Inviting two big 5A schools from Utah County down to SUU’s swimming pool, Cedar and Canyon View High Schools showed the bigger schools how swim teams should compete last Friday.

Provo and Timpview were dominated by the local 3A schools, led by Cedar, who finished first overall in the boys’ and girls’ standings. The Falcon boys finished second and the girls third.

“I thought we were exceptionally good today,” Cedar coach Richard Coston said. “Both the boys and the girls did exceptionally well in the medley relay. They shouldn’t be that fast. They must have eaten Wheaties or something, I don’t know. I’m kind of shocked.”

His 200-yard medley teams, the first two events of the day, set the tone for the rest of the team.

The girls’ medley, swam by Jamie Slack, Emily Morris, Miranda Blackwell, and Becca Barclay, finished with a time of 2:01.68, nearly 14 second ahead of second-place Canyon View. Cedar’s girls also won the 200-yard freestyle relay.

In the boys’ medley, senior captain Jonah Hafen led his squad to a sensational time of 1:49.69. Teammates Casey Mauer, Tanner Shipp, and Austin Corry joined the first-place effort.

Canyon View finished in third place, led by Riley Brown, brothers David and Eric Armijo, and Matt Bray.

“I’m really excited that we dropped times,” Hafen said while prepping for his next heat. “We both did really well in the medley. I’m feeling good about the rest of the season.”

The 21-event marathon featured a plethora of local athletes finishing in the top three of their races. For Cedar, it was a nice change of pace after “suspiciously” getting beat at the hands of Desert Hills earlier in the week.

“They were having equipment malfunctions, all the times were messed up,” Coston said. “They probably won, but they never told us the final points. So today it was nice to have everything working and know exactly where we sit.”

The Redmen finished the meet with a total of 610 points for the girls, well ahead of second-place Timpview, who finished with 567 points, and Canyon View, who ended at 406. On the boys’ side, the Redmen narrowly outdistanced the rival Falcons by just 19 points, 523-513.

Despite not coming out on top, Canyon View coach Kirt Brown was very optimistic about his team’s performance.

“We are having a good season so far,” he said. “We are trying to win our stronger events. If we aren’t dropping (our times) a lot, it’s because our kids are sore from how hard they are working.”

Both teams had several swimmers turn in outstanding performances. Cedar’s Becca Barclay finished second in the girl’s 200-yard freestyle, and was followed closely by Canyon View’s Brianne Middleton, who finished third.

In the boy’s 200-yard freestyle, Falcon Riley Brown swam to a first-place finish, and Redman Tanner Shipp was third. Cedar’s Spencer Sardoni took first in the boy’s 200-yard IM.

For the girls, Cedar swept the three top spots in the 50-yard freestyle. Emily Nakken finished first, and teammates Jamie Slack and Brandi Tripp finished in second and third, respectively.

Cedar freshman sensation Emily Morris was the final swimmer to claim a first-place finish, as she led the way in the girl’s 100-yard freestyle.

“She is only five seconds away from being a high school All-American,” Coston said of Morris. “She’s incredible and she’s only in ninth grade, so we get her for four years.”

Both teams will compete next at the Canyon View Invitational, Dec. 4-5 at SUU. The event will feature a slew of schools from all over the state.

“There will be a good turnout,” Brown said. “We are really excited to compete there.”