It was the year of the relay in Aurora, as five different teams from three different programs — Regis Jesuit, Grandview and Smoky Hill — were among the fastest in the country on the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association’s (NISCA) All-American list for the 2022-23 boys swimming season.
Regis Jesuit, which secured a back-to-back Class 5A state championship, had no individuals make the All-American list for NISCA — which annually honors the top 100 verified performances in each event from across the country — but all three of its relay teams earned the prestigious distinction.
Smoky Hill had one relay performance that was All=American caliber in addition to a pair of individual accolades for junior Daniel Yi and sophomore Ian Noffsinger, while Grandview sophomore state champion Oliver Schimberg and one of the Wolves’ relay teams also
All three Aurora programs were recognized as All-Americans in the 200 yard medley relay — which saw a whopping nine Colorado teams finish in the top 100 — which was led by the Grandview team of seniors Matthew Scicchitano and William Schimberg, junior Evan Higgins and Oliver Schimberg. The Wolves’ top time of 1 minute, 32.53 seconds, made them the 46th-fastest outfit in the country.
Next came Smoky Hill’s team of seniors Antonio Goris and Nicholas Gordon and juniors Yi and Benjamin Brewer, whose time of 1:33.50 put it 92nd, just in front of the 93rd-fastest mark of 1:33.52 turned in by Regis Jesuit seniors Charlie Klein, Carter Anderson and Harry Kerscher plus sophomore Hugh Boris.
Regis Jesuit’s 5A state championship-winning 200 freestyle relay team of seniors Anderson, Hawkins Wendt (Seattle University), Ronan Krauss (Georgetown University) and Truman Inglis (water polo, Chapman University) cracked the top 20 nationally. The Raiders’ time of 1:23.19 put them 19th.
Wendt, Krauss, Inglis and Klein swam a 3:05.45 in the 400 freestyle relay that put them in 47th place in the country.
Schimberg became Grandview’s second all-time 5A state champion when he won the 100 yard backstroke and he achieved All-American honors in the event to boot. Schimberg’s submitted time of 48.76 seconds for coach Dan Berve’s Wolves put him 36th in the country.
Yi came up short of winning an individual state championship, but he was an All-American in both of the events he swam at the 5A state meet for coach Scott Cohen’s Smoky Hill team. Yi swam a time of 54.74 in his specialty, the 100 yard breaststroke, that ranked him 31st in the country, while his 1:49.83 in the 200 yard individual medley put him 67th.
Smoky Hill sophomore Ian Noffsinger, who placed third in the 500 yard freestyle at the 5A state meet, tied for 100th in the country in the event with a 4:31.76.
All of the local All-Americans appear heavily on the 2022-23 Sentinel Colorado All-Aurora Boys Swim Team.
Outside of the Regis Jesuit, Grandview and Smoky Hill contingent, swimmers and relay teams from Cherry Creek, Discovery Canyon, Columbine, Wheat Ridge, Heritage, Chatfield, Highlands Ranch, Windsor, Arvada West, Monarch and Fairview earned All-American honors.
Columbine’s Chase Mueller had the most impressive season of any Colorado boys prep swimmer as he earned All-American honors in the 100, 200 and 500 yard freestyles, the 200 IM, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, while he swam on the Rebels All-American 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.
All-American diving and Academic All-American lists will be released by NISCA in the near future.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2022-23 COLORADO BOYS SWIMMING NISCA ALL-AMERICANS
200 yard medley relay — 9. Cherry Creek (Zach Reese, Trevor Boodt, Brodie Johnson, Jason Fan), 1 minute, 30.38 seconds; 28. Chatfield (Korey Tiell, Joshua Corn, Luke Slankard, Tristen Davin), 1:31.76; 33. Discovery Canyon (Taylor Wagner, Avery Tresemer, Adam Pannell, Gavin Sheyda), 1:32.00; 34. Columbine (Chase Mueller, Tobin Uhl, Joey Sudermann, Casey Jacobs), 1:32.02; 46. GRANDVIEW (Oliver Schimberg, Matthew Scicchitano, William Schimberg, Evan Higgins), 1:32.53; 73. Wheat Ridge (Joaquin Contreras-Fallico, Gutherie DeForrest, Andy Peterson, Chase Kroll), 1:33.20; 88. Heritage (Jacob Maestas, Patrick Deevy, Mitchell Oliver, Garrett Gurley), 1:33.43; 92. SMOKY HILL (Benjamin Brewer, Daniel Yi, Nicholas Gordon, Antonio Goris), 1:33.50; T93. REGIS JESUIT (Charlie Klein, Hugh Boris, Carter Anderson, Harry Kerscher), 1:33.52
200 yard freestyle — 4. Chase Mueller (Columbine), 1 minute, 34.76 seconds; 19. Colin Mikulecky (Cherry Creek), 1:37.34; T30. Tristen Davin (Chatfield), 1:37.86; 74. Adam Pannell (Discovery Canyon), 1:38.94; 87. Gavin Sheyda (Discovery Canyon), 1:39.21; 96. Mason Kajfosz (Highlands Ranch), 1:39.45
200 yard individual medley — 8. Jack Eccleston (Windsor), 1 minute, 45.97 seconds; 19. Chase Mueller (Columbine), 1:47.17; T40. Drew Ravegum (Arvada West), 1:48.74; T53. Mason Kajfosz (Highlands Ranch), 1:49.28; 67. DANIEL YI (SMOKY HILL), 1:49.83
100 yard butterfly — T49. Brodie Johnson (Cherry Creek), 48.51 seconds; T59. Adam Pannell (Discovery Canyon), 48.72; 80. Andy Peterson (Wheat Ridge), 49.05; T94. Chase Mueller (Columbine), 49.30
100 yard freestyle — T38. Colin Mikulecky (Cherry Creek). 44.66 seconds
500 yard freestyle — 2. Chase Mueller (Columbine), 4 minutes, 16.30 seconds; 18. Gavin Sheyda (Discovery Canyon), 4:24.77; 34. Taylor Wagner (Discovery Canyon), 4:27.06; 89. Vladislav Kazakin (Highlands Ranch), 4:30.94; T100. IAN NOFFSINGER (SMOKY HILL), 4:31.76
200 yard freestyle relay — 19. REGIS JESUIT (Hawkins Wendt, Carter Anderson, Ronan Krauss, Truman Inglis), 1 minute, 23.19 seconds; 34. Monarch (Charlie Zuhoski, Luke Corson, Gavin Keogh, Ethan DiFronzo), 1:23.94; 51. Cherry Creek (Jason Fan, Carson Morris, Jamie Crawford, Colin Mikulecky), 1:24.43; T57. Legacy (Thomas Nguyen, Alex Zou, Sam White, Tegan Barrier), 1:24.58; T84. Columbine (Bayden Todd, Tobin Uhl, Joey Sudermann, Casey Jacobs), 1:25.27
100 yard backstroke — 31. Chase Mueller (Columbine), 48.58 seconds; T33. Joaquin Contreras-Fallico (Wheat Ridge), 48.63; 36. OLIVER SCHIMBERG (GRANDVIEW), 48.76; 58. Andy Peterson (Wheat Ridge), 49.21
100 yard breaststroke — 7. Joshua Corn (Chatfield), 53.61 seconds; 12. Jake Eccleston (Windsor), 53.96; 31. DANIEL YI (SMOKY HILL), 54.74; T40. Mitchell Oliver (Heritage), 55.00; T58. Trevor Boodt (Cherry Creek), 55.29
400 yard freestyle relay — T31. Monarch (JC Holmes, Charlie Zuhoski, Gavin Keogh, Ethan DiFronzo), 3:04.48; 37. Cherry Creek (Jamie Crawford, Brodie Johnson, Zach Reese, Colin Mikulecky, 3:04.82; 47. REGIS JESUIT (Hawkins Wendt, Ronan Krauss, Charlie Klein, Truman Inglis), 3:05.45; 63. Fairview (Wesley Schlachter, Layton Salman, Soren Koschmann, James Kershaw), 3:06.38; 67. Columbine (Bayden Todd, Carter Bradley, Ryan Tyner, Chase Mueller)), 3:06.57; 72. Discovery Canyon (Tayler Wagner, Avery Tresemer, Adam Pannell, Gavin Sheyda), 3:06.74
