THORNTON | In an odd bit of scheduling, the Class 5A girls state swim meet is scheduled for midweek and it began Tuesday at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center.
The swim prelims included 45 individuals and 14 relays teams combined from Cherokee Trail, Eaglecrest, Grandview, Regis Jesuit and Smoky Hill, which hit the water in hopes of turning in times that would get them into the championship or consolation finals at 5 p.m. Friday in the same water.
Projected to finish fourth by the pre-meet psych sheets, Regis Jesuit moved itself up to potentially finish third behind Cherry Creek and Fairview with its prelims performance, which saw six different swimmers qualify for at least one championship finals heat in addition to all three relay teams.
Seniors Emma Weber and Grace Dale made two finals apiece — 200 yard individual medley and 100 breaststroke for Weber and 50 and 100 freestyles for Dale — while senior Allie Sanchez and juniors Samantha Aguirre, Sophia Frei and Olivia Roumph made one apiece.
The Raiders also have several consolation finalists.
Regis Jesuit expected to get a boost from the diving competition that is scheduled to be completed Wednesday before swim finals as well as they had six qualifiers and several potential scorers.
Projected to finish 10th by pre-meet psych sheets, Grandview bumped up to a possible eighth-place finish after prelims as all three of the Wolves’ relay teams made it to the championship finals. Junior Paige Dailey earned Grandview’s lone individual championship finals berth in the 100 yard breaststroke, but the Wolves had six consolation finals qualifiers and could also score on the diving board.
Cherokee Trail bumped up to a possible 11th-place finish after coming in projected in 12th with a big prelims session turned in by senior Skylar Brgoch.
Brgoch earned championship finals spots in both the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle and helped the 400 freestyle relay team advance to the finals as well. The Cougars will score in all three relays, while sophomore Sarah Woren made two consolation finals heats.
Rounding out the individual championship finalists for Aurora programs is Smoky Hill senior Annelise Thomas, who grabbed a finals spot in the 100 butterfly. She also set the school record of 57.60 seconds in the 100 backstroke, which put her in the consolation finals.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
