Boasting thousands of miles in the pool, and a tight-knit team culture, the GHS swim and dive team finished off its season at the state championship from Feb. 10-12 in Thornton.
Sam Jones closed her high school swim career with a team-high, fifth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. But the true highlight came when Head Coach Tami Maciejko was named Colorado High School Activities Association 3A swim coach of the year.
“It was honestly a really great state meet,” Sam said. “There were both happy and sad things. We didn’t set any PR’s, so that was disappointing. It was bittersweet, because we had such a fun team this year. But we didn’t let the bad moments get to us, and were grateful for the final races we got to swim together.”
Despite suffering through illness, the Cowboys persevered against Colorado’s top athletes. The 200-medley relay team of Kathryn Frey, Jemma Petrie, Audrey Meeuwsen and Catalina Schwab started the meet with a 12th-place finish. The event marked Meeuwsen’s first race at the state level, and opened an impressive meet for the Cowboy underclassmen. Meeuwsen concluded her inaugural season with a 12th-place time in the 400-freestyle relay alongside Maya Petrie, Frey and Sam.
Frey finished her senior season with a 16th-place time in the 100 backstroke, alongside her two relay contributions. Senior speedster Jemma concluded with a 16th-place finish in the 200 IM, but missed out on the 100 breaststroke — an event she was expected to podium — after an entry error.
Sam still finished on the podium in the 100-breaststroke, despite competing without her “breaststroke buddy,” battling an illness and coming off a 13th-place finish in the grueling 500 freestyle. Her fifth-place time led the Cowboys to the only podium finish of the meet.
The 200-freestyle relay team of Catalina, Jemma, Maya and Sam added a 14th-place finish to the Cowboys tally. Senior Zia Schwab wrapped up the meet with a 14th-place score in the 1-meter dive, adding over 113 points from her semifinal tally. Junior Aiden Tomlin gained state experience in prelim runs in the 100- and 200-freestyle, while underclassmen Elora Jones, Maya and Meeuwsen fueled excitement for the future of the GHS swim program.
The waterworks erupted when Maciejko was awarded top honors for her coaching efforts this season. The swimmers smothered the veteran coach with tear-filled hugs after the announcement, tying a bow around an emotional finale for the Cowboy seniors.
“It sounds like such a big thing to say, but Tami really has changed my life,” Sam said. “She taught me how to swim. She pushed me to be mentally and physically stronger, and gave me such an amazing four years of swimming. I will look back on these years with such happy memories.”
(Alex McCrindle can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or alex@gunnisontimes.com.)
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