After ending the two-year run of Fossil Ridge in Class 5A, defending champion Regis Jesuit figures to have the depth to repeat in the big-school ranks. Windsor is the defending champion in 4A.
File photo by Ray Chen
As the outdoors begin to warm up and the spring spots season gets rolling in Colorado, it's time for the boys to take to the pool. Following state championship wins by
Regis Jesuit (Aurora) in Class 5A and
Windsor in 4A a year ago, each team returns enough swimmers to make a run at repeating. But both will have to fend off plenty of contenders.
In 5A,
Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) can never be counted out. The same can be said for
Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs) in 4A. There also are many other schools that have the swimmers to put themselves in a position to leave the VMAC with championship hardware in May, but it's going to take outstanding performances from each member of a team. Trophies are handed out in May, but the work to bring those home begins as competition ramps up now.
Class 5ARegis Jesuit returns two members of its record-setting 200-yard medley relay team. William Goodwin returns as a senior, and Jackson Gurley will come back for his junior year. Goodwin finished second at state in the both the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke. He is also the only returning member of the Raiders' championship 400 freestyle relay team. He'll be a major focal point of the team as it looks to win its second consecutive title.
Cherry Creek looks to use a combination of veteran experience and youth to get back into the championship conversation. The 200 medley relay team of
Cade Martin,
Spencer Smith,
Lars Hanna and
Bryce Ortanes has logged the fastest 5A time in the event after some of the early meets. They swam it in 1 minute, 39.5 seconds at the Denver East Angel Invite on March 9. In addition,
Brendan Eckerman should provide leadership for the Bruins as he chases medals this season. His time of 1:45.27 is second in 5A only to
Cobi Wood of
Grandview (Aurora). Eckerman also is on the 400 freestyle relay team that has the best time in all classifications at 3:17.92.
Columbine (Littleton) aims to make a jump in the team standings and the quest will be led by
Gavin Olson. The senior claimed gold in the 100 backstroke last year with a time of 48.59 seconds. The fastest 2019 time in the event comes from
Benjamin Sampson of
Ralston Valley (Arvada). The junior won the event at the Angel Invite with a time of 54.40 seconds. Of note, the 100 backstroke might be one of the most competitive events of the year as five of last year's top eight finishers were juniors.
The Rebels are also looking to get a boost from sophomore
Eric Hart. His third-place finish in the 200 freestyle at the Angel Invite shows Columbine is building depth, which will come in handy as the season progresses.
After failing to win its third-straight title,
Fossil Ridge (Fort Collins) looks to get back to the top of the podium. The Sabercats graduated two first-team all-state swimmers, including co-swimmer of the year Danny Kovac. A bright spot for the team early has been freshman
Austin Holt, who is looking to contribute to the team in five events, including all three relays.
Class 4A With a new cycle comes a bit of a shakeup in the 4A field. Defending champion Windsor is off to a quick start and 2018 runner-up
Discovery Canyon (Colorado Springs) has every intention of climbing one spot in the final team standings.
The intriguing story from a year ago was Windsor taking the team title despite not winning a single event. At the recent Wizard Invite, the team of
Riley Miller,
Caiden Peterson,
Josh Dodrill, and
Andrew Scoggin grabbed the classification's top 200 medley relay time of 1:39.08. Miller and Scoggin logged second-team all-state honors last year.
Discovery Canyon's team of
Andrew McGill,
Braden Whitmarsh,
Tommy Rauchut and
Quintin McCarty want to put the Thunder in a position to overcome the eight-point margin that they lost by in May. They figure to get a boost from freshman
Quintin McCarty, who has the top 4A time (53.25) so far in the 100 backstroke.
The Thunder will have to fight off competition from within their own league. Cheyenne Mountain returns three all-state swimmers, all of whom were with the program when it won state in 2017. Gabe Grauvogel and Juwon Hong were on the 200 medley relay team that won the state title and on the 400 freestyle relay team that finished second.
Ryan Leach was also on the freestyle relay team.
A big shakeup come to the classification as
Broomfield drops down from 5A to compete in 4A. The Eagles finished 12th as a team at the 5A meet a year ago and walked away with some individual hardware.
Eagles distance swimmer
Harrison Lierz is once again poised for a big year. The junior is coming off 5A wins in both the 200 and 500 freestyle and has hopes of repeating in those same events. He leads all swimmers this year with a time of 4:46.09 in the 500 free.
figures to be a part of Broomfield's hope to do some damage as a team. Lierz and Anderson have two of the classification's top four times in the 200 individual relay. Anderson also took first in the 50 freestyle at the Legacy Lightning Invite on March 9.
The depth that Windsor brings back should once again put the Wizards in play for a title. Discovery Canyon believes it has unfinished business and wants to get its hand on the first-place hardware. Traditional power Cheyenne Mountain and newly 4A branded Broomfield also look to not just succeed, but excel in 2019.
