Freshman McKinnon Leads Cherry Creek to 5th Straight 5A Swim State Title; Pine Creek’s Mintenko Dazzles
By Courtney Oakes
Photo: Courtney Oakes/Sentinel Colorado
THORNTON – With the heavy lifting done a day earlier to win a fifth straight Class 5A state championship, the Cherry Creek girls swim team didn’t rest on its laurels in Friday evening’s finals.
The Bruins put in an impressive performance in the prelims the previous day that made them a 152-point favorite going into championship session at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center, and they let eight points of that slip, but still won by 144 points over runner-up Regis Jesuit.
Freshman Kate McKinnon capped a massive debut at the state meet as the anchor leg of the 400 yard freestyle relay team which — along with senior Ana Loveridge, sophomore Jenna Fernstrom and junior Madison Williams — broke a 14-year-old state record and provided the ultimate cherry on top.
“We knew there was a chance we could break that record,” Cherry Creek coach Karin Olmstead Dinsdale said. “It was pretty old, but I knew we had a really good chance. That was really special to go out and do that in the last race.”
The Bruins had to overtake Regis Jesuit in the 400 freestyle relay a year ago to win the championship, but this time found themselves with a whopping 162-point edge ahead of it this time.
Much of that advantage was forged on the performance of McKinnon, who swept the 50 and 100 freestyle championships as the only individual winner for Cherry Creek, and she swam on the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays as well. She defeated Pine Creek junior star Ella Gaca Thiele in both sprint events, touching her out by 0.04 in the 50 (with a time of 22.79 seconds) and by 0.29 in the 100 (with a time of 49.91).
The 50 freestyle as a whole was huge for Cherry Creek, which had four swimmers make the championship finals, where they finished first (McKinnon), third (Loveridge), fourth (Fernstrom) and 10th (freshman Clara Paterson) for a major statement.
“I knew we had a lot of talent in the sprints, but Kate really raised the level as a freshman,” Olmstead Dinsdale said.
Loveridge did her part as well with a runner-up finish behind Boulder’s Hazel Huilman in the 100 butterfly, and the medal podiums were filled with the likes of junior Mackenzie Williams, sophomore Sydney Fernstrom, freshman Sydney Wasylenky and others.
Cherry Creek’s approach to the final event was definitely different than a year ago because of all that.
The Bruins took out the 2011 mark of 3:22.42 of Hillary Thomas, Alex Todd, McKenna DeBever and Missy Franklin with a 3:21.52.
“Last year it was a fight to the death with us and Regis and it was so much fun,” said Loveridge, who is headed to BYU. “But this year, with all the new faces and how hard all of the girls worked and Kate McKinnon — who is absolutely amazing — I think it was so well earned. …This day was so full of joy.”
Regis Jesuit did not have an event champion, though sophomore Ava Terella came closest with a runner-up finish in the 100 backstroke, and junior Lexi Stramel placed third in both of the distance freestyle events. Third in the standings was Fairview, which had a three-point edge over Arapahoe, which was led by 5A Swim Coach of the Year Eric Eikenbary.
While Cherry Creek dominated from a team perspective, Pine Creek senior Madison Mintenko dazzled individually.
In Thursday’s prelims, Mintenko — who dominated at the 4A level before the Eagles moved up to 5A this season — created a stir with her performance in the 500 yard freestyle.
Mintenko touched the wall in a remarkable 4 minutes, 39.89 seconds, which knocked five-time Olympic gold medalist Franklin (whose 4:41.72 had stood since 2013) out of the state recordbooks.
Mintenko did not set any records in the finals, but she cruised to the 500 freestyle state championship and also took the 200 freestyle, in which her 1:43.20 was just a fingernail off Franklin’s 1:43.15 from 2012.
“It’s amazing, I’m so grateful,” said Mintenko, who was selected as 5A Swimmer of the Year at the conclusion of the meet. “I’ve met Missy before and I’m so grateful I was able to do some things like she did when she was my age. She’s such an inspiration and just about every girl here looks up to her. … After last night I was just super excited, half of the meet was over and I could just chill out and focus on today.”
With these two individual event titles, Mintenko caps her high school career undefeated in individual events and joins Franklin (Regis Jesuit) and Anna Trinidad (Cheyenne Mountain) as the only swimmers to win all eight individual races.
Joining McKinnon and Mintenko as two-event winners was Huilman, a junior who first captured the 100 yard butterfly (in 53.98 seconds) and later claimed the 100 breaststroke (with a time of 1:02.50).
Fossil Ridge ended up with multiple state championships over two days, as the SaberCats followed Sydney Ovesen’s 1-meter diving crown from Thursday with the 200 yard freestyle relay title. That went to senior Madison Arnold, juniors Gracie Thornton and Gaca Thiele and sophomore Paige Nguyen.
Valor Christian freshman Elliana Wiesen (200 yard individual medley) and Heritage senior Elise Ramsden (100 backstroke) rounded out the state champions.
