THORNTON >> The Class 5A state swim meet quickly turned into pool lanes of surprises Friday night.

Boulder’s Hazel Huilman had one of them reserved. Well, technically, two.

While the star junior’s blazing-fast speed is not lost in the deep end among the local swim community, she did not come into the meet with 5A’s best time in either the 100-yard butterfly or 100 breaststroke.

But she left with gold and the state’s fastest times in both — to the delight of her cheering section inside Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center, which she said included Centaurus standout swimmer Virginia Walsh, who is a friend and one of the best 4A swimmers in the state.

“I think at state, the energy is just unmatched,” Huilman said.

And it fueled her.

Huilman came into championship weekend with the classification’s eighth-fastest time of the season in the 100 butterfly and its second-best mark in the breaststroke. But her prelim times on Thursday (54.48 in the fly and 1:02.11 in the breaststroke), which garnered top seeds, were more in tune with what she’s done as an elite club swimmer.

She said she knew she could go faster with longer rest and against heightened competition. Then proved as much.

“I knew I could do it, but I just had to actually do it,” said Huilman, who was fourth in the breaststroke and fifth in the fly at the 5A meet a year ago. “I was definitely a little nervous. But all my teammates were here and my friend came and watched. My friend Virginia (Walsh) from Centaurus — so that was really awesome to have her come. And some other kids from my school were here, too. Having all the support from my family and friends helped a lot.”

Huilman finished in 53.98 seconds to edge out Cherry Creek’s Ana Loveridge (54.22) in the fly. And a few events later, in the breaststroke, her 1:02.50 beat out the Bruins’ Sydney Fernstrom (1:02.84) as well as the event’s top seed, Regis Jesuit’s Natalie Daum (1:03.97).

She was one of three swimmers to win multiple individual events and it led the Panthers back into the top 10, where they placed eighth for the second time in three seasons.

She had help. Teammate Sloan Zallen added a silver in the 200 freestyle (1:52.57) and was fourth in the 500 freestyle (5:06.67). Both of her events were won by Pine Creek’s Madison Mintenko, who’d broken five-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin’s state record in the 500 free in Thursday’s preliminaries. Margaret Chester, meanwhile, took fifth in the 100 freestyle (52.38) and the Panthers went sixth and seventh in the 400 and 200 freestyle relays.

“This means a lot,” Zallen said. “Since I joined sophomore year, doing that year with my sister (Zara), I know we had a special team. And we kept developing it. … I’m proud of this team and proud to be a part of it.”

Fairview remained the area’s top 5A team, though. The Knights took third, trumping their fourth-place finishes from 2024 and ‘23.

That alone wouldn’t have been much of a surprise if not for the fact it came without their all-state swimmer Amelia Mason, who was out ill. Ahead of the meet, the senior, who is committed to the University of Tennessee, had the state’s best times in the 50 and 200 freestyles, as well as the fly.

“She’s a spectacular teammate. So she was missed, of course, because her spirit to the team means so much,” Fairview coach Francoise Bentley said. “And it was her high school meet. And to be able to have that celebration of closure is really important when you’ve given your heart for four years to your team.”

Without her, her teammates “stepped up,” co-coach Stacey Tobey and Bentley said, echoing each other.

“An ‘I-can’ attitude with a giant spirit,” Bentley added.

After a strong showing in prelims the day before — where each of their athletes swam at least one personal-best time, their coaches said — they placed 16 in the top 20, nine in the top 10 and two in the top five. Lexi Byrn took bronze in the fly (55.37) and their 200 medley relay finished fourth (1:45.49).

Behind them, Boulder put seven in the top seven. Legacy was 22nd with six in the top 20.