Class 4A Cheyenne Mountain took advantage of 5A powers Cherry Creek and Lewis-Palmer splitting their teams into two squads to win its invitational Saturday and end Cherry Creek’s six-year title reign.

    “I definitely thank the Lewis-Palmer and Cherry Creek coaches for agreeing to split,” Indians coach Pete Nichols said. “To be honest, we were the third-best team here, but splitting the teams allowed us to put our best effort out there.”

    Indians sophomore Patrick Scally won the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute, 47.53 seconds. The Indians placed in the top three in six races, including a win in the 200 freestyle relay and a second-place finish for diver Zach Griffith.

    “We’ve been working real hard and the guys were pretty tired, so it’s great for us to get a lift like this,” Nichols said.

    Cherry Creek’s two squads, blue and red, finished second and third behind Cheyenne Mountain. The Cherry Creek blue entrants won five titles and the red team one.

    Lewis-Palmer’s teams, orange and black, which placed fourth and fifth, relied on strong performances in events the swimmers normally don’t enter.

    “This meet was great because it was totally different from a dual meet and allowed us to step up and really race,” Rangers coach Alan Arata said. “We scrambled some of our swimmers around in different races just to keep things interesting and to evaluate what we’ve got.”

    Mitchell placed eight thanks to a win by Dane Van Arkel in the 50 freestyle. Diver Chris Shoptaugh won to lead Air Academy to ninth.

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