Aurora – The Regis boys swimming and diving team extended its dual-meet dominance to 82 consecutive victories after topping Heritage and Mark Dylla on Thursday afternoon at the Raiders’ pool.
Ho-hum.
Team accolades are nothing new for Regis, which has won 13 state titles in 14 years. The real excitement was watching Dylla, one of Colorado’s best prep swimmers, and his teammates take on Colorado’s best prep swimming program as if a state title were involved.
“We don’t have the depth to beat Regis. They outnumber us 3-to-1,” said Dylla, a four-time state champion (twice in the 100-yard butterfly, 200 individual medley, 500 freestyle). “But we go head-to-head and try to put up a few wins here and there.”
The opening race, the 200 medley relay, set the tone. With a Regis team pulling ahead on either side of Heritage’s top squad during the second leg, 11-time All-American Dylla waited his turn. The junior devoured the body-length lead in the first 25 yards and gave teammate Casey Fanganello a small advantage with only a freestyle sprint left.
Regis senior Phillip Oleksiak and Fanganello broke into a sprint for the lead, and Oleksiak edged Fanganello for the Raiders’ winning time of 1 minute, 42.24 seconds, .62 ahead of the Eagles.
“That race was so close. I love the competition of someone right next to me. It gets that extra fire inside,” Oleksiak said. “This team has a lot of spirit, a lot of heart….I think it’s the camaraderie and brotherhood that motivates this team. It’s not just depth that gets the win.”
Oleksiak anchored all three of Regis’ winning relay teams and finished second to sophomore teammate Jay Kim in the 50 freestyle. Kim also cruised to victory in the 100 breaststroke and swam on two relay teams, and Charlie Patch dominated the 500 freestyle with a state-qualifying time of 4:57.89.
In the meet’s closest race, Callan Hetterich edged Heritage’s Nate Pendleton by .14 of a second in the 100 backstroke. Brothers Sean and Kevin Moore finished first and second, respectively, to claim diving honors for Regis.
Heritage was led by Dylla, who easily won his two individual events – 200 individual medley and 100 freestyle – and helped propel the Eagles to a pair of second-place finishes in the relays.
“I have a few things that I could improve on, like my goggles fell off in the 100 (freestyle),” said Dylla, who needs to improve his state meet time in the 100 butterfly from last season by only .03 of a second to set a state record.
Regis 131, Heritage 55
200-yard medley relay – Regis (Leonard, Kim, Hetterich, Oleksiak), 1:42.24 (SQT); Heritage (Pendleton, Cyr, Dylla, Fanganello), 1:42.86 (SQT); 200 freestyle – Reinhardt, R, 1:52.07 (SQT); Fordham, H, 1:56.34; Yslas, R, 1:57.08; 200 IM – Dylla, H, 1:55.33 (SQT); Patch, R, 2:07.20 (SQT); Pavlakovich, R, 2:13.37; 50 free – Kim, R, 22.21 (SQT); Oleksiak, R, 22.65 (SQT); Fanganello, H, 23.77; Diving – S. Moore, R, 270.80 pts. (SQ); K. Moore, R, 223.00 (SQ); Beard, R, 191.50; 100 butterfly – Suchomel, R, 57.02 (SQT); Yslas, R, 57.18 (SQT); Tanner, H, 58.31; 100 free – Dylla, H, 48.29 (SQT); Marolda, R, 50.69 (SQT); Hetterich, R, 51.13; 500 free – Patch, R, 4:57.89 (SQT); Reeves, R, 5:20.22; Fordham, H, 5:22.31; 200 free relay – Regis (Kim, Yslas, Marolda, Oleksiak), 1:31.15 (SQT); Heritage (Smith, Tanner, Fordham, Dylla), 1:34.98 (SQT); 100 backstroke – Hetterich, R, 57.65 (SQT); Pendleton, H, 57.79 (SQT); Fanganello, H, 1:00.04; 100 breaststroke – Kim, R, 1:00.87 (SQT); Cyr, H, 1:09.18; Lassen, R, 1:09.44; 400 free relay – Regis B (Candee, Mullins, Marolda, Oleksiak), 3:27.94 (SQT); Regis A (Reinhardt, Pavlakovich, Hetterich, Patch), 3:29.73 (SQT); Heritage (Fordham, Tanner, Fanganello, Cyr), 3:39.30.
