Eight Powell High School Lady Panthers qualified for 3A state right off the bat at their first swim meet Friday in Lander.

Head coach Luke Robertson is stoked.

“It’s always exciting to see the kids qualify,” Robertson said.

It was a non-scoring meet so none of the nine teams won, but the girls’ swim times were recorded. Individual times from the Lander invite do matter toward qualifying for state, according to Tanya Bonner, girls swimming assistant coach.

“It was a very long meet,” Bonner said. “Nine teams in a six-lane pool, but the girls swam exceptionally well.”

Senior SarahJean O’Neill grabbed first place with a time of 1:16.78 in the 100 yard breaststroke, qualifying her for state. She also took eighth with a time of 28.05 in the 50 freestyle, for state.

Junior Amanda Tracy grabbed fourth with a time of 2:12.28 in the 200 yard freestyle for state qualification. Tracy qualified in the 100 backstroke with a fourth-place finish and a 1:07.37 time. Senior Stephanie Liggett took fifth with a time of 1:09.13 in the same race to qualify for state.

Senior Tasha McKelvey pulled fifth with a time of 1:01.76 in the 100 freestyle and seventh with a time of 2:18.76 in the 200 free. Both those times bought her a ticket to state.

Sophomore Aly Schneider was neck-and-neck with McKelvey, taking sixth with a time of 1:01.95 in the 100 free. Schneider seized ninth with a time of 28.12 in the 50 free. Her time in both events qualifies her for state.

Freshman Julia Kay O’Neill hit 15th with a time of 1:14.56 in the 100 backstroke. Senior Natalie Quillen grabbed 16th with a time of 1:15.68 in the 100 back. Both Lady Panthers are now qualified for state in the above events.

Junior Tristan Bohlman qualified for state by taking 10th with a time of 1:23.49 in the 100 breaststroke.

Robertson doesn’t expect every girl to qualify at the first meet. He will coach the girls that have not qualified for state thus far to prepare them to get state qualified by the state conference Oct. 17-18.

The team of Tracy, senior SarahJean O’Neill, Liggett and Schneider also came out slugging by nailing second with a time of 2:03.20 in the first event, the 200 yard medley relay.

In the final event, junior Taryn Bohlman, McKelvey, Schneider and Tracy poured it on for second with a time of 4:11.76 in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

SarahJean O’Neill, Bohlman, sophomore Emily Doughty and McKelvey seized third with a time of 1:58.15 in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Sophomore Claire Miner, freshman Kendyl Bohlman, Julia Kay O’Neill and Tristan Bohlman swam to fourth with a time of 5:53.28 in the 500-yard freestyle relay.

Julia Kay O’Neill, sophomore Katie Doughty, Tristan Bohlman and Liggett took fifth with a time of 4:53.81 in the 400 yard medley relay.

Tristan Bohlman, Emily Doughty, Taryn Bohlman and Liggett took seventh with a time of 2:10 in the 200 yard butterfly relay.

Brown, freshman Sydney Horton, Quillen and senior Ashley Dillon pulled 10th with a time of 5:36.98 in the 400 yard medley relay.

Sophomore Beth McCaslin, freshman Emily Sweet, freshman Rylie Kannard and freshman Dagne Stratton swam to 10th place with a time of 2:18.88 in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

“I think their performance was very strong in the first meet,” Robertson said.

“We head back to Lander for an invite on Saturday after an invite in Cody on Friday,” Bonner said.

Friday’s invite starts at 2 p.m. in Cody. Saturday’s invite starts at 11 a.m. in Lander. Robertson said he expects more swimmers to qualify at both meets.