For the second time in as many seasons the Sedona Red Rock High boys swimming team claimed gold at the 1A-3A state championships over the weekend.

The Scorpions set 14 school records Saturday, Oct. 17, along with 10 state records.

“I think we did great. Our team pulled together and had a great meet,” junior Evan Decker said.

Decker was named 1A-3A Swimmer of the Year Saturday after setting state records in the 200-yard individual medley [2:03.67] and the 100-yard freestyle [49.58], taking first in both events at state.

Decker set a state record in the individual medley and freestyle preliminaries Friday, Oct. 16, then broke his own records in the finals Saturday.

The young standout swimmer was also part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that took first place and set a new state record

at 1:33.65.

Seth Syvertsen, Tyler Gavigan and Michael Wiseman were also a part of the freestyle relay team. The group set a state record in the preliminaries, then again in the finals.

In the 200-yard medley relay, Sedona took first with a 1:43.98 time, setting another state record. The Scorpions originally broke the state record in the preliminaries, then broke their own record again in the finals.

Jacob Decker’s 55.19 in the 100-yard butterfly preliminaries set a new state record but it was short-lived as Daniel Bleyl [Pusch Ridge High] took first in the finals with a 54.52.

Decker also broke the record in the 100-yard backstroke with a 59.27, as did Chris Millar who did it first with his 59.88.

The two records of course were taken over 24-hours later by Bleyl who finished first in the backstroke with a 57.15, a new state record.

As for the school records, the 400-yard freestyle time of 3:29.19 by Millar, Wiseman, Jacob and Evan Decker was good enough for first place in the state as well.

Syvertsen’s first place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:04.74 was a school record and Jacob Decker’s 55.13 in the 100-yard butterfly event, good enough for second place at state, was a school record.

“It feels great to do what we did this past weekend. We worked very hard this year and I think we can do it again next year,” Syvertsen said.

Of course the swimmers would be lost at sea without their coach, Roger Svensson, who took the team in August after Marc Kincaid led the Scorpions to a state championship in 2008.

Svensson was honored Saturday with the 1A-3A Coach of the Year award.

“I’m so happy for our guys. They greatly exceeded expectations. We knew going in we were a tough team to beat, but I didn’t expect us to win by such a wide margin,” Svensson said.

The Scorpions claimed first overall with 386 points as a team. Pusch Ridge took second with 247.5 points.

Girls at State

We, of course, wouldn’t want to forget the Sedona girls swimming team who took seventh place Saturday with 133 points.

Valley Christian Academy took home the state title with 423 points scored overall.

For Sedona, team captain Olivia Luyckx had the best finish of any Scorpion at state with a fourth place finish in the 100-yard freestyle event. Luyckx recorded a 1:01.52 time.

Luyckx also finished eighth in the 50-yard freestyle event with a 28.02 time.

Other favorable performances included Lydia Aiken who was sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke event with a 1:23.49 time and Alyssa Millar who took sixth in the 200-yard individual medley with a 2:42.88 time.

In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Millar and Luyckx along with Abby Parella and Portia Griefenberg took sixth with a 4:22.74 time.

Brian Bergner Jr. can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 131, or e-mail bbergner@larsonnewspapers.com