Colorado 4A/5A Boys High School Championships

By David Rieder, Swimming World high school intern

FORT COLLINS, Colorado, May 28. RECENTLY, Colorado held its 4A and 5A state high school championships for the boys.

5A:
The Colorado 5A Boys High School State Championships took place May 22 at EPIC, Fort Collins. Highlands Ranch won the meet with 373 points, while Cherry Creek Bruins took second with 341.5 points. Regis Jesuit claimed third with 277 points, followed by Boulder (157) and George Washington (143.5).

Cherry Creek's Spencer Fronk laid down the top performance of the meet, breaking a pair of state records in route to victories. In the 200 free, he won with a 1:38.32, clipping Steve Schmuhl's record of 1:38.40 from 2009. He later posted another victory in the 100 free, clocking a 45.26, just ahead of Schmuhl's 45.28, which he posted in 2009.

Cherry Creek's Jared Markham also recorded two victories. He set a state record of 1:49.12 in the prelims of the 200 IM, which lowered Jay Kim's 2008 mark of 1:49.98. He returned in finals to lower the record to 1:48.87. He also won the 100 back, stopping the clock in 49.30.

Fronk and Markham both swam on Cherry Creek's victorious 400 free relay, which lowered the state record to 3:06.04. A team from Cherry Creek set the previous mark of 3:06.13 in 2009. Fronk also helped Cherry Creek to victory in the 200 free relay, where they clocked 1:25.51.

Highlands Ranch set a state record in winning the 200 medley relay. They posted a time of 1:33.50, better than the 1:33.84 recorded by Regis Jesuit in 2009. Highland Ranch's breaststroker, Kyle Noser, later returned to claim an individual victory, winning the 100 breast in 58.00.

Highlands Ranch's Ian Wood and Cherry Creek's Daryl Turner dead-heated for victory in the 50 free. The two both posted times of 21.72, just five one-hundredths ahead of Highland Ranch's Cole Hackney and George Washington's Dan Jurgs, who also dead-heated for third with times of 21.77. Notably, Jurgs' preliminary time of 21.66 would have placed him first alone in the final.

Regis Jesuit's Clark Smith posted a 49.87 for victory in the 100 fly, while George Washington's Ben Holston took the 500 free in 4:35.27. Heritage's Tanner Nemkov had the top score in one-meter diving, with 428.10 points.

4A:
The Colorado 4A Boys High School State Championships took place May 22 at Mountain View High School. Lewis-Palmer dominated the meet, including three relay victories, as they scored 408 points for victory, over 150 points ahead of Cheyenne Mountain, second with 241 points. Fossil Ridge (198), Mullen (161), and D'Evelyn (159) rounded out the top five schools.

Three swimmers set individual 4A State Records at the meet. Lewis-Palmer's Ryan Arata set the first, posting a 50.14 in the 100 fly. Arata later returned to take victory in the 100 back, where he clocked 51.05, and he also led-off Lewis-Palmer's victorious, state record-setting 400 free relay, which posted a new mark of 3:08.86.

Cheyenne Mountain's Patrick Scally posted a state record of 4:35.53 to take the 500 free, and he also won the 200 free in 1:40.84. Pueblo Centennial's Tanner Krall posted the final individual state record in the 100 breast, where he checked in at 56.02.

Lewis-Palmer picked up three more victories at the meet, as Pat Cardillo took the 50 free in 21.40, and they also won the other two relays. Lewis-Palmer's 200 medley relay won in 1:36.16, while their 200 free relay took first in 1:27.33.

Arvada's Eric May claimed the 200 IM in 1:53.47, while Fossil Ridge's Josh Ginsborg won the 100 free, clocking 47.27. Thompson Valley's Travis Hartman took first in the one-meter diving, scoring 472.75 points.

Swimming World high school intern David "The Swim Geek" Rieder is a high school swimmer in Charleston, S.C. He swims for the Southern Marlins Racing Team and often negative splits his races. He can be found on the web at swimdr549.blogspot.com and twitter.com/david2swim.

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