5A girls swimming: Fossil Ridge and Fairview setup for epic state showdown
THORNTON — Saturday night is going to be fun. After a grueling round of preliminary races at the Class 5A state swim meet, the stage is set for the Fossil Ridge and Fairview girls swimming teams to give fans a battle for the ages. Simply put, whichever team performs better will claim state championship gold.
After the swimming prelims the Sabercats and Knights will enter six events with at least one swimmer in a top-three position.
Fairview started claiming territory right away, taking the 200-yard medley relay and grabbing the coveted starting spot in lane No. 5 for the finals. The goal there will be simple: take a gold medal and hopefully set the tone for the day.
But the defending champions won’t be that easy to fend off. Senior Coleen Gillilan cleared the field in the 200 freestyle by more than three seconds. Mikayla Seigal will start in the No. 3 position for the Knights, but she’ll have quite the ask ahead of her if she wants to edge Gillilan, the 2018 champion in the event.
The 100 butterfly might be the single event that most represents what the meet as a whole will look like. The top two seeds in the event are Fossil Ridge freshmen Renee Gillilan and Lucy Bell. The next two seeds are Fairview seniors Seigal and Riley Tapley. While one event does not make a champion, the results of the 100 fly could provide a wave of momentum for either team.
In the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle a Sabercat sits in the top spot and Knight sits just outside the top-three. Each team has three swimmers in the individual medley. Fairview has three swimmers in the 500 freestyle, but Fossil Ridge’s Coleen Gillilan leads the field.
The diving prelims for 5A will be held Saturday morning then finals for all events will get rolling at 3:30 p.m.
The Sabercats are looking to claim their third-straight 5A title. Fairview last won a team title in 2016 despite winning just two individual events that year.
