FORT COLLINS - Caroline Shea swam her last individual event at the Class 4A swimming and diving championships Friday with that "I've got to get one" attitude.

Well, she got one.

After finishing a disappointing third place in the 200 freestyle, the event she came to Edora Pool Ice Center to defend, the Mullen senior managed to go home with some hardware after a first-place finish in the 100 freestyle.

"I really pushed the last 12 1/2 (yards)," Shea said of the 100-freestyle win. "I just had to get at least one (Friday). I finished with a best time in the 200, even though I placed third, so I'll take it.

"It's so hard to defend a title with the good swimmers in this state."

Even though Shea couldn't come up with a double-title feat, she still left with more than one gold medal. She came back a couple of races later to anchor the Mustangs' 200-freestyle relay team to a state title as well.

Mullen finished fifth as a team, but it was another Mustangs squad that no team could catch.

Ralston Valley moved up one spot from last year, dominating the field and capturing it first 4A title.

Katie Johnson and her teammates turned what was supposed to be a tight race with Rock Canyon into a washout, and their quest for domination began in the first race.

In the 200 medley relay, the Mustangs defeated Rock Canyon's foursome by a mere seven-hundredths of a second. The Mustangs, though, closed things by running away with the 400 freestyle relay championship.

"Our relays did amazing," Johnson said. "That first relay set the mood for the whole meet. If we would have got second, I think we still would have won, but it would have been harder, swimming from behind already.

"I'm still so in shock that we won."

A first place in diving from Kylie Sellers pushed the Mustangs further ahead. Sellers scored a 435.35 in an event that was delayed by a malfunction with the scoring system.

Despite diving for the better part of an hour, Sellers hung in and was proud of her effort, especially because it helped the team.

"It's so cool to come together as a team to win but having individual accomplishments to help out," Sellers said. "It was hard to sit around and wait for things to get figured out, but once you are on the board, your adrenaline comes back quick."

Rock Canyon did not go away empty-handed, winning more individual titles than Ralston Valley. Kirsten Milberg finished first in the 200 freestyle, while also defending her title in the 100 backstroke. Also, sophomore Taylor Curado edged Ralston Valley's Arianne Lujan for the 100-butterfly crown.

The Jaguars finished second, followed by Estes Park, La Junta and Mullen.

Fossil Ridge turned in perhaps the biggest upsets to finish sixth. Shannon Garlie won the 500 freestyle, shaving nearly 10 seconds off her preliminary time and beating heavily favored Johnson, as well as Greeley West's Joy Bunting.

"I got my hopes up too much last year and didn't do that well," said Garlie, who also placed second in the 200 freestyle. "I just tried to stay relaxed. I dropped five seconds off my best in the 500. The whole night was unbelievable."

Teammate Patricia Nelson became the first swimmer in school history to capture a title by taking the 50 freestyle.

Other individual winners included Lujan (200 individual medley) and St. Mary's Academy senior Ellie Freeman (100 breaststroke).

Freeman swam a state-record time of 1:04.28 in the preliminaries but had to hold on to beat Bunting in the closest race of the finals.

CLASS 4A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Team scores - 1. Ralston Valley 267, 2. Rock Canyon 178, 3. Estes Park 149, 4. La Junta 136, 5. Mullen 130, 6. Fossil Ridge 123, 7. D'Evelyn 122, 8. Mountain View 115 1/2, 9. Windsor 93, 10. Greeley West 91,

11. Broomfield 81, 12. Cherokee Trail 76, 13. Cheyenne Mountain 74, 14. Thompson Valley 70, 15. Pueblo Centennial 70, 16, tie, Niwot, Gunnison 69, 17. St. Mary's Academy 56, 18. Moffat County 42, 19. Greeley Central 41, 20. Pueblo South 39,

21. Montrose 34, 22. Silver Creek 31, 23. Mountain Range 28, 24. Glenwood Springs 27, 25. Evergreen 24, 26. Platte Canyon 21, 27. Longmont 14, 28. Skyline 12, 29. Eaton 11 1/2, 30. Liberty 11,

31. Sterling 10, 32. Delta 5, 33. Golden 3.

200 medley relay - 1. Ralston Valley, 1 minutes, 51.22 seconds; 2. Rock Canyon, 1:51.29; 3. Windsor, 1:54.60; 4. Mullen, 1:55.80; 5. Estes Park, 1:55.92; 6. Niwot, 1:55.95; 7. Broomfield, 1:56.86; 8. La Junta, 1:57.66.

200 freestyle - 1. Kirsten Milberg, Rock Canyon, 1:53.42; 2. Shannon Garlie, Fossil Ridge, 1:53.94; 3. Caroline Shea, Mullen, 1:54.64; 4. Brandie Kavalec, Mountain View, 1:56.70; 5. Kim Freeman, D'Evelyn, 1:59.00; 6. Summer Cook, Mountain Range, 1:59.64; 7. Kirsten Queen, Windsor, 2:00.01; 8. Julia Derk, Greeley West, 2:00.96.

200 individual medley - 1. Arianne Lujan, Ralston Valley, 2:07.14; 2. Katie Johnson, Ralston Valley, 2:07.44; 3. Joy Bunting, Greeley West, 2:07.59; 4. Kia Dobie, Broomfield, 2:09.94; 5. Ellie Freeman, St. Mary's Academy, 2:12.12; 6. Jessy Badaracco, Platte Canyon, 2:16.69; 7. Krysta Sparks, Montrose, 2:17.24; 8. Melissa Phelps, Cherokee Trail, 2:19.57.

50 freestyle - 1. Patricia Nelson, Fossil Ridge,24.68; 2. Kelsey Conci, Moffat County, 24.80; 3. Tesse Maciejko, Gunnison, 24.87; 4. Kenzie Hewson, Estes Park, 24.99; 5. Kim Schemahorn, La Junta, 25.05; 6. Sierra Grove, Glenwood Springs, 25.18; 7. McKenna Gustafson, Thompson Valley, 25.22; 8. Lindsay Banning, Silver Creek, 25.40.

Diving - 1. Kylie Sellers, Ralston Valley, 435.35 points; 2. Emily Kasyon, Cheyenne Mountain, 404.70; 3. Stephanie Wakefield, Mountain View, 403.30; 4. Kelly White, Evergreen, 400.05; 5. Erin Lionberger, Longmont, 398.55; 6. Justine Boddy, Thompson Valley, 391.50; 7. Jamie Bristol, Mountain View, 386.05; 8. Heather Anderson, Liberty, 372.45.

100 butterfly - 1. Taylor Curado, Rock Canyon, 57.39; 2. Arianna Lujan, Ralston Valley, 58.28; 3. Madison Krall, Pueblo Centennial, 1:00.21; 4. Mariah Coler, Cherokee Trail, 1:00.23; 5. Tia Totura, Rock Canyon, 1:00.63; 6. Katie Wedel, Pueblo South, 1:01.06; 7. Ashley Valdez, Greeley Central, 1:01.17; 8. Tracy Mangone, D'Evelyn, 1:01.64.

100 freestyle - 1. Caroline Shea, Mullen, 53.60; 2. Tesse Maciejko, Gunnison, 53.75; 3. Kenzie Hewson, Estes Park, 54.23; 4. Kim Schemahorn, La Junta, 54.36; 5. Kim Freeman, D'Evelyn, 54.57; 6. Patricia Neslon, Fossil Ridge, 54.65; 7. McKenna Gustafson, Thompson Valley, 55.23; 8. Agatha Oleksiak, D'Evelyn, 55.57.

500 freestyle - 1. Shannon Garlie, Fossil Ridge, 5:04.85; 2. Katie Johnson, Ralston Valley, 5:04.94; 3. Kia Dobie, Broomfield, 5:10.13; 4. Summer Cook, Mountain Range, 5:12.11; 5. Madison Krall, Pueblo Centennial, 5:12.89; 6. Kirsten Queen, Windsor, 5:26.31; 7. Paige Fischer, Ralston Valley, 5:29.41; 8. Elysa Gresham, Pueblo South, 5:31.59.

200 freestyle relay - 1. Mullen, 1:40.54; 2. D"Evelyn, 1:41.04; 3. Estes Park, 1:41.22; 4. La Junta, 1:43.68; 5. Gunnison, 1:43.87; 6. Niwot, 1:43.96; 6. Ralston Valley, 1:43.96; 8. Fossil Ridge, 1:44.00.

100 backstroke - 1. Kirsten Milberg, Rock Canyon, 58.74; 2. Brandie Kavalec, Mountain View, 59.23; 3. Kelsey Conci, Moffat County, 59.32; 4. Jordan Quick, Ralston Valley, 1:00.68; 5. Ashley Valdez, Greeley Central, 1:01.40; 6. Mackenzie Norlin, Windsor, 1:02.79; 7. Gina Rhue, Cheyenne Mountain, 1:03.20; 8. Chloe Beaupre, Niwot, 1:03.65.

100 breaststroke - 1. Ellie Freeman, St. Mary's Academy, 1:05.57; 2. Joy Bunting, Greeley West, 1:05.62; 3. Lauren Hewson, Estes Park, 1:06.36; 4. Katie Wedel, Pueblo South, 1:08.30; 5. Danielle Gleason, La Junta, 1:09.72; 6. Melissa Phelps, Cherokee Trail, 1:09.93; 7. Londyn Clawson, Rock Canyon, 1:10.03; 8. Krysta Sparks, Montrose, 1:12.08.

400 freestyle relay - 1. Ralston Valley, 3:38.51; 2. Rock Canyon, 3:40.70; 3. Greeley West, 3:41.52; 4. La Junta, 3:44.03; 5. D'Evelyn 3:44.65; 6. Fossil Ridge, 3:45.89; 7. Estes Park, 3:46.33; 8. Pueblo Centennial, 3:46.85.

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