Central wins 4A East Regional boys swim title
Feb. 5—CHEYENNE — Sebo Emmons loves going to diving practice at Cheyenne Central.
The junior knows he's going to be challenged by his teammates each night. The Indians' divers use their friendly competitions to push each other to new heights.
The impact of that atmosphere was on display during the Class 4A East Regional on Saturday at the Cheyenne East Natatorium.
Emmons won the 1-meter springboard diving competition with 742.5 points in 11 dives. Central sophomore Avery Dalton was second (463) and junior Jack Etchepare was third (367.50). Indians Parker St. Jean and Tony Frausto also were among the eight finalists.
That depth helped propel Central to the team title Saturday. It finished with 345 points, while runner-up Sheridan had 311.
Emmons' win was one of six for the Indians during the finals.
"I had a lot of high (degree of difficulty) dives, and that kind of pumped up my score," Emmons said. "There's a lot of competition in our pool, but it's fun competition. We're pushing each other to get better.
"We have really good guys on the team who are always helping each other out."
Central entered the finals hungry after having what it viewed as a subpar performance during Friday's preliminaries. The Indians had a handful of athletes battling illnesses, and they were also beaten up from a hard week of practice.
They rebounded in the finals, winning the first three swimming events and five swimming finals overall.
The 200-yard medley relay team of seniors Aaron Hood, Ethan Merrill, Caden Cunningham and junior Connor Doering touched the wall first in 1 minute, 43.74 seconds.
Doering returned to the pool a short time later and won the 200 freestyle in 1:53.34. Doering and Sheridan's Jarret Thompson were neck-and-neck after the first 100 yards, but Doering had built a half body-length lead by the 150 mark. Sheridan's David Brown surged in the final 25 yards, but Doering still won by nearly a full second.
Merrill gave the Indians their third consecutive victory by finishing the 200 individual medley in 2:04.26. Cheyenne South junior Caleb Brewer led through the breaststroke and backstroke legs of the IM, but Merrill pulled ahead off the wall to start the freestyle portion.
Hood picked up an individual win in the 100 backstroke (56.42 seconds), besting the field by nearly three full seconds.
"I've never swam a faster 50 split during the backstroke leg of the medley relay, so that got my day started off on the right foot," said Hood, who also was third in the 100 butterfly. "I knew I was feeling pretty good, and I'm really happy with my time in the 100 back.
"There's always work to be done, but I'm very happy with where I am right now."
Hood, Doering, Merrill and freshman Walt Norton joined forces to win the 400 free relay in 3:27.49. Merrill also was runner-up in the 100 breaststroke, and Doering was third in the 500 freestyle.
Brewer helped South take fifth in the six-team meet by winning the 100 butterfly. He was able to get halfway down the pool underwater before he took a stroke, which helped him surge ahead of the field and finish in 54.81 seconds.
"I've been working on my underwaters all summer and all season, and it's become my strength in almost every stroke," Brewer said. "Pushing them out and keeping the speed on them is pretty important in all my races.
"I am also working on my tempo and distance per stroke. I want to make sure each stroke it getting me where I need to be instead of just going fast."
Cheyenne East captured third in the team standings. Sophomore Cam Kulze's runner-up finish in the 50 free was the Thunderbirds' best result of the day.
He stopped the clock in 22.96 seconds, while champion Ben Forstyhe of Sheridan won in 22.73.
"My start was a bit slow, so I need to work on that," Kulze said. "Normally, I go straight out into the water. I went up and down in this race, and that slowed me down.
"Everything else felt perfect in that race."
Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.
