State swimming: Palo Verde boys keep streak alive, Coronado girls roll

There were serious questions on whether Palo Verde’s boys swimming team would win a 12th consecutive team state title in the top classification. Including from Panthers coach Brent Gonzalez after his team won last year’s title by two points.

It turns out Palo Verde had plenty of firepower to keep its streak alive.

The Panthers maintained their swimming dominance by racking up 88 points to win the Class 5A boys swimming team title Saturday at Pavilion Center Pool for their 12th straight crown. Bishop Gorman was second with 68 points and Centennial (56) was third.

“They fought hard. They didn’t want to lose,” Gonzalez said. “It was a team. They really jelled as a team. We set up this tradition where we win state titles and they didn’t want to be the ones to lose it. They did everything to do it. They knew what it takes”

In the 5A girls title battle, Coronado rolled to its fifth straight 5A team state title by compiling 105 points. Reno High was second with 63 points ahead of third-place Faith Lutheran (59).

“This year was a real good year for us,” Coronado coach David Stump said. “We had a real good freshman class come in. Our seniors stepped up, so we had leadership on the top and good kids coming in, everyone kind of jelled. We felt like a team from Day 1.”

In 4A, Liberty swept both the boys and girls team state titles. The Liberty boys scored 82 points to win the title over Durango (72), and the girls had 98 points to claim the crown over Clark (81 points).

Boulder City rolled to the 3A boys team title with 141 points to claim the title over Truckee (76). Truckee (145) won the girls team title over Boulder City (66).

Robertson leads Palo Verde

On Saturday, the Palo Verde boys got a record-breaking race from BYU commit Owen Robertson. The senior set a new all-time state record in the 100-yard freestyle at 45.10 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 45.22 seconds set in 2021 by Luke Hobson.

“I wasn’t expecting the state record in the 100 freestyle,” Robertson said. “I had it as a goal, but I honestly didn’t think I was going to get it, but it felt really good.”

Robertson also won his second straight state title in the 200-yard IM (1 minute, 50.84 seconds). He also swam a leg on Palo Verde’s first-place run in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:14.41).

“Since freshman year, I’ve been winning, we’ve been winning,” Robertson said. “We’ve had a really strong team. I knew Brent didn’t think we could win this year, so it’s really sweet to win. We were kind of the underdogs, so that was good.”

Gonzalez and the team celebrated by jumping into the pool that’s next door to the school. The coach said of all the titles, this one means a little more. It’s the 16th overall team title for Palo Verde.

“It feels great because I really didn’t think we were going to do it this year,” Gonzalez said. “To pull it off, I’m ecstatic. I don’t think Owen didn’t want to go out that way. He’s been on every state team since his freshman year and he didn’t want to go out a loser. He helped me figure out ways to make it happen and it worked.”

In other notable boys results, Centennial freshman Sullivan Benes won individual titles in the 200-yard (1:40.67) and 500-yard (4:36.24) freestyle relays, and helped the Bulldogs win the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:30.88).

Coronado’s strive for 5

Stump said the girls had a motto, to “strive for five” to bring the program its fifth straight team state title. That happened as Coronado won the 200-yard medley (1:46.80) and 400-yard freestyle (3:33.78) relays to win the title. It’s the seventh overall team state title for Coronado.

“They had a goal, we called it our strive for five,” Stump said. “I’m just happy it turned out the way it turned out. A lot of our people went faster today than they did in regionals last week. They knew when they had (to perform), which was good.”

Stump said he was pleased with how the girls responded after getting disqualified in the 200-yard freestyle relay after a swimmer took off early, by ending the meet by winning the 400-yard freestyle relay.

“It’s just been a lot of training and being mindful of what they’re trying to do, and trying to get that mix of our seasoned veterans, with our brand new freshman, try to get everyone to jell together,” Stump said. “They came together at the right time. They responded the way I expected them to and we did what we needed to do.”

Seniors Ana Schulz and Grace Carrington each swam legs in Coronado’s relay wins. Schulz won the individual title in the 100-yard freestyle (51.84) and Carrington won the 50-yard freestyle (24.46).

“It means a lot,” Schulz said. “I’m really proud of everyone and all the hard work that we put in this season and the seasons before. I think we deserved it and I’m very happy. Everyone stepped up and got the job done.”