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Provo • Most of the time, when it comes to swimming prelim times and using them to predict the finals, the numbers don't lie. If someone is seconds faster on paper, it usually translates to seconds faster in the water.

Then along comes a guy such as high school junior like Nick Killian from Telos Academy — a guy who can give you the meaning behind the Greek-origin name of his school as fast as he can jump off the starter's block.

"It means 'ultimate potential,' " said Killian, just after receiving his second first-place trophy at the Class 2A state swimming championship on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Killian raced to a state title at the BYU pool in the 50-yard freestyle, edging North Summit's Eisley Scholes by less than a third of a second.

But going into the 100 breaststroke, an event Scholes won last year, Killian was an underdog. The numbers said so.

His preliminary mark was almost three seconds slower than Scholes and, morever, the Braves' swimmer set the 2A state record last year at 1:04.20 in the breaststroke.

But Killian beat both the time and the competitor by overtaking Scholes just before the final turn and touching the wall with a 1:02.55 winning time. Scholes tied for second with Emery sophomore Keldan Guymon at 1:04.10.

Afterward, Killian asserted that he indeed was reaching his potential.

"In the pool, definitely. I think so. I think I can swim a little faster, but as of right now, definitely," said Killian, who was the lone swimmer at the meet for the Orem school.

"When I pushed off that second turn, I got a feel for where he [Scholes] was and I knew the corrections that needed to be made," he added. "My strokes were getting too long, so I needed to shorten them up, and I needed to snap my kicks together."

In the team standings, it was Emery that grabbed gold with 237 points. That eclipsed the total of North Summit, which defeated Emery for first last year, by 72 points.

Emery was paced by two relay wins and a first-second finish from seniors Daryl Guymon and Nate Gilbert in the 100 freestyle.

On the girls side, it was Grand County that grabbed a second straight title as the Moab school scored 244 points to second-place Emery's 172.

The victorious Red Devils had individual wins from River Richards in the 200 free, sophomore London Richards in the 100 breaststroke, and Mary Kimmerle in the 50 free.

The queen of the pool for Grand County, though, was senior Alexa Pierce, who won the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly — setting a state record in the latter event.

"We just started the high school team five years ago," said Pierce, whose father Brian coaches the team and whose younger brother Braxten cruised to an easy win in the boys 500 free.

"I've always loved it, me and my brother. I think it's a new enough sport for Moab where people are really excited about it," she said. "A lot of new kids have been trying it out, so hopefully the program will grow." —

Top 3 finishers

GIRLS

Team standings • 1. Grand County, 244; 2. Emery, 172; 3. North Summit, 170.5; 4. Rowland Hall, 137; 5. South Summit, 116.5; 6. Maeser Prep, 84; 7. American Leadership, 74; 8. Millard, 70; 9. Gunnison Valley, 47; 10. Summit Academy, 32; 11. Beaver, 28; 12. Wasatch Academy, 26; 13. Delta, 13; 14. Oakley, 2.

200 medley • 1. Grand County, 1:56.56; 2. Rowland Hall, 2:08.99; 3. South Summit, 2:11.46

200 freestyle • 1. River Richards, Grand County, 2:09.17; 2. Kelsie Stonely, Maeser Prep, 2:13.07; 3. BriAnne Bass, Emery, 2:22.55

200 IM • 1. Alexa Pierce, Grand County, 2:17.45; 2. Alison Puri, Rowland Hall, 2:35.32; 3. Sadie Boyer, North Summit, 2:40.71

50 freestyle • 1. Mary Kimmerle, Grand County, 25.55; 2. Drew Roper, Millard, 25.63; 3. Rachel McMaster, Beaver, 26.20

100 butterfly • 1. Alexa Pierce, Grand County, 1:01.57; 2. Olivia Reynolds, Summit Academy, 1:06.84; 3. Amy Peterson, American Leadership, 1:10.18

100 freestyle • 1. Rachel McMaster, Beaver, 56.96; 2. Gabriella Vitek, Rowland Hall, 57.43; 3. River Richards, Grand County, 57.91

500 freestyle • 1. Olivia Reynolds, Summit Academy, 6:00.22; 2. Kelsie Stonely, Maeser Prep, 6:02.82; 3. Maggie Zwahlen, North Summit, 6:38.74

200 freestyle relay • 1. Grand County, 1:45.10; 2. Rowland Hall, 1:52.83; 3. Emery, 1:54.96

100 backstroke • 1. Drew Roper, Millard, 1:00.74; 2. Mary Kimmerle, Grand County, 1:02.91; 3. Gabriella Vitek, Rowland Hall, 1:04.52

100 breaststroke • 1. London Richards, Grand County, 1:15.08; 2. Abriel Rosenvall, Maeser Prep, 1:19.13; 3. Clista Galecki, Wasatch Academy, 1:20.54

400 freestyle relay • 1. Emery, 4:17.37; 2. North Summit, 4:19.38; 3. Grand County, 4:39.60

BOYS

Team standings • 1. Emery, 237.5; 2. North Summit, 165.5; 3. Rowland Hall, 154; 4. Grand County, 141; 5. Millard, 127; 6. South Summit, 107; 7. Maeser Prep, 93; 8. Wasatch Academy, 64; 9. Summit Academy, 61; 10. Delta, 60; 11. Telos Academy, 32; 12. Gunnison Valley, 28; 13. American Leadership, 18.

200 medley • 1. Emery, 1:44.70; 2. North Summit, 1:46.21; 3. Millard, 1:50.77

200 freestyle • 1. Braxten Pierce, Grand County, 1:48.82; 2. McKinley Card, South Summit, 1:51.78; 3. Koven Card, South Summit, 1:57.30

200 IM • 1. Tony Puertas, Maeser Prep, 1:57.95; 2. Johan Boer, Summit Academy, 2:06.62; 3. Keldan Guymon, Emery, 2:12.71

50 freestyle • 1. Nick Killian, Telos Academy, 22.48; 2. Eisley Scholes, North Summit, 22.77; 3. Nate Gilbert, Emery, 22.96

100 butterfly • 1. Tony Puertas, Maeser Prep, 51.29; 2. Daryl Guymon, Emery, 57.02; 3. McKinley Card, South Summit, 57.76

100 freestyle • 1. Daryl Guymon, Emery, 50.30; 2. Nate Gilbert, Emery, 51.38; 3. Koven Card, South Summit, 52.07

500 freestyle • 1. Braxten Pierce, Grand County, 5:08.31; 2. Lucas Erickson, Rowland Hall, 5:28.30; 3. Deegan Minchey, Emery, 5:45.50

200 freestyle relay • 1. Emery, 1:33.88; 2. North Summit, 1:34.47; 3. Rowland Hall, 1:38.39

100 backstroke • 1. Johan Boer, Summit Academy, 56.42; 2. Jayden Grose, Millard, 58.62; 3. Dustyn Haug, Maeser Prep, 1:00.25

100 breaststroke • 1. Nick Killian, Telos Academy, 1:02.55; 2. Eisley Scholes, North Summit, 1:04.10; 3. Keldan Guymon, Emery, 1:04.10

400 freestyle relay • 1. Rowland Hall, 3:37.69; 2. Emery, 3:41.30; 3. Millard, 3:44.37