On Feb 14, 15, 2008, the 5A State Women's Swimming and Diving Championships were held at the EPIC pool in Ft. Collins.
Chatfield High School swimmer
Shelley Perkins captured the state crown in the 50 yd. Freestyle with a career best time of :24.17 (just missing an All-American Consideration standard by 3/100ths of a second)! Her performance was ½ second faster than her prelim time of :24.61. With Perkins' 1 st place finish, she becomes only the 3rd individual swimmer in the history of Chatfield women's swimming to capture a state swim title..Also, she won the consolation finals (9 th place) in the 100 yd. Freestyle with a sizzling :52.69, another career best. This would have given her the 3 rd fastest swim overall for the event.
Coach
Ron Johns' squad finished for the 2 nd consecutive year in the top ten team standings (9 th place with 106 ½
pts.). The only other individual swimmer to place in the finals was long distance freestyler
Katherine Glassner, who placed 7 th in the 200 yd. Free (1:56.20 in prelims) and 8 th in the 500 yd. Freestyle (5:13.68 in prelims). Both efforts by Glassner were career best times!
Chatfield's 200 yd. Freestyle Relay consisting of
Kylie Carlton (:25.69),
Jenny Bates (25.32),
Katherine Glassner (24.95), and
Shelley Perkins (:23.68) was highly successful, topping out at 5 th place (1:39.64). The same four ladies (Perkins-:53.16, Glassner-:53.67, Carlton- 54.99, and Bates-:5561) clocked 3:37.43, good for 5 th place.
Both relays achieved an All-American Consideration standard!
Former 30 yr. Colorado veteran swimming coach Chuck Golz, who has coached both Shelley Perkins and Katherine Glassner in their young swim club days, commented, "The Chatfield women's swim team performed admirably at State. Shelley Perkins' goal throughout this season was to become a state champion in the sprint freestyle event.
I knew when I first coached her as an 11 yr. old that she possessed a rare talent in young people- that "stick-to-it-tiveness". In other words, she focused on her goals and strived to accomplish them. I'm very proud to have been her swim coach during those early years. She will be heard from in future swimming competition."
In his analysis of Chatfield's performance, Golz stated "The aggressiveness that Glassner, Bates, Carlton and Perkins displayed during State was outstanding. They supported each other and established themselves as a strong unit. Their enthusiasm was unequaled. "Fun" best described their efforts! The community should be very proud of their accomplishments!"