Cherry Creek Keeps Streak Alive, Wins Fourth-Straight 5A Swimming & Diving Title
THORNTON – The top two finishers at this year’s Class 5A girls swim and dive state championships were the same as last year’s, but this year’s finish was far closer than the last one.
At Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center on Friday night, the team title came down to the final race of the night.
Heading into the final event – the 400 freestyle relay – Regis Jesuit led Cherry Creek by seven points. The Bruins won the event with a time of 3 minutes, 24.99 seconds and Regis Jesuit placed fourth, giving Cherry Creek 48 points to Regis Jesuit’s 38 and sealing the state title for the Bruins by just three points.
Cherry Creek has now won the last four team titles, most recently by the slimmest of margins.
“Each one is sweeter and each one gets harder,” Bruins coach Karin Olmsted Dinsdale said. “We knew the whole way that Regis was going to be hard to beat. They really had a great breaststroke event and they had some really good divers that really set them up well for the meet. We just knew that it was going to be a crawl all the way to the end.
“We saved a little bit of a dark horse. I put a senior on the end that wasn’t in the prelim relay, so she definitely had some motivation to do it for the team.”
Cherry Creek’s title-clinching relay featured Charlotte Wilson, who won both the 200 IM in 2:00.13 and the 100 backstroke in 52.90 seconds, Jenna Fernstrom, Madison Williams and Alana Maxey.
“I think the relays were probably the most important part of the entire meet,” Wilson said. “It really did come down to the relays and what place we got in the relays. So, honestly, I felt more focused on the relays and making sure I gave my all in those and have my whole team give their all in it.”
Cherry Creek swept the relays to help the team finish with a grand total of 362 points. Regis was runner-up with 359 points, Heritage was third with 255 points and Fairview was fourth with 245.5 points.
Cherry Creek – Wilson, Sydney Fernstrom, Jenna Fernstrom and Ana Loveridge – won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:41.23. The Bruins team of Ava Ross, Loveridge, Sydney Fernstrom and Maxey also won the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:34.66.
Douglas County’s Mila Nikanorov won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:42.49, just 1.02 seconds off the state record Missy Franklin set at 4:41.72 in 2013.
Fossil Ridge sophomore Ella Gaca Thiele finished the 50 freestyle in 22.98 seconds to take first in the 50 freestyle. She claimed a second individual gold later in the meet when she won the 100 freestyle with a time of 50.02 seconds.
Mountain Range’s Marissa Inouye won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:49.16.
Legacy’s Isabella Forsman won the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.81.
In the 100 breaststroke, Regis Jesuit’s Charlotte Burnham won gold with a time of 1:01.91.
On Wednesday afternoon, Fossil Ridge’s Sydney Ovesen won the diving competition with a score of 506.45.
