5A swimming: Cottonwood senior takes boys' 100-yard freestyle title
Provo • Jordan Dahle touched the wall and instinctively looked at the scoreboard listing the times of the Class 5A boys' 100-yard freestyle.
The Cottonwood senior knew he swam a fast race, and he knew he had won. But had he erased the name of one of Utah's greatest prep swimmers from the top line in the record books?
Dahle took the state title with a time of 45.96 seconds Friday at the Class 5A state meet, but he came up barely more than a half-second short of breaking the state record, held by Brighton star and Dahle's friend, Long Gutierrez.
"Long's obviously the greatest swimmer ever to come out of Utah," Dahle said. "To even say I was close to one of his records is an honor."
Dahle and Gutierrez have been on the same club team and trained together for years. Even though it might have weakened his chance to take the title, Dahle would have loved one last chance to go head-to-head against his friend before they graduate this spring.
But with Gutierrez not swimming the 100 freestyle this meet, Dahle had to settle for chasing the record.
"It's always great to have somebody to race," Dahle said. "Knowing I had a better chance at a state title was nice, but it's great to race somebody fast, and I wouldn't have been disappointed at all if he would have raced."
Lone Peak's Rachel Hubert also capped her career on a high note Friday. The senior blew away the field in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:07.55, more than 16 seconds ahead of her closest competitor.
Hubert had posted a similarly dominant mark in her seeding time, so the result wasn't a surprise.
The rest of the Lone Peak team kept her motivated in the weeks leading up to the meet, and standing on the podium with teammates Jordan Verdejo (third) and Samantha Patterson (fourth) is a memory that will last for Hubert.
"It feels really good because it's my senior year, and this is what you look forward to," Hubert said. "I'm glad to be with those girls."
"You've just got to keep on going," Hubert said. "You have to think of the end and how good it feels." —
5A state swimming
Girls' 100 butterfly
1. Autumn Wolfgram, West, 57.55; 2. Alicia May, Alta 59.20; 3. Kirsten Matthewson, Bingham, 59.97; 4. Katie Smith, Lone Peak, 1:00.05; 5. Kaitlyn Overstreet, Brighton, 1:00.59; 6. Grace Goddard, West, 1:01.14.
Boys' 100 butterfly
1. Long Gutierrez, Brighton, 48.68; 2. Hunter O'Neal, Brighton, 52.47; 3. Christopher Nielson, Lone Peak, 53.44; 4. Brian O'Neal, Brighton, 53.79; 5. Kade Hunter, Lone Peak, 54.63; 6. Daulton Swan, Viewmont, 54.63.
Girls' 100 freestyle
1. Kristine Pataray, Copper Hills, 52.87; 2. Samantha Scoresby, Lone Peak, 53.09; 3. Claire Jackson, Hunter, 53.63; 4. Jordan Verdejo, Lone Peak, 55.64; 5. Natasha Kinney, Brighton, 56.01; 6. Olivia Nelson, Brighton, 56.30.
Boys' 100 freestyle
1. Jordan Dahle, Cottonwood, 45.96; 2. Brock Harries, Brighton, 47.60; 3. Aaron Cookson, Pleasant Grove, 48.84; 4. Chandler Ward, Weber, 48.96; 5. Parker Sorensen, Riverton, 49.34.
Girls' 500 freestyle
1. Rachel Hubert, Lone Peak, 5:07.55; 2. Katy Daggett, Brighton, 5:24.11; 3. Jordan Verdejo, Lone Peak, 5:27, 34; 4. Samantha Patterson, Lone Peak, 5:30.80; 5. Maddison Merrill, Bingham, 5:31.21; 6. Sam Buker, American Fork, 5:32.19.
Boys' 500 freestyle
1. Jarren Brinton, West, 4:41.83; 2. Jayden Rasband, Alta, 4:48.29; 3. Ethan Pollock, American Fork, 4:53.50; 4. Kyle Darling, Hunter, 4:54.82; 5. Matt Templeman, Brighton, 4:57.03; 6. Carson Malen, Brighton, 4:57.47.
Girls' 200 freestyle relay
1. Lone Peak, 1:39.20; 2. Brighton, 1:42.35; 3. Viewmont, 1:42.81; 4. Bingham, 1:43.25; 5. Kearns, 1:44.64; 6. American Fork, 1:44.85.
Boys' 200 freestyle relay
1. Brighton, 1:27. 34; 2. Lone Peak, 1:29.70; 3. Kearns, 1:31.28; 4. Pleasant Grove, 1:31.28; 5. Copper Hills, 1:31.51; 6. Lehi, 1:31.62.
Girls' 100 backstroke
1. Amelia Wolfgram, West, 57.51; 2. Alisa Gouge, Kearns, 59.93; 3. Abbey Sorensen, Riverton, 1:00.52; 4. Mackenzie Barrow, Bingham, 1:02.02; 5. Kaitlyn Overstreet, Brighton, 1:02.12; 6. McKenna King, American Fork, 1:02.14.
Boys' 100 backstroke
1. Trevor Blackburn, Lehi, 52.76; 2. Christopher Nielson, Lone Peak, 53.31; 3. Jayden Rasband, Alta, 54.21; 4. Trick Graf, Brighton, 54.94; 5. Brendan Nguyen, Cottonwood, 55.37; 6. Jorgen Jensen, Copper Hills, 55.83.
Girls' 100 breaststroke
1. Brianna Fancis, Alta, 1:03.63; 2. Mariah Gassaway, Viewmont, 1:08.57; 3. Abby Alger, Brighton, 1:08.75; 4. McKenna Gassaway, Viewmont, 1:08.98; 5. Ciera Orr, Bingham, 1:10.00; 6. Maddie Christensen, Riverton, 1:10.64.
Boys' 100 breaststroke
1. Nathan Bramhall, Pleasant Grove, 57.54; 2. Zack Bradshaw, Lone Peak, 1:01.09; 3. Nathan Peercy, Kearns, 1:02.12; 4. Ben Halls, Davis, 1:02.20; 5. Ryland Savage, Alta, 1:03.68; 6. Jake Butters, Lone Peak, 1:03.77.
Girls' 400 freestyle relay
1. Lone Peak, 3:35.34; 2. West, 3:37.50; 3. Bingham, 3:41.38; 4. Alta, 3:42.89; 5. Hunter, 3:44.73; 6. Brighton, 3:47.91.
Boys' 400 freestyle relay
1. Brighton, 3:10.51; 2. Cottonwood, 3:15.83; 3. Lehi, 3:16.24; 4. Copper Hills, 3:20.64; 5. Pleasant Grove, 3:20.88, American Fork, 3:22.19.
Overall girls' team results
1. Brighton, 311.50; 2. Bingham, 288.50; 3. Lone Peak, 274; 4. West, 204; 5. Alta, 171; 6. Viewmont, 157.
Overall boys' team results
1. Brighton, 382; 2. Lehi, 225; 3. Cottonwood, 206; 4. Lone Peak, 172.50; 5. Kearns, 156; 6. Pleasant Grove, 142.
Overline — Brighton's Long Gutierrez broke his own state record in the boys' 100-yard butterfly with a 48.68 time. He had hoped to break the US high school record of 46.60 but came up short.