When Lewis-Palmer girls’ swimming coach Terre Christensen brought her team to face Air Academy, she knew they would be tired.

The Rangers, who are coming off a third-place finish at Saturday’s Hornet Invite in Pueblo, have had five meets in two weeks, but they know that this is no time to let up.

Led by a sweep in the diving competition, Lewis-Palmer defeated host Air Academy 101-84 at Liberty High School on Tuesday afternoon.

“We all knew that Hornet was important and we were really working towards it,” diver Kathryn Kimball said. “We didn’t score as high (in diving) as we did down there, but we know we have to keep working and getting more experienced.”

Kimball won Tuesday’s diving event with a score of 187.65, while teammate Chandler Marshall was just behind with 184.45. Zoe Van Wirt’s 140.85 was good for a third-place finish.

“We knew they were nice to us (at the Hornet Invite), so we didn’t want to get discouraged with today’s scores,” Marshall said. “In a meet like this, though, it’s good to feel like what we’re doing is important for the rest of the team. We don’t want to let them down.”

The meet was the last home event for Air Academy’s seniors, and Caroline Roy marked the occasion with a win in the 50 freestyle that qualified her for the state meet.

Roy was also first in the 100 freestyle and helped the 200 free relay team to a victory.

“Caroline has never qualified for state before, and this was a perfect time for it,” Kadets coach Scott Newell said.

Lewis-Palmer’s Kira Alger played the role of super sub, swimming the 500 free in place of ill teammate Nina Parsons. Alger stepped in smoothly, winning the race and qualifying for state with a time of 5 minutes, 45.10 seconds.

“They were really flexible and filled in where they had to,” Christensen said. “Kira made that state cut and gave us an important win.”

Alger also anchored the Rangers’ winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.

Lewis-Palmer junior Alex Claude won the 100 backstroke and also participated in the winning relays.

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