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Provo • The main goal at the Class 3A state swimming championships Saturday was to swim fast and win races.

Next in priority was to keep an eye on the nearest competitors since that often leads to a successful resolution of the primary goal.

Unfortunately for Cedar City's Garrett Dotson, a bit of an equipment malfunction made it quite difficult to keep tabs on his rivals in the 100-yard breaststroke. But Dotson won the race anyway, and maybe that's why he was so positive about goggle failure just after he got into the water.

"My goggles actually filled with water and I couldn't see after the dive," Dotson said. "It might have been for the better. Just focus on the walls, focus on the distance to swim and just getting there."

Swimming semi-blind, Dotson won the 100 breaststroke in 1 minute, 1.73 seconds — a second better than Juan Diego freshman Alexander Gustat.

"I guess it's kind of like when they put the visors on horses so they go straight," Dotson said. "I say it's for the better, but it's not going to happen next time."

Teams like Cedar City and Juan Diego might have a little more confidence when it comes to taking on 3A giant Park City next time thanks to performances like Dotson's.

In the meantime, the Miners won their fourth consecutive championship in both boys and girls. Park City topped the Cedar City boys by more than 100 points, while the girls cleared second-place Desert Hills by almost 200 points.

Park City senior Alex Yokubison and junior Cole Peterson tied for male high-point honors as Yokubison grabbed first in the 100 freestyle and Peterson took a victory in the 100 backstroke. On the girls' side, Miners senior Rozie Selznick got a win in the 100 freestyle to finish as the top point-earner.

Still, Dotson's win marked a day when, at least at the top level of the podium, other schools made some inroads against Park City.

Ryan Bunn from Hurricane won his second individual event in two days by taking the 100 butterfly, while Cedar City beat back Desert Hills and Juan Diego in the 200 freestyle relay.

Sophomore J.R. Gustat, Alexander's older brother at Juan Diego, claimed first in the 500 freestyle, although he had to fend off a late charge by Park City freshman Jack Troxel.

By the end of the meet, despite Cedar City wins in the girls' 200 freestyle relay and by junior Katelyn Gross in the 100 butterfly, things reverted to form.

And that was wins for Park City and state records to go with it.

Miners senior Joelle Hess surged to a 3A state record in the 100 breaststroke, then was on the Park City 400 freestyle relay that seized another 3A state mark.

That last event marked a bit of a departure for Hess in her last race as a Miner. In her previous eight state championships — four individuals and four on relays — Hess had not been asked to do the freestyle.

"We were going for a freestyle record, but last year when we got it, we had a freestyle girl" who graduated, Hess said. "I was replacing her, kind of, so we were nervous.

"I had just swam the breaststroke, and it was really stressful," added Hess, who estimated she had between 12 and 15 minutes before the relay started. "My legs were still shaking, so it was like 'Hopefully this will go well.'"

As they say, and as Park City proved, all's well that ends well. —

Top 3 finishers

Girls

Team scores • 1. Park City, 466; 2. Desert Hills, 275; 3. Cedar City, 238; 4. Snow Canyon, 190; 5. Ridgeline, 168; 6. Dixie, 166.5; 7. Juan Diego, 110.5; 8. Stansbury, 89; 9. Carbon, 83; 10. Tooele, 82; (tie) Logan, 82; 12. Grantsville, 61; 13. Richfield, 41; 14. Bear River, 33; (tie) Hurricane 33; 16. Canyon View, 23; 17. Pine View, 19; 18. Ben Lomond, 8

100 butterfly • 1. Katelyn Gross, Cedar City, 58.32; 2. Katie Hale, Park City, 59.30; 3. Stephanie Dansie, Snow Canyon, 1:01.60

100 freestyle • 1. Rozie Selznick, Park City, 51.87; 2. Kristen Gross, Cedar City, 53.80; 3. Abby Whittington, Juan Diego, 55.04

500 freestyle • 1. Elise Beller, Park City, 5:16.16; 2. Nicole Christensen, Snow Canyon, 5:21.80; 3. Sabine Caplin, Park City, 5:32.69

200 freestyle relay • 1. Cedar City, 1:39.06; 2. Park City, 1:43.43; 3. Desert Hills, 1:45.46

100 backstroke • 1. Katie Hale, Park City, 56.86; 2. Elisa Price, Cedar City, 59.52; 3. Sarah Hansen, Desert Hills, 1:01.66

100 breaststroke • 1. Joelle Hess, Park City, 1:05.51; 2. Savannah Thomas, Grantsville, 1:09.30; 3. Tori Geller, Logan, 1:10.71

400 freestyle relay • 1. Park City, 3:34.82; 2. Cedar City, 3:41.46; 3. Desert Hills, 3:47.99

Boys

Team scores • 1. Park City, 369; 2. Cedar City, 256.5; 3. Desert Hills, 208; 4. Juan Diego, 184; 5. Logan, 160; 6. Dixie, 156; 7. Tooele, 122; (tie) Hurricane, 122; 9. Bear River, 119; 10. Stansbury, 117; 11. Ridgeline, 103; 12. Canyon View, 81.5; 13. Ben Lomond, 58; 14. Grantsville, 29; 15. Richfield, 28; 16. Pine View, 22; 17. Snow Canyon, 21; 18. Carbon, 6

100 butterfly • 1. Ryan Bunn, Hurricane, 54.83; 2. Alec Chournos, Bear River, 54.91; 3. Connor Waterman, Logan, 54.93

100 freestyle • 1. Alex Yokubison, Park City, 48.26; 2. Dennis Djunic, Park City, 48.54; 3. Karson Christensen, Ridgeline, 48.99

500 freestyle • 1. JR Gustat, Juan Diego, 5:03.10; 2. Jack Troxel, Park City, 5:04.38; 3. Matt Whipple, Park City, 5:05.80

200 freestyle relay • 1. Cedar City, 1:31.79; 2. Desert Hills, 1:31.89; 3. Juan Diego, 1:32.69

100 backstroke • 1. Cole Peterson, Park City, 52.43; 2. Quentin Tyler, Park City, 52.84; 3. Braxton Higgs, Ben Lomond, 56.62

100 breaststroke • 1. Garrett Dotson, Cedar City, 1:01.73; 2. Alexander Gustat, Juan Diego, 1:02.74; 3. Leon Weingartner, Cedar City, 1:03.40

400 freestyle relay • 1. Park City, 3:14.17; 2. Dixie, 3:22.51; 3. Logan, 3:25.47