Just as Cheyenne Mountain had ended the three-win streak of Air Academy in the 4A meet, the Fossil Ridge boys took down the three-time defending champions Regis Jesuit in exciting fashion.
This was a close meet that didn’t give way until the end of the meet. Boulder came away with two wins in the first half of the meet, taking the 200 medley relay in 1:33.19, helped by notable splits from Chris Nicholson in backstroke (23.15/22.95p) and Christian Feiler on the free leg (20.34/20.20p). Feiler, a senior, won the 50 free as well. He touched at 20.67 (20.56 in prelims), the only swimmer to break 21 seconds in his last high school meet before suiting up next fall for Princeton.
With defending champions Regis Jesuit getting a huge diving win from senior Kyle Goodwin, who set an overall state record with a whopping 611.85 points to unseat a 10-year-old record, Fossil Ridge had to put up some big points if they wanted to upset the favorites. Their points didn’t come fast; Highlands Ranch’s Gabriele Sasia took the 100 fly (49.16), followed by Cherry Creek’s Samuel Coffman in the 100 free (45.24) in his second win of the day. He had won the 200 free earlier in the meet (1:39.19). Then, Fairview’s Michael Zarian won the 500 free in 4:36.98, though Fossil Ridge’s Walter Dauksher grabbed third in that race.
Dauksher, a senior who will swim for 2015 Division III runners-up Denison, anchored two vital relays for the Sabercats. In a huge win for them, Dauksher and teammates touched at 1:25.52 in the 200 free relay, just one hundredth of a second ahead of Cherry Creek. Fossil Ridge got solid splits (with relay starts) of 20.92 and 20.89 from junior Matt Willis and freshman Danny Kovac, as Dauksher finished up in 21.81 to just hold off a charge by Cherry Creek’s Coffman (20.22). The Sabercats turned around with another win just after the big win, as Kovac snagged the 100 back title (50.53) to hold off 100 fly champ Sasia (50.67) and Boulder’s Nicholson (50.84), who led off the victorious 200 medley relay.
The 100 breaststroke was also a hotly contested race, as Greeley West’s Brody Lewis (56.60) held off NC State commit Quinlan Stuart (56.90) and Rampart’s Andrew Weiss (56.97).
The 400 free relay came down to the wire, only this time, Cherry Creek’s Coffman was able to track down Dauksher for the win in 3:07.21. Fossil Ridge was second in 3:07.42, but they had clinched the meet with 297 points.
FINAL SCORES (TOP FIVE)
1. Fossil Ridge – 297
2. Regis Jesuit – 274
3. Cherry Creek – 209
4. Boulder – 177
5. Fairview – 149