UHSAA Boys 3A Swimming Championships
- Friday-Saturday, Febraury 12-13, 2021
- SCY (Short Course Yards)
- Championship Central
- 3A Results
Team Scores (Top 5)
- Judge Memorial High School – 314
- Union High School – 257
- Richfield High School – 223
- Grand County High School – 185
- Carbon High School – 148
Judge Memorial toppled defending champions Union HS this past weekend at the Utah High School Athletic Association (UHSAA) 3A boys swimming championships. Judge Memorial won 5 of 8 individual events, and 2 of 3 relays, including winning the final 3 events of the meet to cement their lead.
Junior Buddy Yanelli was a perfect for Judge Memorial from a points perspective, winning both his individual events, and helping the 2 relay he swam on to victory as well. Yanelli defended his titles from last year in both the 200 IM and 100 breast. He improved massively over last year’s championships in the 200 IM, swimming to victory in 2:03.96 to win the race by well over 4 seconds. Yanelli swam a personal best 2:03.33 in prelims, well under the 2:06.03 he won the event with last year.
Yanelli went on to clock a 59.52 to win the 100 breaststroke as the only swimmer in the field under 1:02. Like the IM, Yanelli was faster in prelims this year, posting a 59.35, again, faster than the 59.99 he won with last year.
Yanelli was also a member of both the Judge Memorial 200 medley and 400 free relays. Nico Morton led the 200 medley off in 25.29, with Yanelli splitting 26.67 on breaststroke, Seth Overman splitting 24.55 on fly, and Benji Gillespie anchored in 23.63 for a final time of 1:40.14. They won the race by a whopping 9 seconds. In the 400 free relay, Morton, Gillespie, Overman, and Yanelli teamed up for a 3:24.93, winning the race by 8 seconds.
Nico Morton also won a pair of events for Judge Memorial, taking the 200 free and 500 free. Morton, a sophomore took the 200 free in 1:47.84, touching first by 3 seconds. He used a fast first half to establish a giant lead, flipping at 51.45 at the 100 mark. Morton went on to take the 500 free with a 4:50.41, winning the race by 16 seconds.
The other Judge Memorial win came from freshman Benji Gillespie, who took the 100 back with a 57.41. The race was tight between Gillespie and Rowland Hall freshman Thomas Shakib at the 50 mark, with Gillespie splitting 27.94 and Shakib right behind in 28.23.
Richfield sophomore Grant Kling grabbed a pair of event wins, sweeping the sprint free events. In the 50 free, Kling swam a 22.87, touching as the only swimmer in the field to crack 23 seconds. He then went on to swim a 51.30 to win the 100 free, after swimming a slightly faster 51.23 in prelims.
Grand County senior Pat Pakkarato won a tight race with Union junior William Bertoch in the 100 fly. Bertoch to the race out considerably faster, splitting 26.14 on the first 50, compared to 26.59 for Pakkarato. Bertoch then faded down the stretch, splitting 30.80 coming home, while Pakkarato held together better, coming home in 29.79. Pakkarato won the race with a 56.38, with Bertoch 2nd in 56.94.