Colorado HS Swimming and Diving Legislative Committee Charts Future Course

Colorado HS Swimming and Diving Legislative Committee Charts Future Course

The Colorado HS Swimming & Diving Legislative Committee had a lot to consider and work through at their most recent meeting. The committee made determinations on State Meet locations, realignment of girls teams to create a new 3A division, as well as establishing 2017 Girls State Meet qualification times. 

The State Meets locations and dates for Girls and Boys were spelled out as were the date and location rotation of meets for the girls over the next 3 years (2017/2018/2019).

For 2017, the schedule and locations are:

• Girls’ State – February 9-11, 2017 (5A & 3A) & February 10-11, 2017 (4A) 
• 3A/5A – VMAC 
• 4A – EPIC 
• See proposed state schedule below
• Boys’ State – Friday and Saturday May 19-20, 2017
• 4A – Air Force Academy
• 5A – VMAC

This year, the 3A & 5A girls will be at VMAC on the following schedule:

Thursday AM - 5A Diving Prelims
Thursday PM - 5A Swimming Prelims
Friday AM - 3A Swimming Prelims
Friday PM - 5A Swimming & Diving Finals
Saturday AM - 3A Diving Prelims
Saturday PM - 3A Swimming & Diving Finals

The 4A girls will be at EPIC on the following schedule (Same as prior years):

Friday PM - Swimming Prelims
Saturday AM  - Diving Prelims
Saturday PM - Swimming & Diving Finals

Over the next 3 years for the girls, the chart below describes how the 3 divisions will rotate sites/dates:

Site 1: Combined Classifications Site 2: Single Classification Thursday AM: “A” Dive Prelims Thursday AM: N/A Thursday PM: “A” Swim Prelims Thursday PM: N/A Friday AM: “B” Swim Prelims Friday AM: NA Friday PM: “A” Swim-Dive Finals Friday PM: “C” Swim Prelims Saturday AM: “B” Dive Prelims Saturday AM: “C” Dive Prelims Saturday PM: “B” Swim-Dive Finals Saturday PM: “C” Swim-Dive Finals 2017: A = 5A, B = 3A, C = 4A  2018: A = 3A, B = 4A, C = 5A 2019: A = 4A, B = 5A, C = 3A

The realignment of Girls' teams to create a 3A division is going to create some very new looks when it comes to the state meets.  Here are the teams in each division - 

5A - 44 Schools (* Denotes Play-Up School)

Adams City	Grandview
Arapahoe	Hinkley
Arvada West	Horizon
Aurora Central	Lakewood
Bear Creek *	Legacy
Boulder	Legend
Brighton	Monarch
Chaparral	Mountain Range
Chatfield	Mountain Vista
Cherokee Trail	Northglenn
Cherry Creek	Overland
Columbine *	Palmer
Dakota Ridge *	Pomona *
Denver East	Poudre
Doherty	Ralston Valley
Douglas County	Rangeview
Eaglecrest	Regis Jesuit *
Fairview	Rock Canyon
FNE Warriors (Montebello)	Rocky Mountain
Fossil Ridge	Smoky Hill
Fountain Ft. Carson	ThunderRidge
Gateway	Westminster

4A - 37 Schools (* Denotes Play-Up School)

Abraham Lincoln	Montrose
Air Academy	Mountain View
Broomfield	Mullen *
Cheyenne Mountain	Niwot
Coronado	Pine Creek
Denver South	Ponderosa
Fort Collins	Pueblo Centennial
Fruita Monument	Pueblo South
George Washington	Pueblo West
Golden	Rampart
Grand Junction	Silver Creek
Greeley Central	Skyline
Greeley West	Standley Lake
Heritage	Thompson Valley *
Highlands Ranch	Valor Christian *
Liberty	Wheat Ridge
Littleton	Widefield
Loveland	Windsor
Mesa Ridge

3A - 41 Schools

Aspen	La Junta
Centaurus	Lewis-Palmer
Colorado Academy	Longmont
Conifer	Manitou Springs
Delta	Mitchell
Denver North	Moffat County
Denver West	Montezuma-Cortez
D'Evelyn	Northfield
Discovery Canyon	Northridge
Durango	Platte Canyon
Eaton	Pueblo Central
Englewood	Pueblo County
Estes Park	Pueblo East
Evergreen	Salida
Fountain Valley	Sierrra
Glenwood Springs	St. Mary's
Green Mountain	St. Mary's Academy
Gunnison	Summit
Harrison	Thomas Jefferson
Holyoke	Valley
Kent Denver

The Schools that stand out for being misplaced are Heritage (a perennial top 10 5A School) going to 4A, Lewis-Palmer in 3A (highly competitive 5A before now), and Manitou Springs also going to 3A after consistently being in the top 3 in 4A over the past few years.  Alignment was done solely based upon enrollment figures and schools had to request to swim up from their original alignment from the initial CLOC meeting in January.  

For the girls state qual times, in 5A and 4A, there are no time changes from the prior years in swimming, a slight increase in DD in diving, and additional times for 3A. Boys times are published after the completion of the boys season currently underway.  Girls times are below - 

EVENT	2016		2016		2016
	3A Girls	3A Girls	4A Girls	4A Girls	5A Girls	5A Girls
	Yards	Meters	Yards	Meters	Yards	Meters
200 Medley Relay	2:08.00	2:22.85	2:05.00	2:19.50	2:02.00	2:16.15
200 Freestyle	2:14.00	2:28.47	2:08.00	2:21.82	2:02.50	2:15.73
200 IM	2:35.00	2:52.05	2:26.00	2:42.06	2:19.00	2:34.29
50 Free	0:27.50	0:30.66	0:26.60	0:29.66	0:25.80	0:28.77
*Diving-6 Dives	180 (9.5)	180 (9.5)	195 (9.8)	195 (9.8)	220 (10.3)	220 (10.3)
**Diving-11 Dives	290 (11.1)	290 (11.1)	310 (11.4)	310 (11.4)	345 (12.3)	345 (12.3)
100 Butterfly	1:10.00	1:17.77	1:06.30	1:13.66	1:02.50	1:09.44
100 Free	1:00.50	1:07.28	0:58.10	1:04.61	0:56.00	1:02.27
500 Yard (400M) Free	6:08.00	5:22.81	5:46.00	5:03.51	5:32.00	4:51.23
200 Free Relay	1:54.00	2:07.34	1:51.00	2:03.99	1:48.00	2:00.64
100 Back	1:10.00	1:17.77	1:06.80	1:14.21	1:03.20	1:10.22
100 Breast	1:19.00	1:27.85	1:15.50	1:23.96	1:12.80	1:20.95
400 Free Relay	4:13.00	4:41.84	4:06.00	4:34.04	3:59.00	4:26.25

Colorado Boys Swimming and Diving Rankings Posted Here(4-19-2016)

Colorado Boys Swimming and Diving Rankings Posted Here
(4-19-2016)

Lots of solid swimming and diving this past weekend and some big invitationals, but many teams held their positions in the rankings.  In 4A, the big movers upward were SIlver Creek and Pueblo County and Cheyenne Mountain has widened it's lead on Air Academy to over 200 points, while in 5A, Fossil Ridge now has a 100 point lead on Cherry Creek, and Highlands Ranch is the big mover up to 6th, just shy of Fairview.  More invitationals this week with Jeffco, Cherry Creek, and Mustang Invitationals all going on.    

Next Rankings Published - Week of April 25th

Colorado Boys Swimming and Diving Rankings Posted Here(4-12-2016)

Colorado Boys Swimming and Diving Rankings Posted Here
(4-12-2016)

5A now has a couple of teams finally show up into the rankings.  Most notable being Fairview and Highlands Ranch breaks into the top 10 at 8th behind a strong meet at the Arapahoe Invitational.  A slight shift in the 4A top 5 with Valor moving from 4th to 3rd, Golden moving from 6th to 4th, and Estes Park sliding a bit from 3rd to 5th.  Could see more activity in 5A with #4 Arapahoe taking on #5 Smoky Hill, and next week looks to have more impact with 3 big invitational meets on the schedule (Mountain Range, Smoky Hill, Jeffco).  

Next Rankings Published - Week of April 18th

Colorado Boys Swimming and Diving Rankings Posted Here(4-5-2016)

Colorado Boys Swimming and Diving Rankings Posted Here
(4-5-2016)

Cheyenne Mountain made the biggest statement of the week at their own Indian Invitational this past week and now have opened up a 150+ point margin on next closest competitor Air Academy while Estes Park, Valor Christian, and Montrose are all within 10 points of each other to round out the top 5.  

Fossil Ridge sits comfortably at the top of the 5A ranking, though #2 Regis has made up some ground from last week and may post even closer next week after swimming #4 Arapahoe this week.

Next Rankings Published - Week of April 11th

Colorado Girls Swimming and Diving Psych Sheet Rankings (2-9-2016)

Colorado Girls Swimming and Diving Psych Sheet Rankings (2-9-2016)

The Psych Sheets have now been posted and for the most part, teams have held to their post-league postions with a few minor exceptions.  5A looks to be a great battle within the top 10 while in 4A, the top 7 could be very competitive.  For teams in the 10-20 range, relays will be the big ticket to the higher ranks, while a DQ anywhere could drop a team several places.  

5A Rankings 1.  Fairview 253 2.  Fossil Ridge 212 3.  Regis 161 4.  Heritage 161 5.  Cherry Creek 154 6.  Arapahoe 144 7.  Rock Canyon 134 8.  Rocky Mountain 126 9.  Lewis-Palmer 124 10.  Grandview 119 11.  Chaparral 109 12.  Castle View/Douglas County 79 13.  Rampart 69 14.  Monarch 68 15.  Chatfield 58 16.  Mountain Vista 53 17.  Smoky Hill 53 18.  Ft. Collins 37 19.  Pomona 33 20.  Broomfield 28
4A Rankings 1.  Valor Christian 306 2.  Cheyenne Mountain 246 3.  Manitou Springs 208 4.  Evergreen 206 5.  St. Mary’s Academy 171 6.  Aspen 161 7.  Silver Creek 148 8.  Windsor 109 9.  Glenwood Springs 106 10.  Air Academy 87 11.  Thompson Valley 78 12.  Durango 64 13.  Golden 59 14.  Pueblo County 44 15.  D'Evelyn 36 16.  Centaurus 35 17.  Colorado Academy 31 18.  Montrose 28 19.  Pueblo South 27 20.  Denver South 24

Colorado Girls Swimming and Diving Rankings Posted Here (2-7-2016)

Colorado Girls Swimming and Diving Rankings Posted Here (2-7-2016)

In 4A, Valor Christian has put a bit more distance between them and the pack with a 35 point lead on Cheyenne Mountain, but an interesting arrival on the 4A side is Aspen junior Kennidy Quist who now holds the top times in the 50 and 100 Free events, upending the times that Brooke Stenstrom posted in December with a 23.33 and 50.54, which is tops in all classifications so far!  Cheyenne Mountain's 200 Free Relay, and Manitou Springs 200 Medley Relay also top all of 4A, as well as anything that 5A has to offer yet.  

In 5A, both Regis and Fairview looks to have held out their top swimmers from their league meets in hopes of advancing more girls to State, so while their positions look to have slid, Fossil Ridge, Cherry Creek, and Heritage have made themselves a part of the discussion.  Fairview still looks to be the team to beat, but you can bet that the well rested Regis/Fossil/Creek/Heritage teams won't allow them to make any mistakes or come into the meet flat.   

Final Rankings Published - Immediately following the release of the psych sheets (Tue/Wed)

Give and Take...

The next few years hold a great deal of change for the sport of Swimming and Diving in the Colorado high school ranks.  This year alone, a significant couple of changes have been implemented -

In order to be eligible to participate in the State Championship Meet, athletes must have participated in 4 contests during that season, not including League and State Championships.  This seems to be a welcome change that gave some coaches leverage to require their club athletes to at least come to more meets and hopefully connect with their teams. The one glaring item missing from this - What about injuries?  Is there a review/protocol that waives the rule in the event that an athlete is injured?  Some might say that this shouldn't be a consideration because the coach/athlete planned poorly and may not be in that situation if they had completed the requirement earlier in the season - it's the risk they take.  Other teams might take a minimalist approach and having athletes just swim a leg of a relay and nothing else.  This one may require some more consideration and tweaking before we have the desired end result.  

At the girls and boys state meets, there is no longer a limit on the number of qualifiers that can swim in an event for a given school.  There is still a limit on the number of athletes that can advance to finals and scoring for the school (4).  Relays remain the same at one entry per school.  From a participation perspective, it definitely makes a coaches job easier when it comes to lineups in individual events and just being able to say, "If you make it, you can swim it".  Beyond that, they would have to be in the top 4 for that event for that school to make it to finals, as well as the top 16 overall.  Big schools like Fairview, Regis, Cherry Creek, Arapahoe, and others that have this happen more frequently, will definitely benefit in providing more opportunities - on the girls side.  On the boys, where the overall numbers are but 60% of the girls, this may be a more rare situation.  One downstream effect of this could be that qual times get faster.  If schools are bringing more to the meet and the numbers of entrants per event grow, then the cuts will likely have to get faster in order to help CHSAA maintain its sweet spot for entrants in an event to around 40 (5 heats of 8).  

There is one thing in the girls side that may counteract that possible bloat of entrants - the addition of a 3A class (5A, 4A, 3A & below).  In the current structure, each side has about 60-65 schools in each 5A and 4A. Next year, that would be more like the mid-40's per classification.  This most certainly will dilute the fields in the current 5A and 4A & Below meets.

So, over this year and next year, there will possibly be some more bodies in the pool this February at State, but maybe that evens out is is even reduced with the introduction on the girls side of another classification and State Meet..?  The boys will hopefully see more too since they have long since been challenged by the spring season location.