Junior Laurel Eiber of Arapahoe enters the Class 5A state swim meet on a roll after breaking the 50-yard freestyle record of U.S. Olympian Amy Van Dyken-Rouen at the Centennial League championships. Fossil Ridge is the defending state champion in 5A, Evergreen in 4A.
Courtesy photo Arapahoe swimming
She might not yet be a household name in the girls swimming ranks, but after last weekend,
Laurel Eiber of
Arapahoe (Centennial) certainly left a lasting impression.
The junior turned in a dominant showing at the
Centennial "A" League Championships at Arapahoe High School. Not only did she walk away with league crowns in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 butterfly, but she set school and league records in both events – and did the same as part of the winning 400 free relay.
Her biggest claim to fame on the weekend? Breaking the league record set by former
Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) standout and Olympic-gold medalist Amy Van Dyken-Rouen in the 50 free with a time of 23.77 seconds.
"I knew that in the 50 free anything could happen," Eiber said. "I was going for the record but I wouldn't say it was expected. I knew it would be tough and hard to do, but that was my goal for the weekend."
The question facing Eiber and her Arapahoe teammates – who finished second to Cherry Creek at the league meet – is can they keep it going this weekend at the Class 5A state swimming and diving championships?
The 5A meet will take place at Edora Pool and Ice Center in Fort Collins on Friday and Saturday, with Saturday's finals starting at 2 p.m. The 4A state meet is at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton.
State schedule. State psych sheets."We had a great "A" league meet across the board," said longtime Warriors coach Mike Richmond, whose team took sixth in 5A a year ago. ""We had nearly 100 percent best times. It doesn't get much better than how we swam (last weekend). I'm thrilled where we're at right now. We're going to go in there and just try to perform and have everyone swim faster, ideally."
Fossil Ridge (Fort Collins) is the defending 5A state champion and is among the favorites to repeat, with programs like
Fairview (Boulder), Cherry Creek and
Heritage (Littleton) hoping to take home the crown.
Evergreen won it all in 4A last winter but has
Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch),
Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs) and
Manitou Springs to contend with this weekend.
Arapahoe's showing last year was backed by titles in the 200 and 500 free from Ella Moynihan, now at Notre Dame. Eiber placed sixth in the 50 free, 14th in the 100 free and was a member of the 200 and 400 free relay squads that placed fifth.
Richmond said Eiber swam well at state a year ago but didn't quite live up to her own expectations.
"Sometimes you learn and do things differently," he said. "Junior year sometimes there is a big jump … training goes into getting to that point and it builds a lot of confidence. I think she is more clear on a lot of things, and that awareness is super helpful."
Arapahoe sophomore
Delaney Smith also made a splash at the league championships, winning the 200 individual medley with a personal-best time and a school record. Smith was also part of the 400 free relay, along with freshman
Gabreece Van Anne and junior
Sarah Siayap. The group won the event in 3:31.15, a team and pool record.
"Going into it we were just wanting to win and be quick," Eiber said. "We ended up breaking the record, which wasn't really expected. All four of us swam pretty much best times."
The graduation of Moynihan and a number of other seniors may have hurt Arapahoe from the perspective of state points being lost, but it has also allowed the team's younger members the chance to fill those shoes. Eiber said she learned quite a bit from Moynihan on how to be a leader and get her teammates excited to compete.
"When they leave, people step up and Laurel certainly has. The dynamic is we're a young team," Richmond said. "Losing a good group of senior leaders, they have to come back and reinvent themselves every year. I think they've done a good job of that."
