The fruits of a strong winter season for girls swimmers from Regis Jesuit and Grandview paid off on the release of the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) All-American list for the 2022-23 season.
Regis Jesuit coach Nick Frasersmith had a smaller than usual team — with 15 fewer individual state qualifiers than the previous season — but it still managed a second-place finish at the Class 5A girls state swim meet in February at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center.
The Raiders’ showing — the best for the program since 2016 — was made possible in large part by some top-end performances, which is evidenced by five appearances on the All-American list from NISCA, which annually recognizes the top 100 verified times in the country in each event.
Colorado times may have a slight adjustment due to altitude.
Junior Charlotte Burnham — who transferred from Mullen — garnered four of those All-American honors, including two individually. She won the 5A state championship in the 100 yard breaststroke and her adjusted time of 1 minute, 2.26 seconds, registered as the 36th-fastest in the country. Burnham also had the 59th-fastest time in the 200 yard individual medley of 2:01.84.
Burnham also earned All-American honors with seniors Sophia Frei and Samantha Aguirre (a Naval Academy recruit) and freshman Taylor Johannsen on the 400 yard freestyle relay team, which had a time of 3:26.65 that put it 31st in the country. Burnham, Frei, senior Sophia Mitsuoka and sophomore Taylor Hoffman turned in a time of 1:43.52 in the 200 yard medley relay that put them in a tie for 34th.
The other All-American individual award went to Frei, who swam a 54.54 in the 100 yard backstroke that put the University of North Carolina signee 39th. Frei also was an All-American last season in the same event when she ranked No. 62 with a time of 54.95 and she was part of the Raiders’ All-American 200 free relay in 2021-22 as well.
Coach Karen Ammon’s Grandview team — which earned a fifth-place finish in the 5A standings, the program’s highest finish since 2007 — had two individual All-Americans in senior Paige Dailey and junior Amelia Brown.
Dailey, a Cal-Davis signee, had the top individual finish for the Wolves has she finished a very close second to Burnham in the 100 breaststroke. Her submitted time of 1:02.32 put her in a tie for 41st in the nation.
Brown’s top time in the 50 freestyle of 23.30 put her in a tie for 82nd in the nation.
All of the local All-Americans appear heavily on the 2022-23 Sentinel Colorado All-Aurora Girls Swim Team (story, here).
Outside of the Regis Jesuit and Grandview contingent, Colorado swimmers from Cherry Creek, Boulder, Legacy, Heritage, Arapahoe, Pine Creek, Fairview, Cheyenne Mountain, Niwot and Fossil Ridge also earned All-American honors.
All-American diving and Academic All-American lists will be released by NISCA later this summer.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2022-23 COLORADO NISCA GIRLS SWIMMING ALL-AMERICANS
200 yard medley relay — 6. Cherry Creek (Charlotte Wilson, Katie Cohen, Maren McDonald, Alana Maxey), 1 minute, 41.77 seconds; T34. REGIS JESUIT (Sophia Frei, Charlotte Burnham, Sophia Mitsuoka, Taylor Hoffman), 1:43.52; 49. Boulder (Hailey Marinovich, Hannah Marinovich, Abby Hill, Julianne Snyder), 1:44.19; T77. Legacy (Abbie Kehmeier, Isabella Forsman, Alivia Weaver, Sabrina Rachjaibun), 1:45.24; 83. Heritage (Mary Macaulay, Aislyn Barnett, Inge Ehm, Amaia Sherman), 1:45.34; T90. Arapahoe (Kennedy McPhail, Caroline Timko, Presley McPhail, Ava DeAnda), 1:45.53
200 yard freestyle — 2. Madison Mintenko (Pine Creek), 1 minute, 44.63 seconds; 17. Zara Zallen (Boulder), 1:47.25; T53. Sabrina Rachjaibun (Legacy), 1:48.75; T88. Amelia Mason (Fairview), 1:50.07
200 yard individual medley — 4. Caroline Bricker (Cheyenne Mountain), 1 minute, 57.04 seconds; 17. Mary Macaulay (Heritage), 1:59.19; 19. Charlotte Wilson (Cherry Creek), 1:59.53; 59. CHARLOTTE BURNHAM (REGIS JESUIT), 2:01.84; T64. Amelia Mason (Boulder), 2:02.05; 84. Caitlin Crysel (St. Mary’s Academy), 2:02.86
50 yard freestyle — 11. Lawson Ficken (Cherry Creek), 22.64 seconds; T26. Lexi Greenhawt (Cherry Creek), 22.82; T28. Zara Zallen (Boulder), 22.83; T82. AMELIA BROWN (GRANDVIEW), 23.30; T93. Ella Gacha-Thiele (Fossil Ridge), 23.38
100 yard butterfly — 20. Edie Simecek (Fairview), 53.45 seconds; T31. Lexi Greenhawt (Cherry Creek), 53.87; 43. Jamieson Legh (Niwot), 54.17; 58. Amelia Mason (Fairview), 54.55; 85. Maren McDonald (Cherry Creek), 54.93
100 yard freestyle — 6. Lawson Ficken (Cherry Creek), 48.66 seconds; 20. Zara Zallen (Boulder), 49.37; 59. Ella Gacha-Thiele (Fossil Ridge), 50.39
500 yard freestyle — 2. Madison Mintenko (Pine Creek), 4 minutes, 42.29 seconds; T22. Sabrina Rachjaibun (Legacy), 4:50.33; 46. Sloan Zallen (Boulder), 4:53.30
200 yard freestyle relay — 3. Cherry Creek (Lexi Greenhawt, Lawson Ficken, Ana Loveridge, Charlotte Wilson), 1 minute, 30.81 seconds; 35. Fairview (Julia Urbanowski, Paiten Tobey, Sydney Inman, Amelia Mason), 1:34.83; T56. Heritage (Amaia Sherman, Kenzie Myco, Sophia Capp, Elise Ramsden), 1:35.63; T81. Fossil Ridge (Julie Zheng, Sydnee O’Neil, Gracie Thornton, Ella Gaca-Thiele), 1:36.34
100 yard backstroke — 4. Charlotte Wilson (Cherry Creek), 52.83 seconds; T37. Jamieson Legh (Niwot), 54.53; 39. SOPHIA FREI (REGIS JESUIT), 54.54; 46. Mary Macaulay (Heritage), 54.61; T65. Edie Simecek (Fairview), 55.03
100 yard breaststroke — 5. Caroline Bricker (Cheyenne Mountain), 1 minute, 0.06 seconds; 36. CHARLOTTE BURNHAM (REGIS JESUIT), 1:02.26; T41. PAIGE DAILEY (GRANDVIEW), 1:02.32; 55. Ryan Johnston (Arapahoe), 1:02.69; 58. Teagan Steinmetz (Cherry Creek), 1:02.75; 72. Katie Cohen (Cherry Creek), 1:03.06
400 yard freestyle relay — 7. Cherry Creek (Lexi Greenhawt, Lawson Ficken, Ana Loveridge, Tegan Steinmetz), 3 minutes, 23.20 seconds; 31. REGIS JESUIT (Samantha Aguirre, Sophia Frei, Charlotte Burnham, Taylor Johannsen), 3:26.65; T64. Legacy (Abbie Kehmeier, Jolie Nguyen, Isabella Forsman, Sabrina Rachjaibun), 3:28.95; 75. Pine Creek (Izzy Burton, Lily Kemmerer, Jacquelyn Erickson, Madison Mintenko), 3:29.64; 91. Heritage (Mary Macaulay, Elise Ramsden, Sophia Capp, Kenzie Myco), 3:30.18; 99. Fairview (Julia Urbanowski, Ella Ziegert, Sydney Inman, Edie Simecek), 3:30.67
