UTAH HIGH SCHOOL 4A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Feb. 23-24, 2024
- BYU Richards Building Pool
- Provo, Utah
- SCY (25 yards)
- PDF results
- 6A recap
- 5A recap
Three Richter siblings had a seismic showing at the Utah 4A Championships, combining for four individual state titles last month in Provo to help their Murray programs earn top-3 finishes in the boys and girls team standings.
Murray senior Zach Richter swept the 100-yard freestyle (personal-best 47.09) and 100 breaststroke (59.66) while also contributing to winning 200 free relay (1:29.20, 21.92 leadoff) and 400 free relay (3:16.42, 47.34 anchor split) efforts, lifting his squad to a runner-up finish with 248.5 points behind Crimson Cliffs (338). His younger sisters, junior Kat Richter and freshman Brooklyn Richter, took the 200 IM (2:11.93) and 100 free (personal-best 52.41) titles, respectively, as their Murray girls improved from 22nd last year in 5A to 3rd this year in 4A (177 points) behind Park City (261) and Ridgeline (292).
Kat eked past Desert Hills sophomore Chesney Bonner (2:11.94) by just a hundredth of a second in the 200 IM while Brooklyn was within a second of the seven-year-old 4A record in the 100 free (Rachel Oyler‘s 51.69 from 2017).
A fourth Richter sibling, freshman Marcus Richter, also impressed at his first state meet by placing 3rd in the 500 free (4:56.37) and 6th in the 200 free (1:49.16) on the boys side.
Girls Recap
Team Standings
- Ridgeline – 292
- Park City – 261
- Murray -177
- Desert Hills – 153
- Payson – 152
The Ridgeline girls didn’t boast any individual champions, but they claimed the 200 medley relay (1:54.14) and 200 free relay (1:40.60) crowns en route to their third consecutive 4A title.
Ridgeline senior Kendra Warren was a member of both winning relays, anchoring the 200 medley relay with a 24.66 free split and leading off the 200 free relay with a time of 25.28. Senior Laura Rigby (29.15 backstroke), junior Isabelle Christensen (31.46 breaststroke), and senior Ava Roberts (28.87 butterfly) joined Warren on the 200 medley relay while senior Brooklyn Bischoff (25.29 split), junior Adalyn Jones (25.27 split), and junior Sarah Cook (24.76 split) followed her on the 200 free relay.
Payson junior Avery Bulkley dominated the distance freestyle events, lowering her lifetime bests in both the 200 free (1:54.54) and 500 free (5:01.67). In the 500 free, she erased an eight-year-old Utah 4A record set by Makayla Cazier back in 2016. Bulkley’s previous bests stood at 1:55.60 in the 200 free from 2022 and 5:02.30 in the 500 free from November before this meet.
Bulkley’s performance in the 500 free represented the only 4A record at the meet, but Timpanogos junior Raiden Harris came close in the 50 free with a winning time of 23.85. She reached the wall just .06 seconds shy of her best time from November (23.79) and only .12 seconds away from an 11-year-old 4A record (23.73) posted by Mountain Crest’s Hailey Pabst in 2013. Harris also triumphed in the 100 back with a personal-best 57.58, shaving .08 seconds off her best time from November (57.64).
Desert Hills sophomore Chesney Bonner defended her title in the 100 fly (57.87) to go along with her runner-up finish in the 200 IM (2:11.94) just a hair behind Murray junior Kat Richter (2:11.93). Bonner was more than half a second faster than her winning time from last year (58.42) in the 100 fly, narrowly missing her personal-best 57.86 from last March.
Crimson Cliffs sophomore Claire Daley dropped almost two seconds in the 100 breast (1:09.30) on her way to the win. Her previous best stood at 1:11.12 before her big improvement. Daley also dropped almost two seconds in the 100 free (53.32) en route to 2nd place behind Murray freshman Brooklyn Richter (52.41).
Boys Recap
Team Standings
- Crimson Cliffs – 338
- Murray – 248.5
- Sky View – 163
- Jordan – 161
- Mountain Crest – 160
Crimson Cliffs didn’t pull out any victories — individual or relay — but the team still made it back-to-back team championships at the 4A level thanks to top-3 finishes in all three relays. Crimson Cliffs placed 2nd in the 200 medley relay (1:41.26), 2nd in the 200 free relay (1:29.75), and 3rd in the 400 free relay (3:19.13).
Jordan senior Robs Barton stood out with wins in the 100 fly (49.97) and 200 free (1:41.41). Swimming in the same pool he’ll be competing in this fall, the BYU commit shaved almost a second off his previous-best 100 fly time of 50.82 from November while coming a couple tenths shy of his best 200 free time (1:41.17) from November. Barton also led off Jordan’s winning 200 medley relay with a personal-best 23.44 50 back, but his Jordan squad placed 4th in the team standings with 161 points behind Sky View (163), Murray (248.5), and Crimson Cliffs (338).
Dixie senior Andrew Carlile defended his 100 back title in 51.32 while adding another 1st-place finish in the 50 free (21.21). He owns lifetime bests of 49.59 and 21.03 in the 100 free and 50 free, both from December. Last year, Carlile won the 100 back in 51.56.
Other individual champions included Park City junior Keegan Elgie in the 500 free (4:42.14) and Orem sophomore Mateo Flores Montes de Oca in the 200 IM (2:03.10). Elgie knocked almost two seconds off his previous-best 4:44.11 from last March while Flores Montes de Oca shaved almost half a second off his previous-best 2:03.53 from November.