The D51 Griffins capped off a strong season at the Southwest Conference Championship Meet, held on May 2nd and 3rd at Colorado Mesa University. Composed of fifteen swimmers and divers from Palisade, Grand Junction, and Fruita High Schools, the Griffins showcased talent, growth, and team spirit through the entirety of the season.
During the SW Conference Championship meet, Sophomore Gavin Burke led the charge with a series of impressive swims. He anchored the 200-yard Medley Relay with a blazing 22.73-second freestyle split, securing second place for the relay team alongside teammates Harrison Zentner, Jack Yu, and Michael Swenson. Burke also touched the wall at 23.00 seconds in his 50 Yard Freestyle, a state qualifying time and dropping an impressive .97 seconds from his previous personal best. In finals, he finished fifth for this event, as well as sixth in the 100 Yard Freestyle (52.56). Burke also helped the 400-yard freestyle relay team to a second-place finish with a time of 3:34.90. Burke has been a prominent figure in the swim community for many years and reflects on Conference stating, “Conference was exceptional, I was surprised I hit 23 seconds on my 50 Freestyle but I was very happy since I’ve been working towards that for a while now. Overall, everyone dropped a lot of time and it was a lot of fun.”
Sophomore Dominic Hurd, in just his second year of swimming also had a breakout meet. He dropped over 23 seconds from his entry time in the 500-yard freestyle, placing fourth in finals with a time of 6:15.86. Although he didn’t make finals in the 200 freestyle, Hurd still finished strong as part of the 200-yard freestyle relay, which placed sixth overall. “This year has been good, we’ve been bonding a lot,” Hurd shared. “Swimming is one of those sports where you really bond with the people you swim with because you suffer together.”
Freshman Jack Yu also had an outstanding meet. He placed sixth in the 50-yard freestyle (23.72), and finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke, touching the wall at 1:06.09, shaving over a second from his prelim time. Yu also swam the 200 freestyle relay, where his team, Gage Myers, Colton Jacks, Martin Streetman, and Yu, finished fourth. Yu had the fastest split on the relay team with an impressive 23.77.
The conference meet was a pivotal stepping stone to lead the Griffins to the state meet that took place May 8th to May 9th. The D51 Griffins sent five swimmers off to the 5A CHSAA State Championship meet held in Thornton Colorado. Palisade’s Gavin Burke and Jack Yu swam in all three relays with their teammates Harrison Zentner and Michael Swenson. Despite great efforts, the 200 Medley relay was unfortunately disqualified. However, the 200 Freestyle relay dropped almost four and a half seconds from their entry time getting 27th overall, solid growth from their 31st seeded time. The 400 freestyle relay finished in 28th place, dropping 3.74 seconds from their entry time.
Traveling with teammates can be some of the most memorable and special times for many athletes. The four hour drive and two night stay left substantial time for the Griffins to grow their connections and spend quality time together. Burke explains, “It was a pretty fun experience. I got to know a lot of the guys better and some of them are just goofballs which makes us able to have a lot of laughs. This season I really enjoyed bonding with the team and being able to improve and reflect with them. We are still a pretty young team so we are feeling pretty good for the future. We’re thinking Senior year we will be able to make it back to state and maybe even on the podium.”
As the season wraps up, the Griffins look back on a successful year of fast swims, time drops, and stronger bonds. Great job to our boys swim team!
