High school swimming: Athletes from 16 teams kick off new year at invitational meet in St. George

ST. GEORGE — Several Southern Utah high schools took part in the Red Rock Invitational swim meet staged at Utah Tech University last weekend, with the Cedar girls and the Crimson Cliffs boys each placing second overall.

High school swimmers compete in the Red Rock Invitational at Utah Tech University, St. George, Utah, Jan. 5-6, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Jason Walker, St. George News / Cedar City News

Wasatch High, a 5A school in Heber City, took first place in both the girls and boys meets. Although the Wasps won the girls meet handily, their margin of victory in the boys meet was a narrow 2.5 points, as Wasatch finished with 425.5 points to Crimson’s team total of 423. See the bottom of the story for listings of the top 10 team scores.

“There were a lot of great swims,” said Cedar head coach Megan Moses.

A total of 16 teams participated, including those from Region 9 schools Cedar, Crimson Cliffs, Desert Hills, Snow Canyon, Pine View and Dixie. Cedar City’s Canyon View High placed third among boys teams and eighth among girls. Two smaller Southern Utah schools were also represented, as Parowan had two athletes and Beaver had one.

Besides Wasatch’s powerhouse program, the competitive meet also attracted teams from Timpanogos, Provo, Payson, Richfield, Carbon and Emery high schools.

Following are selected highlights from the meet, with emphasis on Southern Utah swimmers placing among the top three or four in their respective events:

Girls

Chesney Bonner of Desert Hills won the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 59.94 seconds. She also placed second in the 200 free in 2:00.55, with Payson standout Avery Bulkley winning that event in 1:57.09. Bulkley also won the 500 free in 5:11.73, more than 16 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

High school swimmers compete in the Red Rock Invitational at Utah Tech University, St. George, Utah, Jan. 5-6, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Olivia Price, St. George News / Cedar City News

Cedar senior Addison Taylor placed second in the 50 free with a time of 26.24. Placing fourth in that same event with a time of 26.35 was Crimson Cliffs sophomore Kate Walker. Walker who won the state 4A individual golf title as a freshman last spring, also placed third in the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday.

Also at the meet, Claire Daley of Crimson Cliffs placed third in the 100 breast and fourth in the 500 free, McKenzie Mugleston of Snow Canyon placed third in the 200 IM and sixth in the 50 free, Dylan Romprey of Desert Hills took fourth in the 100 back and Sydni Lauer of Parowan took fourth in the 100 fly.

In addition, the Cedar girls placed second in the 200 free relay.

Boys

Andrew Carlile of Dixie won the 100 fly in a time of 54.96 seconds. He also placed second in the 200 free with a time of 1:52.21.

Winning the boys 200 free was Canyon View’s Kurt Morgan, who posted a time of 1:44.78. Morgan also won the 100 free with a time of 47.50.

Crimson Cliffs sprinter Bronson Plumb won the 50 free in a time of 22.95. He also placed second in the 100 free with a time of 51.44.

Justin Granado of Cedar placed second in the 200 IM, his time of 2:06.60 cutting nearly three seconds off his previous best. Granado also took third in the 100 free.

High school swimmers compete in the Red Rock Invitational at Utah Tech University, St. George, Utah, Jan. 5-6, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Olivia Price, St. George News / Cedar City News

Kala Cabana of Crimson Cliffs won the 100 breast with a time of 1:03.84. Also placing highly in that event were runner-up Hunter Iverson of Desert Hills and Ashten Krans of Cedar, who took fourth.

Other highlights from the Crimson boys included Chance Douglass taking fourth in both the 50 free and the 100 free; Mackey Cook taking third in the 100 fly; and Anthony Finger placing second in the 100 back and third in the 200 free.

Taking first in the 100 back was Solmun Pak of Desert Hills, whose winning time was 56.29. Nick Bittmenn of Canyon View placed fourth in that same event.

The Crimson Cliffs boys also won all three relay events, with Canyon View picking up one second-place and one third-place finish.

For a number of Southern Utah swimmers, it was the second straight meet they’d taken part in at Utah Tech’s pool, coming on the heels of the Hurricane Senior Meet that took place before the holiday break. At that Dec. 16 event, Cedar and Canyon View captured the top two spots in both the girls and boys meets, with the Cedar boys and the Canyon View girls taking first place.

This coming weekend, there will be an invitational meet hosted by Cedar High at the Cedar City Aquatic Center on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 12-13. The first race is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. Friday, with Saturday’s events starting at 10 a.m.

Red Rock Invitational

Utah Tech University, Jan. 5-6

Top 10 girls team scores

Wasatch, 467.
Cedar, 290.
Provo, 287.
Desert Hills, 269.
(tie) Carbon, 256.
(tie) Payson, 256.
Crimson Cliffs, 244.
Canyon View, 227.
Richfield, 169.
Snow Canyon, 168.

Top 10 boys team scores

Wasatch, 425.5.
Crimson Cliffs, 423.
Canyon View, 318.
Cedar, 260.5.
Desert Hills, 235.
Payson, 232.
Emery, 185.
Snow Canyon, 182.
Richfield, 171.
Carbon, 149.

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