From The Salt Lake Herald-Beacon

By Larry J. Kozlowski III

HYRUM, UT— In this beautiful little bastion in the southeast corner of Cache Valley, the Scarlet Heroes of Yore returned to the Stang Aquatic Center for the first time in five years--and their first appearance ever in the vaunted Pepsi Challenge Invitational--and raced to another impressive victory, bringing home hardware for the second invitational in a row.

What transpired at this all-day marathon was an awesome display of depth, tenacity, and verve, a staple for this year's squad. Though the Judge Memorial girls did not win a race on the day, save the final event- the 4 x 100 relay (in which they overpowered the field, winning by five seconds over 2nd place Layton), they did place a number of swimmers near the top of the heap, accounting for a barrage of points that enabled them to beat a talented field which included second place finisher (and fellow 3A rival) Logan, and third place recipient Mountain Crest, a perennial power in the 4A class.

Senior Garam Kim surely helped lead the girls team to victory, taking 3rd place in the 200 free, and fourth place in the 100 back, while pitching in to help the girls finish 4th in the 200 medley relay, and the huge victory in the 4 x 100, swimming in the second leg of that race. In the process, she was recognized as the 3rd place high point finisher for the girls' senior class.

Another big performer was rookie Cassandra Cokl, who was honored with a 2nd place tie for High Point honors for the girls' freshmen class. Cokl finished 4th in the 200 free, and 5th in the 500 free, along with helping the girls place 4th in the medley and first in the 4 x 100 free relay by leading off with a blazing race.

"It was a pretty good day for us," Cokl said after the meet. "Long, but it was okay. I think we can do better, though."

Although some swimmers raced only one event due to conflicts with service duties at school, they still managed to stave off Logan for the top spot on the girls ticket. A vast supply of talented rookies lead by Katie McMahon, Alyssa Corbett, Alicia Murphy, Addie Diamond, Anne Henkels, and Erica Azad, all of whom scored points in their respective events, allowed the Bulldogs to walk away with a huge win.

"We put our freshmen in a position where they needed to step up for us," head coach Matt Finnigan pointed out. "For the 100 fly, we raced all freshmen... and they held their own against older kids. Situations like that allow them to grow up a little bit. In the end, we'll need them."

Finnigan may have been alluding to the Scarlet Hereos' aspirations of winning a state championship, where the team will surely need every last swimmer if they are to have any chance of unseating Park City, the defending champs.

"We're not thinking about that right now; we just want to swim fast," sophomore Sarina Karwande said. "We're working hard and we're tired, but if we can swim fast when we're tired, imagine what we could do when we're feeling rested!"

Earlier in the week, the Bulldogs faced Park City at the Ecker Hill Aquatic Center for the Region X Duels and defeated the 2nd place Miners by 100 points. However, the final tally in that meet was by no means any indication of what will come in February. Neither team put their fastest swimmers in their strongest events, and in essence, the meet became nothing more than a display in depth and talent for both squads.

"It's always nice to beat a great team like PC," senior Melissa Nichols noted. "But we also know full well that they didn't take their best shot, other than the relays."

Up next for the Scarlet Heroes is the Viewmont Thanksgiving Invitational, set for November 21st and 22nd at the South Davis Rec Center in Bountiful. Though the meet is shaping up to be one of the fastest thus far in the season, most Judge swimmers will again be racing in "off" events, to hone their skills.

"It's the best way for our kids to learn to race any time, anywhere, in anything," Finnigan said. "We're not looking at the scoreboard for this one... we just wanna see what kind of horses we have on the track."

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NOTES: The Carter sisters, juniors Carolyn and Kenzie, returned to the pool this weekend and raced in the 50 free and the 200 free relay. Many swimmers noted how great it was to have them back in the water. "They just give us that added confidence," fellow junior Victoria Luman mentioned. "They are so talented and nice and we love them."

The 200 free was especially impressive for Judge, as the girls finished 3rd (Garam Kim), 4th (Cassandra Cokl), 5th (Victoria Luman), and 6th (Megan Bush), not to mention 15th, where Anne Henkels took 2 seconds off her best time. They only count the top 4 for each team, so even though Henkels didn't account for any points on the free, she still added many for the 100 fly (7th place). "Where ever I can help the team, I am so there," Henkels said with a huge smile.

Many of the rookies continue to impress! First year swimmer, freshman Genevieve Croyle, took more than 9 seconds off her 100 freestyle. Adriana Munar is branching out into new events, having swam the 100 back for the first time ever in the Region X Duels. Kelsey Cavanaugh is having a ball and dropping chunks of time in her 100 freestyle. Marisa Bush is shaping up to be another dynamo in the "Bush Dynasty", dropping 3 seconds in her 100 free and looking strong in the backstroke. Newcomer Quinn Nicolich is beginning to smooth herself out in this sport after moving over from soccer. And Lizzie Gibbs is adding speed and punch to the sprint events for Judge as she gets herself into shape after a long season on the volleyball court. "If I can stay consistent in the water and stay healthy and just trust my coaches," Gibbs noted, "then I think I'll make some noise this season." She already is, being ranked 40th in the 50 in 3A.