The winter season in Aspen is more often that not going to evoke images of skiers hitting the slopes, attacking the powder with gusto.
It isn’t much different at Aspen High School – after all, the school’s mascot represents the town’s favorite pastime. But headed into this weekend, there is a buzz surrounding a different athletic endeavor for the Skiers, one that involves water instead of snow and takes place indoors.
But there is a good reason for that excitement as Aspen heads over the mountains to the Front Range for the Class 3A state swimming and diving championships at Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton. The top-ranked Skiers are competing in a new classification and are led by a Harvard-bound senior in Kennidy Quist who works just as hard in the water as she does out of it.
“I am a very competitive swimmer, so I always like to race whomever and see how I can do,” said Quist, who as a junior was the runner-up in the 4A 50- and 100-yard freestyle events and earned All-American times in both. “I just love pushing myself to be the best I can. I’d love to compete at 4A or even 5A, but I’m excited for this new state. It’s something new to try, and records can be set.
“I think it will be just a difference experience. It will be fun, not only for me, but the other swimmers on the team.”
Both the 5A and 3A classifications will compete at the VMAC, while the 4A state meet will be held at EPIC in Fort Collins. Preliminary rounds for 5A take place Thursday, with finals running Friday afternoon. Fairview is the defending 5A champion but will have its hands full with top-ranked Fossil Ridge and No. 3 Arapahoe.
Prelims for 3A swimmers will run Friday morning and diving prelims will go Saturday morning. The finals will get underway Saturday afternoon.
Prelims for 4A swimmers are Friday afternoon and divers go Saturday morning. The 4A finals begin Saturday afternoon. Valor Christian is the defending 4A champion, with Cheyenne Mountain and Heritage currently ranked ahead of the Eagles.
Aspen finished eighth at the 4A state meet last winter. The only teams to finish ahead of the Skiers and also make the drop to 3A are Manitou Springs (fourth in 4A) and St. Mary’s Academy (sixth).
Aspen has never had an individual or team champion in swimming.
(Submitted photo)
“Swimming in the mountains is not a very exciting sport,” Quist said. “At Aspen you hear a lot about skiing. I think bringing some notice to the swim program would be great, not only for me, but for the other athletes.”
A year ago Quist was poised to make a run at a title in both sprint events, but came up just short in both the 50 and 100 to Valor Christian’s Brooke Stenstrom, who is currently swimming for Stanford.
Stenstrom set a 4A state record in the 50 with a time of 23.22 seconds, with Quist coming in just behind at 23.45. The 100 was just as competitive, with Stenstrom edging out Quist by .36 seconds.
“Last year I was seeded first going into state but did not perform as well as I would’ve liked to,” she said. “The 100 free was especially frustrating for me. The time I posted the week before would have won.
“Brooke is obviously an amazing swimmer and person. I was happy for her, but a little frustrated with myself.”
Aspen coach Kathleen Callahan believes that Quist’s discipline in practice will pay dividends at state.
“It was a very exciting and close race for her,” Aspen coach Kathleen Callahan told MaxPreps earlier this season. “She didn’t win, so her goal will be to win. She doesn’t give up.”
Discipline is maybe the best word to describe Quist, who committed to Harvard in September. Her weekly schedule at Aspen would seem to defy the limits of time, as Quist is currently taking nine classes as part of the Ivy Diploma program. She has eight practices a week, which comes out to about 20 hours. She also competed in the Junior National Championships in December.
Then there is her volunteer work. Through the Ivy Diploma program, she works with girls in middle school to help prepare them for high school. She also works with students at an elementary school, in addition to helping out within the community at outside events and volunteering at an animal shelter.
It leaves little to no time for Quist to be a typical teenager, but she believes it will get her ready for the rigors of being a student-athlete at Harvard.
“I think Kennidy was born and physically meant to be a swimmer. But in addition to that, this kid has one of the best work ethics I’ve ever seen,” Callahan said. “She brings it hard to very practice. She works as hard in the pool as she does at academics – she’s super, super focused.”
Aspen has only 11 swimmers in its girls program, but Quist is hopeful that the state contingent can take the Skiers to new heights. Sophomore Davy Brown owns the top-seeded time in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke headed into state.
“I think we will perform surprisingly well at state,” Quist said. “Even though we’re small, we do train hard and have a lot of talent on the team. I’m hoping that we will place even higher than we have in the past.”