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Provo • Just because there was little suspense when it came to crowning team champions at the Class 5A state swimming finals Saturday didn't mean the day was without some drama.

The Brighton boys won their third consecutive state title, and the Brighton girls defended their title to earn the program's 22nd championship — both in rather convincing fashion.

The girls team, bolstered by two victories by sophomore Kaitlyn Overstreet (100-yard butterfly, 100 backstroke) and a state record-breaking performance by senior Amanda Barrett, finished with 369.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Skyline (288.5).

"This is what you work for, to have all the kids step up and do things they haven't done before," Brighton coach Todd Etherington said. "It truly was a team effort, top to bottom."

The Bengals' boys team rode victories by Long Gutierrez (100 butterfly), Kyle Spicer (500 freestyle) and the 400-yard freestyle relay team to a convincing 99-point victory over runner-up Skyline (239.5).

"It was their meet to give away, and I didn't think they would," Skyline coach Joe Pereira said of Brighton. "Our goal was to get ahead of the schools that were in front of us in the seeding. We went in fourth in both. Our goal was to get up there and bring home a trophy."

The dramatic moments of the day came by way of first-place ties in the boys 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle, and Skyline's Natalie Bennion's victory by one-hundredth of a second against Kearns' Ciera Marsh in the 100 free.

"I couldn't believe it," said Bennion, a junior. "It was so close. Ciera's a really good swimmer, and I was amazed that I could beat her."

Cottonwood's Brandton Ferrin and Kearns' Sam Huff tied for the 100-free title, finishing in 47.1 seconds. Lone Peak's Connor Christiansen tied defending state champion Greg Ballif of Brighton in the 100 breaststroke at 1:00.27.

"How good I felt in this race really just capped off the season," said Christiansen, a senior. "That was incredible to look up and see a '1' by two guys' names."

Brighton's girls earned victories in five of the 11 events in two days, including Barrett's 4:56.96 finish in the 500 free, which broke her previous state record by more than two seconds. —

Highlights

R Brighton's boys win their third consecutive state title in convincing fashion, capturing victories in six of 11 events. Sophomore Long Gutierrez earns four gold medals and is named the boys swimmer of the year.

• Brighton's girls win their second consecutive state title, led by senior standout Amanda Barrett, who sets two state records and is named girls swimmer of the year.

• Saturday produces two first-place ties and a third race decided by .01 seconds. —

Photo gallery

O For more photos of the Class 5A swimming championships, visit http://www.tribpreps.com —

Results

For team and individual results from the Class 5A swimming championships, see Scoreboard. S12