Swim/dive: Catalina Foothills, Brophy and Desert Vista win

November 10, 2013 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Brophy Prep exerted its usual force Saturday in winning the Division I boys swimming title while Desert Vista's girls unseated Xavier Prep as D-I girls champ in Mesa at the Skyline Aquatics Center on the campus of Skyline High School. In Division II it was a sweep for Catalina Foothills taking the boys and girls crowns.

Five state records fell in the boys competition and one in the girls competition -- all occurred in the D-I meets.  Here's a recap of swimming and diving results by division and gender:

BOYS

DIVISION I: While Brophy won the team championship for the 25th consecutive year, it was Chaparral freshman Ryan Hoffer, Chandler sophomore Mark Jurek, Arcadia junior Matt Anderson  and Desert Mountain senior Nicholas Magana who stood out. Brophy finished with 294 points to claim the team crown followed by Chaparral (259) and Desert Vista (211). 

Hoffer was named the state's outstanding male swimmer of the year after the meet. He posted another sub 20-second time in the 50-yard free final. Hoffer's winning time in the final was 19.69 seconds. He set the state record a day earlier in the prelims at 19.55. Hoffer also helped the school's 200 medley relay to a title (1:32.01. Hoffer was runner-up in the 100 fly to the record-setting Jurek.

Jurek claimed victories in the 200 IM and 100 fly. Both of Jurek's times were state records -- 47.80 in the 100 fly and 1:48.31 in the 200 IM. Magana won the 200 free and 100 free. Another state record fell to Arcadia's Matt Anderson in the 100 breast with a time of 55.54  the final. He set a record earlier with his prelim time of 55.94 on Friday. Magana equaled Jurek in quantity of gold medals, winning the 200 free and 100 free. Other individual swim winners were Chaparral's Weston Miller (500 free) and Austin Drummond (100 back). The diving title went to Sunnyslope's Emmott Blitch.

DIVISION II: Catalina Foothills won its first team title since 2010, scoring a 50.5 point victory over runner-up Notre Dame. Catalina Foothills had 256 points, Notre Dame (205.5) and last year's champ Salpointe (189) was third.

Only one male swimmer scored two individual gold medals -- Walden Grove's Trey Cashion. Cashion won the 200 free and 100 back. Catalina Foothills had one individual champ -- Matt Lujan in the 200 IM. The other individual champs were Notre Dame's Joe Starkweather (50 free), Saguaro's J.J. Osborn (100 fly), Gilbert Classical's Austin Baker (100 free), Queen Creek's Cason Flygard (500 free) and Casa Grande's Grant Sugaski (100 breast). Queen Creek won the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay while Saguaro was first in the 200 free relay. Shadow Mountain's Cody Rankin won diving.  Starkweather was selected boys swimmer of the year for D-II. He also repeated, winning the 50 free. 

GIRLS

DIVISION I: Desert Vista had a little more depth and one co-individual-event champ to end Xavier's streak of 14 straight team titles. Desert Vista totaled 278.5, besting Xavier at 267. Pinnacle was third with 243. Desert Vista, which opened in 1996, won its first ever swim-dive title.

Outstanding female swimmer of the year honors went to Pinnacle junior Victoria Toris. Toris walked away with four gold medals winning the 50- and 100-free and swimming a leg in the winning 200 free- and 400-free relays. Desert Mountain junior Katie Shannahan was the only other two-event winner. Shannahan won the 200 IM and 100 fly. Other individual winners were Pinnacle's Isabel Whited (500 free), Arcadia's Matti Harrison (100 back) and Gilbert's Ashley Grijalva (100 breast). Tucson High's Delaney Schnell won the diving title.

There was a tie for the top spot in the 200 free race with Desert Vista's Cecilia Kowalski and Rincon's Brianna Leverenz finishing in a dead heat. Only one state record fell in the girls competition - that went to Chaparral's 200 medley relay team.

DIVISION II: Like their male counterparts, Catalina Foothills (280) won its first title since 2010, besting runner-up Queen Creek (203) and third-place Campo Verde (171).

Enjoying a great meet again was Verrado senior Picabo Bender. Bender won two events (200 free and 500 free) and anchored the winning 200 free relay victory. Catalina Foothills Krista Duffield won the 50 free and swam legs on the winning 200 medley relay and 400 relay teams. Also winning two events were Shadow Moutain's Hannah Holman (200 IM and 100 breast) and Notre Dame's Samantha Getzen (100 fly and 100 free). Other event winners were Sabino's Taylor Nations (100 back) with the diving title going to Campo Verde's Baylee Stipp.

Earning D-II swimmer of the years honors was Getzen, who repeated her two-event titles from 2012.