Close calls define 5A girls state meet for Fort Collins swimmers

THORNTON — The margins were thin yet again. For the second straight season, Ella Gaca Thiele was remarkably close to a freestyle sprint sweep at the Colorado Class 5A girls swimming state championship meet. Instead, the SaberCat senior was less than a second combined off 50- and 100-yard freestyle state titles on Feb. 18 at Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center. Gaca Thiele finished runner-up in each event by a combined .57 seconds. First, Cherry Creek's Jenna Fernstrom came back from an early deficit to win the 50 free, touching in 22.84 seconds, just .07 ahead of Gaca Thiele. Then, Cherry Creek sophomore Kate...