THORNTON >> Fairview junior Amelia Mason may be a year older, but she’s already back to her same old tricks. Even if she had to overcome some illnesses to get there.

On Saturday at the REX Coaches Invite at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center, one of Boulder County’s best girls swimmers won the high point award at a meet brimming with talent and tough competition thanks to two strong performances.

By night’s end, she had raked in wins in the 100-yard butterfly and 50-yard freestyle, where she recorded times of 55.04 seconds and 23.16 seconds, respectively.

Clearly, she hasn’t missed a beat.

“I’ve just been kind of getting back into it. I was kind of sick over the summer, so I wasn’t training a whole bunch, but I’m happy. I went a best time in the 50 free,” Mason said. “It motivates me a lot. It feels good to be in my element again and just know I’m kind of back to where I was before I was sick.”

Saving the show for the end

While Mason took the lead for the Knights, senior Morgan Cady proved she knew how to flip the switch when she most needed it. Over the past few seasons, she’s crafted the perfect formula for saving her energy for the finals races.

She earned her best finish of the day in the 500 free marathon, when she trailed by about 18 seconds behind the winner, Douglas County’s Mila Nikanorov, to secure second place with a time of 5 minutes, 2.35 seconds after shaving three seconds off of her prelim time.

Her 200 free performance followed much of the same script, as she dropped from a 1:57.13 to a 1:55.66 to place ninth in the event.

“I think I’ve always been a finals swimmer,” Cady said. “I’m able to just kind of get into that mindset of dialing it in, in finals. Prelims was more of a chill, make sure I make it back type of thing. And then I suited up for finals and really focused in on my times there.”

Back and stronger than ever before

A little breather seemed to do Eliza Lennox a lot of good before she entered her junior season with Monarch swimming. Despite spending the entire summer out of the pool, she’s already closing in on her state meet times from last winter.

Saturday, she flew through the water toward a 24.53 in the 50 free and finished fifth in the 100 free with a 53.54. She’s hoping those times, this early in the season, can lead to personal records in both events as well as the 100 butterfly as she continues to get back into swim form.

“It’s such a crazy realization that you can take a mental break from your sport and come back and be almost where you were,” she said. “I’m really hoping that I can unleash parts of me that I’ve never been able to access before, because I’m a dual-sport athlete. I have played volleyball on top of swim multiple years in a row.

“This is my first year where I’m just swimming and not practicing volleyball as well. To be able to really gauge my energy towards swim and only swim, I feel like I’m going to be able to hit some new personal records this year. I’m very excited.”

Lightning fast

Over the past few years, Legacy senior Isabella Forsman has made a name for herself in swimming circles north of Denver. A meet that featured heavy hitters like Regis Jesuit and Cherry Creek proved no different in attaining that success.

On Saturday, amid a sea of speedy times, she propelled her way to second place in both the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke, earning marks of 56.36 seconds and 1:05.56, respectively. She recorded a new season-best in the 100 breast by 0.2 seconds.

“It feels really good, especially kind of going into the end half of the season with leagues and state. I think it’s good to race the girls I’m going to race on at state and it gives me a little bit more confidence for those meets,” Forsman said. “Whenever I get to race faster girls, I think it’s always an opportunity to kind of see where I am and see how I can push myself to race them.”

Rising all the way to the top

Broomfield put together a collective effort to help it earn the team title in the Class 4A competition. The Eagles, who didn’t win any individual events, scored 251.50 points to push past second-place Centaurus, which finished at 134 points.

Sophomore Myra Wherry took the lead for the Eagles in the individual races, when she finished fourth in the 500 free after clocking in at 5:06.04, shaving nearly two seconds off of her preliminary time.

She believed the meet served as a good measuring stick for the rest of her season.

“I’m hyped. I like seeing all my friends from other club teams and seeing all my friends do great,” Wherry said. “It’s so fast. Each year just gets faster with all the freshmen coming in.”

Making a splash in her first meet back

Injuries can be unforgiving in any sport, but any setback in a sport like swimming will leave athletes feeling like a fish out of water.

That, at least, was the story of Legacy junior Addie Donahue’s sophomore year, as she spent the entire season watching from the pool deck with shoulder and rib injuries. On Saturday, she brushed off her unplanned hiatus when she qualified for the state meet in the 100-yard freestyle, shaving a second off her previous-best time this season.

Now, she gets to go right back to where her freshman season ended.

“It just gave me a sense of relief. I hope it just helps me be more motivated towards swimming and invest more of my time and effort into it now. I’ve kind of proven to myself that I can do it,” Donahue said. “The (injury) break was fun at first, because I had a lot more freedom, and then I started to really miss swimming.”