Following Rowland Hall Eric Albee's third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle Saturday at the 3A swim meet at BYU, he immediately looked up to his family in his stands, pumped his fists in the air and splashed the water as he let out a roar of accomplishment.

As he stood on the podium, he again looked to his supporters and proudly held up three fingers.

When freshman Madeline Foley learned she had bested her top 500 freestyle time by 10 seconds to earn a 20th-place finish in the event, she leapt in the air in excitement.

Amidst a crowd of swimming powerhouses, it would have been easy for Rowland Hall's swim team to shrink into the corner. But for the outnumbered Winged Lions, who compete in the much-smaller 2A classification in other sports, the 3A state swim meet at BYU last Friday and Saturday was all about individual performances.

And on the bus ride home, the Winged Lions celebrated as though they had just won a state title.

"We just focused on swimming our individual races and not about our size," Foley said.

"For us, it's always been about quality of over quantity," Rowland Hall assistant coach Jen Anders said. "We don't have the numbers, but a good swimmer is the same in any classification. They worked just as hard as anyone."

It showed.

Despite their small-school status, Rowland Hall showed up big at the 3A state meet -- the girls' team placing seventh and the boys' team 11th in a stacked field. The Winged Lions placed 12 swimmers and four relays in championship final heats. Albee, who also finished sixth in the 200 freestyle, was one of three multi-placers for Rowland Hall. Junior Adrienne Murphy placed sixth and 11th in the 100 breastroke and 100 butterfly, respectively, while Rainy Paul placed ninth in both the 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle. The girls' also placed seventh in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. Nicky Kelly shared the meet's top performance with Albee by placing third in the girls' 500 freestyle.

"The only reason we couldn't have done better is that they're weren't more of us," Foley said.

An impressive showing, but far from unprecedented. Heading into the meet, former Rowland Hall swimmers had long-held 3A girls' swimming state records -- the 200 medley relay and 50, 100, 200 and 500 freestyle -- set during the Winged Lions heyday in the freestyle event from 1997-1999.

Even with those record-breaking performances, Rowland Hall didn't take home a team state title in that span.

That doesn't bother the Winged Lions. After all, what's a team state title without a record-breaking performance to match?

"Everyone just dropped so much time -- I wish I would have stopped to add it all up. Our jaws were just on the floor all day," Anders said. "These kids took their moment to shine at the end of the year. Next year will only be better."