THORNTON | Smoky Hill continued a strong start to the season with a fourth-place showing Saturday at the 2013 Dick Rush Coaches Invitational.
Junior Juhan Hong placed in the top five in two events and freshman Aidan Mercer turned in a pair of top-six results for the Buffaloes, who tallied 170 points in the multi-classification meet at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center.
Smoky Hill finished behind Cherry Creek (318), Fairview (183) and Arapahoe (181.5) in a field that was minus defending champion Regis Jesuit.
With sophomores James Boone and Triston Mosby leading the way, Grandview recorded a 12th-place total of 77 points, while Cherokee Trail got a strong showing from junior Josh Bedford on its way to 21st with 25 points.
Hong came the closest among Aurora swimmers to winning a championship, but Highlands Ranch’s Nathan Mueller beat him by a fingertip for first place in the 500-yard freestyle. Mueller got his hand on the wall in 4 minutes, 36.41 seconds, just 0.13 of a second ahead of Hong, who also took fifth in the 200 freestyle.
Mercer clocked a 1:00.49 in the 100 breaststroke for his best finish — fourth-place — while he previously coming in sixth in the 100 butterfly. He also swam on the fourth-place 200 medley relay team with Austin Acree, Adithya Mohan and Mason Markle.
Freshman Devin Bellamy racked up 392.35 points to finish fifth in the diving competition, while junior Chris Hartman’s seventh-place result gave Smoky Hill a strong presence on the board.
Boone won the consolation heat of both the 100 and 200 freestyles — ninth-place — while Mosby had two top-12 results as well for the Wolves.
The Cougars scored with the 14th-place 200 medley relay team that featured Eric Daugherty, Sean Kim and Mitchell Stieg, along with Bedford, who was 14th in the 100 freestyle individually.
Smoky Hill’s Markle and Cherokee Trail’s Stieg were nominees for the annual Hoyt Brawner Award, given to the top senior swimmers/athlete.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555
2013 DICK RUSH COACHES INVITATIONAL
Team scores: 1. Cherry Creek 318 points, 2. Fairview 183, 3. Arapahoe 181.5, 4. SMOKY HILL 170, 5. Highlands Ranch 159, 6. Lewis-Palmer 127.5, 7. Littleton 120, 8. Ponderosa 112, 9. Fossil Ridge 101, 10. Castle View-Douglas Co. 98.5, 11. D’Evelyn 87, 12. GRANDVIEW 77, 13. Thompson Valley 75, 14. Estes Park 64, 15. Monarch 59, 16. Standley Lake 50, 17. Chatfield 45, 18. Fort Collins 40, 19. Greeley West 39, 20. Rampart 28, 21. CHEROKEE TRAIL 25, 22. Windsor 23, 23. Heritage 22, T24. Columbine 19, T24. Poudre 19, 26. Ralston Valley 14.5, 27. Broomfield 14, 28. Lakewood 13, T29. Northridge 12, T29. Denver East 12, 31. Rocky Mountain 4
Aurora placers: 200-yard medley relay — 4. Smoky Hill (Austin Acree, Aidan Mercer, Adithya Mohan, Mason Markle), 1 minute, 40.69 seconds; 14. Cherokee Trail (Eric Daugherty, Josh Bedford, Mitchell Stieg, Sean Kim), 1:46.92; 200-yard freestyle: 5. Juhan Hong (Smoky Hill), 1:44.29; 9. James Boone (Grandview), 1:48.73; 50-yard freestyle: 12. Triston Mosby (Grandview), 22.45; 1-meter diving: 5. Devin Bellamy (Smoky Hill), 392.35 points; 7. Chris Hartman (Smoky Hill), 374.15; 100-yard butterfly: 6. Aidan Mercer (Smoky Hill), 54.46; 100-yard freestyle: 9. James Boone (Grandview), 48.69; 11. Triston Mosby (Grandview), 49.40; 14. Josh Bedford (Cherokee Trail), 49.83; 500-yard freestyle: 2. Juhan Hong (Smoky Hill), 4:36.54; 200-yard freestyle relay: 5. Smoky Hill (Alex Kohlman, Austin Acree, Mason Markle, Juhan Hong), 1:30.74; 6. Grandview (Alex Turner, Triston Mosby, John Wright, James Boone), 1:31.90; 100-yard backstroke: 15. Austin Acree (Smoky Hill), 59.16; 100-yard breaststroke: 4. Aidan Mercer (Smoky Hill), 1:00.49; 6. Josh Bedford (Cherokee Trail), 1:00.74; 10. Mason Markle (Smoky Hill), 1:03.01; 400-yard freestyle relay: 8. Grandview (James Boone, Triston Mosby, Robin Kuebler, Alex Turner), 3:22.60; 9. Smoky Hill (Juhan Hong, Derek Liu, Alex Kohlman, Aidan Mercer), 3:22.52; 16. Cherokee Trail (Jay McBeth, Sean Kim, Mitchell Stieg, Josh Bedford), 3:37.14
Full results, here.
