THORNTON – Chris Loftis is a swim coach, so he knows what it feels like to get wet.
But it had been three years since he jumped into the pool to celebrate winning a state championship.
Cherry Creek coaches jumped into the team and basked in that nostalgic, happy feeling after the Bruins' dominant Class 5A state championship victory Saturday night at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center (VMAC). was brought back to the team.
“It feels like it’s been a long time,” Loftis said with a smile after the program won its 13th state championship in history. “This is a special group that worked especially hard and everything came together at the right time.”
Loftis said Cherry Creek took a different approach to the Centennial A-League Championship meet a week ago, where the Bruins failed to win for the first time in 25 years, but the strategy was to lighten the burden on top swimmers. He pointed out that it seems to have worked. off.
Cherry Creek swam very well in Friday morning's prelims, which included state championships in the 200-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relay, as well as an individual title for senior Brody Johnson (100-yard butterfly). preparations for the big final match. Colin Miklecki (100 yard freestyle).
And that was after junior Luke Ogren's first win of the morning, winning back-to-back 5A state championships in the 1-meter dive.
Cherry Creek defeated rival Regis Jesuit's bid for a third straight title, but won the medley relay, starting the finals with Johnson and juniors Camille Trinkes, Trevor Boot and Connor Kelly. The top six teams all took the lead in a race that outperformed the U.S. judges.
From there, there was only as far as Cherry Creek.
“The first race of the meet establishes the atmosphere and momentum,” Mikleky said. “Shout out to those guys. It really showed a great path for all of us.”
Pine Creek's James Schreiber denied Miklecki the 200-yard freestyle title, moving up a lot after finishing eighth in the event in 2023.
Fossil Ridge's Brennen O'Neill earned All-American automatic status en route to 200-yard individual medley honors, and Lewis Palmer's Eli Hobson topped the ultra-fast 50-yard freestyle final with a time of 20.03 seconds. I stood there.
This was the first of two titles for Hobson, who would set a Colorado state record in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 53.58 seconds.
Grandview's Oliver Shinberg won the state championship in the 100 backstroke, and Highlands Ranch's Vladislav Kazakin (500-yard freestyle) also won an individual title.
Regis Jesuit, seeking its 25th-ever state championship, entered the tournament seeded fifth but improved to take home the runner-up trophy, with the Highlands Ranch co-op team taking third place. .
Cherry Creek couldn't have been happier in the end.
“We won it my freshman year and we won it our senior year, so I’m really excited,” Johnson said. “We had a great team and got the job done. It's a great way to go out for your senior year.”
