By Nicholas J. Pappas

| Special to The Tribune

In 20 years of coaching the swim team at Weber, Bill Cruff has seen highs and lows. He led the girls team to a six-year reign of Region 1 starting in 2003 and led the boys to titles in 2008 and 2009.

Since 2009, though, the pool has belonged to Viewmont. The Vikings were undefeated in the region championships for three straight years.

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At a glance

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Big game » Fremont vs. Northridge boys’ basketball, Fri. Feb. 10, 7 p.m. Northridge’s only region loss came at the hands of Fremont back on Jan. 20. The Knights will look for revenge as they try to lock up the Region 1 title.

Big number » 9 . While Weber’s Hayden Schenck has been leading the team in scoring, he had one of his best games of his career on Jan. 31 against Layton. The senior guard recorded a career-high nine assists to go with his 19 points, and also added six steals in the Warriors’ victory.

Big player» Sydnee Acord, Northridge girls’ basketball. Acord has been the lone bright spot on a team that has yet to win a game in Region 1. The senior captain has scored 12 points or more in the past four games, and will attempt to lead the Knights to their first region win against Fremont on Feb. 10.

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This year, Viewmont is gone — realigned to Region 2. The move cleared the lane for Weber to start another dominating streak. The Warriors swept the region championships on Jan. 27 and hope to improve their times at the state meet on Friday and Saturday.

"We continue to progress every year," Cruff said. "We’re stronger as far as a depth this year over last."

One of Weber’s top competitors is senior Drake Mendelson. He won the 100-yard backstroke with a school-record time of 53.67, good for the third-fastest time in the state this year. Mendelson feels the best thing about bringing back the region title to Weber was the opportunity to present the region trophy at a Weber basketball game last Friday.

"It’s been a long time since we’ve won region," Mendelson said, "and it’s the first time since I’ve been at Weber that the swimming team has gotten any recognition."

Mendelson also recorded the state’s fourth-fastest time in the 200 freestyle, clocking in at 1:46:98 and narrowly losing to a region rival, senior Greg Mayer of Fremont. Still, their times are still a full six seconds behind nationally ranked Long Gutierrez of Brighton. Mendelson says he has raced against Gutierrez "many, many times," and always looks forward to the opportunity.

"Going against one of the top-ranked swimmers in the nation is always exciting for me," Mendelson said. "Having that level of competition pushes me a lot further than normal."

While Cruff feels teams like Brighton and Bingham remain the favorites going into the state meet, the goal he has set for his team is continual improvement. Weber finished 11th for the boys and 10th for the girls last year.

"The main goal is to improve on our times from region," Cruff said. "I think it’s something we can accomplish and I’d like to see the team advance a few spots this year."