Lone Peak swimmers brace for tough 4A competition

The Lone Peak girls have won four of the last five Class 4A state swimming titles, including last year's, but this year they'll face stingy competition, as the Mountain Crest, American Fork, Pleasant Grove, and Murray girls are ahead of them in the state rankings.

The Mustang girls own the top times in the state in every relay event. They go into the state meet seeded first in the 200 free and 200 medley. The Knight girls claim the top seed in the 400 medley.

On the boys' side, the East team is the heavyweight, especially its relay squads. The Leopard men earned the top times in the state in the 200 free and 200 medley relays and are seeded first in the state meet in the 200 medley and 400 free relays.

The Logan boys claim the top seed in the 200 free relay and the Springville boys vaulted to the top time in 400 free relay. In descending order, East, Logan, and Murray claim the top spots in the state rankings going into the state meet. The Red Devil boys are fifth.

Mountain Crest's Jess Ensign, Lone Peak's Ashley Kleinman, Timpview's Leilani Roberts and Cyprus's Brittany Davis are among the best 4A female swimmers in the state. Roberts, Ensign, and Davis are tied at the top of the individual score rankings, while Kleinman, and Springville's Kim Clark are knotted up in the second spot.

Davis, a senior, and Roberts, a sophomore, are currently tied for the top spot in the 500 free with identical times of 5:15.87. Numbers three and four in the event are Kleinman and Ensign, respectively. Roberts' 1:10.43 time in the 100 breast stroke and 2:11.31 mark in the 200 IM are tops in 4A, giving her the first seed in the two events at the state meet.

Davis achieved the top times in the 100 backstroke and the 100 free. She won the 100 back and 50 free at the Region 6 meet this year and is the state record-holder in the 100 backstroke with the 57.82 she set in last year's state meet. Entering state she will be seeded first in the 500 free and 100 backstroke.

Ensign, in addition to making up part of the Mustangs' top-ranked 200 free and 400 free relay teams, earned the best times in the state in the 200 free and 100 butterfly. Her butterfly time is the only one in state that is under one minute at 59.75. Only a junior this year, she will be seeded first in the state meet in the 200 free and 100 butterfly.

Kleinman, a junior, makes up part of the Knights' No. 1 400 free relay team. Her 25.04 time in the 50 free is currently the state's best, and she will be seeded No. 1 in the event. She won a state individual title in the 100 freestyle last year and won both the 100 butterfly and the 50 freestyle in the Region 7 meet. Lone Peak slipped by Orem for the girls' region title. The Knight boys took the region title as well and are ranked fourth.

Provo High School coach Sarah Lemmons, the top-50 compiler for class 4A, said, "Springville does have a good boys team, but a lot of them are graduating seniors this year, opening the door for competitors next year."

East's Nick Philpot, who achieved the best times in both the 100 free and 200 free, goes to state seeded first in both events.

Springville took the Region 6 title and boasts Kenny Clark, the state leader in the 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 breast stroke and 200 IM. Clark drew the top seeds in the 500 freestyle and the 200 IM in the state meet. Casey Kleinman of Lone Peak ranks first in state in the 50 and 100 backstroke. Philpot, Kenny Clark and Casey Kleinman are tied at the top of the individual scorer rankings.

In 3A, Judge Memorial head coach Gail Meakins says Judge, Tooele and Park City will be the teams to beat in both boys and girls meets. Park City swept the Region 10 meet, and Tooele did the same at the Region 11 meet.

"We have a young team with very strong freestylers and an amazing freshman, Liz Caravati, who should get us started in the 200 medley relay and 200 free," Meakins said.

Caravati's 100 butterfly time of 1:01.02 is tops in the state; however, she is seeded only fourth in heat three of the event at the state meet. She also ranks first in the state in the 200 free and third in the 50 free. Teammate Sandy Bartlett, a junior, owns the top spots in both the 500 free and 100 breast stroke.

Rowland Hall's Annie Bartlett is another top girls contender. She tops the state list in both the 50 and 100 free.

"(The Judge boys) are coming off a strong performance at region," Meakins said. "We are very strong in the 200 and 500 free, 100 fly, and the 200 IM."

Pine View's Ricky Nerud achieved the top spots in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. His backstroke time of 56.82 is nearly two and a half seconds faster than the second-best time, and his butterfly time of 54.40 is a little more than four seconds better than the next competitor.

"Park City will be tough because they have experienced swimmers and should be the favorites with their strong tradition of fast swimming."

According to Meakins, the Miners have great sprinters and relay teams that should stack up very strong against the rest of the field.

Park City swept the Region 10 meet and Tooele did the same in the Region 11 meet.

"This year could be one of the closest meets in recent years with very tight competition in every event,' Meakins explained.

Cedar High School head coach Dick Coston ranks the Judge girls number one and the Tooele boys number one, but is modest about his own team, saying they are fifth in both boys and girls. In Coston"s view, the Miner girls are second and their boys, fourth.

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