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HERRIMAN -- A group of swimmers at Herriman High School knows the importance of being honest. They spoke up, even though it meant losing a huge opportunity.
During the last leg of the last race of regionals, Herriman's 4x100 girls freestyle relay team was swimming against Westlake. Among all the cheering, Coach Kevin Fletcher noticed his team's clock had stopped. According to Fletcher, meets typically have a human backup timer that officials check against the scoreboards, but this time, that failsafe wasn't in place. When the official results came out, it showed Herriman qualified 16th out of 16 spots for state by 1/100 of a second.
"The other team had won the race, but the scoreboard indicated differently," Fletcher said. "I personally didn't know if it was a mistake in the timing system or what had happened, but I knew we didn't swim that time."
The girls, Fletcher says, also knew they hadn't been that fast and they spoke up, giving up their spot at the state meet.
"It's just a great thing to see athletes have honesty and integrity in this day and age when winning is so important," Fletcher said. "Our girls wanted to compete as well, but only under the circumstances that they earned it."
Bountiful went to state instead, and the Herriman team was there to cheer them on. The team is made of younger girls, who will all be back next year to try again.
