Swimming

Skyline’s Jade Garstang Takes Down Three Utah HS Records at 5A State Championships

March 5, 2024

Utah High School 5A State Championships

Feb. 23-24, 2024
BYU Richards Building Pool
- Provo, Utah
SCY (25 yards)
Results

Girls Team Scores

Olympus – 334
Skyline – 333
Wasatch – 216
Highland – 175
Brighton – 156

Skyline junior Jade Garstang broke Utah state records in the 100-yard backstroke (53.11), 100 butterfly (53.17), and 200 medley relay (23.40 fly split en route to 1:46.36 total), but the defending champions suffered a heartbreaking one-point loss to Olympus at last month’s Utah 5A State Championships.

Skyline won the 200 medley relay (1:46.36) and 400 free relay (3:34.06), but it was disqualified from the 200 free relay during prelims, costing dozens of points that proved to be the difference in the team standings.

Garstang, an Arizona commit, took down the Utah state record in the 100 back with a 53.11 in prelims, knocking more than a second off her previous-best 54.81 from last March. The old state record of 53.45 belonged to future SEC champion Rhyan White from 2016. Garstang ended up winning the 100 back final in 53.75, one of two individual victories along with the 100 fly (53.17). There, she lowered her own state record of 54.49 from the Region 6 meet last month, which had broken a decade-old standard set by Skyline’s Lillian Moore (54.61) back in 2014.

Garstang repeated as state champion in both the 100 fly and 100 back after winning last year in 54.97 and 55.59, respectively. She added a 50.44 split on Skyline’s triumphant 400 free relay (3:34.06) to go along with her performance on the 200 medley relay (1:46.36), which shaved about half a second off Skyline’s previous state record of 1:46.81 from way back in 2006. Skyline junior Felicia Shi (28.36 backstroke), junior Elaine Liu (29.96 breaststroke), and freshman Shayla Zulcic (24.64 freestyle) joined Garstang on the record-breaking 200 medley relay.

In a thrilling battle between freshmen, Skyline’s Rori Sorenson snuck past Olympus rookie Greta Doretto in the 200 free with a winning time of 1:56.03. Doretto reached the wall just a blink behind in 1:56.08. Sorenson dropped more than half a second off her previous-best 1:56.67 from November. She added a 55.00 anchor on Skyline’s 400 free relay.

Olympus freshman Rainie Moran was the lone individual winner for the team champions, capturing the 500 free crown with a time of 5:11.48. She has been as fast as 5:10.39 in October. Moran also earned a runner-up finish in the 200 IM (2:09.35 after 2:08.88 in prelims), narrowly missing her lifetime best from October (2:08.85). She also split 24.46 on Skyline’s victorious 200 free relay (1:38.55) along with Doretto (24.46 split), freshman Sophie Wrona (25.55 leadoff), and senior Lauren Greenwell (23.75 anchor).

Highland junior Roni Black picked up multiple 1st-place finishes with wins in the 100 breast (1:02.37) and 200 IM (2:06.78). The San Diego State commit owns a personal-best 100 breast time (1:01.72 from December) that is under the current Utah state record of 1:02.09 from 2020.

Viewmont senior Gabby Henry couldn’t overcome Garstang in the 100 fly with a 2nd-place showing in 56.77 (after posting a personal-best 56.62 in prelims), but the Utah Tech commit did top the podium in the 50 free (23.74 after personal-best 23.41 in prelims). In the 50 free, she dropped exactly four-tenths off her previous-best 23.81 from November.

Wasatch sophomore Ana Diedrichs secured the 100 free title in 52.01, shaving .16 seconds off her previous best (53.17) from December. She added a 3rd-place effort in the 100 back, clocking a 56.57 in the final after firing off a personal-best 55.88 in prelims.

Boys Recap

Team Scores

Olympus – 499
Brighton – 268
Skyline – 243
Springville – 127
Alta – 119

Olympus put together a dominant team effort on the boys’ side with three individual wins, three relay wins, and two swimmers in the top six of every individual event to pull off the title sweep with 131 more points than Brighton.

Olympus junior Abe Astle placed 1st in both the 200 IM (1:49.61) and 100 free (45.40 after personal-best 44.73 in prelims). His best time in the 100 free stood at 46.65 from last March before prelims. Astle also anchored the winning 200 free relay (1:23.54) with a 20.19 split and the triumphant 400 free relay (3:03.67) with a 44.43 split.

Olympus also got an individual victory courtesy of senior Will de la Garza, who touched 1st in the 100 back with a time of 49.74. The Navy commit also led off the winning 200 medley relay (1:32.68) with a 23.16 backstroke leadoff, just off his personal-best 23.07 from prelims.

Brighton placed 2nd in the team standings with 268 points, led by a pair of individual champions. Junior Drake Doyle lowered his lifetime best in the 200 free to 1:40.91, taking more than half a second off his previous-best 1:41.50 from last year’s prelims. Sophomore Luan Barnard had never been under 50 seconds before prelims, when he skipped 49 seconds entirely and blasted a personal-best 48.73 on his way to the finals win in 48.82.

Air Force commit (’24) Alexander Stewart took the 500 free title in 4:37.17 and earned a runner-up finish in the 200 free (1:41.53) behind Doyle for 3rd-place Skyline, which finished just 25 points behind Brighton. Stewart went 4:38.20 last February en route to a runner-up finish in the 500 free last year as a junior.

Roy senior Sam Williams sliced a few tenths off his best 50 free time with his win in 20.68. His previous best stood at 21.04 from November. Woods Cross senior Justin Chamberlain claimed the 100 breast crown in 57.02, lowering his lifetime best from last month (58.01) by almost a second.

SwimSwam: Skyline’s Jade Garstang Takes Down Three Utah HS Records at 5A State Championships