Buffaloes finish third in boys competition and fourth in girls at Region 7 Championships

To show just how tough Region 7 swimming is this year, there were 11 new records set during the two-day region championship Friday and Saturday at the Leigh Pratt Aquatic Center in Tooele.

Tooele boys scored 296.5 points, coming within 2.5 points of second place Orem at 299. But, it was all Springville on the boys side as they walloped the competition by scoring 501 points, for a 202-point victory.

The girls side was slightly closer with Timpview capturing first place with 469 points. Tooele girls nestled into fourth place with a total of 303 points in the event.

Both the Springville boys and the Timpview girls will be among the favorites in the upcoming 4A state championships at BYU.

Dustin Perkins took home the 100 yard breaststroke region title with a lightning-fast time of 1:01.05, beating his closest competitor Michael Nugent by more than four seconds. It was the only title for either the Tooele boys or girls.

“I was pleased with the way our swimmers performed,” said Tooele swim coach Mel Roberts.

In the men’s 200 yard individual medley Tooele had three swimmers close out the top eight in that event. Skyler Smith grabbed third place with a time of 2:06.97 while his teammate Perkins finished right behind with a time of 2:11.11. Michael Jensen turned in a good performance, coming in eighth with a time of 2:21.61.

Likewise in the men’s 100 yard backstroke Smith and fellow sophomore Casey McEachern teamed up to finish second and third respectively. Smith came in with a time of 57.53 while McEachern finished close behind with a time of 58.40. Spencer Dickinson turned in an impressive performance with a 1:03.17 for 10th place.

Along with Perkins winning the 100 yard breaststroke, Tooele had another finisher come in sixth with Jensen finishing with a time of 1:09.78.

As far as relay teams go, Tooele boys turned in their best performance in the men’s 200 yard medley relay, narrowly losing to first place Springville at 1:47.50.

On the girl’s side, Jennifer Gardner came the closest to winning a region title. In the 100 yard fly Gardner grabbed second place with a time of 1:07.19 while teammate Erika Andrews finished in fifth place with a time of 1:08.64 and Airica Stewart turned in an impressive performance, finishing 10th at 1:15.47.

In the 100 yard backstroke Tooele finished with two swimmers in the top six. Kaytlyn Murphy and Gardner finished in fifth and sixth respectively. Murphy finished with a time of 1:08.94 while Gardner touched the wall at 1:10.16. Junior Chelsea Smaellie came in 10th with a time of 1:15.83.

Perhaps the best team performance came in the women’s 100 yard breaststroke with Kylei Riding finishing third with a 1:17.73 and Brooke Loveless touching the wall right behind Riding at 1:20.92.

Other notable times for the girls: 200 yard medley relay team of Murphy, Gardner, Riding and Andrews finished third with a time of 2:04.60. Amber Skelton finished seventh in the 200 yard free with 2:17.33. Riding pulled off a 2:31.42 in the 200 yard individual medley for fifth place.

Notable times for the boys: James Stoddard finished 12th in the 200 yard free with a time of 2:07.00 and 11th in the 500 yard free with a time of 5:56.74. Mason Neufeld finished 14th in the 100 yard fly with a time of 1:08.12.

Even with the region tournament barely over, coach Roberts is optimistic for the future of Tooele swimming.

“The swimmers that were competing for the first time performed well throughout the season,” Roberts said.

Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com