FORT COLLINS - As
Daryl Turner accepted one of the three first-place medals he collected Saturday at the Class 5A state swimming finals, the
Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) junior couldn't help but have a little fun.
Realizing he remained shorter than his two closest competitors in the 100 freestyle, even though he was standing on the top of the medal platform, Turner playfully extended his height by raising to the tips of his toes, drawing more than a few laughs from the crowd at the Edora Pool and Ice Center.
Although Turner is of average height—he checks in at 5-foot-11—Turner's stature in the pool continues to explode. The junior won two individual state titles, breaking his own record in the 100 backstroke, and also contributed to the Bruins' record-setting effort in the medley relay.
Carter Griffin of the
Ponderosa (Parker) co-op team was the meet's other individual star, winning both distance freestyle events, while
Regis Jesuit (Aurora) blew away the competition to earn the program's 19th state title.
"That was the same lineup as last year when I was on the podium, and it's something when the third place and second place are the same height or even taller," Turner said. "I am so, so proud of my team. That was everything I could ask for out of my team. We came in prepared to do our best and that's what came out—our best."
Turner set a record in the 100 backstroke with a mark of 48.22 seconds during the preliminary heats Friday and set the new standard a little higher Saturday, winning the event in 48.18 seconds. Turner also set a state record in the 100 freestyle during Friday's preliminaries at 44.19 seconds, and although he fell just short of that mark Saturday with a time of 44.33 seconds, it still was enough to win his second consecutive state title in the event.
Turner and his teammates—
Zachary Ballon,
Andrew Behrend, and
John Mattern—also set a state mark in the meet-opening 200 medley relay, finishing in 1:32.07 to best the 1:32.86 mark the quartet posted Friday.
Turner very nearly ruined a record-setting effort by Regis Jesuit in the 400 freestyle relay, swimming a scintillating anchor leg (43.47) that almost overtook the Raiders. However, Regis held on to win the event with a state record mark of 3:04.91.
That victory was one of four turned in by the Raiders, who outscored Cherry Creek 381-240.
Clark Smith recorded his third consecutive state title in the 100 butterfly, while
Ben Fry repeated his state championship in the 50 freestyle. Regis also posted the top two marks in diving, with freshman
Kyle Goodwin outscoring teammate
Matt Mauser 533.25-486.60.
"You never sit down and hex yourself and say you're going to go 1-2 (in diving) because there's too many talented kids," Regis Jesuit coach Mike Doherty said. "Today, I think they completely responded. And I am so proud of the (400 freestyle relay) I can't even tell you."
Griffin, a student at
Chaparral (Parker) who competes for Ponderosa, won both distance freestyle events. He overtook
Tyler Hicks of
Poudre (Fort Collins) down the stretch of the 200 freestyle to post a winning time of 1:40.92, while turning in a mark of 4:34.43 to win the 500 freestyle.
Other winners included
Nolan Tesone of
Pomona (Arvada) in the individual medley and
Loveland's Nick Hatanaka in the 100 breaststroke.
"Coming in, I was fourth in the 200 and first in the 500, so I knew I wanted to be able to stay in first in the 500," Griffin said. "I wasn't expecting to be able to win the 200. It wasn't anything I did, but (Hicks) went out really fast and ended up dying. Fortunately I was able to take advantage of that."
Class 5A state championshipsEdora Pool and Ice CenterTeam scores: Regis Jesuit 381, Cherry Creek 240, Loveland 201, Arapahoe 162, Highlands Ranch 151, Lewis-Palmer 122, Fairview 118, Chatfield 112, Fossil Ridge 98, Castle View/Douglas County 79, Littleton 69, Heritage 67, Poudre 64, Smoky Hill 61, Ponderosa 53, Pomona 50, Denver East 45, Fort Collins 40, Rampart 35, Ralston Valley 35, Boulder 30, Standley Lake 26, Lakewood 14, Overland 12, Monarch 11, Liberty 10, Grandview 7, Pine Creek 6, Hinkley 6, Columbine 5, Rocky Mountain 5, Cherokee Trail 4, District 51 3, Legacy 2, Greeley West 1.
200 medley relay: 1. Cherry Creek 1:32.07; 2. Regis Jesuit 1:33.08; 3. Loveland 1:35.09; 4. Highlands Ranch 1:37.38; 5. Fossil Ridge 1:37.55; 6. Chatfield 1:37.68; 7. Lewis-Palmer 1:38.55; 8. Fairview 1:38.88.
200 freestyle: 1. Carter Griffin, Ponderosa, 1:40.92; 2. Tyler Hicks, Poudre, 1:41.11; 3. Nathan Mueller, Highlands Ranch, 1:41.79; 4. Andrew Torres, Ralston Valley, 1:42.00; 5. Kyle Hentschel, Arapahoe, 1:43.13; 6. Jack Jenner, Castle View/Douglas County, 1:43.20; 7. Cooper Bowen, Loveland, 1:44.84; 8. Hunter Bains, Lewis-Palmer, 1:46.88.
200 individual medley: 1. Nolan Tesone, Pomona, 1:49.84; 2. Alex Tooley, Fossil Ridge, 1:53.33; 3. Pat Jones, Loveland, 1:53.59; 4. Ian Clarke, Rampart, 1:53.92; 5. Nick Hatanaka, Loveland, 1:54.02; 6. Tim Smith, Regis Jesuit, 1:54.20; 7. Reed Matthews, Denver East, 1:54.88; 8. Hennessey Stuart, Regis Jesuit, 1:57.15.
50 freestyle: 1. Ben Fry, Regis Jesuit, 21.17; 2. Joey Hinton, Heritage, 21.31; 3. Bryce Carter, Chatfield, 21.40; 4. Logan Lagesse, Arapahoe, 21.41; 5. Andrew Behrend, Regis Jesuit, 21.73; 6. Erik Biernat, Regis Jesuit, 21.73; 7. Miles MacKenzie, Fairview, 21.79; 8. Phil Mathys, Littleton, 22.03.
Diving: 1. Kyle Goodwin, Regis Jesuit, 533.2; 2. Matt Mauser, Regis Jesuit, 486.60; 3. Alan LaBlang, Arapahoe, 478.55; 4. Trent Kindvall, Standley Lake, 419.50; 5. Andrew Hull, Denver East, 415.20; 6. Deon Ayala, Fort Collins, 402.95; 7. Jaime Corona, Overland, 395.85; 8. Christopher Clayton, Regis Jesuit, 393.75.
100 butterfly: 1. Clark Smith, Regis Jesuit, 48.73; 2. Ryan Arata, Lewis-Palmer, 49.68; 3. David Fraser, Highlands Ranch, 50.31; 4. Reed Matthews, Denver East, 50.86; 5. Erik Biernat, Regis Jesuit, 50.94; 6. Max Holter, Fort Collins, 52.08; 7. Austin Layman, Chatfield, 52.64; 8. Wyatt Oerman, Cherry Creek, 53.27.
100 freestyle: 1. Daryl Turner, Cherry Creek, 44.33; 2. Ben Fry, Regis Jesuit, 46.02; 3. Tyler Hicks, Poudre, 46.50; 4. Bryce Carter, Chatfield, 46.68; 5. Joey Hinton, Heritage, 47.05; 6. Kyle Hentschel, Arapahoe, 47.08; 7. Miles MacKenzie, Fairview, 47.56; 8. Zach Suter, Regis Jesuit, 48.51.
500 freestyle: 1. Carter Griffin, Ponderosa, 4:34.43; 2. Nathan Mueller, Highlands Ranch, 4:34.47; 3. Andrew Torres, Ralston Valley, 4:38.26; 4. Andrew Parker, Highlands Ranch, 4:34.58; 5. Chris Dawson, Regis Jesuit, 4:39.04; 6. Ryan Ball, Loveland, 4:41.00; 7. Ian Clarke, Rampart, 4:43.47; 8. Hayden Berg, Pomona, 4:49.93.
200 freestyle relay: 1. Regis Jesuit 1:25.53; 2. Cherry Creek 1:36.14; 3. Arapahoe 1:26.37; 4. Fairview 1:27.51; 5. Loveland 1:28.11; 6. Littleton 1:28.14; 7. Castle View/Douglas County 1:28.60; 8. Chatfield 1:28.99.
100 backstroke: 1. Daryl Turner, Cherry Creek, 48.18; 2. Ryan Arata, Lewis-Palmer, 50.89; 3. Nolan Tesone, Pomana, 50.99; 4. Hennessey Stuart, Regis Jesuit, 51.31; 5. Andrew Parker, Highlands Ranch, 51.35; 6. Ryan Ball, Loveland, 51.90; 7. Austin Layman, Chatfield, 52.46; 8. Jake Thelen, Fossil Ridge, 53.44.
100 breaststroke: 1. Nick Hatanaka, Loveland, 56.62; 2. Zach Ballon, Cherry Creek, 58.95; 3. Steven Holiday, Smoky Hill, 59.03; 4. Alex Tooley, Fossil Ridge, 59.08; 5. John Mattern, Cherry Creek, 59.08; 6. Jesse Ireland, Heritage, 1:00.03; 7. Tim Smith, Regis Jesuit, 1:00.08; 8. Eric Ung, Standley Lake, 1:01.24.
400 freestyle relay: 1. Regis Jesuit 3:04.91; 2. Cherry Creek 3:05.93; 3. Arapahoe 3:09.00; 4. Highlands Ranch 3:09.19; 5. Loveland 3:12.69; 6. Lewis-Palmer 3:13.17; 7. Fairview 3:13.20; 8. Littleton 3:15.20.
