Charlie Brown's Christmas, the Santa parade and fruit cake. And you can add one more thing to the list of things that happen every holiday season: the Tooele Invitational Swim Meet.

"We're in our 16th year now -- not counting the two years we were without a pool," says coach Mel Roberts. "We do something different every year just to keep things interesting."

Nine other high school teams from around the state converge on Leigh Pratt Aquatic Center Friday and Saturday. The first five events begin Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday's competitions starts at 9 a.m.

About 400 swimmers from nine other schools will visit Tooele for the two-day event. Carbon, Cedar City, Canyon View, Uintah, Grantsville, Juan Diego, Lehi, and Delta will be on deck screaming and hollering at the teammates to pick up the pace.

"In the past we've had as many as 16 teams, but it's just too many to handle," Roberts said. He noted that he receives several phone calls from coaches throughout the state seeking an invitation.

"We just say, 'We'll put you on the list and if somebody drops out, we'll give you a call,'" Roberts said.

Competition, awards and variety are among the reasons the Invitational is a favorite.

Most of the teams have established programs in the 3A ranks, although 5A Lehi will be challenging for top honors.

The Invitational is the only Utah meet where boys' and girls' scores are combined to determine who packs home the gold trophy. Any team that brings a bus into the parking will leave with hardware. Team trophies are given for first through 10th place.

And the kids love the medals. Uniquely designed medals are given to the top eight finishers and ribbons are handed out for those finishing between ninth and 16th. The scoring is similar to state and region meets, with the top 16 earning points.

Because nearly all the teams are from outside the Wasatch Front, most stay overnight in Tooele, which helps boosts the local economy.

And this is the one meet that coach Roberts cuts a little slack with his team members.

"I'll let them pick one event that they want to swim. A lot of them like the 100 individual medley, an event they can only swim in this meet."

Roberts says the Invitational serves as a good barometer for the balance of the season.

"This is just before the moratorium and the Christmas break, so I expect most of the swimmers will turn in solid times."

The veteran Tooele coach says his troops have been working especially hard this winter and his top flight swimmers should begin to peak this weekend.

It's a great meet for the young freshmen and sophomores as well. Rather than swimming in junior varsity events, they will be battling for important team points in serious competition.

Roberts says the professional manner that Tooele conducts the meet keeps teams knocking on the door and seeking an invitation to the annual meet.

"Our officials are trained and certified. The timing equipment is first-class. Our announcer, Russ Rimington, is the best in the state. Gwen Roberts keeps the computer timing system running smoothly and our volunteers are tops."

Editor's note: Former Tooele Mayor Charlie Roberts contributed to this article Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com