Estes Park Graduation 2023

Salute to the senior class of ’23

Cheers to Estes Park graduates

By Ruby Bode Superintendent of Schools

Dear Senior Class of 2023, Graduation marks a milestone in your life and is a day that you will remember for the rest of your life Congratulations graduates!

I am particularly proud of our Class of 2023 As the superintendent of schools, I look for leadership in the senior class, and I am impressed with the members of this graduating class Through

my observations and interactions I have learned that students in this class stand up for what they believe and stay true to their heart

Furthermore, I recently had the privilege of attending the Local Scholarship Night and was inspired by the aspirations of the graduates in this class Students in this class have pushed themselves to achieve excellence in diverse ways

Bittersweet ending to unexpected season

Bobcat Girls Basketball misses state playoffs, exceeds early season expectations

By Matthew Poust mpoust@ prairiemountainmedia com

After mounting an unforeseen season of success, the train toward triumph that the Estes Park Girls Basketball Team was riding ultimately ran out of steam one stop short, as they finished in the number 33 spot out of 32 qualifying teams for the 3A CHSAA State Playoffs

Rising seniors honored at scholarship award night

By Matthew Poust mpoust@ prairiemountainmedia com

Over $150 000 was granted by 25 local organizations to rising Estes Park High School(EPHS) seniors at the 2023 Scholarship Award Night on Thursday, May 11

The ceremony was held at the EPHS auditorium, and 30 members of this year’s graduating class were selected for the scholarships.

“We are very proud of what our graduating class of 2023 has accomplished, and excited to see what they will accom-

plish in the future years,” said EPSD Superintendent Ruby Bode “This is a generous community who is invested in the success of our young people It was uplifting to see the scholarships be awarded in the memories of so many of the loved ones we have lost from our EPSD community over the years, and it was heartwarming to hear their stories Congratulations to all the students who were awarded scholarships from our local community I know they will represent our community well

The following is a complete list of the scholarship donor organizations and recipients:

• Estes Park Western Heritage Michael McCown, Maia Kinley American Legion Auxiliary Unit 119 Michael McCown, Meah Weaver, Reese Thompson

• American Riders Post 119 Michael McCown

• Art Center of Estes Park Lucille Leija

• Brian Brown Memorial Foundation Bree Wilkerson Meah Weaver Valentyna Trydukh, Elias Kemp, Lily-Ann Smith

• David Laurienti Memorial Elias Kemp

Bobcat football drops the hammer

Estes puts up 10 TDs as seniors play last home game

By Matthew Poust mpoust@prairiemountainmedia com

Outsized, but not to be outmatched, the Estes Park Varsity football team celebrated their Homecoming and senior night game this past Friday (Oct 14) by trumping the visiting Manual Thunderbolts by a score of 66-30

Leading by a thin two-point margin halfway through the second quarter, the Bobcats sprung an offensive frenzy which led them to amass 10 touchdowns and three extra-point conversions

As usual, junior quarterback Ryland Reetz was the man at the center of this

FOOTBALL » PAGE 7

After earning a 45-28 over the Timnath Cubs a team they lost to just two weeks prior in the second round of district play, the deciding factor for the Bobcats came in their third-round game against Liberty Common

At the end of first-quarter play, the Bobcats were out front 16-5, only to have the Eagles cut that lead to just one point by halftime

The Bobcats would go on to battle in a lead exchange with the Eagles for the rest of the game until drawing a foul and going up two points with successful free throw attempts This two-point lead wouldn’t be enough, however, as the Eagles were able to get three shots off in the final 20 seconds of regulation and make a basket to force the game into overtime

Things went South early on in overtime play for Estes Park after all three of their seniors fouled out, allowing the Eagles to put up 12 points to the Bobcats two and coast to a 59-49 victory

I honestly thought we had it won, said head coach Ron Burgin “Typically, in the past, when we have had

» PAGE 7

COURTESY PHOTO Estes Park s Bree Wilkerson works the ball past a Timnath player during an in-season game

BASKETBALL

MATTHEW POUST ESTES PARK TRAIL-GAZETTE

The Bobcats Kaiden Smith (14) and Travis Houser (27) celebrate after a touchdown

HOMECOMING GAME

MARY BARRON EPHS PRINCIPAL COURTESY PHOTO

Estes Park High School senior scholarship recipients stand with local donors at the end of the ceremony

Board of Ed denies charter school application

By Patti Brown pbrown@ prairiemountainmedia com

The Estes Park Board of Education unanimously denied the application by the Loveland Classical School Monday night to open a charter school in Estes Park The decision was announced as one of the last items on the board’s agenda

School board member Jason Cushner read a lengthy resolution that detailed the reasons the members of the board of education would deny the application including a lack of demand, concerns about sustainability, and financial viability of the charter school

In reading the resolution to deny the application, Cushner read, “the Board of Education finds the denial of the application is in the best interest of the district its students and the community

The resolution cited a lack of evidence that an adequate number of students would enroll in the school and that the Loveland Classical School had not under-

taken a marketing or outreach plan to recruit potential students over the past four months

The resolution was particularly critical that the Loveland Classical School had shown a remarkable lack of effort to inform and recruit” students from the district Spanish speaking families which is a significant portion of the district’s parent population

With overall declining enrollment in the Estes Park schools over the past two decades, the board cited a concern that there would not be enough students to sustain the school which had projected an increasing student en-

rollment between year two and five

The denial also cited an unrealistic estimate for renovations to the proposed facility without the benefit of a needs assessment or for how the school would secure funding to pay for renovations and other necessary programing

The denial also made reference to the lack of community support evidenced by the number of people who had spoken out in favor of the school versus the number of people who had spoken out against the school, and also to the lack of evidence that the charter school board would have local, Estes Park representation

After the lengthy resolution was read a roll call vote was held

The resolution to deny the application was approved by all the board members After the vote, each board member spoke about the reasons behind their decisions

John Davis talked about how he had attended a multi-cultural classical school in India and how he was philosophically in support of school choice and of the orientation of a classical school,

New superintendent leads district into school year

By Matthew Poust mpoust@prairiemountainmedia com

As students and teachers of the Estes Park School District (EPSD) returned the classroom for the 2022-23 school year they did so under the oversight of the district’s newly appointed superintendent, Ruby Bode

Bode has been a part of the EPSD since 2005 and has served in the capacity of teacher coach principal, director and assistant superintendent After the district’s previous superintendent Sheldon Rosenkrance resigned from the position in April of 2022, Bode was named acting superintendent until officially taking over the reins on July 1

Prior to the 17 years of educational instruction that Bode now has under her belt, it took a most unconventional road to lead her in finding her love for teaching

As a pre-med student in her Junior year at Iowa State University, Bode began working as an educational liaison at a homeless shelter for pregnant and parenting teen mothers Bode would stay overnight at the shelter helping the mothers make dinner, get their children ready for bed and most importantly, study to pass the General Education Development (GED) test

“That is where I found that I really enjoyed teaching, when people I was tutoring for the GED passed and the doors opened for their future,” said Bode “They could think of what they wanted to do next, what kind of job they wanted and they started seeing hope for their child and themselves I felt good about that It’s rewarding to teach somebody else and see them succeed and open up all the choices in their life ”

After this eye-opening expe-

rience, Bode changed her major and graduated from Iowa State with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and Secondary Education

Following this graduation, Bode began her career in education as a high school biology and chemistry teacher at a high school outside of Des Moines, Iowa Bode continued this teaching stint for a few years before “the mountains began calling her,” as she put it

It was the Rocky Mountains that brought Bode to Estes Park which she recalled frequently traveling through to get to the national park Bode grew very fond of the town and when a job opened in the school district, she jumped at the opportunity Bode began working for EPSD as an eighth-grade science teacher until 2012 when she stepped into the middle school principal position This position sent her on a ten-year path of administration, leading her to the superintendent

title she holds today

After all these year spent within the district, Bode said her favorite part about administrating in Estes Park is the rural living aspect that comes with it

“I love rural education I grew up in a rural environment, in a town the same exact size as Estes, so I just love the rural community,” said Bode Taking over the superintendent position in June was no small feat however, for it meant Bode had just a month and a half to finalize plans for the coming school year Rather than a nerve-racking time spent scrambling to get things in order like most would expect Bode said she was able to hit the ground running and establish a solid plan for the year thanks to her long relationship with district administrators “It helped that I’ve been in the district for so long I’ve seen a lot of superintendents come and go, and I’m pretty well versed in the culture, climate, data and where our students are performing,” said Bode Bode has hopes of building back the communication lines with the surrounding community, increasing the participation of volunteers throughout the school and heightening the school’s culture and pride She referred to the school as the hub of Estes Park s community, saying that when there’s positive school culture, it leads to positive community culture

In some words of outlook, Bode expressed her eager anticipation for the upcoming school year saying, “I am extremely excited for this coming year I’ve been a part of this school district for longer than anything else at this point, so I bleed purple and I’m a bobcat at heart ”

but with declining student enrollment numbers and with concerns about the economic viability of the charter school as proposed, he could not support the application

Ian Stout, the executive director of the Loveland Classical School, attended the board meeting and spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting but he left for another meeting before the board voted on the charter school application

In a written statement provided to the Trail-Gazette, stout said, “We appreciate EPSD’s time to consider the LCS-Estes Valley application for charter replication Although the families who asked us to submit this application hoped that the decision would go in a different direction, they also understood the challenges that came with applying to open a new charter school in the current environment We firmly believe and data shows that school choice is good for students and communities and that a robust classical education is a solution to our broader education challenges It’s not a coincidence

Graduates

FROM PAGE 1

Students were recognized for talents in academics, fine arts, industrial arts, auto mechanics, teaching, athletics, health sciences, music, leadership and more I know many of you have overcome unimaginable hardships, yet you have persevered I am impressed with this senior class, and I cannot wait to see all your accomplishments to come In addition, this graduating class is kind caring courageous and confident I watched

that the top-performing schools in Northern Colorado are all classical, Core Knowledge charter schools as was proposed for Estes Park in the LCS-EV application Loveland Classical Schools will continue to provide excellent outcomes for our students in Larimer County, including some from Estes Park We are always open to partnering with EPSD to help serve its students and families ” Peter and Dana Maxwell were organizers of the charter school effort in Estes Park The Maxwells sent a written message to the Trail-Gazette following the board of education’s decision, “Regardless of charter school application next steps, in making their decision against the board took no issues with the quality of educational outcomes from the LCSEV charter concept Increased educational outcomes was the single greatest reason behind the application in the first place and should be where the greatest attention was directed The rest can be addressed with an open mind and a genuine sense of partnership As Voltaire once said, perfect is the enemy of good ”

the reactions of parents and family members as you received your accolades It is clear how much you are loved and valued You are precious to us all and you make our community proud “Always stay humble and kind, and never forget where you came from” Tim McGraw I wish the very best to each of you on your future journey The Estes Park School District and the greater Estes Park community are cheering and celebrating alongside you We are proud of our graduating class of 2023! Sincerely, Ruby Bode Superintendent of Schools

COURTESY PHOTO

Ruby Bode

Students hold walkout against gun violence

By Matthew Poust mpoust@ prairiemountainmedia com

Estes Park High School students and staff held a walkout on April 14 to show solidarity with survivors and victims of gun violence throughout the United States

The walkout was led from the high school lobby to the football field, and as students trooped, some could be heard chanting the united message, “No justice, no peace ” After arriving at the field, participating members gathered on the track as EPHS seniors

Anna Roberts-Briggs and Mikah

Gay the two organizers of the movement stood on the bleachers to address them

Upon calling for a moment of silence to honor the thousands of victims of gun violence RobertsBriggs gave a speech to the crowd, “Being a student should not be a death sentence however, gun violence has forced its way into our schools, leaving pain, trauma and tragedy in its wake ”

As Roberts-Briggs read from her prepared notes, the crowd stood silent, some members holding signs of protest given to them at the beginning of the walkout

“Gun violence is the number one killer of youth in the United States, Roberts-Briggs said This is not normal None of America’s peer nations have allowed their children to be shot and killed in schools ”

Telling her peers and teachers that lawmakers should keep their thoughts and prayers to themselves and pass legislation that could save lives, Roberts-Briggs concluded her remarks, “Stu-

Basketball

FROM PAGE 1

a small lead with just a couple of minutes left, and we go into a delay game, we expand on that lead because we’re a very good free throw shooting team ”

The scenario that played out following this loss was a threeway tie for the final state playoff spot With the first tie-breaking criteria measure based on the percentage of conference wins an area in which the Bobcats sat at just 33 percent the 32 seed went to Prospect Ridge Academy

It s unfortunate, and I know it is very disappointing to everyone, but boy, I just could not be more proud of the girls and how they performed and how much they’ve improved and just the whole season, said Burgin

Despite the bitter outcome, the season these Estes Park players scrapped together was a far

dents, we encourage you to keep walking out, to keep talking, to keep posting We deserve more As you head to lunch today and prepare for prom, keep in mind that thousands of students no longer have that Privilege ”

Prior to leading the walkout, Roberts-Briggs and Gay gave an interview to give insight into what influenced them to organize the walkout and what they were hoping to achieve in doing so

Roberts-Briggs explained that she and Gay felt driven to take

action following the Nashville school shooting that took place on March 27 After watching other schools throughout the country take part in a nationwide walkout in protest of gun violence on April 5, the two students reached out to Students Demand Action a young activist organization committed to ending gun violence in the United States to help them plan their own walkout at EPHS

Together, Roberts-Briggs and Gay spent a week and a half planning the movement making

signs, hanging posters around the school, garnering support from teachers, spreading the word to students and reaching out to the press for coverage “We made it very clear that we did not want it to be a political event, so we will not be discussing politics or guns specifically it’s solely against gun violence and in solidarity with victims and the families who have been impacted by gun violence,” RobertsBriggs said “We shouldn’t have to live in fear coming to school every

Football

FROM PAGE 1

Bobcat scoring enterprise Reetz found three different receivers to leverage eight passing touchdowns and threw for a staggering 663 yards With performances like this one becoming a routine through the course of the season Reetz climbed to the number two spot for passing yards in the state of Colorado and 22nd in the category out of all quarterbacks in the nation

day, and teachers shouldn’t have to live in fear coming to work every day”

All in all the walkout lasted roughly 25 minutes, but Roberts-Briggs and Gay are pushing further to make an impact

The two co-founded the club, “TALK! About Social Justice,” in hopes of bringing larger organizations such as Students Demand Action to EPHS so that students have more opportunities to have their voices heard on issues they believe in

on his way to four touchdowns

The man they call “junior” also showed his talent on the defensive side of the ball with five tackles and a forced fumble and recovery Junior Kaiden Smith carried in three of Reetz’s passes and sophomore Logan Smith snagged one, while the other two touchdowns were accounted for by Travis Houser’s rushing effort

• Estes Valley Board of Realtors Gael Santana Rojas Reese Thompson

• Estes Park Education Association Olivia Shirk, Katherine Saenz Gonzalez Estes Park Memorial Observatory Sam Miller, Dawson Ash Oleksander Sasha Khvorostianyi, Michael McCown

• EP Memorial Observatory Drew Wilcocks Memorial LilyAnn Smith

• League of Women Voters of Estes Park Voters Service Com-

cry from a letdown After starting their year unsure whether or not they’d even have enough players to compete, the Bobcats were able to come away with 11 wins three of which came from teams currently in the state playoffs and decidedly exceed the initial goal of giving three seniors a chance of playing their final season of high school basketball

All in all, seniors Bree Wilkerson, Maia Kinley and Maya Kiser didn’t just play: they excelled The trio led the Bobcats in every stat category, with Wilkerson leading the 3A Patriot League in points per game three-pointers and free throws; Kinley finishing second in steals; and Kiser second in rebounds

Sharing some favorable words on her final season, Wilkerson said “we were really hoping for a couple of wins and just to be able to complete a season, and then Ron came in with the mindset to make it a winning season,

mittee Annamarana RobertsBriggs

• League of Women Voters of Estes Park Community Recycling Committee Nicole Stegeman

• Estes Park Patriots for Peace

Brooke Stewart, Meah Weaver, Katherine Saenz Gonzalez, Annamarana Roberts-Briggs, LilyAnn Smith, Valentyna Trydukh, Reese Thompson, Amelia Goodwin, Sadie Morgan, Samantha Workman Mike Gay

• Estes Park Woman’s Club

Nicole Stegeman, Valentyna Trydukh

• Estes Valley Land Trust Lily-Ann Smith, Joseph Cramer, Olivia Shirk Lucille Leija Mi-

and to have us, especially us three seniors to be able to compete and play together I think that was one of the most important things for him and for us as well ” Similar to Wilkerson: Kiser and Kinley both expressed that their final seasons were ones well played

“I think it was just fun to see what we were capable of doing this year ” said Kinley

I think we definitely exceeded everyone’s expectations, and I was really happy with how far we went,” said Kiser Now having a solid foundation to build off of, Burgin and Assistant Coach Travis Machalek have plans to put together an off-season program comprised of fifth through twelfth-grade Estes Park students

“We want to focus on our kids and building our program not only for next year but for years to come That’s my plan just as soon as I rest for a minute,” Burgin said with a laugh

chael Bird

• Rotary Club of Estes Park Academic Scholarship Amelia Goodwin, Mason Wignall, Sam Miller, Maya Kiser

• Estes Park Rotary Club Brunson/Thorp Lucille Leija

• Estes Park Rotary Club Lynn Coffman Reese Thompson

• Estes Park Rotary Hagemeister Katherine Saenz Gonzalez Estes Park Rotary Karole Rinehart Michael Bird, Valentyna Trydukh

• Estes Park Rotary Ron L

Kuhns Memorial Sadie Morgan

• Estes Valley Sunrise Rotary Samantha Workman, Oleksander Sasha Khvorostianyi

Touching on this impressive season he’s had for himself, Reetz remained rather humble, saying, “it just feels good to step into my brother’s shoes” Estes Park’s previous starting quarterback

“I’ve waited two years for this and our whole team has come together trying to win games and its happening

Reetz’s primary target of the night proved to be junior receiver, Jose Gonzalez In what Head Coach Aaron Carlson referred to as “a career-type game” Gonzalez picked up 371 receiving yards

Along with this scoring Houser was able to top his senior night off with a team-leading 11 tackles Together with Houser, Caleb Macgregor, Ian Conley and Gael Rojas were the seniors to make an impact on defense Macgregor and Conley had a combined 11 tackles, while Rojas was able to recover two forced fumbles for the Bobcats Speaking on this type of exceptional gameplay that the Bobcats displayed Coach Carlson stated, I m just proud of these guys, this was a phenomenal game We’ve struggled a couple of times here and there just getting them to play to their potential and tonight was a phenomenal performance

Eleen Zamarron Sadie Morgan

Michael McCown, Dawson Ash, Valentyna Trydukh, Elias Kemp, Samantha Workman

• Fine Arts Guild Scholarship

Elias Kemp

• Fine Arts Guild Lloyd Scott

Scholarship Samantha Workman

• Hilltop Guild Scholarship

Sadie Morgan, Jack Klipstein Hilltop Guild Gerald Halsey

Scholarship Elias Kemp

• Hilltop Guild Marge Mc-

Cullouch Nicole Stegeman

• Jason Reetz Scholarship

Michael Bird, Mikah Gay

• Muriel L MacGregor Charitable Trust Mason Wignall

• Kiwanis Club of Estes Park

Hal Wilson Scholarship Miriam Cramer, Olivia Shirk

• Philanthropic Educational Organization (P E O) AV Reese Thompson

• Philanthropic Educational Organization (P E O) GJ Valentyna Trydukh, Katherine Saenz Gonzalez, Nicole Stegeman, Reese Thompson, Lily-Ann Smith, Sadie Morgan

Philanthropic Educational Organization (P E O) IY Reese Thompson Meah Weaver

• Town of Estes Park Helping Hands Katherine Saenz Gonzalez, Annamarana RobertsBriggs

• Knights of Columbus Gael Santana Rojas

MATTHEW POUST ESTES PARK TRAIL-GAZETTE Estes Park High School students wield signs of protest as they take part in the walkout against gun violence April 14

ESTES PARK SCHOOL DISTRICT R-3 COURTESY PHOTO

From left Assistant Coach Travis Machalek Head Coach Ron Burgin Bree Wilkerson(22) Maya Kiser (30) and Maia Kinley(11) stand during senior night ceremony

MATTHEW POUST ESTES PARK TRAIL-GAZETTE

Senior members of the Bobcat football team are, from left, Diego Salgado Michael Mccown Reece Arnold, Ian Conley Gael Rojas Travis Houser Adam Orozco Mikey Bird and Caleb Macgregor

Bobcat runners claim gold at state

By Matthew Poust mpoust@prairiemountainmedia com

As four members of the Estes Park Boys Track and Field Team made the journey back to town from the CHSAA 3A State Championships this past Saturday, they did so with three gold medals between them, broken school records to boot and a champions worth of telltale results that assured them all of their hard work had paid off

In their collective efforts juniors Austin Tice and Creed Shotts, senior Mason Wignall and sophomore Cris Estanol were able to claim one leg of the three gold medals in the 4×800 meter relay event

Coming into the championships ranked first in the state the four runners didn’t only live up to expectations they exceeded them With Shotts gaining the lead in the front slot of the relay team, the rest of the Bobcat runners were able to hold pace the rest of the race and edge the second-place team by more than five seconds The relay team finished with a winning time of 8:05 14 a time that was on par with the school record time of 8:00 75 that they set earlier in the season

Along with being one of Estes Park track and field’s first state championships in more than five years, the victory also marked the achievement of a goal set by the relay team three years prior

“We first went to state three years ago for the four by eight, and it was our goal back then to eventually make it happen so that we could win, so this is something that we had really been working

for ” said Wignall On top of the relay championship, Austin Tice managed to earn two gold medals of his own in the 800 and 1600-meter individual races, becoming the only runner at the state championships to

claim three gold medals

Back by Shotts, who earned bronze in the 800-meter race, Tice finished with a school record-breaking time of 1:54 19 He would continue this record-breaking fort Estes Park in his 1600-me-

ter win with a time of 4:16 16 being followed by Wignall, who finished in the 13 spot of the event

Though none of the other runners were able to crack the podium in individual events, Shotts came away with a seventh-place

finish in the 400-meter event, where he came 0 01 seconds away from breaking a school record while Wignall placed sixth in the 3200-meter event and set a new record for the Bobcats with a time of 9:30 77

In all of its glory, the state championship meet culminated a running relationship that Tice, Shotts and Wignall have held since the third grade and another that the three formed with Estanol when they began running together in middle school “Being able to come out on top at that very last meet, the most important meet is definitely a feeling, and being able to also have a team to come in first with is another really good feeling,” Tice said

Though the relay team will need to find a replacement for Wignall as the fourth-leg next season, head coach Taylor Bodin assured that the Bobcat track and field team is in no shortage when it comes to athletes who are motivated and talented enough to fill the gap

“We have sophomores who are going to be ready to step up, we have some freshmen that are already knocking on that same door and some eighth graders even, Bodin said It just speaks to how we’re really trying to grow the program and that we’re not too worried about any sort of outcome next year because there’s been some great examples set ” Speaking on the success he witnessed in his runners over the weekend, Bodin said that it’s something that speaks to the year-round work he’s seen the four put in since he first began coaching them as sixth graders

Varsity divers prepare for state tournament

By Matthew Poust mpoust@ prairiemountainmedia com

ESTES PARK >> In the corner of the community center pool room on Monday afternoon, the three members of the Estes Park Varsity Girls Diving team could be seen bobbing on the springboard as coach Bill Kanter sat by the wayside, complementing, critiquing and using a mock judge’s card to show them what scores their dives would receive at the CHSAA Class 3A State Championships this weekend

“We’re working on fixing the small mistakes,” said Kanter “We have to emphasize certain things because they’ve got one shot, and they have to focus on their performances just like it were any other meet, but it’s not This is where the buck stops It’s state ”

Going into the championships, senior Sadie Morgan ranks fourth among the field of 27 competitors, while sophomore Madison Fraley sits seventh and sophomore Bella Capo holds the 19 spot

The meet will consist of three rounds: preliminary, semi-final and final After the first five dives of prelims the field will slim from 27 to 24 and from 24 to 20 after a three-dive semi-final For the 20 divers making the final cut, it will be a best score, three dive contests to see where their positions stand

Though initial rankings post Morgan Fraley and Capo from the front line to the bottom of a perceived 20-diver finals field, Kanter reminded that nothing is set in stone at this level of competition and that a quality performance could place them higher than expected

“Morgan was our first girl diver to qualify for state as a freshman in 17 years She went in ranked 24 out of 27 divers, and after the first five dives, she was up to 17th and made it to the finals Kanter explained “If you focus not just on repetition, but thinking about what you’re repeating so that it becomes engrained, things like that can happen in this sport all the time ”

The CHSAA Class 3A State Championships will be held this Saturday Feb 11 at the Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center in Thorton

Swimming

While the diving team’s train rolls onto state, the swim team’s season came to an end at the Patriot League Conference Meet this past weekend Despite none of the Bobcat swimmers breaking through, coach Alexis Johnson said she couldn’t be prouder of their final performance

Honestly, I think we crushed it,” said Johnson “It’s always sad not to make it to state, but regardless, they did so well, and so much time was dropped between them

They performed great at league championships

In a bittersweet ending to her season, sophomore Bella Osmanova came less than a second away from qualifying in the 50free event Osmanova posted an 18th-place finish out of 46 competitors, while senior Meah Weaver finished less than two seconds behind her in the number 23 spot Osmanova and Weaver followed this run up by leading the Bobcats in the 100-free event finishing 15th and 18th in consecutive order

In the biggest time-shaving performance for the Bobcats, junior Amelia Bryant knocked nine seconds off of her 100-back time in the preliminary round and followed that up by trimming off another five seconds in the finals

Sophomore Geraldine Gelvez, junior Jade Collinet and senior Meah Weaver all claimed medals at the conference meet, and with two out of three retiring next season, high hopes are held for the future

Now in the offseason, Johnson encourages her swimmers to work on their endurance and technique for next year so that they can be in state-qualifying shape come postseason time

“They’re all really up for the challenge, and they are stepping up to the plate and are working on kicking butt next year,” said Johnson

PHOTOS BY MATTHEW POUST ESTES PARK TRAIL-GAZETTE

Coach Bill Kanter talks with sophomores Madison Fraley and Bella Capo before their Monday afternoon practice

Senior Sadie Morgan executes a back dive half-twist straight

NOLAN OBERG COURTESY PHOTO

From left to right: Junior Austin Tice, sophomore Cris Estanol, Mason Wignall and Creed Shotts rep their gold medals after winning the 4x800relay race at the CHSAA 3A Track and Field State Championships