THORNTON | The Regis Jesuit boys swim team had a smaller contingent than usual at this season’s Class 5A state swim meet, but it was still plenty mighty.
Coach Nick Frasersmith had just 12 individual qualifiers for the May 8-9 meet at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center, however the points came plentifully for the Raiders.
Shut out in the chase for individual state titles last season, Regis Jesuit made up for it with four — three of which involved sophomore Treyvn Krauss — en route to a runner-up result.
Powerhouse Cherry Creek piled up 388.5 points, while Regis Jesuit comfortably took the runner-up spot for a second straight season with 338.5. Joining the Raiders in the top 10 among Aurora area programs were Grandview (eighth place with 163 points) and Smoky Hill (10th place with 134.5), while Cherokee Trail’s 104.5 put it 15th in a field of 30 scoring teams.
— Final team scores and individual Class 5A boys state swim meet results, here
Krauss dominated the distance freestyle events at the meet, as he won the 200 freestyle by a second and a half (with a time of 1 minute, 37.72 second) and had an even wider margin in the 500 freestyle (five-plus seconds, as he touched the wall in 4:26.98).
To cap the meet, Krauss teamed with fellow sophomore Spencer Greene, junior Nathaniel Spencer and senior Nolan Kohl in a big win in the 400 freestyle relay.
Greene got a state title of his own, as he ruled the 100 yard butterfly.
Aurora’s other area programs didn’t have any state champions, but had several close calls between them.
Grandview — which graduated a pair of two-event state champions from last season’s team in Oliver Schimberg and Gherman Prudnikau — got off to a quality start with the performance of junior Hunter Bull in the 1-meter diving competition.
Bull, the area’s only state qualifier, finished in sixth place (up from 14th last season) to get the ball rolling.
In the last season under outgoing coach Dan Berve, the Wolves continued the momentum with a third-place finish from the 200 yard medley relay of seniors Mason Shutter, Caleb Nelson, Christian Burgeson plus junior Greyson Connett.
Connett — who transferred to the program from Regis Jesuit — helped accumulate significant points for Grandview. His first individual event produced a third place finish in the 100 butterfly, while he finished as the state runner-up in the 100 backstroke.
Schimberg had won the backstroke in the past three seasons and Connett had a chance to continue the program’s streak of dominance in the event, but Valor Christian’s Josh Heydt beat him to the wall by nearly a full second.
Berve relished the meet given how many of his swimmers — especially seniors such as Shutter, Nelson and Burgeson — scored for the first time after appearing at state several times. Shutter, in fact, won the consolation heat of the 100 breaststroke and also scored in the 200 individual medley.
Coach Scott Cohen’s Smoky Hill team got some particularly outstanding performances from young swimmers in sophomores Cooper Walkup and Marshall Adams, who made two championship event finals apiece and keyed the 400 freestyle relay, which finished in fifth place.
Walkup won two events at the Centennial “A” League Championships as a precursor and followed that up with two outstanding individual performances at the state meet. He finished in a tie for second place in the 200 yard individual medley with another Aurora area competitor in Cherokee Trail senior Tyson Walker, while he also secured seventh place in the 100 freestyle.
Adams, meanwhile, had his best showing in the 100 breaststroke with a fifth place result, while he also finished ninth in the 200 freestyle. To cap the meet, the duo teamed with freshman Ethan Abele and junior Carl Johnson to place fifth.
Cherokee Trail remains in search of the program’s first all-time state champion and had hoped the Walker could be the one to break the seal. The Centennial League’s Swimmer of the Year gave it his best effort, but came up just short.
In addition to his tie with Walkup for second in the 200 IM — a full two seconds behind Columbine’s Joey Sudermann — Walker was by himself as the runner-up of the 100 breaststroke, which was won by Cherry Creek’s Kian Lihalaka, who did not swim the vent the previous week at the league meet.
Junior Anderson Hardin boosted the Cougars’ coffers with a fifth-place result in the 50 freestyle plus an eighth in the 100.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
