‘Unbelievable’ finish for Bulldogs at state swim meet
SALT LAKE CITY — The Judge Memorial Catholic High School swim team continued its winning streak at the state swim meet, held Feb. 16-17 at Brigham Young University, claiming the third consecutive state championship for the girls and the fourth for the boys.
After taking first at the 3A regional meet Feb. 3 at Alta Canyon, the Bulldogs went on to a stellar performance at state. The girls took first in the 200 yard medley relay with the team of sophomore Sophie DuPont, junior Amelia Conner, freshman Sophie Canale and junior Delaney Dolan. They also bested the competition in the 400 yard freestyle relay with DuPont, sophomore Lucy Duberow, freshman Madeline Page and Dolan.
Although Judge had no senior girls on the team, “we have a very strong sophomore class and freshman class of girls,” coach Will Reeves said. “There are other really good girl swimmers in the state, but they just don’t have the depth that we have. They’re excellent swimmers; they just don’t have the ability that we have at Judge.”
Of the Bulldog girls, Dolan in particular had a great season. At region she placed first in 500 yard freestyle and was named a Star Athlete of the Week by the Deseret News Jan 22. At state she again came in first in 500 yard freestyle, and also the 200 yard freestyle.
“She is really a serious swimmer,” Reeves said. “Delaney really led the way of our swimmers and really was in it as far as points earned.”
Aiding in the championship effort, Dolan’s co-captain Conner came in second in 100 yard breaststroke; teammate Chloe Whitehead, a freshman, was third. In the 500 yard freestyle Canale placed third, and sophomore Sophie DuPont was third in the 50 yard freestyle.
On the boys’ side in individual events, junior Levi Galaviz claimed first place in the 500 yard freestyle. In the 50 yard freestyle senior Benji Gillespie was second, with Galaviz in third. Junior Teddy Fiscus came in third in the 200 yard IM while Matt Eagar, also a junior, was third in the 100 yard butterfly. In the 100 yard backstroke Gillespie and Eagar finished second and third, respectively. In the 100 yard breaststroke Fiscus came in third.
The team of Gillespie, Fiscus, Eagar and Galaviz took first in the 200 yard medley.
While the Bulldog boys had several strong finishes, the nail-biter for the team was the final event of the meet, the 400 yard freestyle relay.
“We were facing a tremendous challenge from the Canyon View team out of Cedar City,” Reeves said. “It’s just an unbelievable story. We knew it going in: On paper it looked like they definitely had the edge over us.”
As the final event drew near, “it was unbelievable,” Reeves said. “They had a three-and-a-half-point lead over us from the day before,” so to claim the 3A state title, “not only did we need to win but we needed to prevent their best group of swimmers from getting those points — it was that close.”
The Bulldogs had never swum against the Falcons, but it was their dream to beat them, Reeves said. The team of Galaviz, junior Frank Sankovitz, Eagar and Gillespie did just that, outswimming their rivals with a time of 3:17.08 compared to the Falcons’ 3:17.43.
Winning that final event against Canyon View meant the world to his team, Reeves said. “All these individuals were bonded in their goal to swim their best for Judge Memorial. All four of them had their individual events but it was really in that last relay, as improbable as it was, that they were able to prevail.”
The Bulldogs took 25 swimmers to the state meet. Reeve’ daughter Rachel Reeves, who was a Judge swim team captain in 1998, was the assistant coach this year.
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