THORNTON – With the defending 4A girls swim and dive champions moving up a classification, the 2023 team title was fully up for grabs.
The Pine Creek Eagles grabbed ahold of that opportunity, capturing the 2023 girls swimming and diving title with a team total of 463 Thursday night, Feb. 9, at the Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center. It is the first girls swim and dive title in program history.
“This is a lifelong type moment for this team,” Pine Creek head coach Kent Nelson exclaimed. “These girls have worked so hard all season long. They’ve been in the running the last couple of years, and it was this year they put it all together. Every single girl swam above expectation.”
Overall on the day, Pine Creek won two individual swims, as well as two relays.
Pine Creek sophomore Madison Mintenko successfully defended both of her individual titles, as she won the 200 free and 500 free finals in record times.
In the 200, she broke the 4A state record set back in 2015 by Eryn Eddy (1:46.95) with a blazing 1:45.93. She followed that up with another 4A record in the 500 free, as she glided to a 4:47.70 to overtake the record she set in the prelims the day prior.
“Madison is a once in a generation athlete,” Nelson added. “As a sophomore she is one of the true leaders on the team. She’s really stepped up to show these girls the way to do this. As a coach, it’s a truly special thing to be able to watch her do this, we watch in awe as much as anybody else.”
The relay championships came from the 200-freestyle squad of Jacquelyn Erickson, Lily Kemmerer, Tera Schultz and Mintenko with a finals time of 1:36.81, and the 400-freestyle squad of Isabella Burton, Kemmerer, Erickson, and Mintenko, who raced to a 3:30.12.
Caroline Bricker finished off her illustrious high school swimming career with two more event wins, and two more record times. She capped off four titles in four years in the 200 IM, breaking her own record of 1:59.34 with a time of 1:58.49. She then followed that up with a 4A record time in the 100 breaststroke, clocking in with a 1:00.20, breaking the prior record set by Mary Codevilla last season. They were her sixth and seventh all-time individual titles.
“Swimming in general, and high school swimming especially, has made me grow as a person so much,” Bricker explained. “I can never thank everyone who has been a part of my career enough. I remember so many small details that have shaped me into who I am today, and I’m just so happy for everything that has happened.”
In the 50 free, Highlands Ranch junior Renee Burton took gold with a finals time of 23.44. It is the first individual champion for the Falcons since 2007.
The 100 fly and 100 back both belonged to Niwot’s Jamieson Legh. The senior raced to a finals time of 54.29 in the fly and 54.65 in the back to win her first two individual swimming titles. It was a welcome result for Legh, as she finished runner-up in both the fly and back strokes just last season.
Another school took home gold in the 100 free as Longmont junior Jordan Bindseil clocked in with a finals time of 51.57, giving the Trojans their first 4A winner since 2005 and first overall individual win since 2018.
In the opening relay of the day, Monarch captured gold as the team of Gwyneth Christensen, Audrey Shambo, Mia Prater, and Eliza Lennox raced to a finals time of 1:47.35. It was the first relay championship in program history.
The day before the 4A swim championships, Liberty’s Ashley Van Milligan claimed the diving title with a final score of 508.35.
Finishing runner-up was the 2020 champions, Cheyenne Mountain, clocking in with 346.5 points. Rounding out the top-five were Broomfield in third, Niwot in fourth, and Monarch in fifth.
CHSAA is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first girls swim and dive championship held in 1973. Throughout the championships, Colorado high school girls swimming legends will be handing out all of the awards.