Fort Collins – Three traditions of Thompson Valley boys swimming: 1. The bagpiped entrance. 2. The team’s spot underneath the diving boards. 3. Winning state championships.
The Loveland-based Eagles defended their Class 4A state swimming and diving team title and earned their fifth overall Saturday, outpointing favored Montrose 276-256 at the Edora Pool Ice Center.
“It’s one of the things we have pride for at Thompson Valley, is the tradition,” said first-year Eagles coach Steve Foster, who was a part of the school’s 1997 and 1998 title teams. “The team aspect of swimming and diving, a lot of other teams are not as close as we are and that’s why we planted right under the boards, because we respect our divers.”
Thompson Valley won the team title without a single individual state champion. The Eagles received crucial points in consolation heats and from the team’s two divers, Greg Conway (fourth) and Alex Anderson (sixth). Montrose had no divers, and could only watch as the Eagles scored 28 points there.
“(The) divers are one of the main reasons we are able to be successful on a consistent basis,” Foster said. “As long as you can get your qual time, you will be able to score points, and we took that approach this whole season.”
Montrose, the 2004 state champion, bookended a stellar meet with victories in the 200-yard medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. The Indians’ quartet of Steve Wiesner, Kyle Weiss, John Thomas and Eric Sramek teamed up again to win the 400 by more than nine seconds over Mullen.
Thomas stood atop the awards stand four times Saturday, in both relays as well as for winning the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Thomas made the field chase him in the backstroke, building an early lead and cruising to a three-second victory over Cheyenne Mountain’s Chris Byrne.
The 100 freestyle was another story. A field that included 50 freestyle champ Vince Neiman of Mullen pushed Thomas all the way to the wall.
“Vince was next to me and knew he would be right there with me,” Thomas said. “I had to keep my cool and not just give it all I had.”
Wiesner kept up his family’s tradition of winning state titles. Brother Eric and sister Andrea each won six titles while attending Montrose, and Steve claimed the family’s 13th in the 100 butterfly, beating Broomfield’s Paul Bunge to the wall by 0.70 of a second.
“It’s a good feeling to finally be up on top as an individual champion,” Wiesner said.
Weiss also added an individual title in the 200 freestyle, with a time of 1:45.21.
The lone swimmer with two individual titles was Ralston Valley’s Clay Myers. The Mustangs sophomore defeated Wiesner in the 200 individual medley and then made the field chase him from the start in the 500 freestyle. His 4A record time of 4:40.68 was nine seconds better than Weiss’ time.
“I had paces I wanted to hold, and I went out here and did my best to hold them,” Myers said of his performance in the 500. “It’s such an honor to be here, and to win two races is a big deal.”
Conifer’s Ben Grado (diving) and Cherokee Trail’s Michael Phelps (100 breaststroke) each won his school’s first titles. Grado did so without the help of coach Laura Waggoner, who left early to help her daughter get ready for prom night.
“She was really thankful and pleased with it,” said Grado, who called his coach before he had dried off from his front 2 1/2 with a full twist. “I’ve been working on that dive (degree of difficulty 3.1) for a long time, and though I do have some difficulties with it, I’m pretty confident.”
CLASS 4A BOYS
STATE SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Edora Pool Ice Center, Fort Collins
Team scores – Thompson Valley 276, Montrose 256, Cheyenne Mountain 194, Silver Creek 164, Broomfield 163, Pueblo Centennial 160, Mullen 154, Greeley West 129, Pine Creek 123, Conifer 119, Ralston Valley 91, Mountain View 78, Cherokee Trail 76, Golden 59, Greeley Central 52, Pueblo West 29, Thomas Jefferson 26, Ests Park 26, Pueblo County 20, Ranum 19, Valley 16, Pueblo East 14, Moffat County 13, Glenwood Springs 12, Pueblo South 11, Longmont 9, Summit 9, Skyview 3, Harrison 2.
Championship finals
200-yard medley relay – Montrose (John Thomas, Phil Rossi, Kyle Weiss, Landon Barrett), 1:40.18; Cheyenne Mountain, 1:43.14; Thompson Valley, 1:43.66; Broomfield, 1:44.25; Pine Creek, 1:45.14; Golden, 1:46.02; Pueblo Centennial, 1:46.11; Greeley West, DQ.
200 freestyle – Kyle Weiss, Montrose, 1:45.21; Michael Phelps, Cherokee Trail, 1:46.81; Alex Walpole, Cheyenne Mountain, 1:47.58; Christian Treat, Conifer, 1:49.45; Loren Bongirno, Pueblo County, 1:49.51; Marc Houghton, Thomas Jefferson, 1:50.87; Keaton Brown, Greeley West, 1:52.29; Brendan Cox, Cheyenne Mountain, 1:52.71.
200 individual medley – Clay Myers, Ralston Valley, 1:54.90; Steve Wiesner, Montrose, 1:55.85; Paul Bunge, Broomfield, 1:59.83; Eric Sramek, Montrose, 2:04.33; Bryan Roth, Pueblo Centennial, 2:07.34; Dominic Ponce, Thompson Valley, 2:07.88; Tim Stumbaugh, Mountain View, 2:08.05; Matt Rainbolt, Valley, 2:10.31.
50 freestyle – Vince Neiman, Mullen, 21.76; Patrick Hammers, Greeley West, 22.14; Nick Koerner, Silver Creek, 22.21; Alex Roiniotis, Silver Creek, 22.35; Justin Terasas, Broomfield, 22.57; Jeremy Allison, Cherokee Trail, 22.96; Jeff Hansen, Cheyenne Mountain, 22.97; Josh Kolb, Thompson Valley, 23.15.
Diving – Ben Grado, Conifer, 559.45 points (Class 4A state record, previous record 551.35 set by Brighton’s Andrew Coup in 2004); Taylor Sishc, Mountain View, 551.40; Nicholas Halbach, Ralston Valley, 465.70; Greg Conway, Thompson Valley, 436.60; Adam Rivera, Pueblo East, 392.10; Alex Anderson, Thompson Valley, 385.60; Kyle Stewart, Silver Creek, 376.65; Micael Waterman, Ralston Valley, 350.10.
100 butterfly – Steve Wiesner, Montrose, 51.98; Paul Bunge, Broomfield, 52.68; Ian Gregoire, Pine Creek, 54.66; Josh Gregory, Thompson Valley, 54.75; Branden Hayes, Pueblo Centennial, 55.42; Ramon Gurule, Pueblo Centennial, 56.13; Matt Zuege, Mullen, 56.41; Greg Nemick, Pueblo South, 56.52.
100 freestyle – John Thomas, Montrose, 47.36; Patrick Hammers, Greeley West, 48.61; Nick Koerner, Silver Creek, 48.71; Vince Neiman, Mullen, 48.74; Jeremy Allison, Cherokee Trail, 49.56; Alex Walpole, Cheyenne Mountain, 49.59; Josh Kolb, Thompson Valley, 50.50; Marc Houghton, Thomas Jefferson, 51.09.
500 freestyle – Clay Myers, Ralston Valley, 4:40.68 (Class 4A state record, previous record 4:41.64 set by Niwot’s Bryce Peterson in 2003); Kyle Weiss, Montrose, 4:49.94; Drew McCormick, Thompson Valley, 4:51.46; Chris Byrne, Cheyenne Mountain, 4:57.49; Christian Treat, Conifer, 5:05.92; Mike Yamazaki, Silver Creek, 5:11.18; Mitch Mullinix, Thompson Valley, 5:14.39; Stephen Flanders, Broomfield, 5:22.56.
200 freestyle relay – Mullen (Vince Neiman, Matt Zuege, Beau Wagner, Nicholas Clode), 1:31.28; Broomfield, 1:31.33; Silver Creek, 1:31.37; Montrose, 1:31.50; Thompson Valley, 1:31.74; Greeley West, 1:33.03; Greeley Central, 1:35.55; Pueblo Centennial, 1:36.98.
100 backstroke – John Thomas, Montrose, 51.29; Chris Byrne, Cheyenne Mountain, 54.73; Drew McCormick, Thompson Valley, 55.61; Ian Gregoire, Pine Creek, 56.24; Bryan Roth, Pueblo Centennial, 56.72; Keaton Brown, Greeley West, 57.42; Tim Stumbaugh, Mountain View, 57.65; Alex Roiniotis, Silver Creek, 58.48.
100 breaststroke – Michael Phelps, Cherokee Trail, 1:01.09; Max Smith, Golden, 1:01.79; Josh Gregory, Thompson Valley, 1:03.21; Eric Hutto, Pine Creek, 1:04.70; Ethan Schmidt, Thompson Valley, 1:04.75; Matt Schlesinger, Conifer, 1:04.91; Gio DiDomenico, Pueblo West, 1:05.44; Mark Radcliffe, Ranum, 1:12.51.
400 freestyle relay – Montrose (Steve Wiesner, Kyle Weiss, John Thomas, Eric Sramek), 3:12.12; Mullen, 3:21.71; Cheyenne Mountain, 3:22.03; Greeley West, 3:22.15; Thompson Valley, 3:23.59; Silver Creek, 3:24.03; Conifer, 3:25.26; Pueblo Centennial, 3:26.26.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
