According to American Fork swim coach Kathy King, prior to the start of the Region 4 swim meet last Friday, the two boys captains, standing atop two diving boards, led a team cheer dressed as two Cavemen, yelling some sort of spirited “caveman chatter” back and forth for the team to repeat.

“It was completely unintelligible; but one thing was certain; it was loud and it turned heads,” King said. The Cavemen swimmers went on to do just the same thing in the water as they placed second in the meet to Lone Peak, and ahead of Pleasant Grove, Mountain View, Spanish Fork and Timpanogos.

The girls were outscored by only 21 points, 486-465, while the boys trailed the Knights by a larger margin, 526-388.

“We’re sure excited about the girls, but the boys score hardly reflects the championship swims from our guys, who actually won six of the 11 events,” King said.

“It’s hard to outscore Lone Peak’s depth. At Region, it’s all about numbers. At State, we’re each taking only a small crew of swimmers, so we’ll see what happens there on both sides.”

Last year, American Fork finished ahead of Lone Peak in the girls division at the state meet.

In the girls events, the Cavemen were led by strong swims from senior captain Audra Yocom, who took first in the 100 free and second in the 50, as well as by junior captain Candice Smith, who doubled as region champion in the 200 free and the 100 back

Junior Chanel Noot placed second in both the 200 IM and 100 breast, and junior Alliesha O’Neal finished third in the 100 free and fourth in the 50 free.

Yocom, Smith, Noot, and O’Neal combined to win the 400 free relay as well. In the other two relays, the 200 medley (Smith, Emily Morrison, Noot and Yocom) and the 200 free (Brinley Caldwell, Morrison, Maddie Dailey and O’Neal) the Cavemen placed second.

Top eight finishes were earned by freshman Nicole Casey, who was third in the 100 back and eighth in the 200 free; junior Tori Evans, fifth in the 200 IM and seventh in the 500 free; and sophomore Elissa Earl, seventh in the 100 fly and eighth in the 200 IM.

Also for the girls, junior Brinley Caldwell was fifth in the 50 free and seventh in the 100 free; freshman Maddie Dailey came in third in the 500 free and fifth in the 100 breast; senior captain Emily Morrison was fourth in the 100 breast and sixth in the 500 free; and freshman Sarah Young was fifth in the 100 fly.

For the boys, the King brothers, senior Michael and freshman McKay, were victorious in each of their two individual events, the 200 IM and the 100 breast, and the 200 free and the 100 fly, respectively.

In addition, the Kings joined freshmen Kyle Smith and Matt Okelberry to win both the 200 medley and the 400 free relays in quite impressive fashion.

“In the 400, we got out to an early lead, but when we all saw the AF and LP anchors enter the water neck and neck, we just hung on for the ride,” coach King said.

“Michael had just swum the 100 breast minutes before, and taking on Lone Peak’s top sprinter, he dug somewhere down deep and just finished. It was the most exciting race of the meet by far.

“To cap it off with that kind of victory was huge for our squad,” the coach added. “They all swam like champions. That time takes us to a second-place seed in the state in that relay.”

Other impressive top-eight swims came from Smith in the 50 free and 100 fly, as well as from Okelberry, second in the 100 back and fourth in the 100 free.

Senior captain Scott Rodee, distance specialist, placed second in the 500 free and fifth in the 200 free. Senior Shane Oborn was fifth in the 100 breaststroke, while sophomore Brad Pew came in eighth in the 100 fly.

Most impressive for the Cavemen was that nearly all swimmers posted season best and many lifetime best times at the meet.

“They were definitely up and came to race, even those who had been fighting illness,” coach King said. “They gave their best. We’ve talked about that all season. I respect their heart, and I’m excited for them that things came together.

“For most of them, it was their season finale,” she went on. “Success came for veteran swimmers as well as newcomers, which is exciting for a team at all levels of development. Now, if they’ll just stay in the water. …

“Swimming epitomizes the life lesson of small and simple things, when paired with diligence and persistence, adding up to great things,” King said. “It’s a lesson we already see many of our swimmers getting, one we hope they all take from the sport and apply to life. These are great kids.

“For some of our swimmers, Region was the end of the line, but as for the mighty nucleus heading to the 5A state meet next week, they’ll make some more noise, that’s for sure,” the coach concluded.

BOYS

Team scores — 1. Lone Peak 539, 2. American Fork 386, Pleasant Grove 336, Mountain View 236, Spanish Fork 164. Individual — 100 butterfly: 1. McKay King, AF, 55.60; 2. Nathan Fonseca, PG, 57.90; 3. Kyle Smith, AF, 58.41. 100 free: 1. Jeremy Sparks, LP, 50.94; 2. Stephen Griener, LP, 51.99; 3. Thomas Carey, LP, 52.88. 500 free: 1. Tom Nielsen, LP, 5:17.82; 2. Scott Rodee, AF, 5:23.03; 3. Michael Jensen, LP, 5:30.59. 200 free relay: 1. Lone Peak, 1:34.73; 2. Pleasant Grove, 1:42.17; 3. Mountain View, 1:43.11. 100 back: 1. Stephen Griener, LP, 56.16; 2. Matt Okelberry, AF, 1:02.54; 3. Brody Bowen, MV, 1:02.67. 100 breaststroke: 1. Michael King, AF, 1:02.39; 2. Jeff Nielson, LP, 1:06.28; 3. Daniel Glade, LP, 1:08.86. 400 free relay: 1. American Fork, 3:26.24; 2. Lone Peak, 3:26.69; 3. Mountain View, 3:43.73. 200 medley relay: 1. American Fork, 1:45.37; 2. Lone Peak, 1:51.10; 3. Pleasant Grove, 1:53.94. 200 freestyle: 1. McKay King, AF, 1:49.31; 2. Jeremy Sparks, LP, 1:53.98; 3. Tom Nielsen, LP, 1:56.01. 200 IM: 1. Michael King, AF, 2:03.58; 2. Jeff Nielson, LP, 2:09.50; 3. Adam Grant, LP, 2:12.00. 50 free: 1. Brett Ricks, LP, 23.78; 2. Steven Golieb, MV, 24.02; 3. Kyle Smith, AF, 24.05.

GIRLS

Team scores — 1. Lone Peak 486, 2. American Fork 465, 3. Pleasant Grove 271, 4. Mountain View 258, 5. Spanish Fork 101, 6. Timpanogos 15. Individuals — 100 butterfly: 1. Kimberly Welch, LP, 59.13; 2. Kailin Tripp, LP, 1:02.18; 3. Amanda Heninger, PG, 1:04.59. 100 free: 1. Audra Yocom, AF, 56.72; 2. Taryn Toolson, LP, 57.17; 3. Alliesha O’Neal, AF, 1:00.49. 500 free: 1. Amber DeGroot, LP, 5:42.96; 2. Alyssa Nielson, LP, 5:48.05; 3. Maddie Dailey, AF, 5:51.19. 200 free relay: 1. Lone Peak, 1:43.83; 2. American Fork, 1:55:00; 3. Pleasant Grove, 1:57.24. 100 back: 1. Candice Smith, AF, 57.99; Kailin Tripp, LP, 1:03.24; 3. Nicole Casey, AF, 1:12.41. 100 breaststroke: 1. Nicki Rider, MV, 1:13.85; 2. Chanel Noot, AF, 1:15.89; 3. Sarah Tooley, LP, 1:16.79. 400 free relay: 1. American Fork, 3:52.60; 2. Lone Peak, 4:04.37. 200 medley relay: 1. Lone Peak, 1:55.78; 2. American Fork, 1:57.07; 3. Mountain View, 2:08.22. 200 free: 1. Candice Smith, AF, 1:57.39; 2. Kimberly Welch, LP, 1:57.90; 3. Amanda Heninger, PG, 2:04.64. 200 IM: 1. Hanna Morgan, LP, 2:20.06; 2. Chanel Noot, AF, 2:22.87; 3. Nicki Rider, MV, 2:32.75. 50 free: 1. Taryn Toolson, LP, 25.92; 2. Audra Yocom, AF, 26.15; 3. Hannah Siebach, LP, 26.91; 4. Alliesha O’Neal, AF, 27.78.

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