AURORA | With a disqualification in the opening event of the night, things could have gone south fast for the Smoky Hill girls swim team at Saturday’s Smoky Hill Invitational.
But coach Scott Cohen’s Buffaloes left the slow start in the dust and packed plenty of fast on their way to second place in the 24th annual event.
Senior Julia Song and sophomore Jordyn Richey each won events individually and the 200 yard freestyle relay team of Song, fellow senior Melanie Vasina, junior Gaby Antunez and sophomore Jianna Walker broke Smoky Hill’s own meet record in the event to help Smoky Hill rack up 377 points. Heritage, which saw freshman Kylie Andrews have a big day, won the meet with 460.
“I’m real proud of the kids, they kept swimming tough despite a little setback,” said Cohen, whose team finished third last season and seventh in 2013. “It was a good lesson. We could have shut it down a little bit, but we stepped it up instead. …We swam a lot better than we were seeded.”
One of a few seniors on a pretty young team, Song came away proud of how the Buffs rebounded.
“It was a rough start, but we didn’t let it affect us too much,” Song said. “We were a little sad about it, but we moved past it and swam really well the rest of the meet.”
Song played a big role in Smoky Hill’s performance, as she won the 50 freestyle in 24.63, finished as the runner-up in the 100 freestyle to Andrews — who set the meet record in the event with a blazing time of 52.33 seconds — anchored on the record-setting 200 free relay team the fourth-place 400 free relay.
Andrews’ performance certainly caught the attention of Song, who is likely to see her again in the 100 freestyle at the Class 5A state meet Feb. 13-14 in Fort Collins.
“That girl did so well, she’s so fast,” Song said. “It’s going to be cool to see how fast she goes by the time she gets to her senior year. …I did well and we’re not tapered yet, so I’m excited for state.”
Richey’s phenomenal day included the 100 breaststroke championship, which came with a time of 1:08.74, nearly two seconds faster than her prelim time in the morning. The sophomore also finished second in the 200 individual medley in a 2-3 finish with freshman Natalie Rotondo for a strong early boost for Smoky Hill.
After she touched the wall and saw her win on the scoreboard, Richey thrust her arms in the air in celebration. She hugged just about everybody she could find once she got out of the water as her time put her in range of the 1:06 she hopes to reach in the coming weeks.
“I was jumping around in the hallway after; I’d never won anything before, so I was so excited,” said Richey, who was also pleased with a five-second drop in her IM time before upcoming taper.
“I was exhausted all week last week and rolling my muscles out every day, then came to this week just ready to go,” she added.
Walker subbed in for graduated Kelsey Gaul on the record-setting relay and also earned her Class 5A state cut in the 100 freestyle, while freshman Vickie Liu punched her state ticket in the 500 freestyle.
Paced by sophomore Elma Spahic’s fourth-place individual finish in the 50 freestyle and a fourth-place 200 freestyle relay team, Cherokee Trail earned 115 points to finish in 10th place, while diver Indiya Williams’ fourth-place finish boosted Eaglecrest to a 13th-place total of 51 points.
Heritage won the meet-opening 200 medley relay — the event Smoky Hill was disqualified from for a swimmer deemed to have left the blocks early — and led from start to finish.
Andrews set meet records in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke and swam on the Eagles’ winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. Sophomore Katherine Harston also won twice for Heritage and Chaparral placed third with 325 points despite not winning a single event.
Mullen diver Katie Russ shattered the pool record of 479.50 points she set in 2014 with a score of 531.55 points, which also handily trumped the meet record of 505.35 set by Ponderosa’s Sarah Law in 1996.
Note: The diving mark had been the longest-standing Smoky Hill meet record, but that now becomes Cheyenne Mountain’s Anne Trinidad’s 2:06.03 in the 200 IM set in 2001.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
24TH SMOKY HILL INVITATIONAL GIRLS SWIM MEET
Team scores: 1. Heritage 460 points; 2. SMOKY HILL 377; 3. Chaparral 325; 4. Mountain Vista 314; 5. Legend 268; 6. George Washington 238; 7. Castle View 224; 8. Chatfield 213; 9. Broomfield 209; 10. CHEROKEE TRAIL 115; 11. Ponderosa 97; 12. SMOKY HILL GREEN 65; 13. EAGLECREST 51; 14. Mullen 45; 15. SMOKY HILL RED 42; 16. Rock Canyon 18
Full meet results, here.
200 yard medley relay: A Final — 1. Heritage, 1 minute, 51.38 seconds (5ASQT) (Meet record, broke 2012 mark of 1:51.44); 2. Mountain Vista, 1:52.16 (5ASQT); 3. Chaparral, 1:55.52 (5ASQT); 4. Legend, 1:55.56 (5ASQT); 5. George Washington, 1:57.25 (5ASQT); SMOKY HILL (Gaby Antunez, Jordyn Richey, Natalie Rotondo, Melanie Vasina) DQ
200 yard freestyle: A Final — 1. Katherine Harston (Heritage), 1 minute, 57.89 seconds (5ASQT); 2. Brianna Salanitro (Mountain Vista), 1:59.42 (5ASQT); 3. Keara Reilly (George Washington), 1:59.87 (5ASQT); 4. CJ Mitchell (Heritage), 2:00.79 (5ASQT); 5. Hannah Paris (Chaparral), 2:02.48 (5ASQT); 6. Caroline Mather (Mountain Vista), 2:03.02
200 yard individual medley: A Final — 1. Jenny Penneck (Mountain Vista), 2 minutes, 13.75 seconds (5ASQT); 2. JORDYN RICHEY (SMOKY HILL), 2:14.88 (5ASQT); 3. NATALIE ROTONDO (SMOKY HILL), 2:16.25; 4. Elsa Litteken (Castle View), 2:17.12 (5ASQT); 5. Emma Waldmann (Chaparral), 2:21.33; 6. Haley Kopec (Chatfield), 2:21.46
50 yard freestyle: A Final — 1. JULIA SONG (SMOKY HILL), 24.63 seconds (5ASQT); 2. Jamie Nats (Mountain Vista), 24.98 (5ASQT); 3. Courtney Linton (Legend), 25.57 (5ASQT); 4. ELMA SPAHIC (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 25.69 (5ASQT); 5. Talia Colalancia (Chaparral), 25.84; 6. Avery Hill (Heritage), 26.12
1-meter diving: 1. Katie Russ (Mullen), 531.55 points (Meet record, broke 1996 mark of Sarah Law (Ponderosa) of 505.35 points; pool record, broke 2014 mark of Katie Russ (Mullen), 479.50 points); 2. Alex Havey (Mullen), 457.70; 3. Averly Hobbs (Chatfield), 439.80; 4. INDIYA WILLIAMS (EAGLECREST), 425.10; 5. Tori Ritter (Rock Canyon), 412.15; 6. Samantha Tamborski (Castle View), 392.25; 7. Jenelle Crozier (Chatfield), 388.30; 8. Katie Conn (Broomfield), 376.25; 9. Lexie Barker (Castle View), 370.35; 10. Aubrey Park (Castle View), 357.70; 11. Kaela Schandle (Heritage), 351.75; 12. Elizabeth Dominguez (Chatfield), 348.25; 13. Tori Bredehoeft (Castle View), 334.55; 14. Sarah Greichen (Heritage), 332.70; 15. Emma Schwartz (George Washington), 329.50; 16. McKenna Moede (Legend), 312.10; 17. SARANG KANG (EAGLECREST), 310.55; 18. Sarah Ostrander (Ponderosa), 306.65
100 yard butterfly: A Final — 1. Katherine Harston (Heritage), 58.30 seconds (5ASQT); 2. Elizabeth Peterson (Broomfield), 58.89 (5ASQT); 3. Hayley Stauber (Legend), 1:00.67 (5ASQT); 4. Danielle Fournier (Ponderosa), 1:01.07 (5ASQT); 5. Abby Oglesby (Chatfield), 1:01.82 (5ASQT); 6. Natalie Arky (Mountain Vista), 1:02.26 (5ASQT)
100 yard freestyle: A Final — 1. Kylie Andrews (Heritage), 52.33 seconds (5ASQT) (Meet record, broke 2009 mark of Caroline Piehl (Smoky Hill) of 52.35); 2. JULIA SONG (SMOKY HILL), 54.01 (5ASQT); 3. Jamie Nats (Mountain Vista), 54.59 (5ASQT); 4. Elsa Litteken (Castle View), 54.89 (5ASQT); 5. Kaitlin Nats (Mountain Vista), 55.95 (5ASQT); 6. Caroline Mather (Mountain Vista), 56.58
500 yard freestyle: A Final — 1. Madelaine McClain (Broomfield), 5 minutes, 20.41 seconds (5ASQT); 2. Danielle Fournier (Ponderosa), 5:23.18 (5ASQT); 3. VICKIE LIU (SMOKY HILL), 5:29.50 (5ASQT); 4. Heather Stevens (Chatfield), 5:37.51; 5. Kristen Torres (Chaparral), 5:47.71; 6. Casey McLeod (Castle View), 5:48.62
200 yard freestyle relay: A Final — 1. SMOKY HILL (Jianna Walker, Gaby Antunez, Melanie Vasina, Julia Song), 1 minute, 41.27 seconds (5ASQT) (Meet record, broke 2014 mark of Smoky Hill of 1:41.48); 2. Heritage, 1:41.61 (5ASQT); 3. Legend, 1:44.78 (5ASQT); 4. CHEROKEE TRAIL (Samantha DuFour, Ella Steckler, Grace Grigereit, Elma Spahic), 1:44.92 (5ASQT); 5. Castle View, 1:45.25 (5ASQT); 6. Chaparral, 1:46.16 (5ASQT)
100 yard backstroke: A Final — 1. Kylie Andrews (Heritage), 57.39 seconds (5ASQT) (Meet record, broke 2010 mark of Yana Garvery (Mountain Vista) of 57.92) (Pool record, broke 2011 mark of Caroline Piehl (Smoky Hill) of 58.15); 2. Elizabeth Peterson (Broomfield), 59.52 (5ASQT); 3. Hayley Stauber (Legend), 1:00.12 (5ASQT); 4. Hannah Parris (Chaparral), 1:00.23 (5ASQT); 5. Jenny Penneck (Mountain Vista), 1:00.27 (5ASQT); 6. Brianna Salanitro (Mountain Vista), 1:00.80 (5ASQT)
100 yard breaststroke: 1. JORDYN RICHEY (SMOKY HILL), 1 minute, 8.74 seconds (5ASQT); 2. Emma Spotts (Heritage), 1:09.33 (5ASQT); 3. Anna Gergely (George Washington), 1:11.09 (5ASQT); 4. Sarah Moden (Legend), 1:11.44 (5ASQT); 5. Laura Zen (Heritage), 1:12.11 (5ASQT); 6. Allyson Malik (Legend), 1:13.05
400 yard freestyle relay: A Final — 1. Heritage, 3 minutes, 39.05 seconds (5ASQT); 2. Mountain Vista, 3:39.61 (5ASQT); 3. Broomfield, 3:43.82 (5ASQT); 4. SMOKY HILL (Natalie Rotondo, Jianna Walker, Vickie Liu, Julia Song), 3:46.04 (5ASQT); 5. Chaparral, 3:50.26 (5ASQT); 6. Legend, 3:58.15 (5ASQT)
