It always feels good to cap a season with a performance that accurately reflects the hard work that was put in throughout the season. 

The Summit High School girls swim and dive team could not have asked for a better way to conclude its season as it broke two school records at the Class 4A swim and dive state meet from Friday, Feb. 7, through Saturday, Feb. 8.

Taking place at Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton, Summit had seven athletes compete in the two-day competition. 

Leading off the competitive meet for the Tigers was the 200-yard medley relay team. Eager to start the meet on a strong note, junior Lydia Peterson dove into the water and led off the relay with the backstroke. Once Peterson had completed her leg, sophomore Adah Wiese began the breaststroke leg before allowing senior Aila Harmala to take off with her butterfly stroke. Like the swimmers before her, Harmala swam a powerful leg, setting up senior Olivia Lyman with an opportunity to close out the race. Lyman finished her freestyle leg in order to stop the clock at 2 minutes, 10.09 seconds.

Summit placed 30th overall in prelims and did not advance to the final.

Nearly a week removed from her recent commitment to Dartmouth, Lyman returned to the pool for the 50-yard freestyle race. Displaying the hours she has spent in the pool, Lyman not only managed to advance out of the preliminary round, but also broke her own school record in the process. The senior recorded a time of 25.44 seconds, which was enough to shed .23 seconds off her seed time. Lyman took ninth overall in prelims, advancing her to the A final.

Junior Izzy Rolfe also qualified out of the 50-yard freestyle prelims to make the 10-woman B final. Rolfe recorded a time of 25.75 seconds in order to take 17th overall.

In the championship races the next day, Lyman nearly matched her time in prelims, completing the race in a time of 25.46 seconds to place 10th in the A final. Rolfe finished her race in 25.90 to take 19th overall. Monarch High School senior Eliza Lennox won the event in a time of 23.21 seconds.

Lyman and Rolfe were far from done since both athletes secured spots in the 100-yard freestyle B final. Lyman took 13th overall in prelims with a time of 56.45, and Rolfe took 16th with a time of 56.77 seconds. In the final, Lyman took 19th (56.98), and Rolfe finished in 20th (57.75). Lennox was named the champion in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 50.64 seconds.

With already one school record to Summit’s name, the 200-yard freestyle relay team took to the pool. Rolfe and Harmala led off the relay before senior Izzy Rowe and Lyman concluded the race.

With a time of 1:46.70, Summit successfully set a new school record in the 200-yard freestyle relay and also advanced out of prelims to the B final. After placing 14th in prelims, Summit placed 19th overall in the final with a time of 1:48.65.

Rowe rounded out the individual events for Summit. Rowe took 33rd overall in the 100-yard backstroke (1:07.82).

The Tigers made its last final of the competition in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team consisting of Rolfe, Harmala, Rowe and Lyman placed 19th overall in the prelim (3:57.24). In the B final, Summit took 20th in a time of 4:00.89.

In its first season in Class 4A, Summit scored a total of 24 points. The score was enough for Summit to take 27th out of the 33 teams competing at the state meet. Cheyenne Mountain High School won the state team title with 350 points with Monarch following in second (304). Broomfield rounded out the awards podium in third with 291.