Fort Collins – It just takes one name to put a swim team back on the map.
Eric Robinson is that man for D’Evelyn.
The Jaguars haven’t had a boys team for eight years because of a lack of numbers, and Robinson was forced to swim at nearby Dakota Ridge. His burst onto the Class 4A scene was huge on Thursday, as he captured the top seed in 200-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly at the Edora Pool Ice Center.
“This year, he has committed himself to just getting a lot faster and he has improved a lot,” D’Evelyn coach Josh Griffin said. “He wanted to have a team here the whole time, we just never had enough kids.”
Robinson posted season bests in each event, posting an automatic All-American time of 1 minute, 43.24 seconds in the 200 free and 53.08 in the fly.
“I’m pretty happy with today, and hopefully I’ll do well (Friday),” said Robinson, who finished fourth in the 500 free last year. “I would definitely like to go faster, and I think I can. It’ll be fun to go out and push myself.”
If form holds, Robinson would become the school’s first state champion in the sport.
“That would be awesome,” Griffin said.
Another school looking to crown its first state titleist is Moffat County. The Bulldogs have a candidate in sophomore Cole Worsley, who swam the quickest times in both the 50 and 100 freestyles.
“I think about that and feel it on the blocks,” Worsley said. “But once I’m in the water, I’m thinking about the guys next to me and making sure my turns are OK.”
Ralston Valley junior Clay Myers, the defending champion in the 200 individual medley and the 500 free, is the top seed in the IM, but was 23 seconds slower than his qualifying time in the 500.
“Today is all about going out and putting down a solid race and getting back for (Friday),” said Myers, the 4A state record holder in the 500. “You obviously save your best for the finale.”
Thompson Valley’s Drew McCormick earned the top seed in the 500 (4:59.69). Other top individual qualifiers included Pueblo Centennial’s Bryan Roth in the 100 backstroke (54.95) and Cherokee Trail’s Jeremey Allison in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.98).
The best story of the day came from Ranum/Westminster’s 400 freestyle relay team of Oxkar Perrera, Gavin Scofield, Preston Wolfram and Isaac Garcia. The latter three of the foursome are seniors who were given a chance to swim at state by fellow teammates who had qualified the team during the regular season.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
