Grand County High School’s swim team took sixth place out of seven teams competing at the Region 12 championship meet held Saturday, Jan. 26 in Price, Utah. According to Grand head coach Brian Pierce, the Red Devils had nine team members participate at the meet.

Junior Jackson Knowles made the podium in both of his races, Pierce said, noting that Knowles placed third in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1 minute, 4.99 seconds, and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:13.59, cutting 1.05 seconds off his personal best time.

“Jackson came the closest of any of our swimmers in qualifying for state,” Pierce said. “The top two finishers in each race at region were guaranteed entrance into the state competition, or if their time is among the top 24 times among the teams in 2A/3A this season.”

Pierce said that although Knowles didn’t immediately qualify, both of his times at region were entered for consideration at state.

“We’ll be informed if he was accepted on Wednesday, Jan. 30,” Pierce said. The state meet is Feb. 8 and 9 at Brigham Young University in Provo.

Several other Red Devils also recorded noteworthy times at the region meet, coach Pierce said.

Senior Gaby Meyer dropped an impressive 19.50 seconds off her personal best time in the 500-yard freestyle, making her new best time 8:07.74. Also, sophomore Gabbie Martineau cut 4.88 seconds off her personal best time in the 100-yard backstroke and improved her best time in the 100-yard freestyle by 0.79 seconds. Senior Brianna Ballard also set a new personal best time in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 35.14.

Freshman Kayla Weston placed 10th out of 21 swimmers in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:15.22 and 11th out of 28 swimmers in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 32.27.

For the Red Devil boys, sophomore Duncan Reidhead swam a personal best in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:00.27, which was 2.99 seconds faster than his previous best time, Pierce said. Reidhead also dropped 0.23 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, setting a new personal best time of 27.10 seconds, Pierce said.

Freshman River Murdock cut his personal best time in both of his races as well, completing the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 7:17.47, a 1.67-second improvement, and the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 2:32.39, dropping 0.84 seconds. In addition, junior Treyton Helquist shaved 2.16 seconds off his best time in the 100-yard breaststroke with a finishing time of 1:22.87, Pierce said.

Also at the region meet, freshman Drake Hackney swam the 50-yard freestyle in 29.86 and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:25.93.

“Overall, it was a great year. Just about everyone on the team steadily improved their times throughout the season,” Pierce said. Pierce also thanked the supporters of the swim team during the team’s first-ever season, including parents, school staff, sponsors and other members of the community.