Westwood's Aleah Korpi competes in the girls 100 yard butterfly Saturday during the UP Finals held at the Marquette Senior High School. (Journal photo by Shannon Stieg)

MARQUETTE — Sometimes just one event can make the difference between a happiness and devastation.

That was what happened at the Upper Peninsula high school girls swimming and diving finals at Marquette Senior Higih School on Saturday.

Heading into the final event, Houghton led Marquette by just one point and a tension-filled atmosphere filled the pool deck.

Gremlins head coach Erik Johnson had an intense look on his face as he wondered if his team would grasp its first championship since 2014.

In the end, Johnson ended up pumping his fist in excitement and hugging his assistant coaches as the Gremlins won the 400-yard freestyle relay and the team title, finishing ahead of the Redettes, 280-247.

“They set a goal at the start of the year and it was a big mountain to climb but they worked their a***s off,” Johnson said. “We knew we had to do well in that last race to finish in front of Marquette and the girls took care of business.

“That relay has been a point of emphasis for us all year and to finish it off is something special.”

In addition to the big relay win, Houghton also took first in two individual events as Samantha Olson won the 200 free and Tessa Meyer the 100 butterfly.

Marquette head coach Nathan McFarren said it came down to depth and that Houghton just had a little more of it this year.

“We had some pretty outstanding swims today,” he said. “I told the girls that we aren’t going to get second place every year and that we’ll continue to grow.

“I think we knocked it out of the park today on both the boys and girls side, but I have to give credit to Erik, though. They just gave us more than we could handle.”

The Redettes won the other two relays, the 200 medley and 200 free. They also had two individual champions as Taryn Aho won both the 200 individual medley and 500 free, while Jayme Winn took first in the 100 free.

Gladstone, which won the meet last year, took third this year with 224, while Rudyard was fourth with 146.

Kingsford came in fifth with 135, followed by Sault Ste. Marie with 98, Manistique 66, Ishpeming-Negaunee 63 and Westwood 51.

The Braves won one event with Sydney Herioux in the 100 breaststroke, while Rudyard won two — Trista MacDowell in the 50 free and 100 backstroke.

Westwood also had an individual champion after Bethany Laakso won the diving on Friday.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.