The Brophy Broncos defeated the Boulder Creek Jaguars in their last home dual of the season by a score of 112-73 on Thursday.

Even though this was not “that big of a meet,” according to senior Michael Frakes, Brophy still looks to improve on something in each meet they compete in. This week, they concentrated on effort.

Brophy head coach Daren Brubaker challenged his swimmers by having them compete in events they would not normally partake in.

Brubaker had Frakes swim in the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley instead of having him compete in his normal 200- and 500-yard freestyle events. Frakes finished fifth in the 100-yard freestyle, posting a time of 53.62, and sixth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:04.85.

“We work on all those strokes during practice, so why not get up and race it?” Brubaker said. “I’m trying to put them in an uncomfortable situation, but mimicking racing. They’re going after that grit.”

“Today I think the key word was effort. Daren gave a speech and we were all talking about effort and it’s not all about times. That was our motivator tonight,” Frakes said.

Sophomore Jack Sorenson usually competes in the 100-yard backstroke, but on Thursday he raced in the 200-yard individual medley. He finished second in the medley with a time of 2:04.18.

“I was able to swim well just because of our team spirit,” Sorenson said. “I think Brophy swims so well because we’re all a big family and we all have this positive energy that most teams don’t have.”

For Frakes, this meet meant a lot to him because it was his last home meet competing at Brophy.

“I’m a senior, I have five more weeks of swimming and then I’m done," he said. "I’m not going to swim in college, so I just gave it my all tonight. It’s sad that I’m going to leave eventually and not be a part of the team next year, but I was just really excited to get up and swim with my brothers for the last time.”

The Broncos only have two more road dual meets versus Chandler and Red Mountain before they look to capture their 32nd state championship in November.

“We have two or three weeks of hard practice every single day,” Frakes said. “I think the biggest thing is just us being healthy and keeping our heads up and knowing that state’s right around the corner. We have competition and we need to try our hardest.”

Brubaker said that he not only wants to prepare for another successful state championship meet, but he also wants to make sure his swimmers have fun in doing so.

“I want to set up this team for success, not just as a whole but for individuals as well," he said. "I want my seniors to come out with a bang. I want some guys to win and look back at this sport with a smile because some of them are done after this season. That’s my goal. I want them to look back at their experience here with great memories."