THORNTON - Somehow, Cherry Creek's Luke Ogren has only gotten better since winning last year's diving state championship. This time around, he improved upon last year's score to earn another crown and aid the Bruins' pursuit of the program's first boys swimming and diving team state championship since 2021, and its program's 13th overall.
Much like last year, Ogren led for most of the way, and knew he would be donning the state championship medal the moment he completed his final dive.
"The highlight, for me, was definitely that last dive because right when I came up from the water, I knew I had won the meet," Ogren recalled. "I was comparing myself to some of the other divers the entire time, and I knew that last dive was a really great one."
Ogren, only a junior, will now look to capture a third state championship next season and further improve on his remarkable showing at this year's meet. Ogren's final score of 615.65 was the highest recorded at a Colorado High School Activities Association's boys state meet since 2021, when Regis Jesuit senior Quinn Henninger notched a score of 642.80.
"I've definitely improved a lot," Ogren said. "A lot of my dives are significantly harder this year than they were last year. So, it's really nice because I can just go out there and perform and show everyone what I'm capable of accomplishing."
Rounding out the top 10 divers, you had Parker Co-Op's Alex Robertson finish in second (523.90); Ranch Boys Co-Op's Andrew Garrison finish in third (509.60); Ralston Valley's Alex Kreidler finish in fourth (495.05); Chatfield's Breken Moran finish in fifth (482.05); Ranch Boys Co-Op's Bryson Ohrtman finish in sixth (466.95); Douglas County's Jacob Shiffer finish in seventh (466.75); Heritage's Connor Dreiling finish in eighth (460.70); Fort Collins' Aidan Favela finish in ninth (442.60); and Heritage's Jordan Mingo finish in 10th (439.30).
Denver East's Luke Figah was named the CHSCA 5A Diver of the Year. Meanwhile, Mitchell Sedlmayr, who serves as the dive coach for both Cherry Creek and Overland, was named CHSCA 5A Dive Coach of the Year.