THORNTON – Pine Creek wasted no time in setting itself up for its first girls swimming title at the Class 4A prelims on Wednesday.

The Eagles started the night with the fastest preliminary race in the 200-yard medley relay and followed it up with several outstanding individual performances. Madison Mintenko will occupy the fifth lane in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle after blitzing the field in both races.

Overall, the Eagles have 17 A-finalists across the 12 events in Thursday’s finals. It will be a big advantage as Pine Creek hopes to jump into the team championship spot after finishing third to Heritage and Windsor last year.

“We’ve been offered the same experience we were offered last year,” Mintenko said. “We have so many freshmen this year and I love them all. I love being able to give this experience to them for them to be a part of this is awesome.”

The problem is that nothing is ever a given. Despite strength in numbers, the Eagles still have to put together solid swims through the event because there are several championship-level teams that are very much in the mix.

They’ll have to fend off a talented Cheyenne Mountain team that can always scoop up points in the relays and with Caroline Bricker getting top prelim times in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke, the Red-Tailed Hawks are certainly capable of swimming their way to a title.

Broomfield is another team that can make a solid run at the team crown. Myra Wherry and Ellie Foulke each snagged a couple of top-five finishes. They finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 500 freestyle which could be huge for their team hopes.

“It’s so much fun and it’s so different from club swimming,” Foulke said. “It’s so great seeing everyone and meeting new people. I’m super-hyped to walk out with the music and all the podium stuff tomorrow.”

But the trick is to not let the moment be bigger than the goal. Just over two seconds separated first-place Pine Creek from fifth-place Broomfield in the 200 meldey relay.

That genuinely means it’s anyone’s championship when the buzzer sounds to kick off finals on Thursday at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center. Monarch and Niwot are also in a good spot to contend for a team title.

Heritage claimed the last two 4A championships but has moved up to 5A for this cycle. The most recent 4A champion that is in the field for tomorrow is Cheyenne Mountain. Bricker was a freshman on that team that just edged out Rampart to give the Red-Tailed Hawks their third title in program history.

They know how to win. But Pine Creek has dreams of winning and is hoping its ability to turn those dreams into reality.

“I have been dreaming about it ever since we finished last year,” Mintenko said. “We think about it all the time and I’m so excited, especially with the new pool going in [at Pine Creek High School] and I would love to raise a banner there.”

The effort to do that will begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday at the VMAC.