Pine Creek’s Madi Mintenko Makes History As Cherry Creek Wins 5th Straight CHSAA 5A Title

2025 CHSAA 5A State Championships

• February 6-7, 2025
• Veterans’ Memorial Aquatics Center
• 25 Yards (SCY)
• Championship Central
• Full Results

Pine Creek moved up to the 5A Classification this year, but that didn’t stop senior Madi Mintenko from swimming her way into the history books. Mintenko won the 200 and 500 freestyle double at the 2025 CHSAA 5A State Championships, making her the third girl to go undefeated in individual events at the State Championships over her high school career. Missy Franklin and Anna Trinidad are the only other swimmers to go eight-for-eight in their state championship career.

During prelims, Mintenko, a Virginia commit, took down Franklin’s Colorado state record in the 500 freestyle. She swam 4:39.79, erasing Franklin’s 4:41.72 record from 2013 by 1.93 seconds. She nearly broke Franklin’s 200 freestyle state record in the event finals, securing her first individual title of the meet with a 1:43.20, five-hundredths from Franklin’s mark.

Though Mintenko was just off Franklin’s 200 freestyle record, the 500 freestyle mark wasn’t the only state record by the five-time Olympic gold medalist that got broken. In the final event of the meet, Cherry Creek’s quartet of Ana Loveridge, Jenna Fernstrom, Madison Williams, and Kate McKinnon swam 3:21.52, breaking Franklin and Regis Jesuit’s record from 2011 by nine-tenths.

“We knew there was a chance we could break that record,” Cherry Creek coach Karin Olmstead Dinsdale told CHSAANow. “It was pretty old, but we knew we had a really good chance. That was really special to go out and do that in the last race.”

The sprint freestyle events were key for Cherry Creek, which won its fifth-straight state championship by 144 points over Regis Jesuit. The freshman McKinnon was integral to Cherry Creek’s victory; she swam on two winning relays and swept the sprint freestyle events in her debut state championships.

McKinnon swam 22.79 to win the 50 freestyle, lowering her lifetime best by .14 seconds to win her first state title. Later, she was right on her lifetime best to win the 100 freestyle, swimming 49.91. Cherry Creek made a big move in the 50 freestyle as McKinnon, Loveridge, Fernstrom, and Clara Paterson touched first, third, fourth, and tenth.

Boulder High School junior Hazel Huilman matched McKinnon with two individual event wins. She won the 100 butterfly in 53.48, then swam a lifetime best of 1:02.11 to claim the 100 breaststroke.

Freshman Elliana Wiesen won a tight race in the 200 IM, out-touching Thunder Ridge sophomore Annabeth Town by five-hundredths. Wiesen clocked 2:03.42, holding off a late charge from Town, who stopped the clock in 2:03.47.

Heritage senior Elise Ramsden won the 100 backstroke (56.11) while Fossil Ridge earned gold in the 200 freestyle relay (1:34.66) to round out the state title winners in the pool.

Top 10 Final Results:

1. Cherry Creek — 456
2. Regis Jesuit — 312
3. Fairview — 226
4. Arapahoe — 223
5. Pine Creek — 218
6. Valor Christian — 187
7. Fossil Ridge — 182
8. Boulder — 176
9. Heritage — 156
10. Rocky Mountain — 148