AURORA | The National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association put out its list of All-American boys swimmers for the 2020-21 season Friday and Colorado — and Aurora — were heavily represented among the top talent from across the country.
Coach Nick Frasersmith’s Regis Jesuit team, which finished as the runner-up at the Class 5A state meet June 24 at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center, had all three of its relay teams earn All-American status in addition to individual honors for senior Sawyer Inglis and junior Gio Aguirre, while coach Kipp Meeks’ 12th-place Cherokee Trail squad landed a pair of relay teams on the list of All-Americans from across the country.
NISCA verified official times from all across the country and compiled its All-American lists by event with Colorado particularly well-represented in both the 200 yard medley and 400 yard freestyle relays, which each feature six teams from the state in multiple classifications.
The top 200 yard medley relay team in the entire country for the season hailed from Cherry Creek, which won the state championship in the event in 1 minute, 28.61 seconds.
The other Colorado teams in the All-American group in the event included the 38th-ranked Regis Jesuit team of senior Nick Ames, juniors Mack Dugan and Luke Dinges and sophomore Carter Anderson (who clocked a 1:32.77 to finish fourth at state) along with Cherokee Trail’s group of seniors Keegan Chatham, Kadin Denner, Tim Yoon and sophomore Andrew Wilson, who checked in 82nd with a 1:33.95 that was good for fifth at state.
Regis Jesuit’s 400 freestyle relay team of Inglis, Aguirre, Dinges and sophomore Ronan Krauss ranked as the 27th-fastest in the country, though its 3:04.29 did not come in state championship. Chatham, Denner, Yoon and junior Tucker Meeks snuck onto the All-American list in 99th place with the 3:08.28 at state that landed them sixth place at state.
Inglis added his individual All-American honors in the 200 and 500 freestyle events, though neither of his qualifying times was achieved at the state meet. The Southern Methodist University signee ranked 55th in the 200 freestyle with a 1:39.37 and 65th in the 500 with a 4:31.14. Inglis was a touch slower in both events at the state meet, where he finished as the 500 freestyle runner-up and was fifth in the 200.
Aguirre won the state championship in the 100 yard freestyle, but his winning time of 45.56 seconds wasn’t the one recorded on the All-American list. He swam 45.46 earlier and that was good enough to rank him 92nd in the country.
Inglis and Aguirre teamed with Dugan and Anderson on a 200 yard freestyle relay team that swam a time of 1:23.73 at the state meet that ranked third-best in 5A and 25th-best in the country.
In addition to their two-time All-American status in the pool, Chatham (a Binghamton University signee), the Cal State, Bakersfield-bound Denner and Yoon received Academic All-American honors from NISCA on the same day, denoting seniors who had achieved a 3.75 or higher GPA and had filled out the application for the honor (story).
Arapahoe, Broomfield, Cherry Creek, Columbine, Fort Collins, Fossil Ridge, Heritage, Rocky Mountain and Valor Christian were also represented on NISCA’s All-American lists.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2020-21 COLORADO BOYS SWIMMING NISCA ALL-AMERICANS
200 yard medley relay: 1. Cherry Creek (Cade Martin, Henry Batson, Will Dravenstott, Bryce Ortanes), 1 minute, 28.61 seconds; 6. Heritage (Garrett Gurley, Mitchell Oliver, Alex McMahon, Sebastian Wolff), 1:30.42; T12. Columbine (Chase Mueller, Henry Mueller, Hunter Foehner, Eric Hart), 1:31.17; T38. REGIS JESUIT (Luke Dinges, Nick Ames, Carter Anderson, Mack Dugan), 1:32.77; 82. CHEROKEE TRAIL (Keegan Chatham, Kadin Denner, Tim Yoon, Andrew Wilson), 1:33.95; 98. Broomfield (Sam White, Max Kulbida, Kyle Raskay, Jack Tran), 1:34.18
200 yard freestyle: 14. Fletcher Hayes (Arapahoe), 1 minute, 37.16 seconds; 35. Jack Ballard (Fort Collins), 1:38.62; 46. Tristen Davin (Chatfield), 1:38.97; 54. Henry Mueller (Columbine), 1:39.29; 55. SAWYER INGLIS (REGIS JESUIT), 1:39.37; 75. Owen Watkins (Fossil Ridge), 1:39.83
200 yard individual medley: 4. Sebastian Wolff (Heritage), 1 minute, 46.11 seconds; 54. Henry Batson (Cherry Creek), 1:50.25; 57. Chase Mueller (Columbine), 1:50.46; 71. Johnny Walgast (Rocky Mountain), 1:51.05
50 yard freestyle: 10. Alex McMahon (Heritage), 19.82 seconds; T15. Bryce Ortanes (Cherry Creek), 19.96
100 yard butterfly: 7. Alex McMahon (Heritage), 47.57 seconds; T23. Hunter Foehner (Columbine), 48.35; 75. Carter Ruthven (Fossil Ridge), 49.29; T92. Gavin Rogers (Valor Christian), 49.58
100 yard freestyle: 3. Alex McMahon (Heritage), 43.38 seconds; 92. GIO AGUIRRE (REGIS JESUIT), 45.46; T100. Hunter Foehner (Columbine), 45.52
500 yard freestyle: 21. Fletcher Hayes (Arapahoe), 4 minute, 27.50 seconds; 65. SAWYER INGLIS (REGIS JESUIT), 4:31.14
200 yard freestyle relay: 5. Cherry Creek (Bryce Ortanes, Henry Batson, Blake Jorgens, Nikolas Silolahti), 1 minute, 22.5 seconds; T15. Columbine (Chase Mueller, Henry Mueller, Hunter Foehner, Ryan Tyner), 1:23.15; 25. REGIS JESUIT (Mack Dugan, Carter Anderson, Sawyer Inglis, Gio Aguirre), 1:23.73; 71. Rocky Mountain (Connor Lofstrom, Matthew Gramlich, Johnny Walgast, Jake Rowe), 1:25.08
100 yard backstroke: 10. Chase Mueller (Columbine), 47.90 seconds; T33. Cade Martin (Cherry Creek), 49.15; T45. Fletcher Hayes (Arapahoe), 49.29; 48. Bryce Ortanes (Cherry Creek), 49.33; T61. Alex McMahon (Heritage), 49.62
100 yard breaststroke: T24. Sebastian Wolff (Heritage), 54.79 seconds; 46. Mitchell Oliver (Heritage), 55.61; 56. Henry Batson (Cherry Creek), 55.82
400 yard freestyle relay: 4. Columbine (Chase Mueller, Henry Mueller, Hunter Foehner, Eric Hart), 2 minutes, 59.96 seconds; 6. Heritage (Alex McMahon, Mitchell Oliver, Garrett Gurley, Sebastian Wolff), 3:00.59; 17. Cherry Creek (Jack Schuster, Blake Jorgens, Will Dravenstott, Nikolas Silolahti), 3:03.61; 27. REGIS JESUIT (Luke Dinges, Ronan Krauss, Sawyer Inglis, Gio Aguirre), 3:04.29; 41. Broomfield (Sam White, Tegan Barrier, Aidan Shepston, Kyle Raskay), 3:05.32; 99. CHEROKEE TRAIL (Tim Yoon, Tucker Meeks, Kadin Denner, Keegan Chatham), 3:08.28