Snow Canyon swimmers win Region 9 girls and boys titles

ST. GEORGE — Snow Canyon High School’s swim teams are the Region 9 champions, with the Warriors winning both the girls and boys regional meets staged over the weekend at the Washington City Community Center.

In the girls meet Friday evening, Snow Canyon scored 350 team points to runner-up Crimson Cliffs’ 338. Desert Hills took third with 319. The Warriors secured the win by finishing first in all three relay events. Snow Canyon also had several strong finishes individually.

In the boys meet Saturday morning, Snow Canyon scored 405 team points to take the region title, while second place Cedar scored 306. Just as the Snow Canyon girls had done the night before, the Warrior boys swept all three relay events, in addition to posting several top-tier individual finishes.

 “I’m overjoyed for these swimmers,” Snow Canyon head coach Charlie Barnett told St. George News afterward. “We’ve had plenty of opportunities this season where we could have given up due to hardships, but these two teams chose to overcome all obstacles and came out victorious.”

“I feel humbled and honored to be the coach of such an amazing group of athletes and have nothing but praises to say about them,” Barnett added. “It was a great weekend full of fantastic swims from all the teams in the region. I appreciate all the hard work all the coaches and swimmers in the region have put in this year and wish the best to all of us at the upcoming state meet.”

Snow Canyon swimmers and coaches in pool with Region 9 championship trophy, Washington City, Utah, Jan. 30, 2021 | Photo courtesy of David Barnett, St. George News

The 4A state championships are scheduled for Feb. 12-13 at the South Davis Recreation Center in Bountiful (see Ed. note). Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the meet will be split into separate events for boys and girls, just like the region meet was. Unlike the region meet, parents and other spectators will not be permitted to attend the state meet in person; however, the events are scheduled to be streamed live.

Additionally, all athletes and coaches must receive a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the state meet in order to participate, according to the Utah High School Activities Association.

The 4A girls are scheduled to compete in the first-day preliminaries on Feb. 12 starting at 8:45 a.m., with the 4A boys to follow that afternoon, beginning at 12:15 p.m. The 4A finals and consolation races will be the next day, with the girls starting at 9:30 a.m. and the boys starting at 12:45 p.m. on Feb. 13. Click here to see the official state meet schedule. 

Following are highlights of some of the top performances during the Region 9 swim meets held Friday and Saturday in Washington City.

Snow Canyon’s Kylie Barber won both of her individual events, taking first in the 50 free with a time of 25.41 seconds and first in the 100 free with a time of 54.62 seconds. She also swam the butterfly leg of the 200 medley relay and the first leg of the 400 free relay, with the Warriors winning both events.

Joining Barber in both of those relays were Afton Page and Olivia Jenkins, each of whom also won one individual event. Jenkins won the 500 free with a time of 5:28.93. Page won the 100 fly in a time of 1:01.24, more than seven seconds faster than runner-up Graciela Engst of Cedar. Page also placed second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.55, a few seconds behind Caitlin Romprey of Desert Hills, who posted a winning time of 57.69 seconds. 

Region 9 championship swim meet, Washington City, Utah, Jan. 29, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Shannon Greer, St. George News

Romprey, who also won the 200 free in a time of 2:00.60, was the only other individual double-gold medalist for the Region 9 girls, although Jesi Anderson of Canyon View came close. Anderson won the 200 IM in a time of 2:23.28, narrowly edging Snow Canyon’s Raegan Hopkins, who finished in 2:23.43. Anderson then finished second in the 100 free, her time of 56.97 coming behind Barber’s 54.62.

Canyon View’s Kylie Reynolds was the winner of the 100 breast, posting a time of 1:10.80.

Two swimmers placed second in both their individual events: Mykela Hansen of Desert Hills took second in both the 200 free and the 500 free, while Kyleigh Messinger of Crimson Cliffs was the runner-up in both the 50 free and the 100 breast. 

For complete girls results, click here.

In the boys meet Saturday, Snow Canyon swept all three relay events, with Crimson Cliffs finishing second in the 200 medley relay and Dixie taking runner-up in both freestyle relays.

Individually, there were two double-gold medalists in the region, as Grant Gibbs of Snow Canyon and Max Cannon of Canyon View won both of their events. Gibbs won the 200 free in a time of 1:46.43 and the 100 free in a time of 48.06. Cannon placed first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:55.17 and first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.14. 

Snow Canyon’s Daxton Green won the 100 fly in a time of 54.44, exactly one second faster than the 55.44 posted by runner-up Kade Bethers of Desert Hills. Green also finished second to Cannon in the 100 back, with Green posting a school-record time of 54.54 in that race.

Also for Snow Canyon, Max Barnett won the 500 free in a time of 4:59.67. He also placed second in the 200 IM with a time of 1:57.62.

Tobler Dotson of Cedar won the 100 breast in a time of 1:01.96, with Chandler Wambach of Snow Canyon taking second in that race with a time of 1:03.41.  Dotson also placed third in the 200 IM.

Dixie High had the two fastest finishers in the 50 free, with Ned Hill winning the event in a time of 23.53, just six-hundredths of a second ahead of teammate Dusty Hart’s 23.59. Just a split second behind them were two Snow Canyon racers: Tyler Foggin took third in 23.80 and Kai Christensen placed fourth in 23.84.

Foggin also placed third in the 100 free, while Dixie’s Hill took second in that race. Additionally, Cedar’s Tanner Dodds took second in the 500 free, while freshman teammate Ashten Krans placed third.

For complete boys results, click here.

Ed note: This article has been updated to reflect a change in venue for the 4A state swim meet. UHSAA officials announced on Feb. 4 that instead of being held at Brigham Young University in Provo, the event, along with the 3A state meet, will be held at the South Davis Recreation Center in Bountiful. The scheduled dates and times for all 4A and 3A events will remain the same, as will spectator restrictions and other COVID-19 related guidelines. 

Region 9 swimming championships, overall team results

Girls team results (Jan. 29)

  1. Snow Canyon – 350
  2. Crimson Cliffs – 338
  3. Desert Hills – 319
  4. (tie) Cedar – 264
  5. (tie) Canyon View – 264
  6. Pine View – 135
  7. Dixie – 134
  8. Hurricane – 51

Boys team results (Jan. 30)

  1. Snow Canyon – 405
  2. Cedar – 306
  3. Crimson Cliffs – 301
  4. Desert Hills – 288
  5. Dixie – 267
  6. Canyon View – 204
  7. Pine View – 88
  8. Hurricane – 67

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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