THORNTON >> In a meet that brings the best of the best of the Front Range League to the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center, Fairview boys swimming showed out.

The Knights began the finale of the A meet of the FRL championships on a high note on Saturday when senior Cal Hammond stole the show in the 1-meter dive with 429.15 points and the gold. The team, as a whole, finished second behind Fossil Ridge with 823 points to beat out third-place Legacy by 63.

Hammond’s victory came just days before the Class 5A state meet.

Leading up to it, he had been battling illness and stress throughout his season, and barely made enough meets to qualify for state. Saturday’s performance left no doubt, and he earned the FRL diver of the year honors, to boot.

“The dive that was the most rewarding was my final dive in the meet, a front double pike,” Hammond said. “The moment I hit the water, I knew I had won the meet and I came to the surface screaming, ‘Let’s go!’”

He hopes to have his front double pike in peak form when he returns to the VMAC next Thursday for the pinnacle meet. His teammate, junior Layton Sealmon, secured Fairview’s only other event victory after clocking in at 56.91 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Lightning fast

When Legacy senior Sam White first began his 200-yard individual medley, he faced stiff competition from the rest of the field. Slowly but surely, he built his way toward the top.

White caught Monarch’s Gavin Keogh during the breaststroke leg of the event then, inch by inch, overtook and extended his lead on Keogh and Fossil Ridge’s Brennen O’Neil. He won the event with a time of 1 minute, 51.75 seconds to beat out O’Neil by a full nine-tenths of a second. Keogh lagged about three-tenths behind after that.

“I knew it was going to be a good race,” White said. “There’s a lot of young talent out in that heat and just definitely wanted to go out and perform using club times. I knew I had an advantage over them and I just wanted to go out there and perform to the best of my ability.”

In a meet dominated by Fossil Ridge, local kids still found ways to make waves. Legacy senior Tegan Barrier, chasing a league title in the 50 free for the past few years, finally broke through on his last chance. He edged out Sealman, just barely, to claim the crown and a 20.86 mark. Sealman finished with a 21.07.

“I have been trying to win the 50 since sophomore year. So it’s just good to finally get a win under my belt, since this is my only league championship win. I’m just excited to finally bring a first place to Legacy for the 50 free,” he said. “There’s always been the one other person and it’s always been great competition. That’s what leagues and state are all about.”

Peaking at right time

When Monarch senior Luke Corson first picked up the breaststroke last year, he took the change in stride. Throughout his final season with the Coyotes, it’s proven to be quite the boon in dropping his times.

“It helps with some other events, especially with the medley relay,” he said. “It helps with flexibility and being able to be a key component for the team.”

He saw the added benefit in real time on Saturday when he placed sixth in a stacked 50 free, exactly one second behind Barrier’s winning time.

“The 50 free was super exciting today,” Corson said. “I had a pretty big season PR, which I was super happy about. I swam 21.86 today and then the rest of the season I’ve been swimming about 22.5. My coaches were really helping me with my underwaters off of the blocks and then also off of my turn and with breath work recently.”

A marathon

With a team as young as Boulder, victories can be both small and large. For Boulder junior Owen Pendergast, hidden victories come in quick spurts through the 50 free and 100 free.

“You don’t really have to worry about pacing yourself,” Pendergast said. “It’s just, how fast can you go for that short amount of time? It’s just all out, which is fun.”

Since the beginning of the season he’s dropped significant time in both events. He shaved off about 1.8 seconds in his 50 free to a 23.40 at the FRL meet, then sliced off about three seconds in his 100 free to finish his FRL race at 51.95.

“It’s been a little while since our previous meet, so I’ve been working hard to practice and the taper definitely helps into the meet,” Pendergast said. “And I got a new suit, which didn’t hurt.”

Last chance, you

Several local swimmers made the coveted cuts on Friday and Saturday. From Monarch, junior Mateo Hoffer qualified in the 200 IM and the 100 breast, and Leif Petricka made his way in with the 50 free and the 100 free.

Fairview saw nods from junior David Shin (100 fly) and senior Ethan Templeton-Palmer (100 breast), who qualified for the state meet for the first time in his career. Boulder freshman Gray Lewis squeaked in with his 50 free.