Cherry Creek Breaks Colorado Record in 200 Free Relay En Route to Class 5A Three-Peat

2023 CHSAA Girls 5A State Championships

• Feb. 7-9, 2023
• Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center
  • Thornton, Colorado
• SCY (25 yards)
• Preview
• 4A Recap
• Full Results
• Results on MeetMobile: “CHSAA Girls 5A State Championships 2023”

The Cherry Creek girls brought home their third Class 5A team title in a row on Friday night, giving them 29 championships overall — the most in Colorado history.

Cherry Creek’s 200 freestyle relay team of Alexis Greenhawt (23.02), Lawson Ficken (22.07), Ana Loveridge (22.94), and Charlotte Wilson (22.78) combined for a final time of 1:30.81, coming less than a tenth shy of the national high school record (1:30.72). The quartet crushed its own Class 5A record of 1:32.82 set during Thursday’s prelims as well as the Colorado state record of 1:33.00 clocked by Cherry Creek last year.

Ficken, a senior Auburn commit, also swept the 50 free (22.64) and 100 free (48.77), the latter scaring Missy Franklin’s 5A state record (48.45) from 2012. Wilson also came within a second of a Franklin state record during her 100 back victory in 52.95.

Regis Jesuit placed second in the team standings with 367.5 points behind Cherry Creek’s 448. Regis Jesuit junior Charlotte Burnham won the 100 breast (1:02.40) while coach Nick Frasersmith earned Coach of the Year honors.

Two-time reigning 4A champions Heritage took third place in its first year as a 5A member. Heritage senior Mary Macauley triumphed in the 200 IM with a time of 2:00.67.

Boulder senior Zara Zallen entered the meet as the top seed in the 50 free and 100 free, but it was the 200 free where she claimed victory in a time of 1:48.58. Legacy senior Sabrina Rachjaibun won the 500 free (4:55.89) while Fairview senior Edith Simecek reached the wall first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.57.

Team Standings

1. Cherry Creek, 448
2. Regis Jesuit, 367.5
3. Heritage, 321
4. Fairview, 298
5. Grandview, 233