A small, but mighty, group of Regis Jesuit swimmers rose to the occasion at the end of the 2022-23 season.
Coach Nick Frasersmith had lower numbers than usual, but the quality remained as the Raiders had enough firepower to be the closest team to powerhouse Cherry Creek at the Class 5A state meet at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center.
The runner-up Raiders (who secured the program’s highest finish since 2016) earned the majority of the spots on the 2023 Sentinel Colorado All-Aurora Girls Swim Team — which is based primarily on state meet performance — along with Grandview’s Amelia Brown, the city’s premier sprint freestyler.
The lone individual state championship for the city came in the 100 yard breaststroke from Regis Jesuit junior Charlotte Burnham, who arrived after she transferred from Mullen.
Burnham harnessed the emotion of the memory of her late friend — who predicted she would win the breaststroke (full story, here) — to finish a fraction of a second ahead of Grandview’s Paige Dailey for the title. Burnham came into state seeded eighth with a best time of 1 minute, 5.84 seconds, but touched the wall in 1:02.40 in the final. It marked the fourth straight breaststroke title for the Regis Jesuit program.
Burnham also earned the All-Aurora first team honor in the 200 yard individual medley in which she placed third with a time that was more than three seconds faster than her time coming in, while she also contributed to the Raiders’ 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams, which were both state runners-up.
Regis Jesuit senior Sophia Frei had the fastest time in the 100 backstroke during the regular season and she was just slightly off that pace at state, as a time of 54.66 seconds got her to the wall only behind Cherry Creek’s Charlotte Wilson (52.95).
Frei bettered her season-best time in the 100 butterfly with a 55.96 that netted her fifth place, while the North Carolina recruit also grabbed All-Aurora spots with the runner-up 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays.
Regis Jesuit’s third swimmer to appear on the All-Aurora team four times is freshman Taylor Johannsen, who finished an outstanding debut season as the city’s top performer at the state meet in the distance freestyle events.
Johannsen came into the meet seeded ninth in the 200 freestyle and she far exceeded that projection with a fourth-place result in a time of 1:52.42 (coming in with a seed time of 1:54.03). She finished right on her seeding in the 500 freestyle (fifth), though her time improved by more than three seconds (5:06.10 coming in to 5:02.51 in the finals. She also anchored the Raiders’ second-place 400 freestyle relay team and sixth-place 200 free relay.
Diving gave Regis Jesuit a 53-point head start on the field thanks to three top-seven placers led by junior Sarah Mann, who led the way with a third-place finish.
The Continental League champion earned a total score of 439.10 points, which brought her in less than a point ahead of Grandview sophomore Addison Campbell, the Centennial League champion.
Senior Samantha Aguirre and sophomore Taylor Hoffman were part of two All-Aurora relay teams, while senior Sophia Mitsuoka and sophomore Elise Kittleson were on one apiece.
Grandview finished fifth as a team — the highest result since 2007 for coach Karen Ammon’s program — fueled by an outstanding senior class and the performance of Brown, who was Aurora’s top finisher in the 50 and 100 freestyles.
The Centennial “A” League champion in both events bettered her seed time in both events and Brown turned in a third-place finish in the 50 freestyle (in 23.30) and fifth-place result in the 100 (in 51.54).
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 SENTINEL COLORADO ALL-AURORA GIRLS SWIM TEAM
FIRST TEAM
200 yard medley relay — Sophia Frei, Charlotte Burnham, Sophia Mitsuoka, Taylor Hoffman, Regis Jesuit
200 yard freestyle — Taylor Johannsen, fr., Regis Jesuit
200 yard indiv. medley — Charlotte Burnham, jr., Regis Jesuit
50 yard freestyle — Amelia Brown, jr., Grandview
1-meter diving — Sarah Mann, jr., Regis Jesuit
100 yard butterfly — Sophia Frei, sr., Regis Jesuit
100 yard freestyle — Amelia Brown, jr., Grandview
500 yard freestyle — Taylor Johannsen, fr., Regis Jesuit
200 yard freestyle relay — Samantha Aguirre, Elise Kittleson, Taylor Hoffman, Taylor Johannsen, Regis Jesuit
100 yard backstroke — Sophia Frei, sr., Regis Jesuit
100 yard breaststroke — Charlotte Burnham, jr., Regis Jesuit
400 yard freestyle relay — Samantha Aguirre, Sophia Frei, Charlotte Burnham, Taylor Johannsen, Regis Jesuit
SECOND TEAM
200 yard medley relay — Caroline Payne, Paige Dailey, Rebecca Hildebrand, Keira Vail, Grandview
200 yard freestyle — Samantha Aguirre, sr., Regis Jesuit
200 yard indiv. medley — Megan Doubrava, sr., Grandview
50 yard freestyle — Jameson Young, fr., Cherokee Trail
1-meter diving — Addison Campbell, soph., Grandview
100 yard butterfly — Samantha Aguirre, sr., Regis Jesuit
100 yard freestyle — Keira Vail, jr., Grandview
500 yard freestyle — Cameryn Walkup, fr., Smoky Hill
200 yard freestyle relay — Megan Doubrava, Rebecca Hildebrand, Kya Guikema, Amelia Brown, Grandview
100 yard backstroke — Amelia Marsicek, Regis Jesuit
100 yard breaststroke — Paige Dailey, sr., Grandview
400 yard freestyle relay — Kya Guikema, Megan Doubrava, Keira Vail, Amelia Brown, Grandview
HONORABLE MENTION
Hailey-Cate Bull, jr., Grandview (1-meter diving); Megan Doubrava, sr., Grandview (500 yard freestyle); Kya Guikema, sr., Grandview (200 yard freestyle & 100 yard freestyle); Kaitlyn Hafer, jr., Grandview (100 yard breaststroke); Taylor Hoffman, soph., Regis Jesuit (100 yard freestyle); Kathryn Jewell, jr., Regis Jesuit (1-meter diving); Brynn Koehler, sr., Grandview (500 yard freestyle); Tierney Kohl, jr., Regis Jesuit (200 yard indiv. medley & 100 yard breaststroke); Maya Kriz, jr., Regis Jesuit (1-meter diving); Marian Penry, jr., Regis Jesuit (100 yard breaststroke); Lexi Stramel, fr., Regis Jesuit (200 yard freestyle & 500 yard freestyle); Keira Vail, jr., Grandview (50 yard freestyle); Morgan Walker, sr., Cherokee Trail (100 yard butterfly & 100 yard backstroke); Sarah Woren, jr., Cherokee Trail (50 yard freestyle & 100 yard freestyle)
Relays: Morgan Walker, Jameson Young, Emme Metzmaker, Mckenna Mazeski, Cherokee Trail (200 yard medley relay); Mya Noffsinger, Cameryn Walkup, Eve Niemann, Alana Behrens, Smoky Hill (200 yard medley relay); Jameson Young, Bella Lane, Mckenna Mazeski, Sarah Woren, Cherokee Trail (200 yard freestyle relay); Bella Lane, Emme Metzmaker, Sarah Woren, Morgan Walker, Cherokee Trail (400 yard freestyle relay)
