SWAMIs Swim Fast at State High School Meet
PROVO — On February 3rd and 4th, a handful of Swamis, representing Judge Memorial Catholic High School, decended upon the old Richards Building natatorium for the annual Utah 3A State High School Championships.
The Judge Memorial Girls team took home the state title, their ninth championship in ten years—and their fourth title in a row. The Lady Bulldogs dominated the field, finishing more than 100 points ahead of second place finisher Desert Hills (St. George). The team managed to send at least one team member to the podium (places 1-6) in all but one event. On more than one ocassion, the Bulldogs sent two to the podium.
The Boys team, led by team captains
Seamus Appel,
Jason Motley and
Dillon Beckett (all members of Swami) finished a spirited 3rd place, after having been projected to finish 9th in a field of 24 teams. They held off Desert Hills to claim third and a spot on the podium). The Bulldogs finished 4 points ahead of Desert Hills for the final spot on the podium.
Race Swami’s
Amelia Wolfgramm won both of her individual events, clocking in at a 52.10 in the 100 free, breaking the Judge Memorial school record while setting a new Swami team record in the process. Wolfgramm followed up that victory with another big win in the 100 back, touching the wall at 57.10, finishing three seconds ahead of the field.
Another Swami,
Alandra McDowell, closed out her first season as a high school swimmer in notable fashion, finishing 4th in the 500 free (5:32.84) and 8th in the 200 free (2:05.58). Both Wolfgramm and McDowell took part in winning the 200 medley relay with Wolfgramm leading off the backstroke leg, and handing it over to McDowell, who swam the breaststroke leg for Judge.
“It was a great win for us,” Wolfgramm said. “We really wanted to win that medley relay and try to set a new state record, but we just missed that one by a few tenths.”
Fellow Swami team member
Isabel Romano, finished 8th in the 100 fly (1:06.37), taking more than 3 seconds off her previous lifetime best. Team captain
Cassandra Cokl, another Swami member, ended her high school career on a high note, finishing 6th in the 500 free (5:40.29) and 9th in the 200 free (2:06.27), while taking the 2nd leg of the 200 free relay, which placed 4th.
Other Swamis on the state winning squad included freshman Marcela Vasquez (6th, 100 breast; 15th, 200 IM) and junior Emily Murnin (100 back, 16th place; 100 breast, 21st place).
On the boys side, Dillon Beckett had a monster meet, finishing 2nd in the 200 IM (2:07.26) after being seeded 17th going into the event. He took more than 10 seconds off his entered time. He followed that race with an inspiring 10th place finish in the 100 fly (57.69), taking two seconds off his previous best time.
Swimming next to Dillon in both events was a familiar friend—twin brother, Parker. Parker finished 11th in the 200 IM (after being seeded 18th), and followed that up with a crushing 100 fly, where he finished 6th (55.92) and took nearly 5 seconds off his previous lifetime best.
Jason Motley had a great meet, finishing 7th in the 100 free (51.62) and 10th in the 200 free (1:56.29) while taking part in two relays that finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
Seamus Appel finished 5th in the 500 free (5:05.00) and touched the wall 6th in the 200 free (1:5150). He added two huge anchor legs in the 200 and 400 free relays. “I know I didn;t have my greatest swims in the individuals,” Appel noted, “but the fact of the matter is we needed our relays to come up huge if we were going to have a chance at Top 5.:
As it happened, the relays did cruise: the 200 free relay, after being seeded 9th going into the meet, finished 3rd overall, while the 4 x 100 relay churned to a 2nd place finish, thus holding off Desert Hills and clinching 3rd overall in the team standings.
