With the regular season and league championship meets complete, the field of qualifiers is set for the Class 5A girls state swim meet, which is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center.
Aurora area programs Cherokee Trail, Eaglecrest, Grandview, Overland, Regis Jesuit and Smoky Hill all have at least one individual swimmer/diver or relay team set for the 5A competition, which begins with swim prelims at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The diving competition takes place in its entirety Wednesday with a start time of 9:30 a.m. and swim finals begin at 5 p.m.
The Colorado High School Activities Association released the psyche sheets ahead of the meet Feb. 9 — two days after league championship meets concluded — and it included 51 individual swimmers/divers and 15 relay teams from a total of six programs (full list of Aurora area qualifiers by school with events and seedings, here).
As has long been the case, Regis Jesuit has the largest Aurora area contingent with 19 individual swimmers/divers along with all three relays.
Coach Nick Frasersmith’s Raiders, who have finished as the 5A runner-up to Cherry Creek for three straight seasons and are in search of the program’s first state crown since 2014, are led by junior Ava Terella, who is seeded No. 2 in the 100 yard backstroke and No. 4 in the 100 butterfly.
Senior Lexi Stramel is the No. 3 seed in the 500 freestyle and No. 11 in the 200 freestyle and sophomore Elsa Osborne is fourth and eighth, respectively, in the 50 and 100 freestyles, while all three Regis Jesuit relays have top-five seeds.
Next in size locally is Grandview, which has 12 individuals swimmers/divers and all three relay teams in Kelly Mullin’s first season as head coach.
By seeding, the Wolves are led by junior Makenna Dyk, who goes in with the No. 3 spot in the 50 freestyle and is No. 12 in the 100 butterfly, while sophomore Paige Gust is the No. 10 seed in the 50 freestyle and all three relay teams are seeded in the top 20.
Coach Kipp Meeks’ Cherokee Trail team features a full compliment of three relays plus nine individual swimmers/divers, a group led by junior Natalie Daum — who is in her first season with the program — who is seeded No. 1 in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke.
The Cougars also have big point potential in the relays with the 200 medley as the No. 4 seed and the 200 freestyle the No. 6.
Smoky Hill also has three relays and nine individual swimmers/divers that is a largely experienced group.
Leading the way is senior Cameryn Walkup — the recently selected Centennial League Swimmer of the Year — who is the No. 3 seed in the 200 freestyle and No. 10 in the 500 freestyle. Senior Mya Noffsinger is the No. 6 seed in both the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke (in which she is the newly-minted Centennial “A” League champion), while the Buffaloes could finish with a flurry with the sixth-seeded 400 freestyle relay team.
Eaglecrest (senior Lily Grigorian) and Overland (junior Kayden Gutierrez-Romero) both have individual qualifiers in the diving competition, while coach Jillian Fehringer’s Raptors also have all three relay teams in the field.
The Raptors haven’t scored a point at the state meet since 2021, while it has been much longer for the Trailblazers.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports