LOVELAND—Rock Canyon’s coronation is complete.

Given that two-time defending Class 4A swimming champion Ralston Valley ascended to Class 5A this season, Rock Canyon has been expected to assume the Mustangs’ throne since the Jaguars endured their first preseason workout last fall.

On Saturday, Rock Canyon finally completed its journey, winning six events, including all three relays, to run away with its first team state swimming title at Mountain View High School.

Seniors Kirsten Milberg and Taylor Curado led the way for Rock Canyon, capping their high school careers by collecting three individual titles, while the Jaguars also put together a 4A-record effort in the 400-freestyle relay.

Rock Canyon blew away the rest of the field in the team race, finishing with 417 points. Runner-up Thompson Valley finished with 238 points, followed by Lewis-Palmer (181) and Silver Creek and Broomfield (150 apiece).

“My first title ever in swimming for high school freshman year was a relay, and I can honestly say that team titles are a lot more exciting because you get to share it with other people,” Curado said. “We know that we can compete with a lot of the 5A teams, so it kind of stinks because, even when you win, you compare times with people that aren’t there. But you can never take away a win.”

Milberg and Curado continued to dominate events they have owned throughout their high school careers. Milberg collected first-place medals in the individual medley and the backstroke, winning the backstroke for the fourth consecutive season. Curado won her third title in a row in the butterfly and also helped the Jaguars place first in the medley relay and the 200-freestyle relay.

Milberg swam the third leg of Rock Canyon’s record-setting 400 freestyle relay team, which finished in 3 minutes, 33.98 seconds to shatter the previous 4A record of 3:35.57, set by Regis in 2006. Curado set the 4A state record in the butterfly during Friday’s preliminary heats with a time of 56.36 seconds and nearly matched that effort on Saturday, finishing in 56.81 seconds.

Milberg also set a 4A record during Friday’s preliminaries, finishing the backstroke in 56.54 seconds before putting together a winning time of 56.89 seconds on Saturday.

“I was shocked. I can’t believe (the backstroke) happened,” said Milberg, who ended her high school career with six individual state titles and four relay titles. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better. That was my goal this season — to win that fourth title. And it happened. We missed the (400-freestyle relay) record by a little bit last year, so we knew this was the year that if we all swam really well, we could get it.”

Montrose sophomore Emily Stucky was the other individual standout in the meet, placing first in the 50-freestyle and 100-freestyle events. Other state titlists included Lewis-Palmer senior Jackie Cromer, the defending 5A champ in the 200 freestyle who added the 4A title on Saturday; Thompson Valley diver Justine Boddy; Cheyenne Mountain sophomore Ashley Forsyth in the 500 freestyle; and Wheat Ridge junior Kaitlyn Hack in the breaststroke.

“I don’t really think very much when I’m swimming,” Stucky said. “My coaches told me before the race to just go hard.”

Class 4A state swimming finals

Mountain View High School

State championship heats

200 MEDLEY RELAY—1, Rock Canyon, 1:48.55; 2, Thompson Valley, 1:49.78; 3, Broomfield, 1:51.16; 4, Wheat Ridge, 1:53.55; 5, Mountain View 1:55.23; 6, Windsor, 1:55.56; 7, Lewis-Palmer, 1:56.43; 8, Greeley Central, 1:58.99.

200 FREESTYLE—1, Jackie Cromer, Lewis-Palmer, 1:53.72; 2, Jessica Holley, Rock Canyon, 1:54.53; 3, Tia Totura, Rock Canyon, 1:55.45; 4, Bethany Bates, Silver Creek, 1:57.79; 5, Ashley Forsyth, Cheyenne Mountain, 1:58.09; 6, Bailey Johnson, Mountain View, 1:58.84; 7, Madison Vanderpoel, Rock Canyon, 2:01.48; 8, Marta Roberson, LaJunta, 2:01.72.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY—1, Kirsten Milberg, Rock Canyon, 2:06.03; 2, Kaitlyn Hack, Wheat Ridge, 2:06.47; 3, Kia Bobie, Broomfield, 2:06.63; 4, Lizzie Bergquist, Thompson Valley, 2:10.86; 5, Mackenzie Norlin, Windsor, 2:12.60; 6, Londyn Clawson, Rock Canyon, 2:13.32; 7, Kara Schweitzer, Rocky Canyon, 2:14.99; 8, Katalena Laufasa-Duncan, Broomfield, 2:16.44.

50 FREESTYLE—1, Emily Stucky, Montrose, :24.03; 2, Maggie Varuska, Thompson Valley, :24.42; 3, Emily Campbell, Fossil Ridge, :24.51; 4, Sierra Grove, Glenwood Springs, :24.60; 5, Allie Berger, Rock Canyon, :24.67; 6, Taryn Stewart, Silver Creek, :24.69; 7, Jehan Atoe, Rock Canyon, :24.86; 8, McKenna Gustafson, Thompson Valley, :24.03.

DIVING—1, Justine Boddy, Thompson Valley, 431.75; 2, Corinne Bangs, Lewis-Palmer, 425.65; 3, Emily Kasyon, Cheyenne Mountain, 412.30; 4, Zoe Perlmutter, Wheat Ridge, 410.50; 5, Sadie Wells, Lewis-Palmer, 382.35; 6, Genevive Bradley, Moffat County, 376.30; 7, Molly Joyce, Niwot, 369.15; 8, Mikhaiala Eckhardt, Windsor, 364.10.

100 BUTTERFLY—1, Taylor Curado, Rock Canyon, :56.81; 2, Kia Dobie, Broomfield, :57.88; 3, Tia Totura, Rock Canyon, :58.16; 4, Kelly Stone, Wheat Ridge, :58.35; 5, Jessy Badaracco, Platte Canyon, :58.79; 6, Regina Riggle, Eaton, 1:00.05; 7, Jillian Hayes, Pueblo Centennial, 1:00.18; 8, Kaley Wheless, Niwot, 1:00.29.

100 FREESTYLE—1, Emily Stucky, Montrose, :52.05; Jackie Cromer, Lewis-Palmer, :52.81; 3, Jessica Holley, Rock Canyon, :53.17; 4, Emily Campbell, Fossil Ridge, :53.51; 5, Sierra Grove, Glenwood Springs, :53.60; 6, Maggie Varuska, Thompson Valley, :54.14; 7, Mackenzie Norlin, Windsor, :54.53; 8, Taylor Curado, Rock Canyon, :56.70.

500 FREESTYLE—1, Ashley Forsyth, Cheyenne Mountain, 5:12.80; 2, Madison Vanderpoel, Rock Canyon, 5:17.90; 3, Bethany Bates, Silver Creek, 5:18.59; 4, Becca Brough, Skyline, 5:25.26; 5, Allison Freund, Conifer, 5:26.00; 6, Stephanie Wangeman, Lewis-Palmer, 5:26.18; 7, Marta Roberson, LaJunta, 5:31.37; 8, Nicole Hlavacek, Thompson Valley, 5:31.54.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY—1, Rock Canyon, 1:39.51; 2, Niwot, 1:41.90; 3, Silver Creek, 1:42.05; 4, Lewis-Palmer, 1:42.25; 5, Fossil Ridge, 1:43.59; 6, D’Evelyn, 1:43.76; 7, Cheyenne Mountain, 1:44.23; 8, Estes Park, 1:45.04.

100 BACKSTROKE—1, Kirsten Milberg, Rock Canyon, :56.89; 2, Jehan Atoe, Rock Canyon, :59.14; 3, Katalena Laufasa-Duncan, Broomfield, 1:00.26; 4, Kelly Stone, Wheat Ridge, 5, Hannah Abelein, Mountain View, 1:01.17; 6, Sam Moss, Thompson Valley, 1:01.71; 7, Haylee Miller, 1:02.31; 8, Keaton Ramm, Thompson Valley, 1:02.56.

100 BREASTSTROKE—1, Kaitlyn Hack, Wheat Ridge, 1:05.34; 2, Kara Schweitzer, Rock Canyon, 1:07.12; 3, Londyn Clawson, Rock Canyon, 1:08.12; 4, Lindsay Banning, Silver Creek, 1:08.27; 5, Alli Rotunno, Greeley Central, 1:09.33; 6, Meghan Long, Rock Canyon, 1:09.54; 7, Lizzie Bergquist, Thompson Valley, 1:09.87; 8, Heather Shaver, Broomfield, 1:09.98.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY—1, Rock Canyon, 3:33.98; 2, Thompson Valley, 3:40.60; 3, Silver Creek, 3:41.40; 4, Mountain View, 3:42.70; 5, Lewis-Palmer, 3:43.71; 6, Niwot, 3:44.00; 7, Cheyenne Mountain, 3:44.83; 8, Broomfield, 3:47.05.

TEAM STANDINGS—1, Rock Canyon 471; 2, Thompson Valley 238; 3, Lewis-Palmer 181; 4, tie, SilverCreek and Broomfield 150; 6, Mountain View 140; 7, Wheat Ridge 126; 8, Cheyenne Mountain 121; 9, Niwot 107.5; 10, Fossil Ridge 95; 11, D’Evelyn 79; 12, Windsor 75; 13, Montrose 62; 14, LaJunta 46; 15, tie, Greeley Central and Glenwood Springs 40; 17, tie, Skyline and Estes Park 29; 19, tie, Evergreen and Valley 25; 21, Platte Canyon 21; 22, Pueblo Centennial 20; 23, St. Mary’s 19; 24, tie, Mullen and Eaton 18; 26, Conifer 17; 27, Moffat County 13; 28, Sterling 6.5; 29, Longmont 6; 30, tie, Salida and Summit 4; 32, Greeley West 1.

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