Brophy wins 31st straight state title
Scottsdale Chaparral sent a message to Phoenix Brophy Prep on Saturday with a victory in the boys 200-yard medley relay.
It built points in individual events.
But, after the break, Brophy Prep refueled and began stacking points in the later events to capture its 31st consecutive Division I boys state championship at Mesa’s Skyline Aquatic Center.
Brophy picked up 40 points in both the 200 free and 400 free relays, winning both.
The Broncos finished with 410.5 points. Chaparral was second at 356 with Mesa Mountain View third at 261.5.
“Everybody showed up today,” first-year Brophy head coach Daren Brubaker said. “Everybody, the freshmen all the way up to seniors. We came into the meet 20 points up. We showed up today. The ghost was in the house.”
Junior Matt Milovanovic gave Brophy 10 points with his title in the 100 backstroke. Garrett Munk added to Brophy’s point total with a third-place finish.
Chaparral did what it needed to do to hang with Brophy for a while. It won the 200 medley relay. Junior Matthew Leblanc took the 200 individual medley, holding off Milovanovic. Chaparral sophomore Braden Walters dropped nearly three seconds off of his time in the 200 IM to finish fifth.
Leblanc, last year’s azcentral sports Male Swimmer of the Year, also won the 100 breast in 56.87 seconds.
“It was kind of expected,” Brubaker said of Chaparral’s win in the 200 medley relay. “They’ve been beating us in that all season. It’s awesome they did it. Some of those kids, I’ve coached age-group. They did a great job. It was good to get a challenge.”
On the girls side, Scottsdale Chaparral couldn’t have opened its Division I title and national title quest in a worst way.
It got disqualified in the 200-yard medley relay – the first race – for leaving the blocks too soon in Friday’s preliminaries.
But what started terribly ended Saturday evening with a celebratory victory lap in the Mesa Skyline Aquatic Center pool.
Chaparral won the swimming and diving girls state title with 477.5 points. Phoenix Xavier Prep was second at 301, followed by Mesa Mountain View at 268.
Chaparral’s win in Division I after dominating in Div. II last year was expected.