5A Diving: Fossil Ridge's Sydney Ovesen Wins Gold - Colorado High School Activities Association

THORNTON – With just a quick glance at the 2023 state meet results, Fossil Ridge’s Sydney Ovesen wouldn’t be high on the list of favorites to win the Class 5A diving title in 2024 since she didn’t even reach last year’s finals.

That all changed early on throughout Tuesday’s 2024 finals at Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center.

In the end, Ovesen put together the top 11-dive score of the day, posting a 506.45 to leave with the gold medal. Having recently gone through some struggles to recapture her joy in diving, the Sabercats junior looked throughout as though she had truly once again found not only her form but also her love for the sport.

“It’s incredible. It’s mind-changing,” Ovesen said. “I never thought I could do it. I actually had a really rough patch recently, so this is a really good pick-me-up for me. I’m really, really proud of myself and my teammates. I went through a patch with diving where I really didn’t love it. Recently, I started loving it again and things have just started going upwards.

“Last year at state, I had a really bad list. I’ll be honest. It was just me piecing a lot of things together just so I could make it here. This year, it was more of me saying, ‘I want to be good and I want to show people who I am.’”

Ovesen battled back and forth with Regis Jesuit’s Maya Kriz for most of the event. Kriz, who placed seventh last season, led Ovesen by 0.15 points entering the final three dives.

Ovesen, however, eventually edged Kriz, who finished runner-up with a score of 503.25, just over three points behind Ovesen.

Kevin Sage, who coaches the Denver Public Schools divers, was named CHSCA’s 5A Dive Coach of the Year. Chatfield’s Emma Lence was named CHSCA’s 5A Diver of the Year. Both awards are decided by a coach among the coaches.

Regis Jesuit’s Sarah Mann, who placed third as a junior last season, took third again this year with a score of 485.55. Fort Collins’ Elle Gray, who finished runner-up as a sophomore last season, came in fourth at 479.75.

Lence placed fifth with a score of 478.30, while Heritage’s Cayla Jaffe (472.55) was sixth, Cherry Creek’s Ruthie Spiegel (467.35) was seventh, Arvada West’s Layla Petz (466.15) was eighth, Grandview’s Addison Campbell (461.00) was ninth and Columbine’s Samantha Zakhem (456.30) placed 10th.

The 5A swim and dive state championships will continue with swimming preliminaries on Thursday morning and swimming finals on Friday afternoon.