THORNTON – With five-time defending champion Evergreen on the ropes, the St. Mary’s Academy girls swim and dive team had one more event to clinch their program’s first title and release the Cougars’ stranglehold over Class 3A.
Trailing by five points going into the 400 freestyle relay on Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Events Center, the Evergreen Cougars' squad had to win the event outright. That was the only way the Cougars could score enough points to jump the Wildcats and claim their sixth-straight title.
But with a decisive swim, the Wildcats relay squad outraced the Cougars to take first place for their own and win with a team total of 384 points to Evergreen’s 373. In doing so, St. Mary's Academy set a 3A state meet record with a time of 3 minutes, 34.4 seconds.
Then, it was time for a new team to grab the trophy and jump in the pool for the first time ever.
“These girls are incredible,” St. Mary’s Academy coach Kelly Shipley said. “I teach at the school and these girls just swim with their hearts, they swim for each other and the team is just a solid family. They really are. They swam for each other, that was it.”
The Wildcats’ clinching relay team featured Riley Mills, Blair Franciscus, Kate Callander and Caitlin Crysel.
In helping lead her team to its historic victory, Crysel hit an historic milestone of her own.
Crysel won the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.11 to make it four titles in four years in that event in her prep career. With the win in the 200 IM, Crysel became the sixth swimmer in state history to win four titles in a single event, and the third person to do so in the 200 IM. She also became the second St. Mary’s Academy Wildcat to win four straight titles in a single event, as Alexa Beckwith won four-straight diving titles from 2011-14, and she's the first Wildcat swimmer to accomplish the four-time feat.
Crysel also won the 100 freestyle to mark her seventh individual state title, making her the 10th swimmer in state history to win seven or more events at the state championships. Only two swimmers - Anna Trinidad from Cheyenne Mountain and Missy Franklin from Regis Jesuit – completed their careers with more individual wins (8 each).
“It means a lot, honestly,” Crysel said. “It’s a confidence booster, but it’s also just a lot of fun. I love the 200 IM race. Every year, there’s someone new who I get to compete against and I get to meet and become friends with. I’ve just been so grateful for this opportunity and for every person I've raced with and raced against. It’s just been so nice."
The relays were a crucial component of St. Mary’s Academy’s win.
The Wildcats – Franciscus, Caitlin Crysel, Mills and Madison Crysel – won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:48.39, 0.07 seconds slower than the 3A state meet record held by Evergeen’s 2022 relay team. Completing the relay sweep, the Wildcats team of Franciscus, Caitlin Crysel, Mills and Madison Crysel took first in the 100 freestyle relay with a time of 1:48.39.
Mills picked up another win for St. Mary’s Academy when she won the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.74. She picked up yet another in the 100 butterfly, winning in 55.70 seconds and edging Evergreen standout Finley Anderson in what was a critical head-to-head matchup.
Saturday’s action wasn’t without its highlights for Evergreen either. In the 500 freestyle, Cougars sophomore Tallaby Riddle set a 3A state meet record of 5:00.91, breaking Abbey Selin’s previous record of 5:01.15 from 2017. Anderson also won the 100 backstroke in 54.18 seconds, which was just off her own previous state meet record of 50.10.
Cody Monajjem became Wellington’s first-ever individual state champion when she won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:55.69.
In the 100 breaststroke, freshman Josie Stahl took first in 1:05.46.
Earlier in the day, Gunnison’s Kailyn Japuntich
won the diving competition with a score of 457.40.