THORNTON – James Story is a difference maker.
The Silver Creek junior has been away from his team to focus on club, but he came back this season and the Raptors felt his presence in a big way on the biggest stage. He won the 200-yard and 100 freestyle to help power Silver Creek to the Class 4A boys swimming championship at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center.
“This is polar opposite from club,” Story said. “You can’t even hear anything because the relays are so loud. It’s just a blast and this can’t be beat.”
Stephen Codevilla added to the Raptors’ effort with a win in the 100 backstroke. Those three events made up the total of Silver Creek’s gold medals, but they were consistently near the top of the podium enough to capture the third title in program history and the first since 2021.
The Raptors finished runner-up to Cheyenne Mountain in 2022 and 2023.
Perhaps the biggest individual win of the night came from Windsor’s Jake Eccleston, who set the overall state record in the 100 breaststroke at 53.67 seconds. He held the previous 4A record at 54.08 and in breaking that he also took the overall record from Chatfield’s Joshua Corn who went 53.73 last year in the 5A finals.
Windsor finished as the team runner-up thanks to two wins from Eccleston who also took the 200 individual medley.
Defending champion Cheyenne Mountain finished third.
Individual champions
| EVENT | ATHLETE | SCHOOL | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200 medley relay | Noah Mooney, Oliver Valdez, Henry Montgomery, Luke Jordan | Mullen | 1:34.88 |
| 200 freestyle | James Story | Silver Creek | 1:42.08 |
| 200 individual medley | Jake Eccleston | Windsor | 1:47.47 |
| 50 freestyle | Duncan Salmen | Evergreen | 21.17 |
| One-meter dive | Carson Harrington | Evergreen | 601.50 |
| 100 butterfly | Duncan Salmen | Evergreen | 49.49 |
| 100 freestyle | James Story | Silver Creek | 46.34 |
| 500 freestyle | Barrett Kerrigan | Cheyenne Mountain | 4:52.58 |
| 200 freestyle relay | William Jones, Luke Thornton, Brian Molloy, Breck Boyd | Glenwood Springs | 1:26.02 |
| 100 backstroke | Stephen Codevilla | Silver Creek | 50.05 |
| 100 breaststroke | Jake Eccleston | Windsor | 53.67* |
| 400 freestyle relay | Noah Mooney, Oliver Valdez, Luke Jordan, Henry Montgomery | Mullen | 3:11.40 |
* – Denotes an overall state record.
Top Teams
| PLACE | SCHOOL | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Silver Creek | 329 |
| 2 | Windsor | 267 |
| 3 | Cheyenne Mountain | 265 |
| 4 | Glenwood Springs | 225 |
| 4 | Mullen | 225 |
