Silver Creek Boys Swimming off to fast start

Veteran swimming coach Debbie Stewart is pleased with the early-season performance of her squad, which includes boys from Silver Creek and Niwot High schools, as well as a few other schools which don't have a team.

And to top it off, Silver Creek has a brand new pool. "It's been beautiful," Stewart said.

"Club teams are trying to get in," but St. Vrain Valley School District Athletic and Activities Director Chase McBride has kept it exclusively for use by district high school teams in the opening months. "We don't have to cut them [the Raptor swimmers] off at 5:30 anymore," he said.

The team's performance has been outstanding in the early going. The Raptors beat Windsor 200-112 in a dual meet during the first week in April, and Windsor is traditionally a strong program.

Stewart has high expectations. "Our goal is to stay in the top three [in Class 4A]," she said. "I think we've got a good shot."

With 44 swimmers and divers on the squad, from five different schools, Stewart has the depth needed to score often at state. She's not concerned about team morale either. "The camaraderie pulls them together," she said. "After being restricted for the last two years, it's nice to see."

State qualifying times are now back to being the basis for making state after the pandemic caused a different system to be implemented. "We're looking pretty good," Stewart said. "We have 17 or 18 going to state so far. They're doing amazing."

In addition to her swimmers, Stewart has four divers this year, including two seniors, one junior and one sophomore. The district diving coach is Stewart's son and former Silver Creek diver, Kyle Stewart.

Stewart is assisted by Tony Huff. She noted that Huff's mom, who coached at Longmont High, got her started in coaching in 2000 as an assistant coach.

A list of squad members, by school and grade, including those who have qualified for state as of April 12,, follows:

Niwot High School

Paul Brotelande (12)

Stephen Codevilla (10) State Qualifier - 200 Individual Medley

Justin Gawrych (10) State Qualifier - 200 Free & 100 Back

Shoobhit Joshi (9)

Hudson Kammerer (11) State Qualifier - 50 Free & 100 Back

Jack Klein (11)

Thomas Lambert (12) State Qualifier - 50 Free

Brighton Langenegger (10)

Alek Langston (9)

Sanjay Mudukutore (9)

Evan Pan (11)

Braden Saunders (9)

Vincent Vu (12) State Qualifier - 50 Free

Evan Welding (11) State Qualifier - every event

Sean Wyatt (11) State Qualifier - 100 back, 100 free (15)

Silver Creek High School

Derrick Abraham (9)

Madhav Arya (11)

Ben Corbadzic (10)

Max Ebert (12)

Jack Fischmann (10) State Qualifier - 200 Free

Kody Fung (11)

Owen Kunselman (12)**

Jake Levy (9)

Brandon Lis (12) State Qualifier - every event

Neill Marble (9)

Alek Matyjewicz (12) State Qualifier - 50 Free & 100 Free

Ethan Newby (10)

Chayakorn Ngampatipatpong (9) State Qualifier - 100 breast

Luke Sarris (10)

Om Singh (9)

Joey Tinkum (9)

Nic Trochman (11)

Hayden Trochman (10)

Connor Wagner (12) State Qualifier - 200 Free, 100 Free

Levi Walker (10)** State Qualifier - Diving (20)

Erie High School

Jake Gutru (12) State Qualifier - every event

Gavin Biglen (12) State Qualifier - 50 Free & 100 Free

Brayden Stalcup (11) State Qualifier - 50 Free (3)

Mead High School

Jacob Dowlin (12)** State Qualifier - Diving, 100 Free & 50 Free

Joshua Dowlin (11)** State Qualifier - Diving, 100 Breast & 50 Free

James Story (9) State Qualifier - every event (3)

Peak/Peak High School

Miles Bell (9)

Nate Starbuck (11) State Qualifier - 100 Back, 100 Free, 50 Free (2)

Homeschooled

Caleb Hendricks (9) State Qualifier - 200 Free, 500 Free (1)