The 2021 Sentinel Colorado All-Aurora Boys Swim Team — determined by results from the Class 5A boys state swim meet — is made up largely of swimmers & a diver who helped Regis Jesuit to a 5A runner-up finish in addition to individuals from Cherokee Trail and Smoky Hill.
Leading the way for coach Nick Frasersmith’s Regis Jesuit team — which came in as the runner-up to Cherry Creek for a second straight time — was a pair of state champions in senior Quinn Henninger in 1-meter diving and junior Gio Aguirre in the 100 yard freestyle.
Henninger won his second career state championship with a Colorado and state meet record of 642.80 points, which gave him a 60-point cushion over runner-up Clayton Chaplin of Highlands Ranch. Henninger, a signee with powerhouse Indiana University where Regis Jesuit diving coach Taylor Roberts also dove, bettered the former 2015 records of ex-Regis Jesuit star Kyle Goodwin (a four-time state champion) by more than 30 points.
Henninger — who won his state title just a few weeks after competing in the U.S. Olympic diving trials — has recently been named national boys Diver of the Year by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA).
Aguirre’s title in the 100 freestyle even surprised him, as he was the fourth seed coming into state, but used the fuel from a disappointing performance in his previous event (the 200 freestyle) to propel him to victory. Aguirre received NISCA All-American status in the event as well.
Senior Sawyer Inglis earned All-Aurora honors in all four of the events he competed in at state for the Raiders. The Southern Methodist University signee grabbed individual spots in the 200 freestyle (5th) and 500 freestyle (2nd) along with legs on the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
Inglis received All-American honors from NISCA in all four events as well.
Aguirre’s All-Aurora nods came individually in the 100 free as well as his part in the 200 and 400 free relays, while junior Luke Dinges also earned a trio of honors as part of 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays along with a city-best sixth-place finish in the 100 butterfly.
Sophomore Harry Kerscher joined Inglis as the only swimmers to earn two All-Aurora individual spots as he was the city’s top finisher in the 200 individually medley as well as the 100 backstroke in which he took fifth and fourth, respectively.
Junior Mack Dugan and sophomore Carter Anderson both earned All-Aurora nods with Regis Jesuit’s 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays, while senior Nick Ames did so in the 200 medley relay and sophomore Ronan Krauss in the 400 freestyle relay.
Cherokee Trail senior Keegan Chatham finished his prep career in style as he captured third place in the 50 yard freestyle at the state meet, as he swam a half-second faster than the previous week, when he won a Centennial “A” League championship in the event.
In addition, Chatham swam on two of the relay teams for coach Kipp Meeks’ Cougars that received All-American designation from NISCA, which also named him an Academic All-American as a senior who achieved a 3.75 or higher Grade Point Average and submitted an application.
Daniel Yi was part of a fantastic freshman class that helped Smoky Hill to a runner-up finish at the Centennial League championship meet and he capped his successful debut varsity season with a strong state performance for coach Scott Cohen’s Buffaloes.
Yi won the league title in the 100 breaststroke (along with establishing a meet record) and followed that with a city-best fifth-place result at the state meet.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at [email protected] Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2021 SENTINEL COLORADO ALL-AURORA BOYS SWIM TEAM
