Mountain Range girls swimming looked strong as it grabbed a 124-62 dual meet win over Horizon on Wednesday.

This week’s girls swimming rankings are below.

These team rankings are created from the top marks of the season so far which have been entered in MaxPreps. They are compiled by PrepSwimCo.com.

In addition, the top individual marks of the season to date are compiled here.

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PrepSwimCo.com Girls Swimming & Diving Rankings

Green Mountain girls swimming beat Bear Creek in a dual meet, 553-269.

Defending Class 5A state champion Fairview girls swimming began a virtual dual meet against Fossil Ridge on Tuesday.

Brighton girls swimming held a virtual meet on Tuesday.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

The same word comes out of the lips of most student-athletes these days. They’re grateful. With the way the COVID-19 pandemic has made everything uncertain, especially in the lives of the high school athletes, the opportunity to compete is something they aren’t taking for granted and that they’re more grateful for now than they have been in their lives.

Those feelings hold true for the Aspen girls swim team, but their appreciation for the opportunity comes with specific goals in mind. Sure the girls want to have fun and they want to appreciate the time they get to spend together, but they came close a championship trophy last year and feel like they have a chance to bring home gold in 2021.

“We’re doing a lot of very clear communication and discussion about where the girls see themselves at the end of the year,” coach Katie Keel said. “What do they want time-wise? Place-wise, what do they envision and how are we going to get there?”

For starters, they’re going to have to get up to speed a lot faster than what they’re used to. Due to the condensed season, the Skiers – like every team in the state – have to utilize every minute of practice to get themselves to their peak swimming speeds.

The thing they have going for them is that everyone is back from last year’s team that finished second to Evergreen in the team standings.

Lilly Huggard, Emily Kinney, Laila Khan-Farooqi and Kayla Tehrani comprised the 200-yard medley relay team that finished second to kick off the Class 3A finals last year. Khan-Farroqi took sixth in the 200 freestyle while Huggard grabbed a third-place finish in the 200 individual medley.

Not trying to get too far ahead of themselves, the Skiers certainly see the potential they have as they hunt their first team swimming title since 2017, the only team title the program has ever won.

“We’re definitely looking to improve in individuals a little bit,” Khan-Farroqi said. “We’re coming in with a really strong relay team this year and we might even have a 400-yard (freestyle) relay team, which we didn’t have last year. We have a lot of strong swimmers.”

(Photo courtesy of Katie Keel)

There is an added challenge this season with the way COVID has, at times, disrupted the flow of several high school teams through various sports. Perhaps at an earlier time in their lives than has been the case, these girls are understanding the importance of the practice time they are getting and trying to get the most out of it.

“Practice has been inconsistent,” Khan-Farooqi said. “All of the coaches have been working really hard to get us in the pool which we all appreciate. It’s just going to be a challenge to get into peak shape so that we can do our best at state.”

In just her second year as the coach of the program, Keel is also optimistic about what she’s seeing from her athletes. She also comes into this year with a touch more confidence after having time to develop relationships with her competitors and helping them develop their ability as much as possible over the last year.

“The first year is difficult with any coach to begin with, just making sure you’re working together as coach and swimmers,” Keel said. “Last year exceeded all of our expectations when it comes to performance as well as cohesion and a sense of (bonding) as a group.”

All that’s left to do is get to chasing that first-place trophy. It’s a chase they’re grateful to be able to attempt.

The Regis Jesuit girls swimming team looks to be in championship form after win over Legend in a dual meet on Saturday.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

In one of the most thrilling finishes in recent memory, Rampart came up just shy of claiming a third straight Class 4A girls swimming championship last winter.

It was a tough experience but a well-learned lesson for the Rams, who have every intention reaching that championship level for the 2021 season.

And there is plenty of reason to think they can do it. For starters, they have the returning 4A swimmer of the year in Lindsey Immel back and in a mindset to help the Rams achieve their championship dreams.

On top of performing at a peak level at last year’s state meet, Immel also learned that even if it a team gives its all, it may not come away with a championship. That’s not deterring her or the Rams, only making them want to work for it that much more.

“With the shortened season, it’s going to make everyone want to work harder,” Immel said. “We don’t have that time to warm up, we just have to get straight into it. For a lot of us, we’re going in looking to have fun.”

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Immel grabbed wins in the 200-yard medley relay, the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle to earn swimmer of the year honors last year. She also won the medley, 100 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relay in 2019 which also led to her receiving first-team all-state honors.

This year, she’s looking to cap of a stellar high school swimming career and even as soon as the first day of official practice, she made her presence known as an established veteran of the team.

“She showed up ready to go,” coach Dan Greene said. “She took charge of the pool right away when she came in.”

She’s been competing in the sport long enough to understand that the focus cannot be on just her. The effort the Rams put together three years ago was good enough to clinch its first 4A girls swim title in program history.

It’s a team component in high school swimming that is uniquely valued with coaches and athletes. And while the swimmers can only control their own performances, they still know how crucial it is to bond and compete as a team when shooting for a common goal, such as a team swim title.

“Swimming is such an individual sport when you really look at it,” Immel said. “But your team is really the most important thing when you’re at state. I individually swam the best that I could and everyone on the team individually swam the best that they could that day. It’s all about supporting one another.”

Having been a recipient of two state championships and also a very close runner-up, Immel knows the feeling of that final day and knows how much effort is required through the course of the season to fulfill that goal.

That’s why the team is in such good hands as competition starts next week.

“She’s in a good position to be a leader on the team,” Greene said. “She’s already been a leader in the past, but as a senior I’d like to see how she steps up and does it”

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)bas

Monday brings the start of practice for Season B sports across the state.

Those kicking off their seasons include traditional winter sports boys and girls basketball, ice hockey, skiing, girls swimming and diving, boys and girls wrestling, as well as traditional fall sport competitive spirit.

This marks the first-ever sanctioned season for girls wrestling. And ice hockey will feature two classifications for the first time.

Each sport can begin competition a week from Monday, on Jan. 25.

Due to the on-going COVID pandemic, each sport has modifications that have been put into place surrounding the structure of the season. Complete COVID information can be found on this page.

Further sport-specific information can be found in their bulletins.

Championship season in Season B will start with skiing, the week of March 8. It will conclude with the state spirit championships March 25-27.

A complete list of dates is available on our calendar.

The CHSAA staff will hold a series of webinars this week for school administrators and coaches to provide specifics on Season B sports, which are set to begin practice on Jan. 18.

Sports set to play this winter include: boys and girls basketball, ice hockey, skiing, competitive spirit, girls swimming, and boys and girls wrestling. This will mark the initial sanctioned season for girls wrestling.

Dates for each sport can be found on the 2020-21 calendar. Note that some postseason dates still remain to be announced.

Over the course of the next three days, the various sports will have an informational session for athletic directors and coaches.

Information for how to log in or watch these sessions will be shared to schools via email.