Many of Hillcrest High student-athletes competed in postseason play in sports this winter. Here is a recap of the Huskies’ seasons.

Wrestling

Two individuals repeated as state wrestling champions—sisters Eva Zimmerman at 105 pounds and Eliza Zimmerman in 115 pounds. Their sister, Katie, was third in 100 pounds behind teammate Antonia Ingabire. Taking fifth place in 135 pounds was Aleia Baarsma and in 190 pounds, Asinate Mafuahingano. The Huskies finished fifth at 5A state.

The boys team finished 18th in 5A at state with Cooper Limb earning third place in 132 pounds and Marcus Sollers taking sixth in 165 pounds.

Swimming

In swimming, the Huskies celebrated a state champion in the unified 50 free. Freshman Santiago Romero swam to first place with a time of 34.42. Teammate junior Eitennemichel Camis-Bateman was close behind, touching the wall in fifth place.

Junior Thomas Powers returned to state in 100 breaststroke, finishing second in 59.96, a big improvement over his 1:03.9 swim last year where he finished in 19th place. He also swam 200 individual medley in 2:05.32 and tied for fifth place.

Joining Powers in the top 10 for boys were sophomore Alex Skorut, who swam to fifth place in 100 back, and junior Jacob An, who finished ninth in the 100 fly.

Junior Maria Magalhaes also finished in the top 10 in two events. She swam the 200 free in 2:03.15 for ninth place and the 50 free in 26.22 to finish 10th. 

The Huskies had a couple relays place in the top 12 as well. The unified team’s relay finished second. The boys 200-yard medley relay of Skorut, Powers, An and junior Cody Su was seventh; and the 400 free relay with Skorut, Powers, An and sophomore Daniel Emett was eighth. The girls’ 200-free relay was 11th with teammates freshman Cora McIllece and juniors Maddie Peterson, Dadeian Hess and Magalhaes.

Other girls who placed at state are in the 100 fly—Peterson, 24th; 100 free—McIllece, 26th; and Peterson, 32nd; and 50 free—McIllece, 29th.

State-finishers for the boys are in the 100 fly—freshman Andrew Shupe, 12th; Su, 18th; 200 free —Emett, 19th; 200 IM—An, 15th; sophomore Benny Bridge 20th; junior Sean Wager, 24th; 50 free—Skorut, 20th; 500 free—Emett, 21st; junior Brighton Edmonds, 31st; 100 back—Wager, 31st; 100 breast—Bridge, 15th; Shupe, 18th; and Su, 32nd.

The girls’ team finished 17th at state and the boys, 11th.

Cheer

Early in the season, Hillcrest cheer qualified to compete in game day routine at UCA National high school championship in Florida. 

Besides the regional qualifier Dec. 9, the Huskies earned third place in the northern UHSAA state divisionals.

Competing at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in February, the first-year coach Alex Martinez then posted on the team’s Instagram account: “I am so proud of this team right here. Cheerleading is not an easy sport. Changes in a coaching staff is not an easy transition. Qualifying for UCA Nationals is not an easy endeavor or one that is freely given. Yet, it is these athletes right here who did it all. They never gave up; they found grit within themselves and resilience to keep going when things were hard or discouraging.”

Basketball

Boys’ basketball finished fourth in 4A region 10. Among the teams wins were Park City twice, West, Kearns, Mountain Ridge and Northridge high schools. They had close losses to Jordan twice (away by 2 points and at home, by 3 points in overtime), four points in overtime to Tooele and one point to Stansbury. As a 20-seed, the Huskies traveled to Washington, Utah in the first round and lost to 13-seeded Crimson Cliffs in the state playoffs.

The teams had several players receive honors. On the boys’ team, juniors Damani Wilkerson and Zach Tanner, second team all region; and senior Rhett Robinson was all region honorable mention. For the girls, senior Aasia Julia and juniors Addison Back and Dayana Mulamba were all region honorable mention.

Girls’ basketball finished seventh in region, with a two-point loss to Granger High. The team’s bench was deep so several Huskies are expected to play next year with significant varsity experience.

Drill

Hillcrest High’s 22-member drill team, fondly known as HD, were crowned 4A state champions.

“There were so many tears; I was so proud,” said the team coach Chelsea Divine.

As of press deadline, they were in California, competing in the 57th annual Miss Dance Drill Team USA national competition. Additionally, junior Aniyah Hassell, who placed in the top 10 at Miss Drill Utah, will compete for the Miss Drill USA title. 

The season included tying with two other schools for first place at Utah Valley University, but losing the tiebreaker for a third-place finish. Sweeping the Davis Valley Classic for the win and edging out the top-seeded team to win the Royal Classic Invitational. They also were the 4A region 10 champions. λ