Discovery Canyon girls swimming already won the proverbial war, but it also sought victory in the final battle.  As Wednesday’s competition between Discovery Canyon, last year’s 3A state champions and Cheyenne Mountain, owners of the 2025 4A title, approached its conclusion, the Thunder and Red-Tailed Hawks each had one 400-yard freestyle relay team left in the pool. Discovery Canyon’s Alaia Sloan takes a breath as she nears the wall during her 500 yard freestyle swim in the Thunder’s competition against Cheyenne Mountain at Pine Creek High School on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Gazette photo/Marcus Hill) Thunder and Red-Tailed Hawk athletes’ calm applause ballooned to booming cheers at Pine Creek High School as both sides attempted to provide their teammates with more mojo. Never mind that only the top-three finishers scored at this dual, the Thunder already secured the win and this was a race for seventh and eighth. This was about pride. “That was really exciting because the girls … it’s taken them a while to get into the season and feel that spirit,” Thunder coach Heather Wagner said after Discovery Canyon’s 103-83 victory. “Some of the girls have been nervous and worry about their races. But they were excited about racing and winning. They were cheering for each other and it meant a lot to see them come full circle from saying ‘I don’t want to swim this’ to being excited about it and cheering for each other.”  Cheyenne Mountain touched the wall for seventh place and Discovery Canyon finished eighth in the relay. But the Thunder earned first place in seven of 12 events and won two of the three relays.  The Thunder lost several senior competitors from last year’s team, but Wagner knows they remain a formidable squad. Wagner believes this victory will serve as proof.  “I think this is that oomph to show them they’re really good,” Wagner said. “Believe in yourselves and you got it. That’s all they need to do. They can do a lot of things and they need to know they can do a lot of things really well.” Discovery Canyon’s Alaia Sloan takes a breath as she nears the wall during her 500-yard freestyle swim in the Thunder’s competition against Cheyenne Mountain at Pine Creek High School on Wednesday. (Gazette photo/Marcus Hill) Alaia Sloan embodied that belief and placed first in a pair of relays and both individual events.  Most notable for Sloan was her 500 freestyle performance. Sloan, a sophomore, scored 42 points for the Thunder at state as a freshman. None of those came in the 500. In Sloan’s first high school 500, she won in 5 minutes, 23.19 seconds.  The sophomore’s time was nearly 20 seconds faster than second place and almost a minute ahead of 3A qualifying time, which is 6:18.  “The 500 is a little bit out of my comfort zone,” Sloan said. “I was pretty proud of myself. I’m honored that I did that well. Coach wants us to get out of our comfort zone and she wants me to get used to those longer races.”  Wagner complimented the Thunder on their adaptability in events outside of their wheelhouse and said she wants athletes to swim “almost every event” at duals and meets.  Kylie Olson swam in the 100 backstroke, placed second and clocked a 1:08.55 to meet the state-qualifying time.  “That’s probably not the event she’s going to swim at state, but she wanted that time,” Wagner said. “She likes to swim a lot of events and likes to be good at a lot of events. It’s good for our team to have flexibility.”  The Thunder have just over one month before they compete for a repeat bid at the state meet in Thornton. The Thunder face a swath of strong teams including 5A Pine Creek, which ranks fifth, to close the regular season.  Discovery Canyon will aim to go from its first girls swimming and diving title in school history to back-to-back championships. A victory such as the one against Cheyenne Mountain is a “boost” toward that goal.  “I think this is outstanding momentum and they see what they’re capable of doing,” Wagner said. “It’s nice to see them excel at something that isn’t necessarily their top event and this is good for them going forward.” ...read more read less