs 112
8. Mountain Crest 111
9. Green Canyon 103
10. Stansbury 102
11. Canyon View 100

Team results, 4A girls state swim championships 

1. Sky View 332
2. Ridgeline 262
3. Snow Canyon 253
4. Green Canyon 207
5. Desert Hills 181
6. (tie) Tooele 136
7. (tie) Crimson Cliffs 136
8. Canyon View 117
9. Cedar City 111
10. Mountain Crest 95

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