Girls Swimming: Niwot freshmen make a splash at Coaches Invite

Before the season began, Niwot girls swimming Coach Sarah Stamp knew some of her freshmen had the potential to make an impact on the team right away. But even she was impressed by freshman Peyton Irwin’s high school swimming debut at the elite Colorado Coaches Invitational on Dec. 17.

The Niwot ninth-grader qualified for state in three events, including the 100 butterfly, where her time of 58.22 seconds was good for fifth overall, and broke the school record of 58.32. Irwin also qualified in the 200 individual medley, finishing 11th with a personal best time of 2 minutes, 11.56 seconds, and as a member of the 200 freestyle relay team, which raced to 12th overall, with a time of 1:42.60.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Stamp said of Irwin’s times. “I think she was pleasantly surprised, too.” Especially, the coach noted, since her first high school meet was such a highly competitive event.

The Coaches Invite is open only to swimmers who have a state qualifying time, and attracts most of the state’s most successful swimming programs. This year’s event featured more than 40 teams, including Fairview and Regis Jesuit, last year’s 5A state champions and runners-up.

“Competing in big events against top competition gives you a good sense for where you are,” explained Stamp. “That’s how you get the fast times.”

Led by Irwin, the Cougars scored 64 team points on the day, which was good for 20th overall, and seventh among class 4A schools. Several Niwot individuals qualified on the day, including Irwin’s freshman teammate Abbie Shaw, who placed 20th overall in the 100 backstroke, with a time of 1:01:32. Shaw was also member a member of the 200 medley relay team, which missed the qualifying for the finals round by less than a second, but did qualify for state.

Stamp was clearly excited about her newcomers, not only for how they swam, but for how they kept their composure under the pressure. “It’s a hard first meet for high school freshmen,” said Stamp. “But, they made a huge impact on our relays, and they both went to finals individually. That’s quite the accomplishment.”

Other Niwot state qualifiers at the event include senior Chase Balman, who swam individual state eligible times in the 50 and 100 freestyle events, and also with the 200 freestyle relay team, where she was joined by Irwin and sophomores Hanna Luo and Kristi Vu.

Stamp continues to be impressed by Balman’s solid start to the season, noting that she’s thrilled to have the veteran qualified for state in two events this early in the season.

Niwot senior Maddie Barkow scored 429.10 points in the 1-meter dive event, placing fifth overall, and first among class 4A divers. She also qualified to compete at state, as did sophomore Claire Jepson and junior Amalia Luthens, who both qualified individually in the 100 breaststroke, and who joined Luo and Shaw on the state-qualifying 400 freestyle relay team, which finished 27th in the event’s preliminary round.

For Stamp, the large number of state qualifiers was the most exciting news coming out of the meet.

“We had a lot of fast swims,” she said. “We’ve never qualified so many so early.”

The Niwot swimmers have a break until Jan. 3, when they face Centaurus in the season’s first dual. On Jan. 7, they will participate in the Mountain View Invite, at Mountain View High School in Loveland.

Team Scores — 1. Fossil Ridge 390; 2. Fairview 338; 3. Arapahoe 258; 4. Valor Christian 228; 5. Lewis-Palmer 185; 6. Heritage 178; 7. Regis Jesuit 173; 8. Rock Canyon 149; 8. Rocky Mountain 134; 10. Evergreen 131; 11. Silver Creek 121; 12. Rampart 116; 13. ThunderRidge 112; 14. Grandview 103; 15. Windsor 84; 16. Cherry Creek 83; 17. Douglas County 75; 18. Smoky Hill 72; 19. St. Mary’s Academy 71; 20. Niwot 64; 21. Chatfield 53; 22. Monarch 46; 23. D’Evelyn 40; 24. Longmont 38; 25. Broomfield 28; 26. Columbine 25; 27. Ralston Valley 22; 28. Mountain Range 21; 29. Liberty 21; 30. Colorado Academy 18; 31. Legend 16; 32. Mullen 14; 33. Lakewood 14; 34. Cherokee Trail 13; 35. Standley Lake 11; 36. Golden 10; 37. Denver South 9; 38. Kent Denver 8; 39. Littleton 3; 40. Skyline 2

200 medley relay —1. Fossil Ridge 1:42.39; 2. Heritage 1:47.63; 3. Fairview 1:48.28; 4. Valor Christian 1:48.38; 5. Rock Canyon 1:50.21; 22.* Niwot (Shaw, Kenkle, Irwin, Balman) 1:56.29

200 freestyle — 1. Brittney Beetcher, Fairview, 1:51.17; 2. Emily Barrier, Rocky Mountain, 1:52.42; 3. Alex Reddington, St. Mary’s, 1:52.52; 4. Delaney Smith, Arapahoe, 1:52.78; 5. Mikayla Seigal, Fairview, 1:54.57; 59.* Amalia Luthers, Niwot, 2:09.53

200 IM — 1. Bailey Kovac, Fossil Ridge, 2:05.20; 2. Morgan Friesen, Windsor, 2:07.73; 3. Makenna Mathieson, Rocky Mountain, 2:10.32; 4. Lucille Matheson, Longmont, 2:10.78; 5. Kaleigh Haworth, Thunder Ridge, 2:10.84; 11. Payten Irwin, Niwot 2:11.56

50 freestyle — 1. Laurel Eiber, Arapahoe, 23.50; 2. Meredith Rees, Lewis Palmer, 23.72; 3. Coleen Gillilan, Fossil Ridge, 23.89; 4. Gabreece Van Anne, Arapahoe, 24.34; 5. Elsa Litteken, Douglas County, 24.37; 26*. Chase Balman, Niwot, 25.40

Diving — 1. Lexie Barker, Douglas County, 479.10; 2. Taylor Jackson, Mountain Range, 475.65; 3. Franny Cable, Arapahoe, 451.30; 4. Samantha Tamborski, Douglas County, 439.75; 5. Maddie Barkow, Niwot, 429.10

100 butterfly — 1. Coleen Gillilan, Fossil Ridge, 54.02; 2. Alex Reddington, St. Mary’s, 56.62; 3. Kim Lanaghen, Fairview, 57.94; 4. Madison Hoehn, Valor Christian, 58.19; 5. Payten Irwin, Niwot, 58.22

100 freestyle — 1. Kylie Andrews, Heritage, 50.28; 2. Kylie Alons, Fossil Ridge, 50.54; 3. Laurel Eiber, Arapahoe, 51.28; 4. Emily Barrier, Rocky Mountain, 51.51; 5. Meredith Rees, Lewis Palmer, 51.51; 28*. Abbie Shaw, Niwot, 55.63

500 freestyle — 1. Brittney Beetcher, Fairview, 4:57.20; 2. Abbey Selin, D’Evelyn, 5:04.98; 3. Abbey Owenby, Valor Christian, 5:05.55; 4. Patricia Van Law, Thunder Ridge, 5:07.64; 5. Kate McDonald, Evergreen, 5:10.41

200 free relay — 1. Fossil Ridge, 1:33.92; 2. Arapahoe, 1:36.40; 3. Fairview, 1:38.79; 4. Regis Jesuit, 1:39.41; 5. Lewis-Palmer, 1:39.73; 12. Niwot, (Balman, Vu, Luo, Irwin), 1:42.60

100 backstroke — 1. Bayley Stewert, Fossil Ridge, 55.72; 2. Riley Tapley, Fairview, 56.55; 3. Kaitlyn Griffith, Lewis-Palmer, 57.12; 4. Makenna Mathieson, Rock Creek, 57.2; 5. Patricia Van Law, Thunder Ridge, 57.44; 20. Abbie Shaw, Niwot, 1:01.32

100 breaststroke — 1. Zoe Barten, Fossil Ridge, 1:01.88; 2. Morgan Friesen, Windsor, 1:03.40; 3. Emma Spotts, Heritage, 1:04.81; 4. Kaleigh Haworth, Thunder Ridge, 1:05.11; 5. Edenna Chen, Rampart, 1:05.46; 50*. Camryn Kenkel, Niwot, 1:13.47

400 free relay — 1. Arapahoe 3:30.57; 2. Regis Jesuit, 3:34.16; 3. Valor Christian, 3:34.80; 4. Fossil Ridge, 3:38.10; 5. Lewis Palmer, 3:38.38; 27*. Niwot, (Luo, Jepson, Luthens, Shaw), 3:52.98