AURORA | When he first became head coach of the Smoky Hill boys swim team, Scott Cohen found winning Centennial “A” League championships not much of a challenge.
Three of his first four seasons since taking the helm of the Buffaloes resulted in league titles, but that came back in the late 1990s. Since the last one — which came in 1999 — Cherry Creek had taken the last 24 league titles, however.
With this season’s meet shifting from Arapahoe to their home pool and Smoky Hill fielding a senior-led collection of talent they haven’t had in quite some, the Buffaloes loaded up for a run at winning the league title, which they did with a whopping 964 points to finish well in front of runner-up Grandview (806) and Cherry Creek (770.5).
The all-senior 200 yard medley relay team of Benjamin Brewer, Daniel Yi, Patrick Adams and Landon Brewer got the meet started with a championship victory, Landon Brewer added a 50 yard freestyle title and a 1-2-3 performance from junior Ian Noffsinger and seniors Jake Baker and Kyle Brushaber gave Smoky Hill the push it needed.
The icing on the cake came in the 100 breaststroke, when Yi clocked a time of 55.15 seconds to set the league record in his final meet in his home pool. He surpassed the 55.44 recorded by Cherry Creek’s Trevor Boodt in a touchout win over him in 2023.
Smoky Hill was the league runner-up last season.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 CENTENNIAL “A” LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS BOYS SWIMMING
May 4 at Smoky Hill High School
Team scores: 1. SMOKY HILL 964 points; 2. GRANDVIEW 806; 3. Cherry Creek 770.5; 4. CHEROKEE TRAIL 658; 5. Arapahoe 572.5; 6. Mullen 487; 7. OVERLAND 166
Event champions: 200 yard medley relay — 1. SMOKY HILL (Benjamin Brewer, Daniel Yi, Patrick Adams, Landon Brewer), 1 minute, 33.36 seconds; 200 yard freestyle — 1. BRONSON SMOTHERS (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 1 minute, 43.71 seconds; 200 yard individual medley — 1. OLIVER SCHIMBERG (GRANDVIEW), 1 minute, 50.44 seconds (league record, previous 1:51.76 by Daniel Yi in 2023); 50 yard freestyle — 1. LANDON BREWER (SMOKY HILL), 21.31 seconds; 1-meter diving — 1. Luke Ogren (Cherry Creek), 571.10 points; 100 yard butterfly — 1. Henry Montgomery (Mullen), 51.11 seconds; 100 yard freestyle — 1. OLIVER SCHIMBERG (GRANDVIEW), 46.47 seconds; 500 yard freestyle — 1. IAN NOFFSINGER (SMOKY HILL), 4 minutes, 44.57 seconds; 200 yard freestyle relay — 1. GRANDVIEW (Oliver Schimberg, Evan Linnebur, Christian Burgeson, Evan Higgins), 1 minute, 25.80 seconds (pool record, previous 1:25.98 by Cherokee Trail in 2024 prelims); 100 yard backstroke — 1. Noah Mooney (Mullen), 52.62 seconds; 100 yard breaststroke — 1. DANIEL YI (SMOKY HILL), 55.15 seconds (league record, previous 55.44 by Cherry Creek’s Trevor Boodt in 2023); 400 yard freestyle relay — 1. Cherry Creek, 3 minutes, 10.08 seconds