Mountain View High School sophomore JJ Phillips (left), who finished third in two events at the 4A state meet, was named this year's Reporter-Herald Boys Swimmer of the Year. Mountain View High School senior Tyler Trellico (right), who finished fifth in diving, was named this year's Boys Diving Athlete of the Year. (Nathan Wright/Loveland Reporter-Herald)
Over the past two seasons, Mountain View's boys swimming and diving team has made a comeback at the state level, earning 14 points at the 2022 Class 4A state tournament and 132.5 points at this year's meet earlier this month.
While several swimmers can be credited with the program's newfound success, the biggest contributors have been sophomore swimmer JJ Phillips and senior diver Tyler Trellico, who both placed in the top five in their individual events and were key contributors to the team's 12th-place finish this year.
Phillips, who placed third in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle events and swam in both the Mountain Lions' eighth-place 200-meter medley and 200-meter freestyle relay, was named the Reporter-Herald's Boys Swimmer of the Year, while Trelico, who placed fifth in diving and earned his third consecutive top-10 finish, was named the Right-Handed Boys Diving Athlete of the Year.
As a 2023 freshman, Phillips had no expectations for himself going into the season, where he finished the year at the state meet with ninth-place finishes in the 50 freestyle (22.25 seconds) and 10th-place finishes in the 100 freestyle (50.22 seconds).
“My freshman year, I won one of my events at conference and then I made the podium in both my events at state, and that was kind of a revelatory moment where I realized I could excel,” he said. “So I started working harder and focusing more on swimming.”
His experience at the state meet his freshman year raised his expectations and he intensified his training, ultimately winning the conference 50-meter freestyle and taking second in the 100-meter freestyle, posting times that were in the state's top three in both races at this year's state meet.
He placed third in both events, swimming the 50 meters in 21.23 seconds (just 0.06 seconds behind the winner) and the 100 meters in 46.90 seconds (0.56 seconds behind the winner).
Phillips attributes his improved times and placements to increased training intensity.
“I think the growth from my freshman year to my sophomore year definitely has to do with the difference in the amount of training and the training I did between my freshman and sophomore years,” Phillips said. “My sophomore year, I was training a lot more and putting in a lot more effort. The intensity of training was very different my freshman year than my sophomore year. It was a lot more intense. That's what led to my success my sophomore year versus my freshman year.”
Knowing how close she was to the top of the podium was just extra motivation for Phillips, who still has two more swimming seasons left.
Next year, he won't be satisfied with a bronze medal. He wants to be on the top step of the podium. He wants to win races.
“I'm going to take a week off and then I'm going to start training full speed from now until early May 2025 because I'm not going to be satisfied with just winning another bronze medal,” Phillips said. “I want to be at the top of the podium my junior year. That's my goal. I'm going to train hard over the next 10, 11 months and train as hard as I can physically to get there.”
While Phillips has a few more years to achieve her goal, Trelico’s high school diving career ended at the state tournament earlier this month, and although she fell short of her 2023 second-place finish, she’s still happy with how it ended.
While his senior year placement and score (506.60) fell just short of his junior result, he wanted to make the most of his final high school diving round, and he did, finishing just over a point lower in his senior year than his junior score (507.75).
His main goal this season was to perfect the dive that earned him second place last year.
“I didn't achieve all of my goals, but I had fun diving and I got to dive a lot with some really great people,” Trelico said. “With the diving I was doing, I didn't have a lot of room to do more difficult dives, and I spent most of that room this year trying to do them better, rather than doing more difficult dives. I did some slightly more difficult dives just for fun.”
Before the state meet, he added one more dive to his repertoire, one that hadn't been attempted at state in several years: a 5152b dive, described online as two and a half forward flips and one twisting pike. It has a difficulty rating of 3.2. It was the most difficult dive at state this year.
“I just wanted to do it,” Trelico said. “My coaches told me I couldn't do it, so I didn't really practice much. But (coach) CT (Robinson) believed in me and I was confident, so I started practicing a week before state, nailing my dives and throwing.”
Trellico saved it for last, and although it wasn't perfect, he was pleased with his attempt. He wanted to finish with a bang and on his own terms, and he did.
Trelico is excited to have won the RH Male Diver of the Year award for the second year in a row and plans to continue diving with the Air Force.
Best remaining
Carter Vining, Mountain View: The Mountain Lions sophomore finished 17th at the 4A state diving competition with 362.05 points.
Alex Patricelli, Loveland: The Red Wolves sophomore finished 17th in the 50 freestyle (21.74) and 23rd in the 100 backstroke (53.93) at the 5A state meet.
Kane Willis, Mountain View: The Mountain Lions sophomore finished 11th in the 100 backstroke (56.18) and 37th in the 200 freestyle (2:01.23) at the 4A state meet.
John Shire, Thompson Valley: The Eagles senior touched the wall in 2:18.88 in the 200 individual medley at the 4A state meet, finishing in 37th place.
Aiden Hepp, Mountain View: The Mountain Lions senior finished 44th in the 50 freestyle (23.87) and 39th in the 100 butterfly (1:00.08) at the 4A state meet.
Vaughn Higgins, Thompson Valley: The Eagles freshman finished 57th in the 50 freestyle (24.40) and 34th in the 500 freestyle (5:43.60) at the 4A state meet.
Sawyer Ingraham, Mountain View: The Mountain Lions sophomore finished 50th in the 50 freestyle (24.11) and 40th in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.87) at the 4A state meet.
Cole Ingraham, Mountain View: The Mountain Lions senior finished 49th (24.04) in the 50 freestyle at the 4A state meet.
