Fountain-Fort Carson filled its boys swimming and diving coaching vacancy on Friday, officially naming Michael “Duffy” Dillon the new coach.
Dillon comes from Florida where he has 20 years experience as a swimming and water polo coach. He swam collegiately at Florida where he won two national championships. He was also an international medalist for USA swimming.
“I am so honored to be joining the staff at FFCHS,” Dillon said in a press release. “It will be a privilege to assume the reigns of this great program and do all we can to enhance the lives of our student-athletes and grow our winning tradition at the conference and state level and guide those athletes with the desire to national and collegiate competition. It’s great to be a Trojan!”
The boys swimming and diving season begins with the rest of spring sports on Mar. 8.
Pomona High School graduate Brandon Micale, fourth from the right, after receiving the 48th annual Freddie Steinmark Award on June 9. Micale was also named the Class 5A Male Jeffco Athlete of the Year. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
ARVADA — Pomona High School graduate Brandon Micale has collected multiple awards after the end of the 2016-17 school year.
The three-sport (football, wrestling and track) not only picked up the Class 5A Jeffco Male Athlete of the Year award June 9 during the 32nd annual Jeffco Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet, Micale was also presented the coveted Freddie Steinmark Award by the Colorado High School Coaches Association.
“It definitely means a lot to me to be recognized for all the accomplishments,” Micale said. “It seems like its just for this year, but it’s really for four years of hard work in the weight room and on the field.”
Micale, who will play football at the University of San Diego next fall, was also recognized at a Colorado Rockies game this month after being named the Colorado High School Activities Association Active Scholar Scholarship.
Pomona’s three-sport athlete Brandon Micale, left, stands with Mike Santarelli, Pomona Athletic Director. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The Pomona graduate spent a lot of time last winter visiting multiple schools before deciding to head to the West Coast for college. Some of his visits included John Hopkins University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Micale helped lead Pomona to back-to-back 5A state football championship games. Was on back-to-back 5A state wrestling championship teams and helped the Panthers’ boys track team to a state title in 2016. All while tackling differential equations and linear algebra.
He finished off his outstanding prep athlete career winning the Class 5A boys discus event last month at the state track and field championships at Jeffco Stadium.
“That was huge for me,” Micale said of concluding his prep career by winning his lone individual state title. “I’ve won team titles with wrestling and track, but I always left at the end of the season with a fourth or third place individual title. It was the only season where I wasn’t like ‘darn’ at the end of the season. It was the first time I’ve ever rode home from a state championship happy. I left at the top.”
Ralston Valley’s four-sport (cross country, basketball, girls soccer and track) Sarah Bevington was named the 5A Jeffco Female Athlete of the Year.
Jeffco 5A Female Athlete of the Year Sarah Bevington, left, and Ralston Valley’s Athletic Director Jim Hynes. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Jim Hynes, Ralston Valley’s Athletic Director, described Bevington as “Wonder Woman” during his introduction of the Ralston Valley graduate who finished with 16 varsity letters during her four years as a Mustang.
Bevington will play soccer at Baylor University next fall.
Another four-sport athlete was named the Jeffco 4A Male Athlete of the Year. Dylan Jacob, who heads to Western State Colorado University to play football, left Green Mountain High School with a total of 14 varsity letters in football, basketball, boys swimming and baseball.
Green Mountain’s Dylan Jacob, middle, was named the 4A Jeffco Male Athlete of the Year. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“He is an athlete who has meant the world to me over the last few years,” Green Mountain football coach Matt Pees said. “He is a young man who exceeded expectations every step of the way during his career.”
Golden graduate Sydney Prey was named the Jeffco 4A Female Athlete of the Year. The basketball and golf standout wasn’t able to attend the ceremony, but she has a good reason. Prey was in Alamosa playing in the CHSCA All-State Games.
Prey, who will play hoops and golf at Colorado Mesa College, led the Demons to their first 4A Jeffco League girls basketball title in nearly a decade. She also became a four-time state golf qualifier, placing fifth in the 4A state tournament last month.
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Jeffco Athletics 2016-17 Awards
Athletes of the Year
Jeffco 5A Male: Brandon Micale, Pomona
Jeffco 5A Female: Sarah Bevington, Ralston Valley
Jeffco 4A Male: Dylan Jacob, Green Mountain
Jeffco 4A Female: Sydney Prey, Golden
Coaches of the Year
Jeffco 5A Coach of Male Sports: Sam Federico, Pomona
Jeffco 5A Coach of Female Sports: Stephanie Schick, Chatfield
Jeffco 4A Coach of Male Sports: Bret McGatlin, Chatfield
Jeffco 4A Coach of Female Sports: Sandi Patterson, Green Mountain
Assistant Coaches of the Year
Jeffco 5A Asst. of Male Sports: Todd Moore, Arvada West
Jeffco 5A Asst. of Female Sports: Gary Lash, Lakewood
Jeffco 4A Asst. of Female Sports: Dan Patterson, Green Mountain
Fred Steinmark Team Award
Jeffco 5A: Ralston Valley
Jeffco 4A: D’Evelyn
Paul Davis Sportsmanship Award
Jeffco 5A: Columbine & Chatfield
Jeffco 4A: D’Evelyn
The 2017 all-state boys swimming teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created based upon results at the state meet.
Swimmers of the year were selected based upon the number of team points they produced at the state meet. This means that they received the full amount of team points from individual events they swam in, as well as one-fourth of the total points earned by the team in relays they swam in.
Divers of the year were selected by finish at the state meet. Coaches of the year were voted upon by coaches at the state meet.
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Class 5A
Swimmer of the year: Michael Zarian, Fairview
Diver of the year: Octavio Lucero, Bear Creek
Swim coach of the year: Kirk Witulski, Fort Collins
Dive coach of the year: Grant Robinson, Cherry Creek
First Team
Name
School
Year
Event(s)
Shamzi Alkaff
Senior
Fossil Ridge
50 free, 200 free relay
Noah Bettner
Senior
Lewis-Palmer
Diving
Keegan Bundy
Senior
Denver South
50 free
Griffin Eiber
Senior
Arapahoe
200 free, 100 free
Matt Geraghty
Junior
Fossil Ridge
200 free relay, 400 free relay
Danny Kovac
Junior
Fossil Ridge
200 medley relay, 100 butterfly
Joshua Lenzmeier
Senior
Liberty
100 breast
Duncan Lester
Senior
Fairview
Diving
Octavio Lucero
Junior
Bear Creek
Diving
Kris Malinin
Senior
Fossil Ridge
200 medley relay, 200 free relay
Gavin Olson
Sophomore
Columbine
100 back
Josh Pales
Freshman
Fossil Ridge
200 medley relay, 200 free relay
Quinton Pierce
Junior
Boulder
200 free
Sam Ybarra
Senior
Fossil Ridge
200 medley relay, 400 free relay
Michael Zarian
Senior
Fairview
200 IM, 100 butterfly
Second Team
Name
School
Year
Event(s)
Aric Althouse
Junior
Lewis-Palmer
Diving
Will Brown
Junior
Fairview
200 free relay
Ty Coen
Junior
Regis Jesuit
200 medley relay
Timothy Domashevich
Junior
Smoky Hill
Diving
Joe Felton
Junior
Fairview
200 free relay
William Goodwin
Sophomore
Regis Jesuit
200 medley relay
Caleb Ives
Junior
Arapahoe
Diving
Justin Li
Senior
Fairview
400 free relay
Harrison Lierz
Freshman
Broomfield
200 IM, 500 free
Walker Martin
Senior
Fairview
200 free relay, 400 free relay
Jack Nagle
Junior
Lewis-Palmer
Diving
Lochlainn Renfrow
Senior
Fairview
400 free relay
Gabe Reuter
Junior
Cherry Creek
Diving
Alexander Strepman
Senior
Regis Jesuit
200 medley relay
Elijah Warren
Junior
Regis Jesuit
200 medley relay, 100 breast
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Class 4A
Swimmer of the year: Daniel Carr, Cheyenne Mountain
THORNTON — Fossil Ridge found itself in a familiar position following Saturday’s Class 5A boys swimming and diving state championships — crowding as many SaberCats as possible on top of the podium after clinching the team championship for the third straight year.
The SaberCats started the afternoon strong by taking first in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:30.69, the second-best mark in state history.
They continued their strong showing from there, with victories in the 200 and 400-yard freestyle relays, as well as strong individual performances from Shamzi Alkaff (second in the 50-yard freestyle), Matt Geraghty (third), Josh Pales (third in the 100-yard breaststroke), and Danny Kovac (second in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly).
“Compared to where I thought we were going to be going in to the year this is an amazing accomplishment,” said a soaking wet Fossil Ridge coach Mark Morehouse after a victory leap in the pool with his team. “They were as motivated a group over a long period of time as I’ve ever seen.
“We talk all the time that you win championships in prelims. If you seem fast enough in prelims you can put the meet away, and if you don’t swim fast in prelims you don’t even have a chance. So, we swam out of our minds last night. I could go down the list, but really every kid on our team had a phenomenal swim.”
Regis Jesuit finished in second for the third straight year. Cherry Creek finished third.
As expected, senior Michael Zarian of Fairview also excelled. The Harvard-bound senior cruised to a win in the 200-yard IM, finishing over three seconds ahead of second-place Harrison Lierz of Broomfield. Zarian also had a wire-to-wire victory later in the day, matching his time in the prelim time of 47.75 in the 100-yard butterfly.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Zarian helped Fairview finish second behind Fossil Ridge, whose deep reserve of talent is what led them to the team championship.
Other standout individual performances include Keegan Bundy of Denver South, who had multiple strong showings in the freestyle. The senior finished first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.59, an improvement on his preliminary time of 21.10. He also finished second in the 100-yard freestyle.
“I had a lot of fun. I got first in the 50 and second in the 100, so that’s nothing to complain about certainly,” said Bundy, who is headed to Northwestern. “Just looking back I’ll remember how much fun this meet was, and all the people.”
Griffin Eiber of Arapahoe was the one who edged Bundy in the 100-yard freestyle, his second straight first place finish in the event. The senior also won the 200-yard freestyle after placing second in 2016.
“We push each other back and forth,” said Bundy of Eiber. “He’ll go a faster time, I’ll go faster. We’ll see each other in the Big 10 next year, too.”
Eiber is headed to Indiana next year.
On the diving side, junior Octavio Lucero of Bear Creek defended his championship in the One-meter springboard with a score of 556.30. Duncan Lester of Fairview and Noah Bettner of Lewis-Palmer finished second and third, respectively.
AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Cheyenne Mountain captured their third consecutive state title and sixth overall in their 337-point finish at the Class 4A boys swimming and diving state finals on Saturday.
The defending champions swept all three relay events, including a 4A state record-breaking time in the final event of the night, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Seniors Daniel Carr, Westin Stieglitz, Jerry Birnbaum, and junior Kyle Leach clocked a 3:02:67, beating their previously set 4A record by nearly four seconds.
Leach finished first and second in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard freestyle respectively, and will look to carry on Cheyenne Mountain’s success in the departure of the three senior standouts.
The Indians weren’t the only ones to break a record, though. Thompson Valley senior Liam Gately broke two, earning All-American accolades in both his individual races.
Gately swam an impressive 1:36:94 in the 200-yard freestyle, a time only two tenths slower than the Colorado record that olympic swimmer Clark Smith holds. The senior swam a 44:64 in the 100-yard freestyle later in the evening, breaking Daniel Carr’s 2015 time.
Gately now holds the 4A state record for both races. Last year, the then-junior finished second in the 200-yard.
“This season I really focused on the sprint swim. I dropped the 500-yard free and zoned in on getting the best times in these two races,” says Gately. “It’s exciting to say the least. These times show me that what I’ve been working on for the past couple of years has paid off.”
Gately also swam a leg of the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay, where his team placed fourth and second, respectively.
Cheyenne Mountain All-American Daniel Carr finished first in both his races as well. In the 50-yard freestyle, the senior swam a 20:45 and in the 200-yard, a 4:33:99. His performance earned him the Swimmer of the Year title.
In the 1-meter diving competition, Estes Park senior Jacob Bielmaier claimed the top spot with a 521.5 score, beating the rest of the field by over 30 points.
“Words cannot describe how amazing this feels,” said Bielmaier. “I’ve been working for this since the sixth grade. It’s been my main goal in life so far, and I did it.”
Last year, Bielmaier came in second to then Valor Christian freshman Casey Fellows.
“I started this season with a definite mission of nailing first place in state.” he said. “I had a more focused mentality on that and it paid off,” says the first-time dive champion.
Valor Christian finished in second as a team, followed by Thompson Valley.
US AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Liam Gately is progressing into more of a sprinter than a distance swimmer. As such, he’s taking on a new challenge at this year’s Class 4A boys swim meet.
After winning the 500-freestyle a year ago, he won’t swim that race. Instead, he’s locked into the 200. And he’s not off to a bad start. He won the preliminary race on Friday, coming in at a time of one minute, 40.79 seconds.
He’ll swim in the coveted fourth lane during Saturday’s finals where he hopes he can do a spot better than his second-place finish in that race last year. He also took the top spot in the 100-freestyle at 45.85 seconds.
“It shows the progression I’ve made in the last year,” he said. “For the past three years I’ve been swimming the 500 and then maybe the 200. This will be the first year I drop the five.”
Coming to the Air Force Academy played a big role in that decision. His coaches aren’t concerned about the higher elevation than what Gately is used to. They think he can come close if not match his times from lower altitudes.
Improving the team finish is also a goal for Gately and the Eagles. They finished third overall in the team standings a year ago. If they can finish better than Valor Christian and inch closer to defending champion Cheyenne Mountain, it will be a successful way to finish the season.
“This year it was about getting as much of us back here as we could,” Gately said. “It’s state. Being able to spread us to each event gives us a little bit of depth.”
Taking down Cheyenne Mountain is always a tough task.
But this year, there is more hype around the Indians than normal, specifically in the 400-fresstyle relay.
The team of Daniel Carr, Jerry Brinbaum, Westin Stieglitz and Kyle Leach think they set records. As in national records.
They need to finish the race under 2:59.00 to do that and coach Kate Doane is excited to see if they can pull it off.
“It’s going to be awesome,” she said. “They’re going to go out and do the best that they can and try to put together their four best swims.”
She also thinks a Colorado record would be great. The state record in the race is 3:00.84.
That record would be a nice get, but the real aim for the Indians is to come away with their third straight 4A title. It would be a nice addition to the girls swim title that the school won in February.
“Our whole goal is to get as many kids back today so we can have an awesome day tomorrow,” Doane said. “The 400-free relay is the cherry on the cake.”
The finals of the 4A boys swim meet will start at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Doors open to the public at 1 p.m.
THORNTON — Fossil Ridge showed a promising performance at the Class 5A boys swimming and diving state preliminaries, placing first in all three relays, qualifying for finals in every event, and capturing a top three seed in six races.
Though the SaberCats only returned one individual champion this year in Danny Kovac, strong swims by junior Richard Dauksher, senior Sam Ybarra and junior Matt Geraghty give potential for a third consecutive state title. Their head coach Mark Morehouse, named NHSCA coach of the year last season, doesn’t hurt their chances, either.
Senior Kovac looks to repeat top in the 100-yard backstroke, a race he has won two years in a row. The Fossil Ridge senior also earned the second seed in the 100-yard fly tonight and will look to land on the podium on Saturday in his second discipline.
Last year’s runner-up and 21-time state champion, Regis Jesuit, is right on Fossil’s tail, placing second in the 200-yard medley relay, second in the 400-yard freestyle relay, and fifth in the 200-yard free relay. Their most recent championship came in 2014.
Despite these two teams gaining most of the attention heading into finals, two seniors from other schools made headlines tonight and look to claim top spots tomorrow.
Senior Michael Zarian of Fairview won the 200-yard IM and 500-yard freestyle last year (he is two-time champion in the latter). This year, Zarian swapped the 500-free free for the 100-yard butterfly.
“Honestly, I just think it’s a more fun race. This is also my senior year so I wanted to switch it up,” he said.
On Friday, Zarian placed first in both races, and competed in the final two relays (200-yard free, 400-yard free) in which his team placed second and fourth, respectively.
“I am excited and fired up to swim in the finals tomorrow. Everybody is,” said Zarian, who will swim for Harvard next year. “The goal here is to swim the fastest, of course, and have fun. And that’s what’s happening. Tomorrow will be a good day.”
Arapahoe senior Griffin Eiber also placed first in his two races, the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle.
In his junior season, Eiber won the 100-yard but took silver in the 200-yard after a career best prelim time. This year, his qualifying time is nearly a second and a half faster.
“This year I stepped up my training and my confidence,” Eiber said. “But I am also swimming much smarter than last year. Keegan (Bundy) is and I are good friends and we go back and forth. If I swim well, I can win this. If he swims well, he will win.”
Bundy, a Denver South senior, is the third seed heading into tomorrow’s 100-yard free final. Eiber has committed to Indiana University.
The night concluded with two swim-offs. There were three ties in the 50-yard freestyle.
Hinkley junior David Griffith just edged Regis senior Alex Strepman for the eighth spot in tomorrow’s final. In the 100-yard, Lewis-Palmer junior Breck Donahue came from behind the claim the 16th and final spot.
The sole diving event will kick off at 9:30 am Saturday at Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center. The field of 47 will compete in the 1-meter preliminaries, cutting the field to 16 finalists who will compete during the swim events later that day.
Bear Creek’s Octavia Lucero is the competitor to beat, now that Regis grad Kyle Goodwin has graduated.
Swim finals begin Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Pool doors open at 12:30 p.m.
