THORNTON — Columbine’s Chase Mueller took aim at a state meet record in the 200-yard freestyle Friday night in the Class 5A boys swimming finals, a mark held by his soon-to-be teammate at North Carolina State, Luke Miller.
Just missed it.
“Yeah, he was texting me before the race and he wanted me to break it,” Mueller said of Miller, who was at Legacy High School when he set it in 2019. “But that was like, that’s pretty tough. I’m just going to go out there and do what I can do.”
That’s about the only thing Mueller came shy of in his dominating farewell to the chlorinated pinnacle event at Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center, winning the fourth and fifth individual titles of his career.
After missing the 200 freestyle record by an index finger or two — touching in 1 minute and 35.93 seconds and .21 seconds off the ghost of Miller — Mueller obliterated the all-time 500-yard freestyle meet record in 4:21.21 for his second title of the night.
Former Cherry Creek standout Jared Markham had previously owned the record with a time of 4:26.20, set in 2011.
“I just knew I could break it,” said Mueller, who was named the 5A swimmer of the year. “I knew my best time was way faster than that. I knew I could do it.”
Regis Jesuit won its 24 team title, now doubling second-place Cherry Creek with 12.
The Raiders finished with 399 points behind wins from Truman Inglis in the 50 freestyle relay and in the 200 free relay. Inglis touched ahead of Legacy’s Tegan Barrier in 20.91 seconds. The relay, which included Inglis as the anchor, was about a half-of-a-second better than Monarch at 1:23.94.
“It was crazy, I didn’t think we could do it,” Inglis said afterward. “It is crazy we did it with this group. I love this team more than anything.”
The Raiders had just two wins compared to Cherry Creek’s three, and eight top-five finishes to its nine, but held off the Bruins with their depth. They had 12 top-eight finishes
“It really means a lot for the guys because right from the beginning (of the season), we were a great team,” Regis coach Nick Frasersmith said. “They pulled together for each other, did everything right, they worked hard. It was a great payoff.”
Cherry Creek finished runner-up for a second straight season after winning it in 2021 and 2019, getting titles in 200 medley relay (1:30.38), dive (553.55 points) and the 100 butterfly (48.62).
Luke Ogren won the diving title by more than 30 points over second-place Bryce Porter of Rampart. Brodie Johnson won the fly by more than a full second over Highlands Ranch’s Mason Kajfosz.
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5A boys swim individual champions
200 medley relay: Cherry Creek, 1:30.38
200 freestyle: Chase Mueller (Columbine), 1:35.93
200 individual medley: Drew Ravegum (Arvada West), 1:50.09
50 freestyle: Truman Inglis (Regis Jesuit), 20.79
Diving: Luke Ogren (Cherry Creek), 553.55
100 butterfly: Brodie Johnson (Cherry Creek), 48.62
100 freestyle: Tristen Davin (Chatfield), 44.85
500 freestyle: Chase Mueller (Columbine), 4:21.21
200 freestyle relay: Regis Jesuit, 1:23.47
100 backstroke: Oliver Schimberg (Grandview), 48.87
100 breaststroke: Joshua Corn (Chatfield), 53.73
400 freestyle relay: Monarch, 3:04.90
