2012 All-Tribune Girls Swimming and Diving

There’s often an asterisk when athletes dominate at a lower classification level because it’s unknown how they would fare against the best.

Luckily for Brianna Jurries, swimming does not have that unanswerable question.

At the Division II state meet on Nov. 3, the Valley Christian senior won a pair of state championships, including the 200-yard individual medley in a time of 2:03.74.

The Division I meet, with the majority of the state’s best swimmers, took place a few hours later, and even with her gold medal already in hand, Jurries couldn’t help but compare.

“I know the top swimmers, so after each session I would check,” she said. “Did I beat her?”

Mountain Pointe’s Clara Jenck captured the 200 IM state title with a time of 2:04.63, and it didn’t take long for Jurries to realize her time trumped everyone, regardless of division.

“I was so happy,” Jurries said. “And I think I set a pool record with the IM. I’ve worked so hard with everything the past couple years. Even though it wasn’t my goal (to have the best time), it’s kind of cool.”

Jurries’ domination on the lower levels and her ability to compete with the best has garnered her the Tribune’s Girls Swimmer of the Year award.

In addition to the 200 IM title, Jurries captured the 100-yard breaststroke championship, the fourth straight year she did so. She became just the ninth Arizona swimmer in the past 50 years to win the same event four times and had no idea of the exclusive club until the day before the finals.

“I was watching back the prelims and the announcer was yelling it during the race,” Jurries said. “That was really cool because it’s a feat not a lot of people have accomplished.”

Jurries is in the unique position of not knowing what events she will swim in college. She is a standout at the individual medley and breaststrokes, but can also excel in the butterfly. She is also toying with different distances.

Jurries hasn’t yet picked a school, but wants to find a coach and team to which she feels a great connection.

And like most top-tier swimmers, a shot at the Summer Olympics in 2016 would be a dream come true.

“I was such a nerd watching the Olympics (this summer),” she said. “World travel definitely intrigues me, and if I can use swimming to get to that kind of level, why not shoot for the national team? That would be so, so cool.”

All-Tribune First Team

Name                     Yr.    School      Event     Comment

Victoria Toris           So.   Pinnacle   50 Freestyle   Won state and finished with automatic All-America time

Samantha Getzen   Jr.    Notre Dame  100 Freestyle   Won D2 in this event and 100 Fly

Kat Simonovic        Sr.   Mountain View   200 Freestyle   Tenth AZ swimmer to win same event four times; also won 100 fly

Isabel Whited       Fr.      Pinnacle    500 Freestyle   Won state title by more than six seconds

Briana Jurries       Sr.   Valley Christian  200 IM    Won D-II, faster than any D-I swimmer; also won 100 breast

Clara Jenck           Sr.   Mountain Pointe  100 Backstroke   Won this event and 200 IM in D-I

Madeline Wells     Sr.      Xavier    100 Breaststroke   Top E.V. D-I finisher at state

Kyra Tatlow          Jr.   Westwood     Diving         Won Division I championship

Swimmer of the Year: Brianna Jurries, Valley Christian

Coach of the Year: Laura Spinn, Pinnacle: The Pioneers finished second to Xavier in Division I.

All-Tribune Second Team

Name                           Yr.     School         Event    Comment

Samantha Fazio            So.    Pinnacle      50 Free   Third in D-I

Kathleen Mulligan         Sr.       Xavier    100 Freestyle   Second-fastest in state; 2nd in 100 back

Meredith Klosterman    Jr.    Notre Dame  200 Free  Third in D-2; also third in 500 Free

Kendra Griffin               Sr.     Pinnacle     500 Free   Second to Whited in D-I race

Sarah Takach               So.     Horizon     200 IM     Second to Jenck in D-I

Madeline Nichols         So.   Desert Vista  100 Back   Third in D-I

Ashley Grijalva            Jr.       Gilbert      100 Breast   Third in D-I

Maddy Brandt             Jr.       Xavier       100 Fly      Fourth in D-I

Cassi Blakeman         So.   Red Mountain   Diving   Second to Tatlow in D-I

Honorable Mention

Campo Verde: Baylee Stipp, Fr., diving; Desert Mountain: Katie Shannahan, So., 200 IM; Morgan White, Sr., diving; Hamilton: Madi Mullins, Fr., 100 free; Scottsdale Prep: Cecina Babich Morrow, Jr., 100 fly; Xavier: Hayden Walker, Sr., 500 free.

 

 

Memorable moments from the 2012 season

Simonovic dominates again: Kat Simonovic capped her illustrious career just about the only way she’s known how — by touching the wall first. The Mountain View senior won the 200-yard freestyle for the fourth consecutive time at the state meet, becoming just the tenth Arizona swimmer in the past 50 years to accomplish the feat. She also won the 100-yard butterfly, giving her seven individual state championships in her four years of competition. The only time Simonovic didn’t win a title at the state swim meet came as a freshman when she finished second in the 100-yard butterfly.

Xavier holds off Pinnacle: The Pioneers have some of the best individual swimmers in the state, and with many of them underclassmen, the future is bright. Sophomore Victoria Toris won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races at state, while freshman Isabel Whited won the 500-yard freestyle and finished second in the 200-free. Sophomore Samantha Fazio is another impressive young swimmer, and Pinnacle finished with 245 overall points at state. However, the Xavier program had too much depth, and while it didn’t have an individual winner (Kathleen Mulligan and Madeline Wells had second-place finishes), the Gators had plenty of girls score points to finish with 330 and another championship.