Niwot High girls swim qualifies multiple relay teams for state at All City Meet

With the girls swimming and diving state championships set for early February, Niwot High School’s list of qualifiers is growing.

At the St. Vrain All City Meet on Saturday, Jan. 20, three different Niwot “A” relay teams qualified for state, according to head coach Ella Thramann. The Cougar quartet of Devi Burnett, Emmy Hostelley, Thalia Milam, and Charlotte Heuer punched their state ticket in both the 200 and 400-yard freestyle, while Phoebe Donovan, Reese Lavigne, Hannah Hooven, and Hostelley qualified in the 200 medley relay.

Hostelley, a sophomore who spent her freshman year at the Alexander Dawson School, has quickly proven herself valuable to Thramann’s squad. Along with helping those three relay teams, Hostelley placed eighth in both the 50 and 100 individual freestyle.

In the overall team standings at the All City Meet, Silver Creek High School took first with 608 points, just ahead of second-place Niwot’s 574. Erie (380 points), Longmont (327), Frederick (179), and Skyline (94) rounded out the team leaderboard. The meet was hosted by Frederick High School and was held at the Mountain View Aquatic Center in Loveland.

Niwot had a first-place finish in five of the meet’s 12 events. Elizabeth (Izzy) Fay won the 1-meter dive with 464 total points, Heuer led the 100 butterfly (1 minute, 1.12 seconds) and the 100 breaststroke (1:09.27), Ava Altenborg took first in the 100 backstroke (1:06.41), and Niwot’s 400 freestyle relay team topped the podium (3:53.80). Altenborg’s performance was also good enough to qualify her for state.

Although she wasn’t able to qualify for state, Niwot senior Daisey Bui also performed well, setting new personal-best times in the 100 free and 100 breast. Bui shared that Thramann has been asking more out of her swimmers at practice with multiple important meets, including the state championships, coming up.

“They've really upped the difficulty in our practices recently since we're getting to the end of the season,” Bui said. “Our practices have been pretty hard, honestly.”

For Bui and others, the more grueling practices have, however, yielded some strong results late in the season.

Niwot’s senior day meet at the St. Vrain Aquatic Center (located at Silver Creek High School) is set for Tuesday, Jan. 23, against Windsor High School. The Class 4A state championships are scheduled for Feb. 6-8 at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton.