Ladies Swimming & Diving: Petz Prevails as 5A Diving Champ, Including to Gymnastics Titles

THORNTON — Layla Petz spent the autumn season preserving her head up and the winter one targeted on doing the precise reverse to one of the best of her potential.

The Arvada West senior gained her second Class 5A state all-around gymnastics championship in November and three brief months and an entire mindset shift later, earned her method on the highest of a distinct medal podium because the 5A women diving champion.

Petz stayed constant all through Wednesday morning’s competitors on the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center and posted a successful complete of 477.35 factors, which gave her an 11-point cushion over runner-up Danika Warren of Pine Creek. It was the best of 4 profession state locations in as many seasons for Petz, who was seventh final season, eighth in 2024 and tenth in 2023.

“There are some amazing divers here, so to come away with the win is surprising and a great way to end my senior year,” Petz mentioned. “I was focused on having fun with my friends, honestly, since it’s the last meet for all of the seniors on my team. It was a really fun moment and amazing to share it with them.”

Two-time state champion Sydney Oveson of Fossil Ridge graduated and none of final season’s high 4 finishers had been among the many 45 qualifiers who started the competitors, which opened the championship chase.

Petz repeated as 5A’s all-around state gymnastics champion in November, then did an abrupt about face when it comes to mentality when she made the swap to diving.

“You spend your whole life (in gymnastics) doing everything you can to avoid your head and all of sudden, you do everything you can to land on it,” Petz mentioned. “It takes some time to get into the groove. It’s only a three-month or so season, so after some time off, it takes a while to get back to where you left off.”

Arvada West co-coach Karen Ruby famous the coaching drawback Petz had when it got here to the competitors — although she made up for it with pure potential — which was loaded with proficient divers whose sole focus is on the board.

“I could see Layla winning eventually this season, but the difference is that she only dives three months out of the year,” Ruby mentioned. “She’s only been diving a few months and she’s competing against girls who dive every single day and have done that for a while. She had it in her.”

Petz didn’t higher her high rating of the season — a 498.85 earned at The Rex Abelein Invitational previous to winter break — however she rang up 52.62 on her remaining dive to vault to the highest of the leaderboard.

“I only had one time that I wasn’t too happy with, but other than that, I had a pretty good meet,” mentioned Petz, who turned this system’s first state diving champion since Geneva Pauly in 2022.

Interestingly sufficient, Petz is not going to compete in both gymnastics or diving on the school degree, regardless of her success.

She lately signed to compete on the University of Oregon in Acrobatics and Tumbling.

Warren sat in second place after the semifinals and completed in the identical spot after the ultimate three dives with a complete of 466.80 factors, which got here after she missed the rostrum a yr in the past, whereas Greeley West junior Hope Kayl moved up from tenth in 2025 to 3rd and Chatfield junior Lyra Moran positioned fourth. Moran — who completed the season with the classification’s highest rating of 511.80 factors, achieved Feb. 7 on the Jeffco Championships, had a 12-point lead going into the finals, however ended up third.

Rounding out the highest 10 had been Northfield’s Morgan Lemmon in fifth, Denver East’s Linnea Kropp in sixth, Smoky Hill’s Lyla Bailey in seventh, Columbine’s Samantha Zakhem in eighth, Arapahoe’s Riley Gray in ninth and Arvada West’s Alyssa Alberts in tenth.

Denver East swept the classification awards, as Kropp was voted 5A Diver of the Year and Kevin Sage acquired 5A Dive Coach of the Year.

The 5A swim and dive championships proceed with the swim finals Wednesday night.