The 2020 Colorado Girls 3A State Championships took place on Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center (VMAC) in Thornton, Colo.
A total of three Class 3A records fell during the meet. St. Mary’s Caitlin Cairns set a new Class 3A record in the 50 free with a time of 23.09 while Sydney Silver of St. Mary’s Academy rewrote the class record book with a time of 54.55 in the 200 back. Discovery Canyon’s Rachel Alexander also set a new Class 3A mark with a final score of 463.85 on the one-meter diving board.
Evergreen used their impressive team depth to clinch their second-straight championship crown. The 2019-20 season marked just the fourth season of 3A’s existence, and Evergreen became the first 3A school to successfully defend the title it had won the year before.
Click HERE for full results and team scores.
Top 5 Team Scores:
1. Evergeen – 372.5
2. Aspen – 214
3. Salida – 209
4. Kent Denver – 208
5. Durango – 204
Evergreen’s Remi Gucker (28.19), Alyssa Cook (30.77), Hope Atkins (26.90), and Taylor Jacobson (25.42) began the meet by winning the opening 4×50 medley relay in a combined time of 1:51.28. Aspen was second in 1:52.32 and Salida was third in 1:52.76.
Future Texas Longhorn Silver dominated the 200 free, stopping the clock in 1:52.06 to win over over three full seconds. Salida’s Elise Mishmash raced to second in 1:55.53 and defending champion Gucker wound up third in 1:56.61.
Kent Denver’s Jolie Kim cruised to first in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 2:09.19 as the only swimmer to dip under the 2:10-marker. Berthoud’s Jamie Dellwardt (2:11.44) and Aspen’s Lilly Huggard (2:12.21) finished second and third, respectively.
After winning the 50 free in 2018 and taking second in 2019, Cairns won it again this year after sprinting to the wall in a new Class 3A record time of 23.09. Erie’s Payten Irwin was second in 24.46 and Evergreen’s Caitlin Smith posted a time of 25.25 to tie with D’Evelyn’s Ava Anderson.
Alexander dove to first on the one-meter board for the second year in a row, finishing with a final score of 463.85 for a new Class 3A record. Her teammate Victoria Sanders was right behind her in second with 460.80 points and Glenwood Springs’ Abbie Scruton was third with a score of 444.20.
After finishing second in the 100 fly a year ago, Cairns collected her second individual gold of the meet after flying to first in 55.27. Defending champion Irwin was the runner-up this season with a time of 56.37 and 58.65 was fast enough for Aspen’s Kayla Tehrani to take third.
Elise Mishmash of Salida successfully defended her state title in the 100 free after sprinting to the wall in a quick 52.97. Joining her on the podoum was Kent Denver’s Natalia Evans in 54.36 and Denver North’s Tuva Siegel in 54.48.
Soon after her gold medal performance in the 200 IM, Kim added another win to her hardware collected by winning the 500 free in a final time of 5:08.16. Thomas Jefferson’s Caitlin Beery was the runner-up in 5:11.87 and last year’s winner Gucker was third in 5:15.71.
Salida’s Lily Lengerich (25.54), Hannah Rhude (26.27), Emma Diesslin (25.55), and Mishmash combined in 1:41.17 for a one-second victory in the 4×50 free relay. Thomas Jefferson raced to silver in 1:42.19 and bronze went to Aspen in 1:42.62.
Silver dominated the 100 back, powering home in a time of 54.55 to win the race by nearly four seconds and a new Class 3A record of her own. Dellwardt collected another silver medal after finishing in 58.41 and Holy Family’s Abigail Philipsen clocked in at 58.89 for third place.
Delta sophomore Jillian Carlson won a tight 100 breast battle after touching the wall in 1:07.09 for the state title. Only one-tenth behind her was Liberty Common’s Emily Jauch in second with a time of 1:07.19 while Beery got her hands to the wall in 1:07.82 for third.
Atkins (56.05), Gucker (55.22), Jacobson (55.20) and Smith (53.30) sealed Evergreen’s overall team title by concluding the meet as victors in the 4×100 free relay with a time of 3:39.77. Kent Denver (3:41.18) and Erie (3:46.11) rounded out the podium finishers.