More photos. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
THORNTON — You couldn’t have asked for a better finish.
With one event remaining, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Regis Jesuit High School held a half-point lead over Fairview in the quest for the team title in the Class 5A girls state swimming and diving championships.
The two teams lined up by side in adjoining lanes for the 400-yard relay final. They were that way, in first and second, entering the final 100-yard leg.
Taylor Wilson stepped up for Regis, swimming the winning anchor leg and propelling the Raiders to their second consecutive team title and third in four years.
Wilson actually relished the challenge.
“When I was getting ready I was smiling,” she said. “Nothing makes me happier than that kind of pressure.”
This was a different Regis team than the ones four years prior. With no Missy Franklin piling up points, the team had to find another way to get it done. It did so, in part, by winning all three relays.
More photos. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
“We can in (to the season) knowing we could make it that far,” Wilson said of repeating as state champions. “We knew it — we wanted everybody else to know it.”
Regis finished with 254.5 points, with Fairview second with 248.
After back-to-back second-place finishes the previous two years, ThunderRidge junior Annie Ochitwa finally earned her first state title, winning the 50 freestyle by an impressive 0.15 of a second over Lauren Moden of Legend.
Ochitwa had finished second and third the previous two years in the 100 freestyle. Again, she rectified that by earning her second gold medal.
The Grizzlies spent Friday night in a hotel, ate dinner and watched television. Ochitwa’s inspiration came from the Food Network.
“Definitely cake, lots of cake,” she said of what she’d been holding off from eating while training, an indulgence with which she plans to reward herself. Then it’s back to the pool, where a repeat of her feats will provide her with off-season motivation.
Ella Moynihan of Arapahoe, who entered the state meet as the top seed in the 200 freestyle, retained that position through the preliminaries and followed that up with a victory in the finals, winning by more than a second in defeating defending champion Erin Metzger-Seymour of Ralston Valley.
More photos. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
Bailey Nero of Fossil Ridge, who took fifth in the 200 freestyle, capped off her day with the title, edging Metzger-Seymour by 0.3 of a second.
Loveland’s Brooke Hansen surprised the field in the 200 individual medley. Seeded fourth entering the meet, she edged out top seed Madeline Myers of Ralston Valley by 0.08 of a second.
Boulder senior Amanda Richey was the distance champion, winning the 500 freestyle by a second over Madeline Myers of Ralston Valley. The backstroke title went to sophomore Abigail Kochevar of Rock Canyon. Honors in the breaststroke went to Fossil Ridge freshman Bailey Kovac, who edged Hansen at the wall.
Regis Jesuit sophomore Mckensi Austin won the state diving title. With a score of 494.45 points, she outdistanced Kaitlin Costello of Douglas County by 31.05 points
Lakewood moved up to No. 3 in this week’s 5A poll. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
This week’s CHSAANow.com girls basketball rankings look mighty different than they did a week ago.
No, there are no new No. 1 teams in any of the five classifications. However, there were a number of big movers.
Included, in 5A: Lakewood going from No. 6 to No. 3, Mountain Vista from No. 9 to No. 4 and Cherry Creek from No. 8 to No. 6.
Lakewood has now won eight games in a row. Mountain Vista, meanwhile, beat then-No. 5 ThunderRidge last week.
Rock Canyon shoulders at least part of the blame for the shakeup. The Jaguars upset then-No. 4 Highlands Ranch last week as they went 3-0, and are now ranked No. 10.
Highlands Ranch tumbled to No. 9 after losing its third-straight game. ThunderRidge dropped to No. 8.
Regis Jesuit stayed atop 5A, and Grandview remained at No. 2.
The week’s other big mover was Peak to Peak, which went from No. 9 to No. 4 in 3A. That ranking added three new teams this week: No. 7 Platte Valley, No. 8 Grand Valley and No. 10 Trinidad.
Other newcomers: No. 10 Palmer Ridge in 4A and No. 10 Heritage Christian in 2A.
Broomfield (4A), Holy Family (3A), Lutheran (2A) and Caliche (1A) all stay atop their respective polls this week.
Ralston Valley is back in the 5A girls basketball ranking this week. (Dennis Pleuss)
Following a one-week absence, Ralston Valley has returned to the CHSAANow.com girls basketball poll. The Mustangs are No. 10 in 5A.
Regis Jesuit extended its firm hold on the top spot in that ranking, and continued to be followed by No. 2 Highlands Ranch, No. 3 Fossil Ridge and No. 4 Grandview. Castle View moved up two places this week to round out the top 5.
Rock Canyon is sixth this week, and is followed by Cherry Creek and Lakewood. ThunderRidge is No. 9.
The other No. 1s also stayed put. Those are Bloomfield (4A), Holy Family (3A), Yuma (2A) and Caliche (1A).
The 3A ranking added Olathe at No. 10, while 2A added Sangre de Cristo, also at No. 10. 1A, too, has a new team at No. 10 this week: Gilpin County.
Highlands Ranch (5A) and Sand Creek (4A) are both ranked in their respective polls. (Mark Adams)
Pine Creek is the lone newcomer to this week’s CHSAANow.com girls basketball poll in 5A. The Eagles (11-0) are No. 10 this week.
Regis Jesuit remained atop the poll, and continued to be followed by Highlands Ranch. Fossil Ridge moved up one place to No. 3, Grandview is No. 4 and ThunderRidge rounds out the top 5.
The 4A poll added Glenwood Springs (No. 8), 3A added The Classical Academy (No. 10), 2A added Heritage Christian (No. 10) and 1A added Hi-Plains (No. 10).
Pine Creek 20, Denver East 11, Rampart 11, Grand Junction 5, Arapahoe 4, Monarch 4, Mountain Vista 4, Horizon 3, Legend 3, Dakota Ridge 1, Poudre 1.
Dropped out
Monarch (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Broomfield (13)
6-0
148
1
1-0
2
Pueblo South
7-1
126
2
3-0
3
Mesa Ridge (2)
7-0
118
5
4-0
4
Valor Christian
7-2
92
3
2-2
5
Elizabeth
7-1
73
6
2-1
6
Pueblo West
6-1
68
4
2-1
7
Palmer Ridge
6-1
57
8
2-0
8
D’Evelyn
4-3
34
7
0-0
9
Sand Creek
3-2
33
9
0-0
10
Silver Creek
5-2
23
10
1-0
Others receiving votes:
Glenwood Springs 21, Pueblo East 10, Palisade 8, Pueblo County 5, Thompson Valley 3, Air Academy 2, Mullen 2, Eagle Valley 1, Longmont 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Holy Family (8)
7-1
116
1
1-1
2
Pagosa Springs (4)
6-0
102
2
2-0
3
Lamar
6-0
77
5
2-0
4
Centauri
6-0
73
3
1-0
5
Bishop Machebeuf
5-1
61
6
1-0
6
Sterling
6-1
50
–
3–1
7
Eaton
5-1
35
4
1-1
8
Peak to Peak
5-1
25
–
2-0
9
Strasburg
6-0
24
10
2-0
10
Coal Ridge
5-1
14
9
1-0
Others receiving votes:
Trinidad 11, Kent Denver 9, The Classical Academy 8, Frontier Academy 8, Valley 7, Brush 6, Olathe 6, The Academy 6, Aurora West 5, Middle Park 4, St. Mary’s 4, The Pinnacle 3, Florence 2, Manitou Springs 2, Jefferson Academy 1, Sheridan 1.
Dropped out
Estes Park (7), St. Mary’s (8).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Yuma (9)
4-0
108
1
1-0
2
Peyton (2)
6-0
94
3
2-0
3
Lutheran
4-0
80
4
2-0
4
Akron
4-1
67
2
2-1
5
Liberty Common
7-0
58
6
0-0
6
Simla
5-0
40
7
1-0
7
Hoehne
3-1
32
9
0-0
8
Paonia
4-2
31
8
2-0
9
Meeker
3-1
26
–
0-0
10
Sangre de Cristo
3-3
18
5
0-3
Others receiving votes:
Heritage Christian 14, Kiowa 12, Crowley County 7, The Vanguard 7, Del Norte 5, Wray 2, Highland 1, Hotchkiss 1, Limon 1, Springfield 1.
Dropped out
Kiowa (10).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Caliche (4)
5-0
49
1
1-0
2
Norwood (1)
5-0
44
3
2-0
3
Idalia
5-0
38
4
1-0
4
Eads
5-1
36
2
2-1
5
Kit Carson
4-2
30
6
2-1
6
Prairie
6-0
25
7
2-0
7
McClave
4-1
17
10
1-1
8
Cheraw
5-0
10
9
2-0
9
Dove Creek
6-0
8
5
2-0
10
Liberty/Stratton
3-3
7
8
1-1
Others receiving votes:
Hi-Plains 4, Holly 3, Walsh 3, Belleview Christian 1.
THORNTON — Fairview won girls swimming’s annual Coaches Invite at VMAC on Saturday. The Knights’ 271 total team points bested second-place Cherry Creek (238) and third-place Regis Jesuit (217).
