AURORA | The Class 5A boys state swim meet is slated for May 18-19 at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton, with 54 individuals and 14 relay teams from six Aurora programs qualified.
Cherokee Trail, Grandview, the Hinkley-based Aurora Public Schools co-op team, Overland, Regis Jesuit and Smoky Hill will be represented at the meet, which begins with prelims at 4 p.m. Friday.
Diving prelims begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by swimming and diving finals at 3 p.m.
It is set up as a meet in which Aurora teams should collect a ton of points. In PrepSwimCo.com’s 5A rankings after the state psyche sheets came out, Regis Jesuit, Hinkley and Smoky Hill were all expected to finish in the top 11.
Coach Nick Frasersmith’s Raiders have 29 individuals and three relay teams in the mix as they try to put an end to the reign of Fossil Ridge, which has won the last three state championships and is loaded up for another run.
Regis Jesuit spent a couple of weeks in the lead in the 5A rankings, but the current projection has the SaberCats finishing with 278 points to the Raiders’ 221.
Senior Elijah Warren is the No. 1 seed in the 100 yard breaststroke as he tries to get back the title in an event he won as a sophomore and get got touched out in last season. Warren is also a contender in the 50 freestyle, while junior Will Goodwin is a No. 2 seed in both of his individual events (100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley).
The Raiders have the top-seeded 200 yard medley relay as well and freshman diver Quinn Henninger is a wild card who is capable of grabbing big points for his team with a high podium finish.
Coach Beth Himes’ APS co-op team — based out of Hinkley — has never finished higher than 14th at a state meet, but the Penguins finally have enough firepower to crack the top 10. They are projected to score 121 points and finish seventh in the 5A standings.
The Hinkley 200 medley relay team of seniors David Griffith, Nathan Leigh and Matthew Johnson and junior Will Hawley once had the No. 2 time in the state in the event, but go into state with the fourth-fastest time.
The Penguins have not scored points at the state meet with a relay in at least the last 15 years and could do it with the medley and the 200 freestyle — comprised of the same swimmers — which is seeded No. 4 as well.
Four is the magic number of Hinkley, as Griffith is seeded fourth in the 50 freestyle and Leigh holds that spot in the rankings of the 200 individual medley. The Penguins’ board strength in the form of EMAC diving champion Isaiah Cheeks and senior Byron Mayo — who has placed in each of the past two seasons — is also a major plus.
Smoky Hill is projected for an 11th-place finish as the performance of senior Tylen Phillips will be key to that. Phillips broke a 38-year-old Centennial League record in the 100 yard butterfly at the Centennial “A” League meet May 12 and is seeded third in that event along with seventh in the 100 backstroke.
Senior Jordan Scott is seeded to score in two events for the Buffaloes, who should also get points on the diving board from senior Timothy Domashevich as well as in the freestyle relays, which are both seeded in the top 10.
Grandview is fueled by junior Cobi Wood, who is a threat to be a championship finalist in both the 200 and 500 freestyles, while junior divers Noah Bishop and Antonio Vigil-Harrison also hold scoring potential.
A very young Cherokee Trail team has no seniors among its five individual qualifiers — a junior, two sophomores and two freshmen — and the Cougars have scoring potential in freshman Kadin Denner in the 500 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relay team as well.
Overland is represented by diver Phillip Wandruff.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or [email protected] Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports
2018 AURORA CLASS 5A BOYS STATE SWIM MEET QUALIFIERS
CHEROKEE TRAIL (5): Keegan Chatham, fr., 100 yard freestyle (27th) & 100 yard backstroke (44th); Kadin Denner, fr., 200 yard indiv. medley (21st) & 500 yard freestyle (17th); Logan Devereaux, soph., 200 yard indiv. medley (36th) & 50 yard freestyle (55th); Jason McMeechan, soph., 100 yard butterfly (40th) & 100 yard backstroke (30th); Matthew McNulla, jr., 100 yard butterfly (36th); Relays (3): 200 yard medley (22nd), 200 yard freestyle (20th) & 400 yard freestyle (17th)
GRANDVIEW (4): Noah Bishop, jr., diving; Ryan Lee, jr., 50 yard freestyle (58th); Antonio Vigil-Harrison, jr., diving; Cobi Wood, jr., 200 yard freestyle (9th) & 500 yard freestyle (9th); Relays (2):200 yard medley (28th) & 400 yard freestyle (24th)
HINKLEY (6): Isaiah Cheeks, sr., diving; David Griffith, sr., 50 yard freestyle (4th) & 100 yard freestyle (9th); Will Hawley, jr., 50 yard freestyle (41st) & 100 yard butterfly (13th); Matthew Johnson, sr., 50 yard freestyle (39th) & 100 yard backstroke (25th); Nathan Leigh, sr., 200 yard indiv. medley (4th) & 100 yard breaststroke (14th); Byron Mayo, sr., diving; Relays (3): 200 yard medley (4), 200 yard freestyle (4th) & 400 yard freestyle (25th)
OVERLAND: Phillip Wandruff, diving
REGIS JESUIT (29): Ben Arvenitis, soph., 50 yard freestyle (49th); Luke Baldwin, jr., 200 yard indiv. medley (41st) & 100 yard breaststroke (29th); Evan Brega, jr., diving; Spencer Burks, soph., 500 yard freestyle (46th); Will Callahan, fr., 200 yard indiv. medley (28th); Sean Carr, soph., 200 yard freestyle (35th) & 100 yard backstroke (32nd); Jack Clouatre, jr., 100 yard butterfly (30th) & 100 yard backstroke (31st); Ty Coen, sr., 100 yard butterfly (8th) & 100 yard backstroke (23rd); John Dennen, soph., 100 yard butterfly (41st) & 100 yard backstroke (42nd); Will Goodwin, jr., 200 yard indiv. medley (2nd) & 100 yard breaststroke (2nd); Jackson Gurley, soph., 200 yard freestyle (12th) & 100 yard butterfly (15th); Brooks Hauge, sr., 50 yard freestyle (28th) & 100 yard butterfly (28th); Quinn Henninger, fr., diving; Connor Hodes, jr., 200 yard freestyle (25th); Sawyer Inglis, fr., 200 yard indiv. medley (34th) & 500 yard freestyle (36th); Sam Jones, sr., 200 yard freestyle (18th) & 100 yard freestyle (16th); Will Kerscher, soph., 200 yard indiv. medley (14th) & 100 yard breaststroke (28th); Walker Kurtz, soph., 200 yard freestyle (38th) & 500 yard freestyle (37th); Connor Martin, soph., 100 yard breaststroke (49th); Chris McAninch, sr., 100 yard butterfly (42nd); Billy Mottram, jr., 100 yard breaststroke (43rd); Evan Mullen, soph., diving; Elliot Steinberg, sr., 200 yard freestyle (8th) & 500 yard freestyle (26th); Hunter Sullivan, soph., 500 yard freestyle (44th); Alex Vera, soph., 50 yard freestyle (46th) & 100 yard freestyle (30th); Elijah Warren, sr., 50 yard freestyle (2nd) & 100 yard breaststroke (1st); Gavin Will, jr., 100 yard breaststroke (31st); Jackson Will, sr., 500 yard freestyle (32nd); Sean Zoellner, jr., 100 yard butterfly (49th) & 100 yard backstroke (34th); Relays (3): 200 yard medley (1st), 200 yard freestyle (5th) & 400 yard freestyle (2nd)
SMOKY HILL (9): Carlos Almeraz, jr., 500 yard freestyle (43rd) & 100 yard breaststroke (22nd); Alexander Burkhardt, jr., 200 yard freestyle (15th) & 500 yard freestyle (24th); Timothy Domashevich, sr., diving; Garrett Iverson, jr., 200 yard freestyle (43rd) & 100 yard butterfly (24th); Tylen Phillips, sr., 100 yard butterfly (3rd) & 500 yard freestyle (7th); Patrick Piwko, jr., 100 yard breaststroke (47th); Jordan Scott, sr., 50 yard freestyle (12th) & 100 yard freestyle (8th); Logan Strid, soph., 200 yard freestyle (39th) & 500 yard freestyle (31st); Seth Wells, sr., diving; Relays (3): 200 yard medley (23rd), 200 yard freestyle (10th) & 400 yard freestyle (8th)
