Event of the Week: Local swimmers hit the pool for league meets

Jan. 31—With just a week and a half left until the state swim and dive meets, the clock is ticking for athletes in every corner of Colorado to hit their qualifying times.

Boulder County, however, is already brimming with exciting talent looking to make a splash over the next couple of weekends. First, local swimmers will test their talents at their various league meets.

The Longs Peak League — Niwot, Frederick and Skyline — will hit the water first for its meet at the Mountain View Aquatic Center on Thursday and Friday. The Northern Colorado Athletics Conference — Silver Creek, Centaurus, Longmont, Holy Family — will take place on the same days at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center. The Front Range League — Boulder, Broomfield, Fairview, Legacy, Monarch — is doubling up at the VMAC on Friday and Saturday.

Class 5A

No local lady has been more impressive this season than Fairview's Amelia Mason. Naturally, she leads a stacked Fairview team that sat at No. 3 in PrepSwimCo's 5A rankings last week.

Going into the home stretch of the winter season, Mason holds the No. 1 5A ranking in 50-yard freestyle (23.16 seconds), the 100-yard butterfly (55.04), the 100-yard freestyle (50.25) and the 100-yard backstroke (55.34). Mason has also played a vital role in Fairview's second-ranked 400-yard freestyle relay (three minutes, 33.06 seconds), its third-ranked 200 free relay (1:39.08) and its sixth-ranked 200 medley relay (1:48.41).

Fairview's Isabella Forsman, while not holding any No. 1 spots in the classification, has consistently seen her name appear in the top 10 rankings. Some of her top events include the 200 individual medley (second, 2:07.03), the 100 fly (second, 56.36), the 100 breaststroke (third, 1:05.56), the 200 free relay (fifth, 1:39.42), the 200 free (seventh, 1:54.06) and the 500 free (eighth, 5:12.55).

The other top times in 5A include:

-200 free: (Morgan Cady, Fairview, sixth, 1:53.75) (Sloan Zallen, Boulder, tenth, 1:55.95)

-200 individual medley: (Emerson Henkel, Legacy, eighth, 2:09.95)

-100 fly: (Lexi Byrn, Fairview, seventh, 58.16) (Agnes Mu, Legacy, tenth, 58.83)

-500 free: (Morgan Cady, Fairview, second, 4:59.54) (Maggie Hansel, Fairview, ninth, 5:12.81) (Sloan Zallen, Boulder, tenth, 5:13.35)

-100 breast: (Emerson Henkel, Legacy, ninth, 1:07.29)

Class 4A

Centaurus' Virginia Walsh, who had tallied eight — yes, eight — top-10 times in Class 4A, has impressed the most. She leads the way for Boulder County in the 100 back (first, 56.97), the 100 fly (second, 58.01), the 100 free (third, 52.32), the 50 free (fourth, 24.93), the 400 free relay (fourth, 3:45.61), the 200 free relay (fourth, 1:44.01), the 200 free (fifth, 1:56.18) and the 200 medley relay (seventh, 1:57.49).

4A will certainly be the state meet to watch, with Broomfield ranking No. 2, Centaurus ranking No. 3 and Monarch ranking No. 5.

Broomfield's Myra Wherry and Ridley Hagerman have both logged six top-10 times, and Ellie Foulke has added another five. Monarch's Audrey Shambo ranks amid the top 10 five times, as does her teammate Eliza Lennox. Shambo holds the top time in the 100 breast (1:05.32).

Longmont's Jordan Bindseil, who boasts the top time in the 50 free (24.09), has three top-10 times. The Boulder County area, in general, is dominating the race for best diver.

The other top times and scores in 4A include:

-200 medley relay: (Broomfield — Foulke, Hagerman, Wherry — third, 1:53.14) (Monarch — Shambo, Lennox — fourth, 1:54.62)

-200 IM: (Ellie Foulke, Broomfield, third, 2:10.12) (Audrey Shambo, Monarch, fourth, 2:11.32) (Ridley Hagerman, Broomfield, seventh, 2:16.39)

-200 free: (Ridley Hagerman, Broomfield, second, 1:54.52) (Myra Wherry, Broomfield, sixth, 1:56.32) (Audrey Shambo, Monarch, 10th, 2:00.27) (Ridley Hagerman, Broomfield, seventh, 2:16.39)

-50 free: (Eliza Lennox, Monarch, third, 24.30)

-100 fly: (Jordan Bindseil, Longmont, third, 58.84) (Charlotte Heuer, Niwot, ninth, 1:01.12) (Myra Wherry, Broomfield, 10th, 1:01.24)

-100 free: (Eliza Lennox, Monarch, fifth, 53.43) (Myra Wherry, Broomfield, sixth, 53.99) (Jordan Bindseil, Longmont, eighth, 54.09)

-500 free: (Myra Wherry, Broomfield, third, 5:06.04) (Ridley Hagerman, Broomfield, fifth, 5:14.11) (Ellie Foulke, Broomfield, seventh, 5:16.02)

-200 free relay: (Monarch — Shambo, Lennox — second, 1:41.77) (Broomfield, tenth, 1:46.64)

-100 back: (Ellie Foulke, Broomfield, fourth, 59.52) (Ridley Hagerman, Broomfield, fifth, 59.78) (Brayde Patik, Centaurus, ninth, 1:00.73)

-100 breast: (Charlotte Heuer, Niwot, third, 1:09.27)

-400 free relay: (Broomfield — Foulke, Hagerman, Wherry — second, 3:39.62) (Monarch — Lennox, Shambo — seventh, 3:51.86) (Niwot, eighth, 3:53.80)

-1-meter dive: (Elizabeth Fay, Niwot, first, 485.95) (Leslie Broz, Silver Creek, second, 481.40) (Lola Guthrie, Broomfield, fourth, 452.45) (Savannah Wolf, Silver Creek, seventh, 434.40) (Taylor Younkin, Monarch, ninth, 412.85) (Haley Lindberg, Silver Creek, 10th, 412.65)

Class 3A

Holy Family's Lorelai Frauenfelder, by far, dominates the waves for BoCo. The Tiger — absurdly — has top-notch 3A times in nine (nine!) events, as the full team ranks No. 3.

She leads all of 3A in the 200 IM (first, 2:11.11), followed by the 50 free (second, 24.55), the 400 free relay (third, 3:47.47), the 200 medley relay (third, 1:53.61), the 100 free (fourth, 54.54), the 100 fly (fourth, 58.22), the 200 free relay (fifth, 1:47.50), the 500 free (sixth, 5:29.54) and the 200 free (sixth, 2:02.42).

The other top 3A times include:

-200 free: (Ivy Wood, Holy Family, ninth, 2:05.59)

-50 free: (Ivy Wood, Holy Family, eighth, 25.81)

-500 free: (Addisyn Murray, Frederick, 10th, 5:36.81)

-200 free relay: (Holy Family — Frauenfelder, Wood — fifth, 1:47.50)

-400 free relay (Holy Family — Frauenfelder, Wood — third, 3:47.47)