On Monday, April 25, Fossil Ridge High School completed their senior night activities during their annual Fort Collins city meet. The team celebrated a total of eleven seniors listed below:

Nash Baker, Leif Berg, Wyatt Bradford, Jack Bullard, Benjamin Clayton, Austin Holt, Daniel Kim, Dennis Kondratenko, Baylor Norton, Aditya Pillai, and Owen Watkins.

This meet means so much for all of the seniors and it goes beyond the pomp and circumstance that comes with the event. Many of these athletes gain as much satisfaction by swimming alongside fellow Fort Collins swimmers, regardless of the school they attend. The meet also happens to take place at EPIC, a place where many of these swimmers have been countless times, whether for the school or an organization like FAST.

“I’m just excited to be here, to have it here at EPIC…I just want to give it my all and spend my time with my teammates,” said a senior, Owen Watkins.

Both Watkins and his teammates know the importance of giving 100 percent. The team demonstrated their determination by scoring 714 points and winning seven events, with Watkins winning three of his own. However, the Sabercats know that days like this do not happen without putting in the work every day.

“Honestly with high school, [it’s important] to take advantage of every single opportunity…You might not be feeling your best on every meet, but you have to always take advantage,” Watkins said.

For Watkins, he has had plenty of fond memories as a part of the swim team. He explained that his favorite moment was going on the team retreat during freshman year while creating a connection with the seniors who had a heavy influence on his life, leading him to pass on his experience towards this year’s underclassmen. 

“Covid’s made it hard on everyone, but this year we’ve had a great team bonding experience…It’s been great,” Watkins said.

Fossil now carries their momentum towards their conference meet on May 6 and 7 at Mountain View High School.