Mustangs go fourth ...

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director
Fare well at 4A meet in Thornton.
THORNTON – When athletes claim in the aftermath of an event that they left it all out on the field, on the court, or, in this case, in the pool, they seem to be satisfied.
It happened on Friday evening, when Mullen capped its performance in the Class 4A Girls Swimming and Diving Championships at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center. The Mustangs gave maximum effort, scored points in the 10 of the events and finished fourth in the team chase against a good field.
They were sixth a year ago and rode an inner core of eight swimmers who were as versatile and productive as they were resilient.
“A lot of our kids swam four races (in Friday’s preliminaries) and four today,” Mustangs head coach Susan Stone said. “I’m excited and very happy. They did great and all of the hard work paid off.”
The Mustangs provided balance, although Sofia Zinis arguably collected the most and led the way. Of note, the senior won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.90 seconds in becoming the Mustangs’ first swim event winner since Caroline Shea won the 200 free in 2008. (Mullen’s Katie Russ won diving in 2015.)
“It was super fun,” Zinis said.
In particular, she said, after the Mustangs finished second in the opening event, the fun really started. Zinis handled the anchor leg as she followed Micalea Clode, Claire Chahbandour and Lindsey Sowitch in Mullen’s runner-up showing in 200 medley relay. They recorded 1:46.48 to Rampart’s 1:42.49. And it took a state record for the Rams to do it, eclipsing the 1:42.86 they turned in a year ago.
“We just started so well,” Zinis said.
And it lasted until the end of the meet. The Mustangs’ depth helped pile up some points.
In ending another drought, S. Zinis, Gabrielle Zinis, Chahbandour and Sowitch also teamed to win the 200 free relay in 1:37.41, narrowly missing All-American consideration. It was the Mustangs’ first relay victory at state since 2007.
S. Zinis added a third in the 100 free (52.71) and G. Zinis was 17th (55.93). Chahbandour was sixth in the 50 free (24.49) and fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.18). Sowitch, a sophomore, was sixth in the 200 individual medley (2:10.04) and ninth in the 100 butterfly (59.02).
Clode added a ninth in the 100 backstoke (59.88). Anarose Schwamm was 12th in the 100 breast (1:09.94).
Senior Julianna Zinis added seventh (426.20 points) in diving and even though Mullen capped its effort with an 18th in the 400 free relay (Taylor Nielson, Clode, Scwamm and G. Zinis) in 3:53.96, their scoring was enough for 258 points. The Mustangs were behind Rampart (366), which defended its team title, Niwot (303.50) and Cheyenne Mountain (299). Silver Creek was fifth (226).
“Almost beating Cheyenne Mountain,” Stone said, “was great. (The Indians) are good.”
Chahbandour said “We’re definitely thrilled. It’s a big step up from last year, it really is. We had some great races. Rampart’s good and nobody touches Rampart. (The Rams) are so fast. We are so satisfied. I love high-school swimming so much more than club swimming. It’s so much better.”
It was Mullen’s 15th top-10 finish. They won state team titles from 1996-98, in 2001 and from 2003-05.
The Mustangs’ quality was enough to overcome their lack of quantity, Sowitch said.
“It’s very cool, she said. “Coming in we were definitely really pumped today. I didn’t think we’d do as well as we did, which made it exciting.
“We were definitely the team with the leats amount of people, so to get fourth is huge.”
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