Niwot girls swim devours podium at Longs Peak League Championships

For quite a few Niwot girls swimmers, the Longs Peak League Championships on Feb. 4 was a back and forth trek from the pool to the podium.

Charlotte Heuer and Jamieson Legh each won a pair of individual races, Steph Mow led the 100 backstroke and Rowan Lavigne secured the 100 breaststroke gold to help give head coach Ella Thramann a league title in her inaugural season guiding the program.

The Cougars also topped the competition in three relays: the 200 medley, 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle. Not forgetting Izzy Fay who was victorious in the one-meter dive, Niwot took first in 10 of the 12 events and scored 398 total points at the Mountain View Aquatic Center in Loveland. Thompson Valley was the league's runner-up (265) and Mountain View placed third (226).

Admittedly, Heuer's focus during the day was more on getting herself prepared for the state championships, which begin Feb. 8.

"I'm trying to set myself up for a good race then and learn how I want to swim the race better in the future," Heuer said following her winning time of 1 minute, 58.62 seconds in the 200 freestyle.

The junior later won the 100 butterfly and aided in the victorious 200 free relay.

Heuer also mentioned that she was soaking up the final meet Niwot will have this season as a full team. Things could change, but Thramann expects to send 11 swimmers to state, including an alternate.

"To know that I have that many state competitors, it's nice," Thramann said. "It's exciting to go with that many girls especially because the more girls you have, obviously the more points you'll get."

While Mya Blair narrowly missed Niwot's state roster, she ended her season on a high note in the 100 butterfly by cutting over three seconds off of her preliminary time. Blair credited both a restful prior night and the increased "hype" of a conference meet for her third-place mark of 1:09.94.

"I was surprised because the race did not feel like that time," Blair said. "I looked up and I dropped so much time and I was like, 'Oh my God.' I was just really happy, and I saw my teammate (Heuer) drop a lot of time, too. It was a lot of excitement."

The Class 4A state championships will be held at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton with preliminary races set for Feb. 8 before the finals on Feb. 9.

"I'm just hoping they go into it with a clear head," Thramann said. "We're going against some really competitive schools per usual. I don't want them to get too in their heads, and I just want them to be prepared for what's to come. We should have placements in the top eight, at least for a few of the events."