(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
THORNTON — The day began with records falling. Three of the first four races saw the Manitou Springs medley relay team and two individual swimmers come in with the best times ever for the 4A class. The landmark day ended with Evergreen hosting the state championship trophy at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton.
The Cougars finished with an overall score or 368, besting runner-up Cheyenne Mountain by 92 points to successfully defend their 2014 title.
“We’re just really proud of our girls and we’re happy with how we swam today,” Cougars coach Jeanne Godaire said. “We had a lot of best times and the girls were ready for the meet.”
Through the first two events, the Cougars were without a win as Manitou took the 200-yard medley relay and Thompson Valley’s Eryn Eddy won the 200-yard freestyle. Both wins resulted in 4A records.
It was the third event when Lindsay Morrow finally got Evergreen on the board with a win. He took the 200-yard invdividual medley with a time of 2:03.42, almost three seconds better than than second-place finisher – and her teammate – Anna McDonald.
“Getting the individual wins were great, but to be able to celebrate this win as a team is such an incredible feeling,” Morrow said. “We all worked really hard in prelims and knew coming in today that we just had to move up one spot to be able to do well today.”
The win was anything but a given for the Cougars as they had the Indians on their tail much of the day. Cheyenne Mountain had finished in the top three at state three years in a row coming into Saturday’s meet and would prove to be force once again.
Freshman Cat Wright got the charge started for the Indians by taking the 100-yard butterfly, setting a state record in the process. It was the only win for the Indians on the day, but their consistency to finish in the top five boosted them into a firm second-place finish.
“Evergreen was so strong and they had so many horses in the early races,” Indians coach Kate Doane said. “We’re very happy with where we finished. We wanted a top-two finish and so as far as getting to No. 1, we swam the best we could and so did Evergreen.”
The Cougars recorded four wins on the day, with Morrow accounting for two of the three individual wins. The Cougars won the meet’s final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, a fitting bow to tie on their state title.
“We had some top girls get us some good wins,” Godaire said. “We got a lot of points in the (consolation races) and the finals which helped.”