THORNTON | The Coaches Invitational is early enough in the boys swim season where not a lot can be drawn from the results, especially with a mix of teams from multiple classifications and some incomplete lineups.
That being said, any meets are welcomed in a slow start of competition in the spring season.
With only a couple of dual meets under their belts, Aurora teams fared well in competition Saturday at the Veteran’s Memorial Aquatic Center, as locals claimed three of the top four spots (and four of the top nine) in the Class 5A standings.
Leading the way was coach Nick Frasersmith’s Regis Jesuit team, the two-time defending 5A state champion, which won two relay events and accrued 874 points to finish in front of rival Cherry Creek, which had 727.5.
“At this point, it’s good to see where our kids are,” Frasersmith said. “Some swam off events, but they all raced and did a good job. I’m walking out of here pretty happy and impressed with what they did.”
In more quality local showings, Smoky Hill piled up 613.5 points for third — and featured the Hoyt Brawner Award winner in senior Daniel Yi — along with Cherokee Trail, which was fourth with 464. Grandview finished with 278 points to take ninth.
The diving portion of the meet — which saw 28 teams earn points — got canceled on Friday due to the conditions from the large snowstorm that hit the state, but Saturday went on as scheduled with morning prelims and afternoon finals.
Regis Jesuit had particular success in the relay events and won the meet’s bookend races, the 200 yard medley relay to start and the 400 freestyle relay to finish. Senior Hennig Colsman and sophomore Nolan Kohl were part of both relay victories, while senior Owen Mulligan and junior Hugh Boris were part of the medley victory and senior Chief Greene-Cockriel and junior Reid Magner rounded out the 400 freestyle relay team.
In between, Boris finished as the 100 breaststroke runner-up and was third in the 200 IM, while Greene-Cockriel and Magner had a pair of top-five finishes and Colsman and Mulligan were in the top-six in two individual events. Kohl was the 100 backstroke runner-up and freshman Nathaniel Spencer claimed fourth in the 500 freestyle among numerous highlights for the Raiders.
“We have some things to put together as far as relays, but we’ll get that figured out,” Frasersmith said. “The way kids stepped up and dropping time from the morning to the afternoon was really good to see as well. They don’t have to worry about the rest of the season, they can just get excited.”
Smoky Hill’s event victory came in the 500 yard freestyle from junior Ian Noffsinger, who surged late to take the race with a time of 4 minutes, 42.89 seconds. Noffsinger was pumped about the result in his first time at the meet.
“It was cool to be at Coaches finally since I’ve gone to sectionals since freshman year,” said Noffsinger, who also placed third in the 200 freestyle.
“I was really excited to take in the atmosphere and I’m really happy I could cap it off with a win in the 500 free. …I’m only a second behind where I was last year, so I think I’m in a pretty good spot to do some big things at state.”
Coach Scott Cohen’s Buffaloes — who had nearly their entire team in the competition, while it is usually missing key members to sectional meets — were fifth in two relays and eighth in the other.
Seniors Yi and Jake Baker joined Noffsinger with two top-five finishes, while seniors Landon Brewer and Patrick Adams made two championship finals individually for Smoky Hill, which moved up from a seventh-place finish in 2023.
“I thought we had a great morning and then kindof just hung on at night,” Cohen said. “I feel like a couple of days of no swimming at all (due to school closure) kindof cost us a little at night, but for the most part we swam well. We had a bigger group of kids than usual, when this meet was at the same time as a big club meet, so it was nice to be together.”
Cherokee Trail had an event champion as well in junior Bronson Smothers, who captured the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.98 seconds. Smothers was second in the 100 freestyle and coach Kevin Chatham’s Cougars had an event runner-up in sophomore Tyson Walker in the 200 individual medley.
Smothers, Walker plus senior Hugh Mullen and junior Jacob Mueller were a second behind Regis Jesuit in second place in the 400 freestyle relay. It was a massive improvement for Cherokee Trail, which finished 11th at the meet a year ago.
Grandview had a runner-up finish in the 100 freestyle from senior Evan Higgins (who was also fifth in the 100 backstroke), while junior Oliver Schimberg — a 5A state champion last year — swam off events and finished seventh in the 50 freestyle, while he was the fastest swimmer in the prelims of the 100 freestyle before he scratched out of the final.
Coach Dan Berve’s Wolves were top-eight in two relays, while they missed out on points in the 200 freestyle relay due to a DQ.
“We had a lot of really great swims today for guys that made it to state at A Leagues and now we’re already at that point already, so I think there’s a lot of positives we can draw from that,” Berve said. “This is also a really tough day because it’s the only day of the season where they have this many races in one day. There’s an energy and intensity that’s hard to match every time you get behind the blocks and I think that maybe some of our guys can improve on.”
Senior Alex Czyzowicz accounted for the 14 points for Overland, as he made the second consolation heat in the 200 yard individual medley and 100 breaststroke.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 COACHES INVITATIONAL BOYS SWIM MEET
March 16 at VMAC)
Class 5A team scores: 1. REGIS JESUIT 874 points; 2. Cherry Creek 727.5; 3. SMOKY HILL 613.5; 4. CHEROKEE TRAIL 464; 5. Ponderosa 362; 6. Highlands Ranch 350; 7. Heritage 340.5; 8. Douglas County 306.5; 9. GRANDVIEW 278; 10. Legacy 248; 11. Fairview 244; 12. Valor Christian 214; 13. Monarch 190.5; 14. Arapahoe 164; 15. Greeley West 151; 16. Denver East 120; 20. Horizon 112; 21. Brighton 106.5; 22. Chatfield 26; 23. OVERLAND 14
Class 4A team scores: 1. Broomfield 190 points; 2. Windsor 124.5; 3. Northfield 116; 4. George Washington 80; 5. Thomas Jefferson 57.5; 6. Mountain View 28; 7. Wheat Ridge 19; 8. D’Evelyn 16
Event champions: 200 yard medley relay — 1. REGIS JESUIT (Nolan Kohl, Hugh Boris, Owen Mulligan, Hennig Colsman), 1 minute, 34.43 seconds; 200 yard freestyle — 1. Wesley Schlacter (Fairview), 1 minute, 42.85 seconds; 200 yard individual medley — 1. DK Nakashima (Legacy), 1 minute, 54.19 seconds; 50 yard freestyle — 1. BRONSON SMOTHERS (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 20.98 seconds; 100 yard butterfly — 1. Brodie Johnson (Cherry Creek), 50.03 seconds; 100 yard freestyle — 1. Colin Mikulecky (Cherry Creek), 46.03 seconds; 500 yard freestyle — 1. IAN NOFFSINGER (SMOKY HILL), 4 minutes, 42.89 seconds; 200 yard freestyle relay — 1. Cherry Creek, 1 minute, 26.86 seconds; 100 yard backstroke — 1. Jacob Maestas (Heritage), 51.22 seconds; 100 yard breaststroke — 1. Ryan Schnur (Northfield), 56.79 seconds; 400 yard freestyle — 1. REGIS JESUIT (Nolan Kohl, Reid Magner, Henning Colsman, Chief Greene-Cockriel), 3 minutes, 8.44 seconds
— Full championship and consolation finals results, here