With no heat in its pool, the Rangeview girls swim team will call Hinkley home for its final home meet of the season.
The Raiders performed with ultimate comfort at its new home-away-from-home Jan. 18, as they swept first place in all 12 events on their way to yet another victory at the Aurora Public Schools Championship meet.
Seniors Hailey McDonald and Shemiah Turner and junior Daveah Archibeque won two events apiece in addition to a relay sweep for coach Robin Allen’s team, which scored 538 points to claim the title at the annual meet for the 21st consecutive time.
“It’s been a hard season with the pool breaking and everything; it’s been strange, but they’ve been trying to keep on top,” Allen said. “Our upperclassmen have stayed strong and been a very valuable resource for the younger swimmers.”
Full results from the 2025 APS Championship girls swim meet, here
Nine impactful senior swimmers and two team managers will be celebrated at Rangeview’s Jan. 22 meet against Northfield at Hinkley and their banners hung above the pool during their last city meet, which they’ve excelled at for their entire careers.
The senior group posted seven individual event wins to help the Raiders sweep firsts in every event for the second consecutive season and keep alive a streak of 35 event wins at the meet dating back to the 200 yard medley relay (taken by Aurora Central) in the opening event of the 2023 meet.
Two of those wins went to McDonald, who achieved the same diving-swimming double she had a year ago. The Vista PEAK Prep student landed her fourth consecutive APS 1-meter diving championship and repeated in the 100 yard butterfly as well.
The swimming win pleased her as she has put more concentration into her diving this season, which has helped her earn her way into the Class 5A state meet Feb. 6 at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center. McDonald will be Rangeview’s first state diving competitor since Sarah Mortenson, who placed 13th in 2019.
“I’ve been super pleased that I found consistency this year, because I didn’t have it last year,” McDonald said.
Two other wins went to Turner, who achieved the sprint freestyle sweep for a second straight season and departs with three consecutive APS crowns in the 100 freestyle.
She captured the 50 freestyle title in 28.98 seconds, which was just a shade off her best season time of 28.09. Turner (a Pickens Tech student) posted a winning time of 1:05.03 in the 100 trailed her season best time of 1:02.71, while she anchored the winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
“I feel like it’s important for us to keep this going,” she said of Rangeview’s continued excellence in the meet. “I’m excited to see what everybody is going to do for the rest of the season.”
Senior Bella Gonzalez won the 100 breaststroke for a third straight season (with a time of 1:30.07), while senior Kayla Allen (who missed last season’s meet) won the 200 individual medley, which she also won in 2023, and senior Kate Gomez repeated in the 100 backstroke.
The only non-senior APS champion for Rangeview was Daveah Archibeque, a junior at Vista PEAK Prep who swept the 200 and 500 freestyles for the second consecutive season.
Sophomores Ava Harris, Gabi Hollingsworth and Scarlett Tambunan and freshman Anna Arana posted at least one runner-up event finish as well (Harris had two) to show some promise for the future.
“I’m losing a team that can fill the lineup in all 12 events,” said Allen, who dove off the diving board and into the pool to celebrate with her team afterwards. “Senior night is going to be super sad, but they are trying to help the underclassmen so we can keep this going.”
Hinkley earned second place again and did so with 208 points, which was 41 more than a year ago.
Coach Beth Himes’ Thunder got its highest finish in the pool from senior Ana Campos, who was third in the 500 freestyle as well as fourth in the 200, while freshman Rylee Mansanares took fifth in the 100 backstroke.
Aurora Central — now under the direction of coach Jess Collins — accrued 126 points to surge from fourth in 2024 to a comfortable third.
The Trojans swam in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle and both teams — comprised of Samantha Reyes Puentes, Berenice Guerrero Cuarenta, Lizzett Mireles and Myia Young — captured third place.
Gateway scored 47 points to finish fourth, as coach Lizzie Novak’s group was led by Sophie Curry, who took sixth in the 100 breaststroke as well as seventh in the 500 freestyle.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
35th AURORA PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP GIRLS SWIM MEET
Jan. 18 at Hinkley High School
Team scores: 1. Rangeview 538 points; 2. Hinkley 208; 3. Aurora Central 126; 4. Gateway 47
Event winners: 200 yard medley relay — 1. Rangeview A (Kate Gomez, Bella Gonzalez, Kayla Allen, Ana Friedrich), 2 minutes, 19.44 seconds; 200 yard freestyle — 1. Davaeh Archibeque (Rangeview), 2 minutes, 24.66 seconds; 200 yard individual medley — 1. Kayla Allen (Rangeview), 2 minutes, 42.24 seconds; 50 yard freestyle — 1. Shemiah Turner (Rangeview), 28.98 seconds; 1-meter diving — 1. Hailey McDonald (Rangeview), 358.60 points; 100 yard butterfly — 1. Hailey McDonald (Rangeview), 1 minute, 12.54 seconds; 100 yard freestyle — 1. Shemiah Turner (Rangeview), 1 minute, 5.03 seconds; 500 yard freestyle — 1. Daveah Archibeque (Rangeview), 6 minutes, 37.08 seconds; 200 yard freestyle relay — 1. Rangeview A (Hailey McDonald, Bella Gonzalez, Ava Harris, Shemiah Turner), 2 minutes, 5.20 seconds; 100 yard backstroke— 1. Kate Gomez (Rangeview), 1 minute, 22.16 seconds; 100 yard breaststroke — 1. Bella Gonzalez (Rangeview), 1 minute, 30.07 seconds; 400 yard freestyle relay — 1. Rangeview A (Hailey McDonald, Kayla Allen, Daveah Archibeque, Shemiah Turner), 4 minutes, 29.03 seconds
— Full APS Championship meet results, here
