Niwot girls swim and dive takes fourth at state

Overall, head coach Ella Thramann would consider her first year leading the Niwot High School girls swim program a success.

The Cougars wrapped up their season at the Class 4A state championships on Feb. 9, and led by senior Jamieson Legh, took fourth as a team at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton.

“I'm very happy with how it ended,” Thramann said. “They all just swim amazingly. Jamieson had first in the 100 butterfly and 100 back, so that was cool to watch her get that first place in those.”

After finishing runner-up at state in both of those races as a junior, Legh set her Niwot personal record with times of 54.29 seconds in the 100 fly and 54.65 in the 100 backstroke.

“She was absolutely thrilled,” Thramann said. “You could just tell on her face that she was shocked at how fast she really went… I know she was supposed to get really close to one of the girls in backstroke and she just absolutely crushed her time.”

Thramann was most surprised, though, by Niwot’s 400 freestyle relay team of Legh, junior Charlotte Heuer and seniors Steph Mow and Rowan Lavigne. The quartet struggled in the preliminary race with a fifth-place time of 3:40.56, but was able to cut five seconds off that time in the finals to take second place (3:35.51).

“We were all just so thrilled because we didn't know if we could pull it off, but they did,” Thramann said. “That was super exciting.”

Niwot also found some success in the 100 breaststroke as Rowan Lavigne took sixth (1:07.77) and senior Juliana Strope took ninth (1:10.21). Heuer led Niwot by taking fifth (1:56.64) in the 100 free, Lavigne took 12th (2:16.51) in the 100 IM and Mow placed 15th (25.46) in the 50 free.

Days removed from earning gold at the Longs Peak League Championships, Izzy Fay ended her sophomore season by taking third place in the one-meter dive.

For Niwot’s senior class, which includes state swimmers Legh, Strope, Mow, Lavigne, and Catherine Knight, the final chapter of their high school career has now been written.

“They were so upset that it was their last year,” Thramann said. “It's very emotional for everybody all around. It was emotional for me especially because they're my first group. Watching them grow and getting to know them was so much fun. Knowing that they won't be there next year, it's sad. But they're going to grow in college and they're going to do great things, so I'm just excited for them in the future, and I know for a fact they'll visit.”

Thramann remains confident in her group moving forward, despite losing a good deal of talent. She said that her freshman class progressed well over the season and she expects both Emmy Hostelley and Hannah Hooven, in particular, to be repping Niwot at state next year.

“They're such strong swimmers now and they all want to join club and get better for next year,” Thramann said. “Those freshmen honestly took me by surprise.”