A pair of mini title droughts got here to an finish Saturday afternoon in BYU’s pool.
Wasatch’s ladies group dominated the highest podium all day to say the 6A state title, its first since 2019, whereas Lone Peak’s boys group captured its first state title since a 4-peat from 2017-20 with a fluctuate slender win over Mountain Ridge
There was no scarcity of pleasure within the pool with seven new 6A information — three relays and 4 people.
Lone Peak senior Xander Berg touched the wall within the last relay of the meet — a kind of state information — to formally clinch the Knights’ state title.
There was stress going into that last race figuring out his group wanted a win or second-place end, but it surely’s the kind of stress he’s labored years to realize.
“That pressure is also a privilege. That pressure pushes you to work harder and to know that is a gift that you’ve been given to show off your abilities and to really compete and I think you do get those nervous feelings, but that’s just because you know you have to perform,” mentioned Berg.
For Wasatch’s ladies, it was a dominant meet from begin to end. The Wasps received all three relays after which six of eight particular person occasions en path to their first state championship since 2019.
“It’s really been a culmination. We’ve had a great group of girls, very hardworking. They swim all different races, which has been nice for me we have somebody in every race, but just to win nine out of 11 races today, that was special,” mentioned Wasatch coach Shawn Marsing, whose group together with Brighton swam up a classification this yr.
Wasatch racked up 311 group factors, with Skyridge ending runner-up with 257 factors and defending state champ Lone Peak in third with 251.5 factors.
The Wasps knew they had been the favourite heading into the meet, and senior Ana Diedrichs believes that stress really helped everybody swim higher.
“It made us a little nervous, but honestly, I think it’s fueled us a lot, too, just being able to go out and race and believe in ourselves and just know that we’re there to do this and we can do it,” mentioned Diedrichs.
Diedrichs (100 free, 100 again) and Kasenya Keller (200 free, 500 free) every received two occasions for the Wasps, whereas Paige Hicken received the 100 breaststroke and Reece Andrews received the 100 fly.
For Diedrichs, she finishes as a three-time 100 free state champion, having received the 5A state title the previous two seasons.
“I’m feeling amazing about today. I’m so proud of myself and all my teammates. Everyone’s been swimming amazing, and I’m just very proud of it,” mentioned Diedrichs, who was named the 6A swimmer of the meet for racking up essentially the most NISCA factors.
Her 100 again time of 54.73 was a brand new 6A state report. Andrews additionally set a brand new 6A report within the 100 fly along with her time of 56.69.
“It speaks a lot to their quality and their character, their training. It’s hard to be No. 1 in a race and come through and to pull it off, and the way that they did it, they weren’t worried, they weren’t nervous,” mentioned Marsing.
“They trusted the things that we had talked about in practices for years as they were growing up and pulled through.”
Syracuse sophomore LayLeigh Turner loved one other implausible state meet, successful the 200 particular person medley for the second straight yr
While Wasatch’s ladies title was locked up effectively earlier than the ultimate 400 freestyle relay, the boys race was very a lot within the air.
Brighton wins the lads’s 200 yard medley relay throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch competes within the ladies’s 200 yard medley relay throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Wasatch positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Brighton’s Luan Barnard reacts after competing within the males’s 200 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Barnard positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Brighton wins the lads’s 200 yard medley relay throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Brighton’s Luan Barnard competes within the males’s 200 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Barnard positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Kasenya Keller competes within the ladies’s 200 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Keller positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Syracuse’s LayLeigh Turner competes within the ladies’s 200 yard IM throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Turner received. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Syracuse’s LayLeigh Turner, lane 4, prepares to compete within the ladies’s 200 yard IM throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Turner received. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Syracuse’s LayLeigh Turner competes within the ladies’s 200 yard IM throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Turner received. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Syracuse’s LayLeigh Turner reacts after successful the ladies’s 200 yard IM throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Skyridge’s Daniel Wang competes within the males’s 200 yard IM throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Mountain Ridge’s Ethan Brown celebrates after successful within the males’s 200 yard IM throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Mountain Ridge’s Ethan Brown competes within the males’s 200 yard IM throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Brown positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Bountiful’s Eliza Millet celebrates after ending the ladies 50 yard free unified comb class throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Swimmers cheer throughout the males 50 yard free unified comb class throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Swimmers cheer throughout the ladies 50 yard free unified comb class throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Lone Peak’s Xander Berg celebrates after successful within the males’s 50 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Mountain Ridge’s Meadow Tatum celebrates after successful within the ladies 50 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Coyden Burton competes within the males 50 yard free unified comb class throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Reece Andrews competes within the ladies’s 100 yard fly throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Andrews positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Reece Andrews competes within the ladies’s 100 yard fly throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Andrews positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Swimmers compete within the males’s 50 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Reece Andrews smiles after successful within the ladies’s 100 yard fly throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
A swimmer from Layton cheers as Layton’s blended 100 yard free relay unified intel group competes throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Layton positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Ana Diedrichs competes within the ladies’s 100 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Diedrichs positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Weber’s Easton Adams celebrates after successful within the males’s 100 yard fly throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Ana Diedrichs competes within the ladies’s 100 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Diedrichs positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Ana Diedrichs reacts after inserting first within the ladies’s 100 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Ana Diedrichs congratulates fellow swimmers after inserting first within the ladies’s 100 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Ana Diedrichs walks off after receiving a primary place medal within the ladies’s 100 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Lone Peak’s Xander Berg celebrates after successful within the males’s 100 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Kasenya Keller reacts after successful within the ladies’s 500 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Skyridge’s Ellie Sintay competes within the ladies’s 500 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Sintay positioned second. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Kasenya Keller competes within the ladies’s 500 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Keller positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Skyridge’s Ellie Sintay, who positioned second, smiles at Wasatch’s Kasenya Keller, who positioned first, after competing within the ladies’s 500 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Wasatch’s Kasenya Keller reacts after successful within the ladies’s 500 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Riverton’s Brody Schvaneveldt competes within the males’s 500 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Schvaneveldt positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Copper Hills’ Keegan Olson competes within the males’s 500 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Riverton’s Brody Schvaneveldt reacts after successful within the males’s 500 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Lone Peak led Mountain Ridge by seven factors heading into the ultimate race. Lone Peak knew a first- or second-place end can be ok to clinch the championship, however a third-place end opened the door for the Sentinels to steal the title.
“I talked to them and I just said, ‘Just be safe on your exchanges and everything and go out there and have fun,’” mentioned Lone Peak coach Calvin Smith. “I was confident that they could do it.”
Lone Peak received that last relay with a 6A report time of three:10.19 to win the meet with 315 group factors. Mountain Ridge completed second with 302 factors, adopted by American Fork in third with 247 factors.
Berg teamed up with Jason Dumas, Asher Topham and Beck Johnson to set the 400 freestyle 6A report.
“Our seniors have been waiting a long time for this, and they’ve been working so hard the past four years,” mentioned Smith.
“Look at Xander Berg, who’s been patiently waiting to win that 50 free for a really long time, but he’s worked so hard and he just really got in and did it today.”
Berg received each the 50 and 100 freestyles, the one particular person state champ for the Knights. He completed third in each races final yr to a pair of seniors.
Berg was additionally a part of Lone Peak’s state report relay within the 200 freestyle together with Dumas, Seth Bellows and Johnson.
“We were watching the points the whole time, but I think I had a gut feeling that we could pull it out by that last relay,” Smith mentioned.
“Our kids moved up all across the board. We had some really great swims yesterday and set ourselves up for some great swims today.”
Along with Berg, the opposite multi-event boys champion was Brighton senior Luan Barnard.
He received the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke, and likewise helped Brighton open the meet with a brand new 6A report time of 1:34.98 within the 200 medley relay.
Barnard’s time of 47.72 was a brand new 6A backstroke state report, however barely shy of his general and 5A report of 47.53 from final season.
“My goal was to go 46, but ended up going 47.7, which was still a pretty good time for me and I’m super happy that I was able to win and able to get a record at the same time,” mentioned Barnard.
“Even if I didn’t break my record from last year, I’m still pretty happy about it.”
The Ute commit additionally set a 100 freestyle 6A report along with his opening 100 meters within the 400 free relay with a time of 44.90. It was an impressive method to wrap up an amazing highschool profession.
“The past four years have been so much fun, and now that it’s going to change and it’s kind of scary in a way, but in a way it’s also kind of exciting to be able to move on from here and go swim in college and experience new things,” mentioned Barnard.
Brighton’s Luan Barnard competes within the males’s 200 yard free throughout the 6A swimming state championship meet on the Stephen L. Richards Building in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Barnard positioned first. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News