THORNTON -- The girls from Kent Denver found the sweetest way to cap off a state championship. 

At the Class 3A Girls Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center, the Sun Devils blew past the competitors in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the final event of the night, with a time of 3 minutes, 32.19. They crushed the previous classification record, set by St. Mary's Academy in 2024, by nearly two seconds. 

Camryn Williams, Hadley Carrington, Valerie Williams, and Elsa Anderson ended the state meet in style. 

Kent Denver tallied plenty of points in individual events, as well, as they captured the school's first team state championship in swimming and diving.

But, the greatest strength of the team turned out to be relays as they also won the 200-yard medley (1:46.99) in a classification record time. If that wasn't enough, they earned gold in the other relay too, the 200 freestyle, in 1:40.95.

Reese Rosenberg, Anderson, Valerie Williams, and Carrington swam the medley, while Rosenberg, Emily Lin, Olivia Altman, and Camryn Williams cruised in the 200 free. 

"Every year our team just thinks about relay records a lot, because it's just such a fun accomplishment," Anderson said. "We just always dance together behind the blocks and get each other hyped up."

The sensational sophomore knew Kent Denver had a healthy lead over St. Mary's Academy in the team standings entering the final race. 

"We just went into the last relay knowing that as long as we had safe starts it was going to go well," Anderson said. 

The whole day went so well, in fact, that the Sun Devils scored 480 points They were well ahead of 2024 champion St. Mary's Academy (357) and defending champion Discovery Canyon (304).

Head coach Kim Garcia was confident all season about her team's abilities, but she also knew Friday's preliminary swims weren't their top performances. Nevertheless, they stepped up when it mattered most.

"That was an unbelievable performance for us," she said. "I scored out the meet from prelims and we were ahead, but it wasn't our best performance. I knew we had room to get better. I knew we had more to show."

You could say they showed out in the finals, though, with individual champions in the 50 freestyle (senior Hadley Carrington), 500 freestyle (junior Camryn Williams), and 100 breaststroke (sophomore Elsa Anderson). Anderson's time of 1:04.07 shattered the 3A record by just over one second.

"It was a big goal of mine," Anderson said of the record. "I came in thinking about just staying calm and setting my own race, so that I can try and break it."

She was also second in the 200 individual medley.

Oh, and Williams defeated defending champion Tallaby Riddle of Evergreen in the 500 freestyle by 10 seconds with a time of 5:08.76. 

"That's always been Cam's strongest race," her coach said. "She has always been one of those kids that has been really tough and really gritty. It wasn't her best time, but she gave everything she had."

Carrington, the sprint winner (50 free), is a dual-sport athlete who will play soccer at Rhodes College next school year. 

The Sun Devils had gold medal winners in several events, but they also found depth to back up their top-end talent. Freshmen Altman (fourth in 200 freestyle) and Williams (second in the 100 butterfly, fourth in 200 IM) were fantastic additions to the program. Sophomore Elizabeth Kennealey added points by finishing third in diving.

Kent Denver has quite an exciting group of young athletes. 

"In October, I knew we could win state with this freshman class," Garcia said with a smile. "They really rose to the occasion. We won league as well, which was the first time we won league in a long while. They have a lot of growing they can still do."

Anderson saw the potential in the first-years from the get-go, as well. 

"I remember last year we had just six girls (at state) and we came in third and it was the coolest thing ever," she said. "I never really thought we would win and then I saw our freshmen come up this year and all these new girls make state. Our hopes rose and rose throughout the season."

The program has certainly come a long ways under Garcia. Kent Denver is a sports powerhouse, earning their 70th team championship on Saturday, but they are new to dominating in the pool. 

The team went undefeated all season. 

"Every time that we've come to state we've done a little bit better," Garcia said. "We were 15th my first year, ninth my second year, fifth my third, third last year, and then we won it all this year. It's been an incredible journey for me."

Their coach has quite the swimming background as she was an individual state runner-up several times as an athlete at Cherry Creek. Then, she was an assistant for the Bruins for 10 years. 

Garcia's wealth of experience helped her build Kent Denver into a 3A force. 

"We started developing the mentality, believing we could be better each year," she said. "The school is amazing. They gave me the tools and resources I needed to build a program that would attract the best athletes in the state. Some of these girls, their times today would compete with 5A."

Kent Denver hopes to win back-to-back state championships next year.

Other notable results on Saturday included sophomore Alaia Sloan (Discovery Canyon) earning gold in both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.

University of Wyoming signee Lorelai Frauenfelder (Holy Family) won the 200 IM by 0.19 seconds over Anderson. She also clinched a state title in the 100 freestyle. She was a two-time individual winner in 2025, as well.

Wellington senior Cody Monajjem won the 200 freestyle in 1:53.04. She also captured the 100 backstroke championship last year. This time she was second. Nonetheless, she's the first swimming champion for her high school (founded in 2022) and was named the 3A Swimmer of the Year.

St. Mary's Academy senior Mia Williams, who has signed with Georgetown University, won the diving competition.