Talented twins are wonders in water - #lakewoodnews

Laurel and Griffin Eiber are in a swimming pool most of the year, except maybe for a few trips to the ski slopes.The twins are juniors at Arapahoe High School and are among the state's top swimmers.But which twin is the better swimmer?"Griffin is faster," Laurel said. "He's a boy. But when you compare the competition, we're the same."Griffin agreed and so does Mike Richmond, the Arapahoe boys and girls swimming coach.Laurel finished third in this winter's 5A state championships in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles. She broke the Centennial League 50-yard freestyle record held by Olympian Amy Van Dyken-Rouen of Cherry Creek and is the school record holder in the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and is part of Arapahoe's record 200 medley and 400 free relay teams.Griffin, the Warriors' record holder in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events, has the state's best times this spring of 21.12 seconds in the 50 free and 46.02 in the 100 freestyle. At last spring's state meet, he was second in the 200 free and sixth in the 100."Laurel and Griffin are similar in many ways athletically," Richmond said. "Both are extraordinarily talented, similarly dedicated and committed student-athletes."From a lighter perspective, Griffin's weakness is getting in the water to warm up, while Laurel has been averse to including vegetables in her diet."It's good to know I'm not the only person who dislikes vegetables.McCaffrey comment a winnerValor Christian graduate Christian McCaffrey, last season's Heisman Trophy runner-up as a Stanford sophomore running back, was honored at the April 19 Colorado Sports Hall of Fame banquet as the Amateur Athlete of the Year.And he came up with one of the best responses of those who were honored."It's nice to put on a suit and tie and actually win an award," he said.64-team basketball tournament rejectedThe Colorado High School Activities Association's Legislative Council has spoken again.Besides passing a new bylaw to stiffen the dishonest practices and outlining penalties in the transfer processes for false and incorrect information during its session April 21, the council also rejected a proposed 64-team Class 5A and 4A basketball tournament.Both 5A and 4A will have 48-team brackets for the state tournament. It will be the same number of qualifiers for 5A but an increase from 32 teams for the 4A field.For Ponderosa, a 4A team playing basketball in the 5A Continental League, the Mustangs were in favor of the expanded 4A tournament bracket."We were in favor of either the 64 or 48, but what we didn't want is to have it remain at 32," said Ponderosa Athletic Director Tim Ottmann. "We're in a unique situation being in the Continental League and trying to qualify out of that league. We don't get a lot of wins and it hurts us to qualify for the 4A tournament. This will give us a lot better opportunity."Pugh won't play for VistaMallory Pugh, a senior at Mountain Vista and a member of the U.S. women's soccer team, confirmed that she will not play for the Golden Eagles this spring because of Team USA commitments.In January, the 17-year-old became the youngest female player to compete for the U.S. national team during an Olympic-qualifying tournament. She was a member of the 20-player U.S. team but the roster needs to be trimmed to 18 for the upcoming Rio Olympic Games.Team USA will play Japan in a pre-Olympic match June 2 at Dick's Sporting Goods Stadium in Commerce City. That game is sold out.New playing surfaces in Highlands RanchNew synthetic turf will be installed at Shea Stadium and ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch this summer."We have all our turf fields on a cycle," said Douglas County School District Athletic Director Derek Chaney. "It's Shea's turn to get that done, along with ThunderRidge. Those are the two capital projects we have this summer. Shea is definitely due for new turf."It will cost $676,000 to have Sprinturf LLC install the artificial turf on both fields, and the Highlands Ranch Metro District will assist the school district with the expense."We're sharing the cost of the turf," Chaney said. "We have an (intergovernmental agreement). We use it 60 percent of the time and they use it 40 percent of the time. So we're paying 60 percent and they are paying 40 percent."Jim Benton is a sports writer for Colorado Community Media. He has been covering sports in the Denver area since 1968. He can be reached at jbenton@coloradocommunitymedia.com or at 303-566-4083.

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