THORNTON – The perfect blend of experience and youth was served on a record-setting kind of day at the Class 4A girls swimming state championships.
Established champions performed as expected, while a pair of freshmen – and underclassmen, In general - showed the future is bright before an exuberant crowd Saturday at the Veteran's Memorial Aquatics Center.
In all six 4A records were eclipsed among the 12 events, and not one individual race was won by a senior. In fact, only two seniors were part of winning relay teams and seniors claimed just six spots among the top three finishers in each of the nine individual events.
Overall, individual championships were defended in five events, and that theme extended to the team race, too, where
Thompson Valley (Loveland) won its third consecutive title with its impressive depth.
"We expected it to be a quick meet," Thompson Valley coach Kayli Changstrom said about all the records.
That was apparent from the outset, as 4A state records were set in the first two races. Broomfield established the mark in the 200-yard medley relay before
Evergreen junior
Lexie Malazdrewicz defended the first of her two titles.
Malazdrewicz raced to a record time in the 200 freestyle at 1 minute, 49.31 seconds, ousting the 2000 mark by Brianna Locher of Wheat Ridge by more than a second (1:50.73). The Evergreen standout later shattered the 500 freestyle record by more than 4 seconds. Her time of 4:54.65 overshadowed the 4:58.74 posted by Locher in 1998.
"It was pretty much my main goal to go out there and get both of those records. I'm really happy that I did," said Malazdrewicz, who also swam the anchor leg on the Cougars' record-setting 400 freestyle relay and finished second in the 200 medley relay. "The rest of the girls put on great races for me, really helping me to do that."
Malazdrewicz said she didn't so much focus on defending her titles as she did concentrating on her times.
"I'm always out there wanting to race the clock; that's your biggest competitor," she said. ‘When I touched the wall (after the 500), I just went, ‘Wow'. It hurt a lot but it was exciting. It means more to be able to say that I was able to get the records."
Also winning two events was
Pueblo South junior
Mary Saiz, who cruised to her third consecutive championship in the 100 backstroke after claiming the 50 freestyle title, which surprised even her despite that she was runner-up in the event last year.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself in the 100 back just because I was the defending champ," said Saiz, who missed a state record in the backstroke by .02 of a second (56.56 to 56.54). "I'm still shocked about the 50 free. The 50 free is something I've always wanted to do really well in, and I'm just so excited."
Logan Morris of
Montrose made it back-to-back titles in the 100 breaststroke also in record fashion, while
St. Mary's Academy (Englewood) sophomore
Alexa Beckwith again was crowned the classification's diving champion. Beckwith said the experience gained last year was valuable.
"I was a little more comfortable, because last year I was pretty nervous because I hadn't dove in a state meet before," said Beckwith, who bettered her 2011 winning total by nearly 47 points. "Knowing how the meet goes makes it a lot easier. I was happy I beat my score from last year."
Thompson Valley won only two events - freshman
Eryn Eddy in the 100 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay, in which the Eagles set a state record. Eddy also placed second in the 200 freestyle behind Malazdrewicz and broke the previous state mark, too.
Thompson Valley easily outpointed the competition, though, by claiming six other top 3 finishes to close with 304 points. They placed in the top eight in every event except the butterfly and breaststroke.
"To come in as defending champions is a lot of pressure," Changstrom said. "We knew we would come in today and be in a tight race with Evergreen. We knew we had to step up and get it done."
Along with Malazdrewicz, freshman
Lindsay Morrow helped pace Evergreen to a second-place team finish with 255 points. Morrow won the 200 individual medley, placed second in the backstroke and was a member of the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.
In addition, the Colorado High School Swimming Coaches Association selected its athletes and coaches of the year.
Heather Shaver of
Broomfield and
Mikhaila Eckhardt of
Windsor were chosen the swimmer and diver of the year, respectively. Changstrom won the coach award, while Sarah Easter of Windsor was the diving coach honoree.
Class 4A State Championships
At Veteran's Memorial Aquatic Center, Thornton
*4A state recordTeam scores: 1. Thompson Valley, 304; 2. Evergreen, 255; 3. Cheyenne Mountain, 226; 4. Broomfield; 205; 5. D'Evelyn, 150; 6. Pueblo South, 149; 7. Montrose, 148.5; 8. Air Academy, 105; 9. Discovery Canyon, 82; 10. Coronado, 65.
200 medley relay: 1. Broomfield (Katalena Duncan-Laufasa, Heather Shaver, Elizabeth Peterson, Kendall Wingfield), 1 minute, 47.93 seconds*; 2. Evergreen, 1:48.23; 3. Thompson Valley, 1:48.98; 4. Pueblo South, 1:49.85; 5. Cheyenne Mountain, 1:51.47; 6. Air Academy, 1:51.91; 7. Montrose, 1:52.91; 8. Discovery Canyon, 1:53.80.
200 freestyle: 1. Lexie Malazdrewicz, Evergreen, 1:49.31*; 2. Eryn Eddy, Thompson Valley, 1:50.42; 3. Nicole Hlavacek, Thompson Valley, 1:54.56. 4. Emily Bauer, Cheyenne Mountain, 1:56.10; 5. Kamryn Holland, Evergreen, 1:56.78; 6. Allie Pfauth, Thompson Valley, 1:58.68; 7. Jennifer Belz, Mullen, 1:58.89; 8. Casey Richards, Mountain View, 2:00.21.
200 individual medley: 1. Lindsay Morrow, Evergreen, 2:08.30; 2. Josie Pearson, Evergreen, 2:09.22; 3. Allie Jacobs, Coronado, 2:09.57; 4. Jessi Modlich, Thompson Valley, 2:11.06; 5. Katalena Duncan-Laufasa, Broomfield, 2:11.33; 6. Jolene Norton, Pueblo County, 2:11.34; 7. Anna McDonald, Evergreen, 2:11.78; 8. Alden Lovaas, Cheyenne Mountain, 2:12.62.
50 freestyle: 1. Mary Saiz, Pueblo South, 24.42; 2. Marina Fonseca, Thompson Valley, 24.61; 3. Christine Hurford, Montrose, 24.67; 4. Colleen Olson, D'Evelyn, 24.82; 5. Heather Shaver, Broomfield, 24.89; 6. Kathryn Hewson, Estes Park, 24.90; 7. Alanna Erickson, Fountain Valley, 24.99; 8. Andrea Rice, Air Academy, 25.05.
Diving: 1. Alexa Beckwith, St. Mary's Academy, 487.20 points; 2. Mikhaila Eckhardt, Windsor, 441.30; 3. Maia Presti, Fountain Valley, 435.60; 4. Katie Russ, Mullen, 426.80; 5. Kimi Tanabe, Manitou Springs, 401.00; 6. Alex Hafey, Mullen, 399.70; 7. Haley Schneider, Longmont, 398.70; 8. Erin Chavet, Thompson Valley, 388.50.
100 butterfly: 1. Sydney Buckley, Cheyenne Mountain, 57.26; 2. Haley Bertoldo, Pueblo West, 57.53; 3. Andrea Rice, Air Academy, 57.82; 4. Elizabeth Peterson, Broomfield, 58.48; 5. Josie Pearson, Evergreen, 58.53; 6. Christine Hurford, Montrose, 58.58; 7. Allie Jacobs, Coronado, 58.66; 8. Erica Norton, Pueblo South, 59.15.
100 freestyle: 1. Eryn Eddy, Thompson Valley, 51.48; 2. Alexis Divelbiss, Pueblo South, 53.25; 3. Colleen Olson, D'Evelyn, 53.30; 4. Marina Fonseca, Thompson Valley, 53.96; 5. Amy Brodie, Moffat County, 53.98; 6. Alanna Erickson, Fountain Valley, 54.36; 7. Katya Armbrecht, Durango, 55.07; 8. Amanda Siedem, Silver Creek, 55.47.
500 freestyle: 1. Lexie Malazdrewicz, Evergreen, 4:54.65*; 2. Nicole Hlavacek, Thompson Valley, 4:59.89; 3. Brenna Bushey, D'Evelyn, 5:08.13; 4. Morgan Wice, Cheyenne Mountain, 5:08.55; 5. Kamryn Holland, Evergreen, 5:11.50; 6. Madison Evans, Windsor, 5:15.12; 7. Jennifer Belz, Mullen, 5:17.20; 8. Allie Pfauth, Thompson Valley, 5:19.31.
200 freestyle relay: 1. Thompson Valley (Marina Fonseca, Alyssa Eidem, Sydnee King, Kelly Sheldon), 1:38.95*; 2. Cheyenne Mountain, 1:39.19; 3. Broomfield, 1:39.97; 4. D'Evelyn, 1:41.77; 5. Niwot, 1:42.14; 6. Montrose, 1:42.71; 7. Discovery Canyon, 1:42.73; 8. Evergreen, 1:42.95.
100 backstroke: 1. Mary Saiz, Pueblo South, 56.56; 2. Lindsay Morrow, Evergreen, 58.18; 3. Haley Bertoldo, Pueblo West, 58.49; 4. Katalena Laufasa-Duncan, Broomfield, 58.58; 5. Jessi Modlich, Thompson Valley, 58.77; 6. Emily Bauer, Cheyenne Mountain, 59.00; 7. Elizabeth Peterson, Broomfield, 59.32; 8. Kelcie Gerson, Aspen, 1:00.28.
100 breaststroke: 1. Logan Morris, Montrose, 1:04.03*; 2. Kristin Walker, Air Academy, 1:05.49; 3. Heather Shaver, Broomfield, 1:06.11; 4. Alexis Divelbiss, Pueblo South, 1:07.61; 5. Catherine Roach, Cheyenne Mountain, 1:08.03; 6. Lauren Funk, Discovery Canyon, 1:09.12; 7. Jolene Norton, Pueblo County, 1:09.74; 8. Kendra Lamb, Wheat Ridge, 1:09.80.
400 freestyle relay: 1. Evergreen (Kamryn Holland, Lindsay Morrow, Bailey Smith, Lexie Malazdrewicz), 3:33.24; 2. Thompson Valley, 3:35.12; 3. D'Evelyn, 3:37.67; 4. Pueblo South, 3:39.28; 5. Cheyenne Mountain, 3:40.01; 6. Montrose, 3:44.72; 7. Broomfield, 3:45.68; 8. Glenwood Springs, 3:47.65.
