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Glenwood Springs boys swim team finishes 16th at 4A state meet

Glenwood Springs Post Independent staff report
Glenwood Springs senior Connor Somers competes in the 100 Freestyle during the 4A state championships Saturday at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
Andy Bockelman / Craig Daily Press

Competing at the 4A state swimming championships at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs over the weekend, the Glenwood Springs High School boys swim team placed 16th overall with 57 team points, as the Windsor Wizards (202 points) won the 4A state championship.

Made up of 13 boys from five area schools (four from Glenwood, six from Aspen, and one each from Basalt, Roaring Fork and Battle Mountain), the Demons won four meets during the 2018 season, placed second in two meets, and was third in the Western Slope regional championship.

Glenwood sent nine of the 13 swimmers to the state championships, as Aspen High School junior Everett Olson, senior Austin Hawkins and freshman Shea Card competed in four events each. Senior Connor Somers, freshman Wyatt Somers and freshman Aeson Akins also competed for the Demons, while sophomore Shea Newton and freshman Charlie Kiddo competed in relay events. Sophomore Vincent Villegas was an alternate.



On Friday, the Demons competed in the preliminary session at the Air Force Academy.

In the first event of the night, the 200 medley relay, Glenwood began the preliminary session with a great start. Seeded 14th going into the first event, the Glenwood boys swam a season-best time of 1:41.95 and qualified for the “A” final, consisting of the top eight teams.




In the night’s second event, Olson kept the ball rolling for the Demons, recording a season-best time in the 200 freestyle. Olson, seeded 15th, moved up with an 11th-place swim with a season-best time of 1:50.29, qualifying for the consolation final. Olson also swam in the very competitive 500 freestyle, where he swam a season-best time of 5:02.60 for a 13th-place finish, along with a ticket to the consolation finals.

Card, Basalt’s freshman sensation, swam well enough in the 200 IM and 100 back to make it back to the “A” final in both events. Card was the only underclassman to make it back to the finals in the 200 individual medley (54.31). He qualified for the championship final by placing eighth in the 100 back with a time of 54.31.

In the 200 freestyle relay, the team of Kiddo, Newton, Wyatt Somers and Akins tied for 17th with Northfield High School with a time of 1:39.09. Both schools competed in an exciting swim-off to determine the alternate position. The Glenwood boys prevailed in a very close race with a time of 1:38.02.

The final highlight of the preliminary session, the Glenwood boys (Connor Somers, Card, Olson and Hawkins) swam the 400 freestyle relay in 3:28.50, and swam well enough for a 12th-place finish and a fourth-place seed in the consolation final.

In Saturday’s finals, Card competed in two “A” final events, finishing the night with an eighth-place finish in the 200 individual medley, and a seventh-place in the 100 back. Olson added a fifth-place finish in the “B” final of the 200 freestyle, and a fifth-place finish in the 500. Olson’s time in the 500 was a personal-best of 5:01.61, and an improvement over his preliminary time.

Hawkins and Connor Somers joined Olson and Card in the finals of the 200 medley relay with an eighth-place finish in the championship final. In the final event of the meet, Card, Hawkins, Newton and Olson swam to a seventh-place finish in the “B” final of the 400 free relay.

sports@postindependent.com