There were some anxious moments for Ralston Valley’s girls swim team Saturday, Feb. 16, at Edora Pool Ice Center in Fort Collins.

The Mustangs knew going into the finals of the Class 4A state swim and diving championships they would need all hands on deck to hold off Rock Canyon for the team title.

“Oh my gosh, it was a lot closer than last year,” Ralston Valley coach Joani Glidewell-Anderson said. “We knew we had a whole lot of work to do. Rock Canyon was really strong yesterday (in preliminaries), but we were a little deeper.”

The Mustangs used their deep lineup to rack up 302 points, which were 35 more points then last year’s state championship squad amassed. Rock Canyon claimed two relay and two individual titles on its way to 269.5 team points, but the effort wasn’t good enough to dethrone the Mustangs.

“They wanted to go out and prove it wasn’t a fluke last year,” Glidewell-Anderson said. “Ralston Valley is for real.”

Ralston Valley junior Katie Johnson was the lone individual champion for the Mustangs. Johnson edged teammate Arianne Lujan in the 200-yard individual medley. It was the same event that Lujan nipped Johnson in last year at state.

“It was really fun. Arianne and I just wanted to be first and second,” Johnson said. “It was kind of cool that I won this year and she won last year. Next year will be interesting.”

Things got interesting from the get-go. Rock Canyon began the finals by setting a new state record in the 200 medley relay, but there was a 30-minute delay as officials discussed if the squad should be disqualified.

Rock Canyon juniors Londyn Clawson and Taylor Curado jumped into the pool after the race to celebrate the victory. Re-entering the pool is a violation, and could have taken away all 40 team points for the relay victory. Officials decided not to disqualify the Rock Canyon relay team. Instead, Clawson was disqualified from the consolation heat in the 200 IM and Curado was disqualified from the finals of the 50 freestyle.

Instead of losing 40 points, Rock Canyon only missed out on claiming a possible 29 points if Clawson and Curado would have won the heats they were disqualified from. Ralston Valley was content with the decision not to take away Rock Canyon’s relay victory.

“If they would have been disqualified it wouldn’t have been fair because we wanted to win in the pool,” Ralston Valley senior Jordan Quick said. “We’re glad it turned out the way that it did.”

Since the Mustangs won team title by 32.5 points, the controversy was actually a non-factor in the end. Ralston Valley still would have won the team title without the individual disqualifications.

Ralston Valley wasn’t able to defend its relay titles in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle, but taking two seconds and a third in the three relay events was critical to grab the team title.

Lujan had to settle for being the bridesmaid for the third straight year in the 100 butterfly. Curado just edged Lujan at the wire by .06 seconds.

“In the 100 fly, I messed up on my finish. I knew I should have had it,” said Lujan, who was still upbeat despite not winning an individual crown. “We went all best times today. It was exciting to win in our last year in 4A.”

Ralston Valley will jump up to the 5A classification next season.

The performance by Quick was a microcosm of how Ralston Valley successfully defended its team title. The senior grinded out a pair of top-6 finishes in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke events, along with being on both of the Mustangs’ second place relay teams.

“It’s cool to go out with another win,” Quick said after she celebrated in the pool after the Mustangs were handed the state trophy. “It’s really awesome.”

Event, name, place, team points

200 medley relay, Ralston Valley, 2nd, 34

200 freestyle, Paige Fischer, 5th, 14

200 freestyle, Rachel Snyder, 9th, 9

200 freestyle, Kiana Carter, 10th, 7

200 IM, Katie Johnson, 1st, 20

200 IM, Arianne Lujan, 2nd, 17

200 IM, Ruthie Pappas, 9th, 9

200 IM, Nicole Heyn-Brontis, 12th, 5

50 freestyle, Kaitlin Sorensen, 13th, 4

100 butterfly, Arianne Lujan, 2nd, 17

100 butterfly, Rachel Snyder, 3rd, 16

100 freestyle, Jordan Quick, 6th, 13

500 freestyle, Katie Johnson, 2nd, 17

500 freestyle, Ruthie Pappas, 4th, 15

500 freestyle, Paige Fischer, 5th, 14

500 freestyle, Nicole Heyn-Brontis, 12th, 5

200 freestyle relay, Ralston Valley, 3rd, 32

100 backstroke, Jordan Quick, 4th, 15

100 backstroke, Jamee Wenzinger, 13th, 4

100 breaststroke, Kaitlin Sorensen, 16th, 1

400 freestyle relay, Ralston Valley, 2nd, 34