AURORA | The Smoky Hill boys swim team is now a back-to-back champion of its own invitational after a strong performance in its home pool Saturday evening.
Coach Scott Cohen’s Buffaloes had a pair of two-event winners in seniors Daniel Yi and Landon Brewer and capped the meet with a victory in the 400 yard freestyle relay to finish with 866 points, well in front of second-place Heritage (693) and third-place Ponderosa (526).
Cherokee Trail — which swam in the Smoky Hill pool two times in three days, including a Thursday dual — scored 352 points for a sixth-place finish. Coach Kevin Chatham’s Cougars were 13th at the meet in 2023.
Both Yi and Brewer were repeat champions in events, as Yi won his second straight meet title in the 200 yard individual medley, while Brewer repeated as the 100 freestyle winner.
They both also added new titles, as Brewer captured the 50 freestyle and Yi picked up the 100 breaststroke crown after a 2023 season in which he finished second behind event state champion and state recordholder Joshua Corn of Chatfield.
To conclude the meet, Yi anchored a team that included fellow seniors Kyle Brushaber and Jake Baker and junior Ian Noffsinger in the 400 freestyle relay, which cruised to victory with a time of 3:13.41.
The only Smoky Hill Invitational meet record that was established came in the opening event of the finals, when the Columbine team of Carter Bradley, Tobin Uhl, Joey Sudermann and Bayden Todd touched the wall in 1:33.61 to knock Smoky Hill’s time of 1:35.05 from last season off the top spot. The Buffaloes themselves also surpassed that time from last season, as the all-senior crew of Landon and Benjamin Brewer, Yi and Patrick Adams swam 1:34.87.
Cherokee Trail swam the finals without standout juniors Bronson Smothers and Jacob Mueller and sophomore Tyson Walker, got its top individual finish from senior Hugh Mullen in the 50 freestyle. Mullen finished third in the event — which saw Smothers post the top time in prelims, but not swim the finals — and fourth in the 100 freestyle.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 SMOKY HILL INVITATIONAL BOYS SWIM MEET
April 13 at Smoky Hill High School
Team scores: 1. SMOKY HILL 866 points; 2. Heritage 693; 3. Ponderosa 526; 4. Columbine 480; 5. Mullen 374; 6. CHEROKEE TRAIL 352; 7. George Washington 311; 8. Valor Christian 282; 9. Douglas County 257; 10. SMOKY HILL RED 247; 11. D’Evelyn 234; 12. Denver East 135; 13. SMOKY HILL GREEN 120; 14. Chatfield 119
Event winners: 200 yard medley relay — 1. Columbine, 1 minute, 33.61 seconds (meet record, previous 1:35.05 by Smoky Hill in 2023) (5ASQT); 200 yard freestyle — 1. Carter Bradley (Columbine), 1 minute, 41.67 seconds (5ASQT); 200 yard individual medley — 1. DANIEL YI (SMOKY HILL), 1 minute, 52.95 seconds (5ASQT); 50 yard freestyle — 1. LANDON BREWER (SMOKY HILL), 21.68 seconds (5ASQT); 1-meter diving — 1. Alex Robertson (Ponderosa), 524.45 points (5ASQT); 100 yard butterfly — 1. Henry Montgomery (Mullen), 50.32 seconds (5ASQT); 100 yard freestyle — 1. LANDON BREWER (SMOKY HILL), 47.21 seconds (5ASQT); 500 yard freestyle — 1. Carter Bradley (Columbine), 4 minutes, 40.52 seconds (5ASQT); 200 yard freestyle relay — 1. Columbine, 1 minute, 26.95 seconds (5ASQT); 100 yard backstroke — 1. Jacob Maestas (Heritage), 51.04 seconds (5ASQT); 100 yard breaststroke — 1. DANIEL YI (SMOKY HILL), 55.44 seconds (5ASQT); 400 yard freestyle relay — 1. SMOKY HILL (Kyle Brushaber, Ian Noffsinger, Jake Baker, Daniel Yi), 3 minutes, 13.41 seconds (5ASQT)
