Bulldogs swimming ends season with a splash
SALT LAKE CITY — It was a great season for Judge Memorial Catholic High School swimming. The boys’ team came just one point away from tying with Union for the 3A state championship Feb. 8 at BYU at the state swim meet.
While such a nail-biting finish could have been a little disappointing, head coach Sage Maararen is thrilled with how both the boys’ and girls’ teams did this year.
“Since I started five years ago, it’s definitely been playing the long game,” she said of coaching the Bulldogs. “In my first year coaching, our boys team had six boys; this year we were at 20, so they made up two-thirds of the team, so it has been developing the depth. … It’s been really great just watching the progress and watching the team and watching them invest more and more each year. I think a big part of that is to create a team that they want to be part of, that is inclusive.”
At the championship meet, in addition to several firsts, the boys placed high in most of their races. Boys team captain Ben Yarrish, a senior, was pleased with his team’s performance.
“We used to not have any depth,” he said. “A lot of us weren’t as good, but then those who weren’t as good got a lot better, along with the kids who were really good.”
He is happy to be completing his high school swim team experience with such a strong finish. “I’m glad; I wanted to win or at least get a trophy,” he said. “That was my goal by the end of my career.”
At the finals, the boys came in first in the 200 yard medley relay and 400 yard freestyle relay with the team of Seth Overman, (junior), Yarrish, Nico Morton (freshman) and Buddy Yanelli (sophomore).
Yanelli put in a great first-place performance in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2.06.03. In the 100 yard breaststroke, he broke the school record both in the preliminaries and again in the finals with a time of 59.99.
In distance swimming, Morton was second in the 500 yard freestyle (4.59.79) and third in the 200 yard freestyle (1:51.69).
“I think that’s a good sign,” Morton said of his team doing so well this year. “I think that by the time I’m a senior we’re going to have a really strong team that will be winning state.”
The Bulldogs boys swim team last took a state championship in 2005.
Overman was third in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 23.34, and fourth in the 100 yard breaststroke.
A surprise performance at state this year was that of Brennan Riad, who barely qualified for the tournament, was seeded at 1:14 but finished at 1:06 in the 100 meter butterfly, winning his heat.
“It was this total dark-horse breakaway swim,” Maararen said. “Everyone’s jaw dropped as he just left the other kids in that heat in the dust. It was really cool to watch; he’s put in so much work.”
The boys came in second at region this year; last year they placed sixth. The girls team took first in region and fifth at state this year.
The combined team of Emmy Hardin-Reynolds (sophomore), Penelope Dalton (sophomore), Grace Sherman (junior) and Sophie Ewing (senior) came in third in the 200 yard medley relay. Hardin-Reynolds took second in the 100 yard backstroke (1.06.32) and third in the 500 yard freestyle.
Sherman, the team captain and a junior, came in second in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 1.03.47.
“I did not expect that going in, but I was really happy,” she said.
Even though her team dropped from third last year to fifth this year, “I’m not sad about it at all,” Sherman said. “I think that results are not what I’m going to take away as much as the team memories, and the overall atmosphere of the team is just more important to me.”
Freshman Marin O’Brien finished eighth in the 200 yard individual medley (2:41.23), a strong start for her first year swimming for Judge.
“It’s a big deal to make it into that top heat,” Maararen said. “She’s just a tiny little freshman.”
© Copyright 2025 The Diocese of Salt Lake City. All rights reserved.
Stay Connected With Us