The 2022-23 girls swim and dive wrapped up this past week at the state competition in Thornton. Fossil Ridge finished the competition just outside the top ten with 145 points. 

On the dive side the Sabercats had one competitor, sophomore Sydney Ovensen. Ovensen scored 264.65 during the semifinal competition, falling just short of the finals and ending the day in 22nd place.

On the swim side Fossil Ridge found several areas of success, with five separate top ten event finishes up and down the card. It was a mix of both established swimmers and newcomers who made their mark for the Sabercats. 

Senior Sydnee O’Neil was a member of both the 200 meter free relays and the 400 meter free relays, finishing in seventh place in both races. Fellow senior Kenadie Glasgow was another member of the 400 free team, placing inside the top ten during their final event for Sabercat swim. 

But it was also a standout day for freshmen Ella Gaca-Thiele and Gracie Thornton. Both youngsters were also members of the relay teams mentioned above, already operating on the top Fossil relay team in their first season. 

Thornton added another individual top ten distinction, with her time of 56.73 seconds good enough for ninth place in the 100 meter butterfly. 

But the top finishes during the day came from Gaca-Thiele, with two top five individual finishes. These included a fifth place finish in the 50 meter freestyle and a bronze in the 100 meter freestyle. 

“[My favorite event] is the 100 free,” Gaca-Thiele says. “It’s nice and quick.”

While the 11th place finish certainly isn’t shabby, it falls well short of what the Sabercats have been able to achieve in the past. Gaca-Thiele hopes to be one of the leaders that can lead Fossil Ridge back to a state championship once again.

“It’s always fun to push myself and challenge myself to just get stronger and faster,” Gaca-Thiele says.