Senior swimmer named Athlete of the Year as Panthers finish fourth at state

There was literally nothing more anyone could ask of Amanda Tracy after her final high school swim meet.

The Powell High School senior entered the Class 3A Swimming and Diving Championships in Gillette as, arguably, the best swimmer in the state. When she returned to Powell, there was little left to argue.

Tracy won state titles in both of her individual races — the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard free — and was bestowed both Athlete of the Meet and Athlete of the Year honors.

PHS head coach Luke Robertson stressed the magnitude of those awards, which rarely go to the same swimmer, and praised Tracy for truly earning every accomplishment

“She’s a hard worker, really humble. That’s one thing that I keep coming back to. Here’s a kid who’s one of the fastest in the state, but if you didn’t go to a swim meet and watch her swim, you wouldn’t know it. I’m sure in the halls of Powell High School, she doesn’t walk around like she’s a state champion.

“She’s just Amanda Tracy.”

Tracy won her third and fourth state titles and broke a 20-year-old PHS record as the Panthers earned fourth place in Campbell County Aquatic Center on Thursday and Friday.

“She’s just really impressed me over her four years,” Robertson said.

So did the team.

“I never measure our season’s success by our wins or losses or where we finish at state, but how we grew as a team,” Robertson said. “And this year our team grew a lot and they impressed me around every corner. I was impressed every day at practice with their positive attitudes and their ability to push themselves through hard practices. At meets I was impressed with how much they encouraged each other as well as the girls from other teams. Outside of the pool they did an awesome job of representing the team in a positive way. We had as successful of a season as I can imagine.”

Freshman Caitlyn Miner finished as the runner-up in the 100-yard breast, and broke her own PHS record in the process. Miner’s time of 1:12.96 bested her time of 1:13.30, which she set in the Panthers’ final regular season meet against Cody on Oct. 8.

“That’s a big deal, especially as a freshman, to be able to come in and to take that,” Robertson said of Miner’s second-place finish.

Miner also finished eighth in the 100-yard fly with a time of 1:07.58.

Aly Schneider shook up the PHS record boards in the preliminaries of her two events.

Schneider finished third in the 200-yard free with a time of 2:07.52, and her prelim time of 2:03.82 moved her to fourth all-time for PHS. The junior took fourth in the 100-yard free with a time of 57.74. She moved from fifth to fourth all-time with a prelim time of 57.14.

Robertson said Schneider was helped by her “taper and mentally being ready to go.”

Junior Claire Miner finished 11th in the 100-yard fly with a time of 1:10.86 and 16th in the 100-yard back with a time of 1:10.51.

Claire and Caitlyn Miner swam side-by-side in the consolation heat of the 100-yard fly.

Junior diver Mary Lynn finished eighth in the 1-meter, 11-dive competition with a score of 253.55.

“She had a really good two days,” Robertson said. “Just mentally was in the right place.”

In her final prep swim meet, senior Tristan Bohlman finished 14th in the 200-yard IM (2:34.32) and 17th in the 100-yard back (1:10.67).

The Panthers will be without one of their most dependable swimmers when she’s gone next season.

“Over the last four years with Tristan, having her at practice, training as hard as she does and what that’s done for the team has just been phenomenal,” Robertson said. “She works hard, so then everybody else swims faster in practice and that makes us a better team. So that’s going to be hard to see her go.”

Tristan’s younger sister, sophomore Kendyl Bohlman, cut time in both the 500-yard free (6:25.74, 14th place) and 200-yard free (2:20.17, 18th).

“Most the girls cut a little bit of time, or held their time,” Robertson said. “So overall it was a good taper.”

Sophomore Aspen Aguirre finished 15th in the 200-yard free (2:17.15) and 19th in the 100-yard free (1:02.54).

Freshman Katrina Twitchell took 16th in the 500-yard free (6:28.78).

Junior Katie Brown finished 20th in both the 200-yard IM (2:40.05) and the 100-yard breast (1:22.74).

Freshman Rylie Kannard was 20th in the 100-yard back (1:11.60).

Junior Olivia Lang was 22nd in the 100-yard breast (1:26.64).

Junior Beth McCaslin finished 29th in the 100-yard back with a time of 1:15.14.

Sophomore Emily McCaslin was 22nd in the 100-yard IM with a time of 2:42.36.

Jackson won its fourth consecutive state title with a team score of 337.

Worland finished second with 194 and Lander was third with 178.

“They were both really strong,” Robertson said. “Worland and Lander were both quite a ways ahead of us. Just a product of having more girls in that second day, and having them in higher spots.”

Sublette County finished just behind Powell with 123 points.

“To be able to hold them off was good,” Robertson said.

“This season, the girls surprised me every step along the way,” Robertson said. “I didn’t know what to expect this year, in terms of losing 10 state qualifiers, six seniors. I honestly was impressed, and I’m very happy with that fourth-place finish. That’s great for those girls.”

Robertson said increased numbers at state made for better, tougher competition.

“This was a big state, in terms of lots of kids from lots of teams qualified,” Robertson said. “That’s just a tribute to all the coaches and swimmers around the state, to get lots of kids qualified. We definitely weren’t the exception of being a team that got lots of kids qualified, lots of teams were able to get kids into state.”

Robertson said the increased competition is a good sign for Wyoming swimming.

“I think good competition breeds better swims,” Robertson said. “Those kids are swimming fast and I think that kind of ups the bar for everybody.”