Thoughts on swim rankings

OK, so after spending the better part of a week pouring over data, the first edition of my team swim rankings are finally out. (Click here to see them.)
As I sorted through everything last week, it became very clear to me that the landscape at the top of Utah prep swimming has changed drastically since last February’s state championships. To me, that’s the biggest theme of these initial rankings, as only two of last year’s champs ‘ Skyline girls in 5A and Park City girls in 3A ‘ are ranked No. 1 right now.

Here are a few thoughts on each set of rankings:

5A girls: For all the turbulence that Skyline has endured over the last nine months, the Eagles are still currently the deepest team of anyone in 5A. That might change if some of Brighton’s hugely talented freshmen develop second events between now and the state meet, but I think Skyline deserves to be called a slight front-runner at the moment. Lone Peak and Kearns are lurking just behind those two, and I honestly think this year could yield a four-team race in this class.

5A boys: Several things scream out to me here. First of all, yup, I really have Skyline that low. The Eagles simply don’t have any depth on the boys side this year, and I can’t envision any scenario in which they could vault themselves in ‘contender’ status. They just don’t have the horses. That, to me, is the biggest story here. Secondly, holy cow, one team that does have enough depth to challenge for a state championship is Bingham. The Miners have always been known to peak at region and then struggle at state, but if coach Andee Bouwhuis, who does an excellent job, plays her cards right, they could be right in the mix this year with favored Brighton.

4A girls: Two-time defending champ East is gonna be in for a huge dog-fight to retain its title here. The Leopards won comfortably last winter despite swimming just OK, but the T-Birds have made some key additions and now boast the deepest squad of any team in the state. Timpview isn’t untouchable, but it will take a special effort by East to prevent the T-Birds from winning at state.

4A boys: The order is slightly different, but the overall picture in this classification looks eerily similar to last year. Snow Canyon, last year’s runner-up, holds a tiny lead over Murray at this point, with Springville and Mountain Crest lurking just behind. Those four duked it last season, and they’ll fight with one another again this season.

3A girls: If anybody wondered whether Judge’s swim dynasty would fade away after Park City ended the Bulldogs’ long championship streak last winter, the answer seems very definitive right now: Absolutely not. The Bulldogs are back with a very good blend of experienced veterans and talented youngsters. They’re not necessarily top-heavy, but they’ve got very good depth and should fight tooth-and-nail with Park City for the title ‘ just like last year.

3A boys: This race is wide open right now, as you could make an argument for seven different teams ‘ Logan, Cedar, Judge, Park City, Ogden, Wasatch and Juan Diego ‘ to be considered contenders. To date, however, I really like what Logan has done. The Grizzlies don’t have oodles of depth ‘ when have they in the last five years? ‘ but they’re deep and talented and look really good right now.

If you’re involved with prep swimming, what do you think of the first set of rankings? Who did I rank too high? Too low? Share your thoughts below.