Competing at the 4A state swimming championships at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Friday and Saturday, the Glenwood Springs Demons 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, placing second in two meets, and third in the Western Slope Regional Championship.

Glenwood sent nine of the 13 swimmers to the state championships, as junior Everett Olson (200FR, 500FR, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay), senior Austin Hawkins (200FR, 100FR, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay), and freshman Shea Card (100BK, 200IM, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay) competed in four events each. Senior Connor Somers (50FR, 100 Fly, 200 Medley Relay), freshman Wyatt Somers (100BK, 500FR, 200 Free Relay), and freshman Aeson Akins (100BK, 200 Free Relay) also competed for the Demons, while sophomore Shea Newton (200 Free Relay), and freshman Charlie Kiddo (200 Free Relay) competed in relay events for the Demons. Sophomore Vincent Villegas headed to the state meet with the Demons as an alternate.

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

In the first event of the night, 200 Medley Relay, Glenwood started 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 state. The 200 Medley Relay state final was scheduled for Saturday.

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In the night’s second event, Everett 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, and 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 BK 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 at 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 4th-place seed in the consolation final.

In Saturday finals, Card competed in two A final events, finished the night with an eighth-place finish in the 200 Individual Medley, and a seventh place in the 100 Back. Everett 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 time 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.

Glenwood placed 16th in the State with 57 points. Windsor High School won the meet with 202 points, followed by Discovery Canyon in second with 194 points and Cheyenne Mountain in third with 194 points. There are over 60 4A teams in the state and 26 scoring teams at the State Championship.

Coach Steve Vanderhoof was very pleased with the young team’s efforts and looks forward to next year as his team will lose just two seniors, and should return to the state championship with a larger and more experienced team.