Cheyenne Mountain's Daniel Carr, Boulder's Christian Feiler among those aiming for first-time titles.
Cheyenne Mountain standout Daniel Carr will be competing in his first state swimming meet next week. The sophomore has the best time in Class 4A in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke.
Courtesy photo Carr family
was unable to attend the state swimming meet last season. Such is life when you're training for junior nationals.
That has made this season one of anticipation for the
Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs) sophomore.
"I'm super excited," Carr said. "A lot of my teammates, they always tell me that the environment at high school state is unlike any other meet. People always go super fast there and I want to experience some of that."
Carr has the state's top Class 4A time in each the 100 freestyle (45.55 seconds) and 100 backstroke (50.67). He has the No. 2 time in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley. He is certain he'll compete in the 200 IM at state, meaning there is room for only one of the events that he has owned in the regular season.
His final decision is due by the end of the weekend, with the state meet set for May 15-16 at the Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center in Thornton. The 5A meet will run concurrently at the Air Force Academy.
A look at the leaderboards suggests it could be a stellar initial state experience for Carr.
"It feels great, but I know other kids can go faster, so I'm not being overly confident when I go into this meet," Carr said. "I just have to swim my race and be confident but not too confident."
It is no mystery to Cheyenne Mountain coach Kate Doane why Carr has made such a rapid splash on the 4A landscape.
"I think it's because he just enjoys the sport," Doane said. "He enjoys training and he's willing to compete wherever we need him or want him to be. He's been a great team player, he enjoys being around his teammates and he's just excited to swim."
With a team race that will include
Thompson Valley (Loveland),
D'Evelyn (Denver), defending champion
Air Academy (US Air Force Academy) and others at an ultra-fast pool, this could be a 4A meet to remember.
Other top-flight individual contenders include defending champions
Daniel Graber of D'Evelyn (200 IM and breaststroke),
Tyler Lis of
Silver Creek (Longmont) (200 freestyle) and
John Thorne of Thompson Valley (backstroke).
Also keep an eye on Thompson Valley's
Liam Gately, who has posted the top times in the 200 and 500 freestyle events and Air Academy's
Hunter Doerr. The Kadets standout has the top times in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
In Class 5A, many eyes will be on
Boulder's Princeton-bound
Christian Feiler. He has the top times in the 50 freestyle (21.02) and 100 freestyle (45.74) and will compete in those events after taking part in the 50 free and backstroke the previous three seasons.
Boulder has never had an individual champion and has never finished above fourth place as a team. In the team seedings for state, Boulder was slightly above No. 2
Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village), with defending-champion Regis Jesuit at No. 3 and Fairview fourth.
"Really my goal is to do my part by winning the events I'm seeded to win," said Feiler, who has alluded to his desire to break the state record of 20.11 in the 50 free. "Time doesn't really matter as much as the points."
Feiler is switching from the backstroke to the 100 freestyle because junior teammate
Chris Nicholson has excelled at the event and the Panthers didn't want to double-load it. Feiler's top state finish to date was last season, when he placed fourth in the 50 free. The ambitions are much loftier this time.
"I feel like I've put in a good season of training," said Feiler, who also will assist the Panthers in the 200 medley and 400 free relays. "I feel really fast in the water at practice and I'm just ready to go out there and swim and see how fast I can actually go."
Other 5A swimmers to watch include
Highlands Ranch junior
Gabriele Sasia, who has the top time in the butterfly and the backstroke; Cherry Creek's
Samuel Coffman (top time in 200 freestyle);
Lakewood's Aaron Sett (top time in 500 free);
Keegan Foulke of
Pomona (Arvada) (top time in 200 IM) and
Greeley West's Brody Lewis (top time in breaststroke).
Of note, every individual state champion from last season has graduated other than a pair of
Regis Jesuit (Aurora) athletes.
Quinlan Stuart is the reigning champ in the 100 breaststroke and has the second-best time this year, and fellow Raiders senior
Kyle Goodwin is the incumbent diving champion. Goodwin will be after his fourth consecutive title.
