Fully loaded PMS swim team off to fast start

The Powell Middle School swim season got underway this weekend with a pair of meets against Lovell.

Powell hosted both events, though Saturday’s meet in the Powell Aquatic Center was officially the “Lovell Invite,” which featured teams from Powell, Cody, Lovell and Worland.

The Cubs boasted 41 (out of 44 total) swimmers in their opening meets, and finished the weekend with four wins, five second-place and seven third-place finishes.

Head coach Jerry Rodriguez said he was pleased with the increase in numbers, and hopes it’s a sign of good things to come for Powell swimming.

“We’ve been that way for a long time, but the last couple years we were under that. We’re half eighth-graders and half seventh-graders,” he said. “We’re just trying to encourage them to love the sport so we can recruit more of them to the high school team.”

A few of the team’s top swimmers missed all or part of the opening weekend.

Josh Wright, who Rodriguez called one of the fastest Cubs, had not yet practiced and did not compete, and Addison Moretti competed only on Saturday.

Bryce Hogan won both of his events against Lovell during the season-opening meet on Thursday. Hogan won the 1-meter dive with 77.5 points and the 50-yard fly with a time of 37.29. He was third in the diving on Saturday with a score of 77.8.

Jenna Merritt won the 100-yard free with a time of 1:22.22, and was third in the 50-yard breast (48.85) on Thursday. She was seventh in the free and 10th in the breast on Saturday.

Rachel Kuntz won the 100-yard IM with a time of 1:24.20, and finished the 50-yard fly in 41.86 to take third on Thursday.

Alex Hanson was third in diving with 74.05 points on Thursday and bumped his score up to 78.70 to take second on Saturday. Hanson was third in Thursday’s 50-yard free with a time of 40.42 on Thursday.

Sydney O’Brien earned two second-place finishes on Thursday, first in the 100-yard free (1:22.29) and later in the 50-yard back (39.52). O’Brien followed that up with a seventh-place finish in the 50-yard back and a ninth-place finish in the 50-fly on Saturday.

Sloane Asay earned four top-four finishes in her two meets. Asay was second in the 50-yard fly (41.22) and third in the 100-yard IM (1:26.37) on Thursday, and fourth in both the 200-yard free (2:56.30) and 50-yard back (37.80) on Saturday.

Dylan Cordes notched three top-five finishes, including third place in the 200-yard free with a time of 3:25.04 on Thursday. He took fourth in Thursday’s 100-yard free (1:25.26) and fifth in Saturday’s 100-yard free (1:22.95).

Matthew Hobbs was the runner-up in the 200-yard free (2:58.68) and third in the 100-yard free (1:22.52) on Thursday. He followed that up with fifth in the 200-yard free and eighth in the 50-yard free on Saturday.

Gabi Metzler was second in the 50-yard breast with a time of 46.31 on Thursday, and fifth in the same event (45.05) on Saturday, when she was Powell’s top performer in the race. Metzler was seventh in the 50-yard free with a time of 39.85 on Thursday.

Natalie Dillivan raced to a pair of top-five finishes on Thursday, when she took fourth in the 200-yard free (3:35.31) and fifth in the 100-yard free (1:27.14). She was ninth in the 50-yard fly (49.78) on Saturday.

Moretti was third in Saturday’s 50-yard fly with a time of 37.74, and fourth in the 100-yard IM with a time of 1:24.55.

Crandell Sanders was fourth in both diving (50.45 points) and the 50-yard breast (52.02) on Thursday. Sanders improved his diving score to 63.75 for a seventh-place finish and his breast time to 50.02 for 12th place on Saturday.

Psalm Wolfe was fourth in the 50-yard free with a time of 36.41 on Thursday and ninth in the in the 50-yard free with a time of 34.74 on Saturday.

Ashlyn Aguirre was fourth in the 50-yard fly with a time of 47.57 on Thursday and 10th in the 100-yard IM (1:33.90) on Saturday.

Chase Rausch was fifth in the 50-yard free with a time of 33.57 on Saturday.

Augusta Larsen took fifth in the 50-yard free (38.14) on Thursday.

Kyle Klassen was fifth with 42.5 points in Thursday’s diving competition.

No matter a swimmer’s time or place, all Cubs will compete throughout the season.

“A kid asked me after the fifth day, ‘when do you start cutting?’” Rodriguez said. “I said ‘you’re on the A team.’ Everybody’s on the A team because everybody swims.”

Rodriguez said one of the main focuses in the early season is to get the kids in shape.

“It’s a battle just to get the kids conditioned,” Rodriguez said. “It’s an endurance sport and you have to do a lot of swimming to get that endurance up.”

Powell will again take on Cody, Worland and Lovell at the Cody Invitational on Saturday.

The Cubs are coached by Jerry Rodriguez, Stephanie Warren and Luke Robertson.

Thursday’s Results:

Kyle Klassen — 5th in 1-meter diving, 42.50 points

Jay Cox — 6th in 100-yard free 1:30.09; 9th in 50-yard back 49.67

Tristin Willet — 6th in 50-yard free 39.04; 7th in 100-yard free 1:36.67

Samantha Herchkorn — 6th in 50-yard back, 45.88; 12th in 50-yard free, 41.14

Madison Lowery — 7th in 50-yard back, 49.27; 15th in 50-yard free, 42.51

Kason Cannon — 8th in 50-yard breast, 56.41; 9th in 50-yard free, 40.18

Jami Martinez — 5th in 50-yard breast, 53.90; 8th in 100-yard free, 1:38.07

Lauren Lejeune — 9th in 100-yard free, 1:38.82, 17th in 50-yard back, 53.60

Maddisson Hackenberg — 5th in 50-yard back, 42.10th in 100-yard free, 1:44.03

Raelynn Ramsey — 10th in 50-yard breast, 1:01.83; 18th in 50-yard free, 43.26

Michele Wagner — 5th in 50-yard back, 42.90; 10th in 50-yard free, 40.25

Joey Mickelson — 9th in 50-yard breast, 1:01.40; 28th in 50-yard free, 52.26

Jala Satterwhite — 11th in 50-yard free, 41.12

Hailey Bott — 13th in 100-yard free, 1:52.95; 20th in 44.40

Tenna Desjarlais — 13th in 50-yard free, 41.74; 15th in 50-yard back, 52.22

Dallin Allred — 13th in 50-yard back, 52.02; 16th in 50-yard free, 42.60 

Ben Cannizzard — 14th in 50-yard back, 52.10; 19th in 50-yard free, 44.22

Zachary Cole — 16th in 50-yard back, 53.35; 17th in 50-yard free, 42.86

Bailee Moore — 18th in 50-yard back, 55.40; 20th in 50-yard free, 46.28

Zoie Gaisford — 10th in 50-yard back, 50.47; 24th in 50-yard free, 47.69

Emma Karhu — 11th in 50-yard back, 51.11

Kiya McIntosh — 12th in 50-yard back, 51.12; 32nd in 50-yard free, 54.09

Triniti Bruski — 16th in 100-yard free, 2:07.69

Olivia Lobingier — 22nd in 50-yard back, 1:04.81

Saturday’s Results:

Kyle Klassen —12th in 1-meter dives, 47.70; 16th in 50-yard breast, 51.25

Jay Cox — 26th in 50-yard free, 39.91; 14th in 50-yard breast, 50.72

Tristin Willet — 20th in 50-yard free, 38.26; 13th in 50-yard back, 45.20

Samantha Herchkorn — 25th in 50-yard free, 39.67; 8th in 50-yard back, 42.50

Madison Lowery — 48th in 50-yard free, 44.93

Kason Cannon —30th in 50-yard free, 40.88; 11th in 100-yard free, 1:28.75

Jami Martinez — 13th in 200-yard free, 3:51.02; 17th in 50-yard back, 47.95

Lauren Lejeune — 18th in 100-yard free, 1:36.95; 23rd in 50-yard back, 51.14

Maddisson Hackenberg — 34th in 50-yard freem 41.80; 21st in 50-yard back, 49.57

Raelynn Ramsey — 38th in 50-yard free, 42.62; 25th in 50-yard breast, 59.59

Michele Wagner — 20th in 10-yard free, 1:40.45; 11th in 50-yard back, 44.28

Joey Mickelson — 24th in 50-yard breast, 58.41; 72nd in 50-yard free, 56.82

Jala Satterwhite — 33rd in 50-yard free, 41.50

Tenna Desjarlais — 35th in 50-yard free, 41.89; 17th in 50-yard breast, 51.35

Dallin Allred — 30th in 50-yard free, 40.88; 22nd in 50-yard back, 50.08

Ben Cannizzard — 29th in 50-yard free, 40.40; 29th in 50-yard back, 52.74

Bailee Moore — 47th in 50-yard free, 44.78; 26th in 50-yard back, 51.53

Zoie Gaisford — 51st in 50-yard free, 49.18; 19th in 50-yard back, 49.05

Emma Karhu — 8th in 1-meter dives, 61; 27th in 50-yard back, 51.76

Kiya McIntosh — 54th in 50-yard freem 49.87; 25th in 50-yard back, 51.39

Triniti Bruski — 64th in 50-yard free, 53.10