Boys Swimming: Coaches Invite foretells big swim season in Aurora

If the annual Dick Rush Coaches Invitational is any indication — and it very regularly is — Aurora is in for a fantastic end to the 2014 boys swim season.

Though not all teams were presented at the annual multi-classification meet held March 22, the city’s talent went on full display in the same Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center pool where the Class 5A state meet is scheduled for May 16-17.

The Regis Jesuit juggernaut hasn’t missed a beat in its first season under Nick Frasersmith — a longtime assistant who took over when Mike Doherty stepped down after 32 years — as the Raiders racked up 301 points to finish well in front of the 26 other 5A entries in the field.

The Raiders missed the meet last season because it fell on Holy Saturday — the day before Easter — and school rules kept them from swimming, but with the meet a week earlier this year, they were in the water.

Frasersmith had a total of 33 individuals compete and saw his team swim through rampant illness and a tough time in training to qualify 13 different individuals for championship or consolation finals and finish 112 points in front of runner-up Lewis-Palmer.

“This showed us where we are in our training and it was a great opportunity to see what all the other schools have,” said Frasersmith, who is aiming to lead Regis Jesuit to its 18th 5A state championship in 19 seasons.

“There are some fast swimmers out there, so there will be plenty of competition for us,” he added.

The Raiders have plenty of fast swimmers, including senior Hennessey, who won the 100 yard backstroke and teamed with brother Quinlan, Chris Morales and Will Pieseski on the victorious 200 yard medley relay.

Stuart — who was named winner of the annual Hoyt Brawner Award for the top senior swimmer/scholar during the meet — likes what he sees from his team.

“Our energy in practice is really cool now; we’re all motivated for our goals at the end of the season, every single one of us,” he said. “We definitely need some seniors and juniors to step up, especially with the class that graduated last year.”

If anybody has the swimmers to step up, it’s Regis Jesuit, which has a slew of Division I signees in Stuart (North Carolina State), diver Matt Mauser and distance freestyler Chris Dawson (Iowa), Austin Phillips (Utah) and Bruce Nerheim (North Dakota), plus a returning two-time state champion in junior diver Kyle Goodwin.

Three other Aurora teams joined the Raiders in the top seven of the 5A standings — all from the Centennial League — as Smoky Hill, Grandview and Cherokee Trail finished 5-6-7.

Coach Scott Cohen’s Buffaloes had a fantastic meet, coming away with 20 state qualifying times and saw senior Juhan Hong and junior Alex Kohlman make two event championship finals apiece as well as two relays qualify for championship finals.

Hong handily won the 500 freestyle and cemented himself as a major contender for the state championship in the event to cap a season in which his goal is to have as much fun as possible.

“State is going to be so much fun and we’re going to have a huge team,” said Hong, who like many is excited the state meet will be in the fast VMAC pool.

With sophomore Aidan Mercer sidelined potentialyl for his entire sophomore season after undergoing elbow surgery — following a freshman season in which he played in two events at state, including a fourth in the 100 breaststroke — Cohen has back a pair of state placers in Hong and senior diver Chris Hartman, who finished eighth a year ago.

Seniors Derek Liu — a finalist for the Hoyt Brawner award — Evan Dorrough and Adithya Mohan, juniors Kohlman, Nathan Hoskins and Alex Moulton and sophomores Ethan Evans and Devin Bellamy, a diver, give Cohen the largest group of returning state qualifiers (12) that he’s ever had in nearly two decades at Smoky Hill and definite top-five potential.

Just two points behind Smoky Hill at Coaches Invite was Grandview, keyed by a 200 yard freestyle victory from senior Triston Mosby, two third-places from junior James Boone and a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay.

Mosby and Boone both scored in two individual events at state a year ago and appear primed for many more this season, while keying some strong relay groups. Sophomore Robin Kuebler and junior Alex Turner — both individual state qualifiers last season — swam on the 200 free relay at the Coaches Invite.

Coach Kevin Sullivan’s Cherokee Trail team has taken a major step forward, pushed by outstanding seniors Josh Bedford and TJ Konde — who each posted a third-place individual finish at the Coaches Invite — plus more experience and depth than its ever had.

Both Bedford and Konde are returning state placers, as is sophomore diver Eric Lammon, while senior Sean Kim and juniors Eric Daugherty and Jacob Salinas and diver Triston Nation swam at state as well last season.