Boys Swimming Makes a Big Splash
March 12, 2010 by Chris Carter ·
Starting off the year with a win.
Artwork by Rebecca Holt
TJ Swimmers Represent at State
May 22, 2009 by Scott Bruskin ·
The TJ boys’ swimming team finished off their season on a good note.
photo by Kevin Fleming
Spartans Dominate West, Fall to Arvada
May 11, 2009 by Andrew Briss ·
TJ boys’ swimming finishes season strong with high hopes for state.
After a sucessful season, some Spartans are headed off to the State Meet. photo by Kevin Fleming
Swim Team Takes It To The Bellos
April 15, 2009 by Andrew Briss ·
Boys’ Swim Team dominated the Warriors with Spartan talent.
Ryan Diaz took first place in the 100 meter free relay in the Spartans' victory over the Montbello Warriors on April 14. photo by Kevin Fleming
TJ Swim Team Holds Strong
April 2, 2009 by Andrew Briss ·
Spartan swimmers compete against rival schools and prove to be strong this season, taking first in recent meet.
Junior Demetrius Allen utilizes his speed in the pool for the Spartans. photo by Kevin Fleming
Houghton Makes Most of Final Splash
May 19, 2008 by Michael Mankoff ·
TJ Senior – A State Champion
by Michael Mankoff
photo by Kevin Fleming
About the same time the Thomas Jefferson High School baseball team was letting the possibility of being state champions slip through their fingers, Senior Swimmer Marc Houghton was taking his position on the blocks in the final race of the Class 4A 200 freestyle. Not only would this be the last time Houghton would swim for his high school, but it would be for a state title, and a chance to be inscribed into the book of state champions for life.
"I was pretty confident in myself before the race," said Houghton. "I knew I worked as hard as I could to train for this event." His hard work and training for the last four years finally paid off exactly one minute and forty-two seconds after the gunshot had sounded, when Houghton touched the wall almost a full second before his closest competitor. "It felt amazing," exclaimed Houghton when asked of his emotions once he finished the race. "It was also a big relief, since I was seeded first in the 200 freestyle going into finals," he added. With his time of 1:42.80, Houghton made the automatic All-American cut, which was one of his goals coming into the meet.
Conifer swimmer Christian Treat was the second-place finisher in the event and had been Houghton’s closest competition all season. "He (Treat) was the guy who beat me last year at state. I knew I had to work extra hard if I wanted to take the event this year," noted State Champion Houghton. After preliminaries, Houghton admitted he was somewhat nervous going into the final day. His nerves subsided as the 3:30pm race time neared. He knew how Treat would swim the race and that proved to be a big advantage. "He swims the first hundred really fast," said Houghton, "but I was aggressive and stayed ahead of him the whole race."
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City Meet Brings Spartans Bold and Bronze
May 13, 2008 by Michael Mankoff ·
TJ finishes 3rd behind East, GW
As the school year comes to a close, so is the Thomas Jefferson Spartans’ Swimming and Diving Team; however not before they managed to have great success at the 2008 City Meet this last weekend.
Spectators, as well as athletes packed the pool at Manual High School to witness North, Kennedy, East, George Washington, and TJ battle it out for the city title. During the regular season, the Spartans defeated all but George Washington, and had high hopes of de-throning the Patriots and gaining supremecy as city champions. Although the swimming team performed very well, GW and East finished the day with a one, two, finish leaving the Spartans in a very respectable 3rd place with the bronze. The Angels from East barely edged out the Spartans for second place finishing only 4 points ahead of the TJ boys. "We had a good chance to finish second as everyone swam well, that didn’t happen… but we did have two more guys qualify for state," noted an optimistic Marc Houghton, who has already qualified for the state meet next weekend. "Almost everyone swam their best times Read more
Primed and Ready: Swimming Continues Success
April 23, 2008 by Michael Mankoff ·
Well Oiled Machine Ready for Homestretch.
Photo By Ryanne Mollo
Chalk up another successful meet for the Thomas Jefferson High School Boys’ Swimming and Diving Team; they are now an undefeated 3-0 in league and coming off a 15th place finish at the Jefferson County Invitational last weekend.
With victories earlier in the season against league foes East, Kennedy, and North, the undefeated Spartans are swimming towards their first city title since 2005. This coveted feat seems feasible thanks to many different parts of the team coming together just like Head Coach Cindy Allen had hoped, "We are finally realizing our potential, and it’s exciting to watch." The most exciting part for the Spartans that has come together is their relay teams. With the 200 yards free-style team (Marc Houghton, Taylor Hartmon, Seth Perry, and Tate Sheiman) qualifying at the Jeffco Invitational on April 19th, all the Spartans relays have qualified for the state meet at the end of the season. "It feels good to know some of my teammates are going to be able to join me at state this season," said Houghton. Last season, he was the only Spartan swimmer to participate in the State Meet, finishing 4th in the 200 yard Read more
Spartan Swimmers Top Rival East
April 3, 2008 by Michael Mankoff ·
Boys Continue Early Season Success
by Michael Mankoff
photo by Ryanne Mollo
April 2, 2008 was a night to remember for the Spartan Swimming and Diving team.
The air was filled with excitement Wednesday night in the Thomas Jefferson pool as the swim team took on league rival East High School. The night lived up to the high expectations with the smashing of state qualifying times which led the Spartans to victory, 99-80. "The win was huge," described Head coach Cindy Allen who hopes that the momentum from the victory will carry throughout the rest of the season. "It was a big stepping stone, I think the athletes realize now the opportunity they have to win the city."
East finshed second last year in league and have had some success themselves this year, which made the win that much more enjoyable for the Spartans who seem to be en fuego since the season commenced in early March. "All season long our young guys have played a big role in the team’s success," noted senior swimmer Marc Houghton. The highlight of the night, however, was the Medley Relay team that qualified for state with a time of one minute and fifty-two seconds, which smashed the qualifying time by a full four seconds. The team consists of Taylor Hartmon, Seth Perry, Tate Sheiman and Houghton as well.
However, the Medley team is not the only relay team that has qualified for state from the mighty Spartans’ roster this season. Prior to Wednesday, the 400-freestyle team managed the feat less than two weeks ago at the Arvada West meet. "Qualifying two relays this early in the season is a really big accomplishment for TJ swimming," an excited Houghton remarked. The 400-free team consists of all the same swimmers as the Medley team replacing Sheiman with strong swimmer Daniel Smith. Characterizing the win as anything short of amazing would be an understatement as the mighty swim team looks to continue their winning ways.
Next up for the Spartans will be the Kennedy Commanders on April 9th at Lincoln High School at 4:15pm.
Swimming Steps Up to the Blocks
March 18, 2008 by Michael Mankoff ·
Boys Swimming and Diving makes a splash.
This year the Thomas Jefferson swimming and diving team has a lot of new, young talent as the Spartans embark on a new and exciting season.
On Monday, March 17th, the team had their first home meet against Arvada West, taking on current Wildcat head coach, and former TJ swimming Coach Jeff Cook. The reunion was a great first meet for TJ, as they came out with an exciting one point victory by the score of 92-91. The meet was was full of highlights, and the biggest event was the 400 freestyle relay, where the team of four boys qualified for state. With only one qualifier last season, and already four in their second meet of the year, the team is very excited for what lies ahead.
Whether the swimming team is on the road or in the comforting waters of the TJ pool, senior swimmer Marc Houghton will be giving his all to prove he is among the elite in the state. “I’ve been swimming year round to prepare for this season, and as a result, my times have been better than ever before,” said Houghton, who finished 4th in the state in the 200 meter freestyle as a Junior. Now with two of the opponents that finished ahead of him graduated, Houghton will strive to gain supremacy in the event this season. Read more
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