Belibi, a junior, chose the Cardinal over Notre Dame, Harvard and Princeton, according to Regis Jesuit coach Carl Mattei.
Last season, she averaged 13.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.3 steals per game. Belibi is a multisport athlete, and has qualified for the state tennis tournament.
PUEBLO — Colorado Academy’s Caroline Jordaan has two top-three finishes in state golf tournaments. Early Monday morning, she looked determined to the win that has eluded her the last two seasons.
She shot a 3-under-par-68 to hold a one-shot lead over Holy Family’s Hailey Schalk, the defending Class 3A state champion.
Schalk’s round started a little rough as she missed two of Elmwood Golf Course’s first three fairways of the day. She recovered on the back nine which included going 3-under over her last four holes.
“I wasn’t really executing simple shots,” Schalk said. “I bogeyed three of the four par 3s which killed me. Other than that, I think played okay. I didn’t play great.”
For her part, Jordaan was consistent through the majority of the day. She made birdie on three of the first five holes and then rattled off 10 straight pars. Her first hiccup came on the 15th green when her birdie putt caught the right edge of the cup a little too hot leading to a par. Schalk made a birdie on 15, the start of her strong run to end the round.
“That was kind of frustrating,” Jordaan said. “I hit a good putt, I just hit it too hard. Then the next hole I almost made an eagle, but it was still a tap-in birdie. I wasn’t too discouraged after that.”
She nearly finished her round bogey free, but just missed another short putt. Schalk birdied the 18th hole to cut Jordaan’s lead to just one stroke ahead of Tuesday’s final round.
“That wasn’t how I wanted to finish, but 17 holes without a bogey is good,” Jordaan said.
This won’t be like last year where Schalk opened her tournament a 65 and was able to cruise to a state championship in her freshman year.
If she is going to repeat, she’s going to have to do come from behind and eliminate her mistakes from Monday.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
“Last year I definitely played more conservatively (on the second day) just because of my lead,” Schalk said. “This year I’m just going to attack it as much as I can.”
Kent Denver grabbed the team lead, ending the day at 30-over. Defending team champion Colorado Academy sits six strokes behind and was led by Jordaan and her younger sister Marie, a sophomore.
Sophomore Charlotte Hillary led the Sun Devils, shooting a 75 on the day. She knows that if she and her teammates are going to unseat the Mustangs, they have to remain focused on having great individual rounds and not try to guess as to what’s happening with the other teams.
“The most important thing for us to do is stay focused individually on our own game,” Hillary said. “We have to go shot by shot and not worry too much about what Colorado Academy might be doing or what Jefferson Academy might be doing. We have to play steady golf like we did today.”
The final round of the tournament will be held Tuesday morning with the first groups going off at 8:30 a.m.
LAKEWOOD – Arria Minor has asserted such a dominance that her silver finish in the 400-meter state track finals on Saturday was surprising to many in the stadium.
No mind, though.
It’s already squelched from memory.
The Denver East junior went on to win the Class 5A 200 and anchored her team victory in the 4×100 for her third gold at the state track and field meet at Jefferson County Stadium as Colorado’s fastest girl rebounded from an earlier slipup that saw her come short of individual gold for the first time in her career.
“I can definitely shift my focus pretty well,” Minor said. “I was totally focused on the 200. The 400 didn’t exist to me at that moment.”
Minor began the final day with a win in the 100 (11.51 seconds) before her streak of seven individual golds at state was ended in silver. The junior said her hamstrings tightened up with 50 meters to go in the 400 as Grandview’s Lily Williams swooped from behind and outstretched Minor by .09 seconds in 53.85.
Minor said it was the first time she’d ran a 400 in Colorado and didn’t win.
“It’s definitely humbling,” Minor said. “It’s good to have those kinds of moments. They hurt a lot, especially on such a big stage in front of the whole state. It’s tough, but it’s good.”
Minor had set the state record in the 400 (51.92) to go along with a state-best time in the 200 (22.89) in preliminaries Thursday. After her runner-up place in a much colder and wetter 400 finals, the speedster cleared her mind and went on to blur past the field in the 200 (23.60) and 4×100 (47.10) for her ninth state title.
For Minor, it was all about moving forward.
“It’s always the next thing,” Minor said. “It’s never living in the past. In two hours state will be just another meet and I’m focused on Great Southwest.”
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Also claiming three golds on the day, Discovery Canyon senior Lauren Gale made her emphatic return from hip surgery to the top of the state podium with wins in the 4A 100 (11.79), 200 (24.05) and 400 (54.23).
“I’m truly happy,” Gale said. “It took a long time to get back.”
The Canadian — who moved to Colorado in 2015 — marveled at her first state meet two years ago, sweeping the same three events she did Saturday. The star-made sophomore, however, became the hard-luck junior that winter when X-rays found she’d been running with a torn labrum.
“Yeah, not fun,” she said.
Following surgery and a few months of physical therapy, Gale admittedly returned too soon and ran at state as junior. She took two silvers but suffered through pain throughout.
Since then, she’s worked to get her endurance back — even electing to join the school’s JV swim team in the winter. It wasn’t until these last few weeks, though, that Gale said she finally felt like she was where she wanted to be.
“It was only two meets ago that I finally ran 54 in the 400 — and I was like ‘Ah, that only took a year-and-a-half to get,’” the Colorado State commit said. “But honestly just the prelims at state were fast for me and I was super surprised. … That gave me a whole lot of confidence.”
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Notables
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Rock Canyon’s Emily Sloan had done a pretty good job keeping her mind free of her mishap in last year’s 300 hurdles on Saturday.
She was sent a stark reminder in the blocks of the moment she tripped on a hurdle, and ended up finishing second as a result.
“It was out of my head until the announcer was like ‘state runner-up, lane five,’” Sloan said. “But that kind of gave me motivation.”
Sloan made amends with a win in the 5A 300 (41.42) and added her fourth straight gold in the 100 hurdles (13.59) to wrap up her high school career. She will head to Oregon next season.
“I feel relieved,” she said.
On Friday, Sloan broke the 300 hurdles state record with a time of 40.60 in prelims. Her friend and club teammate, Anna Hall, had held the record for a brief time Friday with a prelim mark of 40.76.
(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The Valor Christian junior won both 4A hurdle events (14.23, 42.67) on the final day to go along with her gold in the long jump (18 feet and 9.75 inches).
“With running that (record time) yesterday, today was just about getting that place and helping my team get points,” Hall said. “With this weather, it wasn’t likely to PR.”
Team winners included Cherokee Trail (5A), Valor Christian (4A), The Classical Academy (3A), Highland (2A) and Shining Mountain (1A).
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY – There was no flash or flamboyance to Windsor High School’s swim team and no event wins – but there was plenty of consistent performances.
Those performances when totaled together gave the Wizards the team title at the Class 4A swim & dive state championships Saturday at the United States Air Force Academy. The was the Wizards first state team swimming championship.
Windsor finished with 202 points to edge Discovery Canyon which came in with 194 points.
“We have solid core group of guys,” said Windsor coach Trevor Timmons, who just completed his fifth season guiding the program. “This just feels amazing. It’s really exciting to be the state champs. We are going to have a fun drive home.”
Windsor was trailing Discovery Canyon by 20 points headed into the last event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Thunder didn’t have a team competing in the relay and Windsor placed fifth with the team of Riley Miller, Josh Dodrill, Ethan Hansbury and Colby Horton to clinch the coveted state crown.
“Last place in the 400 freestyle relay was 22 points so I told them not to DQ,” Timmons said. “All they needed was safe starts. We had some slow starts on that one, but that’s what we needed. This is just amazing. In the back half of the meet, we just have so much depth and that really played out for us.”
Mullen (187) and Cheyenne Mountain (168) finished third and fourth in the team race.
Cheyenne Mountain won the 200-yard medley relay (1:34.20) with a team of Christian Moden, Juwon Hong, Kyle Leach, and Gabe Grauvogel.
Leach, who was named Class 4A swimmer of the year, led the way for the Indians he snared the 100-yard freestyle in a state record time of 44.33 seconds, which also was an automatic All-American time.
“This is all I could ever ask for,” said Leach, a senior. “I can’t complain about winning and setting a state record. I don’t remember the race. It was just a flash. I saw Griffin (Ayotte of Air Academy) and he kept pushing me to go further.”
Leach, who is headed to swim at the University of Missouri next fall, also won the 50 freestyle in an automatic All-American consideration time of 20.32.
Pine Creek’s Nicholas Sherman also was a double state champ. He was victorious in the 200 IM in 1:50.81 in an automatic All-American time and then he was tops in the 100 backstroke in 50.01 seconds.
Other winners were Wheat Ridge’s Ryan Peterson in the 200 freestyle (1:39.58). The junior’s clocking was an automatic All-American time.
Discovery Canyon’s Brendan Byrnes was the diving champ with 508.75 points. Freshman John Plutt, who competes for Pueblo County High School’s co-op team, won the 100 butterfly (50.26) and junior Ryan King of Montrose won his first state crown the 500 freestyle (4:36.47). King was a state runner-up in the event a year ago.
Plutt also swam the opening leg on the Hornets’ state championship 200 freestyle relay that clocked a 1:27.18 time.
“It’s one thing to win it by yourself, but to bring a whole relay with you and have everybody win takes a lot of work,” Plutt said. “This is a great feeling.”
Kaleb DeLeon-Fisher, Jacob Dorn, and Treven Wertz were also part of the 200 free championship team.
D’Evelyn’s Jack Moranetz was the 100 breaststroke winner in 56.39 seconds at Mullen won the 400 freestyle relay.
The Raiders trailed Fossil Ridge by 1.5 points heading into the final event of the night — the 400-yard freestyle relay. Fossil Ridge was the favorite, having qualified first in prelims by over three seconds.
But the Raiders took the lead in the second leg with a strong swim by senior Elliot Steinberg and held it for a tight finish: a last lap featuring Regis Jesuit senior Elijah Warren and Fossil Ridge senior Danny Kovac in a charged swim to the finish.
“I knew we had to win it. We just had to. That was it,” said Regis Jesuit senior Ty Coen. “I’m so happy and lucky to be here right now.”
Coen swam the state finals just five weeks after having hand surgery. He recorded a lifetime best in both his individual events and helped lead his team to state record breaking time in the 200-yard medley relay. The Raiders broke the Colorado record by one one-hundredth of a second with an impressive 1:30:52 finish in the first event of the night.
It set the stage for a championship that would come eleven events and three-and-a-half hours later.
Junior William Goodwin raced the book-end relays as well.
“I swam that for the seniors. That was the most emotional race I have ever been a part of,” Goodwin said, remarking on the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Both he and Warren swam their hearts out just minutes after placing first and second in the 100-yard breast stroke with All-American times.
Fossil Ridge’s three-year reign ended in a 4.5-point margin, but the SaberCats held the lead for the majority of the evening.
The SaberCats placed in all three relays and claimed first place in three individual events.
Senior Danny Kovac set a state record with a time of 1:46:27 in the 200-yard individual medley. In his second individual discipline, the 100-meter butterfly, his 46.65 finish scored him redemption from last year’s second place. Kovac won both those races by over two seconds.
Kovac’s teammate, senior Matt Geraghty, finished first in the 100-yard freestyle.
In the 200-yard freestyle, Broomfield sophomore Harrison Lierz finished first in 1:39.12. Lierz also won the 500-yard freestyle, finishing first and pushing hard on the final lap to earn an all-American time of 4:34:16.
Bear Creek senior, Octavio Lucero, wrapped up his high school diving career with a 40-point margin in his first-place finish, ending with a score of 594.80. He will dive for University of Hawaii next year, opening the field for freshman podium placers Clayton Chaplin (Highlands Ranch) and Quinn Henninger (Regis Jesuit).
The 2018 swimmer of the year award was shared by Kovac and Warren.
After Warren swam the last lap and first championship of his high school career, he had few words to express the feeling.
“I can’t describe this. I’ve wanted this since I was a freshman,” Warren said. “II love being part of the Regis swim culture. To finally make this happen, well, it just hasn’t sunk in quite yet.”
LAKEWOOD — During the final day of the state track and field meet at Jeffco Stadium, Fountain Fort-Carson continued a championship tradition that is nearly unmatched in Colorado.
The Trojans (100 points) won the 5A boys state crown for the fourth time in five years. Cherry Creek was the runner-up with 71.
A dynamic group of athletes featuring Jalen Lyon (200-meter dash and 400 champion), Deondre Ritter (2nd in 100), and Jequan Hogan (high jump champion, triple jump runner-up, third place in long jump) led the way in explosive events.
But, in the 800 relay final Cherry Creek was in first after three legs. Lyon, a University of Northern Colorado recruit, made up the gap on the anchor leg, helping Fountain win a thrilling race in 1 minute, 26.53 seconds. The Bruins were second in 1:26.65.
“We knew it was going to be close, because Cherry Creek always pushes us like that,” Lyon said. “I fought him at the end and that was probably the most adrenaline I’ve ever had in a race. I had my boys on my mind.”
The camaraderie and expectations within the program are elements of their success.
(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“We’re a family,” Lyon said. “We make jokes, we practice hard, we push each other hard, and we talk each other up. The coaches also push us to continue the legacy.”
Following in the footsteps of older brother Christian (100 and 200 titles in 2016), Lyon joined a lengthy list of sprinters who have won multiple sprint crowns in the same season for the Trojans. Donovan Williams (2017), Tevin Donnell (2015), and Markesh Woodson (2011) all claimed championships of their own in the shorter sprint races.
That is quite a run of talent. Fountain has now tallied 20 state championships (all since 1960) in boys track and field, tying Fort Collins for the state record.
Several of the terrific Trojans, ones who won’t soon be forgotten, have signed with college programs, including Jason Farrell (hurdler, Northern Colorado) and Jequan Hogan (Texas Tech). Hogan was the New Balance national champion indoors in the triple jump as a senior.
Jawuan Tate (158-9) added 10 more points to Fountain’s total with a discus crown. Iosua Maika (49-4) finished fifth in shot put.
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Class 5A
Devin Cadena of Rock Canyon (10.70) nipped Deondre Ritter (10.71) in a fast 100 final. The Jaguars tasted plenty of success this weekend.
Liberty veteran Andrew Doctor did the same to Overland’s Joel Nyatusah with times of 14.35 to 14.38 in the high hurdle final.
Michael Mooney (3,200 champion Thursday) capped a terrific career for Broomfield with a winning dive against Mountain Vista’s Carter Dillon in the 1,600. 4:16.15 and 4:16.17 were the final marks for the pair of Division I recruits.
The Broomfield Eagles also produced the 300 hurdle champion in Mitchell Gorman (37.83).
Highlands Ranch junior Drake Nugent launched a winning throw of 55 feet, 9.5 inches in shot put.
Fort Collins was exceptional in triple jump, finishing 1st (junior Allam Bushara, 49-9.25, outstanding mark), 3rd, 4th, and 8th. Micaylon Moore, the third place finisher, won long jump as well.
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Class 4A
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Silver Creek (3:23) finished runner-up in the 1,600 relay behind Mullen (3:22). That added enough points to their final tally to secure their first-ever title in track and field. The school’s last team championship came in football in 2012. The Raptors (60.5 points) pulled away from Pueblo South (52), Pine Creek (51), and Valor Christian (50).
Silver Creek’s James Lee (University of Pennsylvania recruit) won the 800 on Friday and finished as the runner-up in the 1,600 on Saturday as they received further contributions in distance, jumps, pole vault, throws, and relays. In cross country, the Raptors had gotten close to winning titles each of the last two seasons with Lee, Brock Dykema (Colorado State), and Logan Simington (Arkansas State) all among the top talents in the classification.
Pueblo South did win the 400 relay in a thriller over Mullen with times of 42.44 and 42.47 seconds.
185-9 was the winning mark in discus for Kain Medrano of Pueblo East. That surpassed a 28-year old classification record of 183-11 by Ron Wach of Estes Park.
Medrano’s teammate, Luc Andrada, claimed the 100 crown in 10.66 seconds.
Angelo Hurtado of Roosevelt cleared the 110 hurdles quicker than anyone in 4A with a time of 14.48.
Tyrese Van Horne (21.63) added to a rich tradition in sprints for the Harrison Panthers with a 200 championship. He’s only a sophomore.
Sensational underclassmen Cole Sprout of Valor Christian (4:14) responded to a strong move by James Lee (4:19) with a fast 300-meter finish to win the four-lapper.
Valor’s Dane Palazzo and Pine Creek’s Wyatt Wieland shared the 300 hurdles crown with a time of 38.01.
Yet another champion was crowned from Colorado Springs as Air Academy senior Josiah Molascon (14-6) won pole vault.
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Class 3A
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Bayfield’s Carl Heide (14.65) was unmatched in the 110 hurdles. He also won the 300 hurdles in 38.69 (state record in 3A yesterday). Heide provided a boatload of points for a program that has one other track championship in their history (girls in 1991).
Bayfield tallied 79.5 points to win their first boys track title, but the Wolverines have corralled plenty of hardware in other seasons this school year while winning 2A football and 3A basketball. The Classical Academy was the runner-up with 73 points.
Lutheran, always a major presence, especially in sprints, had won four team championships in a row (three in 3A, one in 2A).
Seven Lindsey of Kent Denver topped all challengers in the 100 (10.74) and 200 (21.78).
Junior Chad Jackson, an Alamosa stalwart, completed 400 meters in first place with a time of 49.91.
Woodland Park junior Skye Ciccarelli (6-4) conquered high jump.
No one was able to better RidgeView Academy senior Inaujee Ison in long jump (21-2.25).
The Spartans of Berthoud (43.18) celebrated a victorious 400 relay.
Ryan Moen, a senior for TCA who also won the 3,200, had just enough foot speed to outlean Denver West sophomore Yasin Sado in the 1,600. Sado was also the runner-up in the 800. 4:25.72 and 4:25.75 were the final times.
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Class 2A
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
The team competition between Resurrection Christian and Lyons was close, but the Cougars displayed the necessary depth to outlast the Boulder County power. The group donned in white and blue racked up 63 points, holding off both Lyons (58) and Cedaredge (58).
Rez had earned runner-up honors in recent years, but had never before won state. That changed this weekend with placers in most events on and off the track. Freshman Tanner Applebee (21-3.5) was the long jump champion on Thursday for a program that started only seven years ago.
Patrick Scoggins of Rangely (51.02) grabbed gold in the 400. The senior had an illustrious career with a number of state medals.
Ben Kelley further cemented his status as one of the greatest 2A competitors in state history in any event by going back-to-back in the 1,600 (4:23). The leap team was led by junior Grant Redmond (6-5 high jump) of Soroco, Kelley’s teammate.
14.90 was the winning mark in 110 hurdles by Austin Davis of Byers.
Michael Morgan of Buena Vista (11.23) was the 100 sprint king.
Hoehne has a veteran 300 hurdler in Jacob Yates (39.50) who proved his worth as a champion.
22.62 was the winning 200 time by Ty Grant of Cedaredge, continuing a proud tradition in sprints for the program. The 400 relay (45.12) and the 1,600 relay (3:30.01) crowns were also claimed by Cedaredge.
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Class 1A
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Heritage Christian boys compiled a monstrous total of 169 points to win their fifth state championship in six years.
Junior Levi Kilian (1:59, 4:34, 10:04) swept the 1A distance events and shattered 1A state meet records in the 1,600 and 3,200. Isaiah Bowsher (4:38) also broke a state meet record that was previously held by Ryan Dollerschell of Prairie in the 1,600 (4:42 in 2014). Seth Bruxvoort (4:45) and Keaton Case (4:47) ensured the Eagles of a sweep of the top four places.
HCA also flourished in the sprints as Josh Damir (11.28, 22.87) swept the 100 and 200. He was the runner-up in the 300 hurdles. The Eagles finished the meet with a victorious 1,600 relay of 3:35.
Cotopaxi junior Arlo Garner (15.42, 39.56) was the title winner of the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles.
Holly sophomore Alex Ramos (50.72) proved his worth in the 400 as an underclassmen. He could be a force for years to come.
North Park (45.68) had a stronger foursome in the 400 relay than anyone else in 1A.
Pole vaulters will have to deal with Pikes Peak Christian again next year. Juniors Tommy Harmon (12-3) and Sam Smith (11-3) were wildly impressive in earning gold and silver.
PARKER — Haley Stodden’s penalty kick in overtime gave Broomfield a 3-2 win over Rock Canyon and a trip to Wednesday’s Class 5A state championship game.
The tournament, which had been moved to Monday and Tuesday, will now begin on May 25 and 26, this coming Friday and Saturday. It will conclude on June 1 and June 2, a Friday and Saturday.
The fields at Niwot High School and Butch Butler received a lot of moisture over the weekend, and will not be ready for play on Monday, according to CHSAA assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann, who oversees baseball. As was communicated last week, that prompts the move to Friday/Saturday.
“The format requires that all teams play on the same day, and that wasn’t going to be able to happen on Monday, especially with the amount of moisture that was received in Greeley and Niwot over the weekend,” Borgmann said.
Additionally, because Niwot has graduation on Saturday and its field won’t be available for use as a result, the second site for the tournament has been moved to University High School.
University is in the 3A tournament, but will not play on its home field in the first round. The team may need to play on its field on the second day depending upon how they do in the tournament.
The 4A and 5A baseball tournaments remain on schedule for their postponed start on Monday and Tuesday. Those tournaments are now slated to finish this upcoming Saturday and Sunday.
DENVER — It turns out that August Johnson wasn’t done yet. The Cheyenne Mountain senior and Air Force Academy commit made a dramatic return to the Indians’ lineup for the Class 4A state championship game.
And the result will go down in Cheyenne Mountain legend.
Johnson scored two goals, including the game winner, to help the Indians beat Dawson 8-6 to claim its first state boys lacrosse championship.
“It’s unbelievable,” Johnson said. “Three years coming to this. It’s like a movie ending.”
It’s been an emotional roller coaster ride worthy of a Hollywood script, that’s for sure. Injuries forced Johnson to the Cheyenne Mountain bench for a third of the season, forcing the Indians (15-4 overall) to learn how to win without him.
“It was really important for us,” coach Mike Paige said. “August is such a dominant personality and such a dominant physical specimen that the other guys were playing in his shadow. When he went out, initially the team was in shock.”
But they learned to grind out wins and they learned they were successful, even without their star. They learned over their three playoff wins heading into Friday that they were a championship-level team.
Earlier this week, Johnson had been medically cleared and started taking steps to returning to the lineup. He didn’t in the semifinal win over Aspen, but when pregame warmups started at Mile High, he was in full uniform and ready to roll.
“(It felt like) getting ready for battle,” Johnson said. “Everyone doubted. Everyone always doubted us as just a school from Colorado Springs.”
No longer. But it was far from a sure thing.
Gavyn Pure put the Mustangs (17-2) on the board four minutes into the game, scoring an unassisted goal from the left side of the Cheyenne net.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
After Jack Shams buried a shot with one second left in the quarter, Pure added another goal to make it a 3-0, giving all the indications that this game would play out like Dawson’s 10-3 win over Indians earlier this season.
But Jack Paul ended the shutout with 6:45 left in the second. That goal was followed by one from Johnson who suited up for the first time since April 9 against Thompson Valley.
Jack Egan added a spectacular goal for the Indians with one second left in the half.
Shams scored the first goal of the second half, pushing the Mustangs lead back to two goals, But the Indians got responses from Cole Mika and Ike Eastburn to send the game into the fourth quarter tied 5-5.
“We came out with some nerves,” Egan said. “This is the biggest stadium we’ve ever seen. All the nerves that were present slowed us down early.”
Shams got the lead back for Dawson with 3:58 left in the game, but Egan struck for Cheyenne Mountain just 11 seconds later.
And then Johnson found the net again and Cheyenne had its first lead of the game.
“Without him tonight, I think the circumstances would’ve been a little bit different,” Egan said. “We all played together and I think that was the biggest part of it.”
Cheyenne added another goal for to pad the lead, but Johnson’s game-winner held up, giving him and his teammates an ending worthy of Hollywood ink.
“I can’t imagine the whole thing and then him doing that,” Paige said. “It was amazing.”
And it will be something talked about in the hallways at Cheyenne Mountain for years to come.
AIR FORCE ACADEMY — The sting of finishing runner-up is still fresh in Ryan King’s mind.
The Montrose product was out-touched at the wall by Cheyenne Mountain standout Daniel Carr for the win and the state title in the 500-yard freestyle last spring.
Carr is swimming for the University of California now and King, a junior, is back at the Class 4A swimming and diving state championships to take care of unfinished business at the United States Air Force Academy pool.
“Losing that race stung a little bit, but it motivated me to work harder and come back here and go even faster,” King said.
King took the first step toward claiming state glory by winning the 500-freestyle prelims in a time 4:42.20.
“I feel confident I can swim faster (Saturday),” King said moments after climbing out of the pool. “I just need to rest (Friday night), eat a good dinner and bring it all together (Saturday).”
King has plenty left in his tank as his season-best time in the 500 freestyle is 4:37.79 which is good for All-American consideration.
The Class 4A state finals begin at 3 p.m. Saturday. Discovery Canyon’s Braden Whitmarsh was second in the 500 free in prelims at 4:45.68.
As a freshman, King placed third in the Class 4A 500 free, so reaching the prep summit Saturday would be special for him.
“Winning state would mean everything,” the 6-foot, 150-pound King said. “I have been so close the past two years and with all the support my teammates have been giving me I feel like I can do it. It would be awesome to do that. I just need to go out there and hold on. If I’m able to stand up there (on top of the podium) and represent my school and my town, that would be an amazing opportunity for me.”
King already has plans of swimming collegiately at the Division I level and his Montrose coach Silas Almgren gushed about his pupil’s qualities.
“Ryan is a real distant-based swimmer and even some of the events in high school aren’t really his best,” Almgren said. “He’s more of a miler and beyond, and pretty much every workout we have he’s leading everything and that takes a lot. There are not many days that somebody else gets in front of the train and takes it to the end. He comes in every day and gives his best.
What he swims isn’t glamourous. Everybody in the stands is going to get super excited for the 50 (freestyle) because watching power and speed is exciting, but for him it is distance and finesse.”
King also will be in the 200 freestyle finals Saturday as he finished fifth in prelims at 1:44.76. He also is the anchor for Montrose’s 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays. Montrose heads into the finals seeded No. 5 in the 200 free relay (1:30.35) and No. 6 in the 400 free relay (3:19.37).
“I love to race, and I hate losing,” King said. “It is fun to go out and help my teammates. It’s fun to help them in practice and it is awesome to come out here and swim fast in meets.”
