THORNTON — Different head coach, same end-of-season result for Cheyenne Mountain. 
 
One year after Kate Doane led the Red-Tailed Hawks to a state championship in her final run as head coach, Dominick Smith watched as his inaugural group lifted the Class 4A boys swim and dive first-place trophy once again at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center on Saturday. 
 
Much like second-place finisher Silver Creek, which had 316 points to Cheyenne Mountain’s 349, the Red-Tailed Hawks’ depth was key in securing the program’s eighth state title. 
 
“Compared to some of the teams, we had a relatively small group,” Smith said. “Only 14 guys came to state with us, but the depth of that 14 really helped. Just about everyone was making it back to finals and then swimming well. We swam great in prelims but to be able to step up, come back to finals, drop time (and) move up places, that really helps the team win an event like this.”
 
Cheyenne Mountain’s lone individual event winner was senior Ethan Carr, who swam a 20.92-second 50-yard freestyle in the day’s fourth event. Carr later joined sophomore Conner Trinidad, junior Cardin Nguyen and senior Neven Kereshi to take first in the 200-free relay. 
 
“It feels amazing,” Carr said. “I wasn't too sure how it was going to go coming into the season with losing some of our big guys, but we got a taste of victory and we knew what it takes. We just worked our butts off and we threw down and here we are. We reaped the benefits.”
 
Carr added that a few teammates stepped up on the state’s biggest stage He mentioned Isaac Eilmes’ third-place finish in the 500 free and Conner Trinidad’s all-around strong day. 
 
“I'm proud of every single one of them how they did,” Carr said. “I want to say I'm surprised about how we did, but I knew that the boys had it in them, so they gave 110%.”
 
Discovery Canyon took third with 308.50 points, Mullen placed fourth with 257.50 and Windsor was fifth at 245. 
 
Windsor junior Jake Eccleston made history in his 100 breaststroke race with a Colorado state meet record time of 54.08 seconds, breaking the previous best of 54.67 set back in 2019 by William Goodwin. In the process, Eccleston improved upon his Class 4A state meet record time of 55.04 that he set last year. 
 
“I just proved to myself that I'm getting faster,” Eccleston said. 
 
Discovery Canyon junior Gavin Sheyda also set a 4A state meet record in the 500 freestyle by swimming a 4:29.84.