Nine Panthers rack up 15 qualifications in season opener

The Powell High School boys swim team wasted no time reclaiming their spot as the top threat to the defending Class 3A champions.

With the indefinitely-crowned Lander Tigers in the Powell Aquatic Center for a dual on Friday evening, the Panthers raced out of the gates to win five of 12 events in a 113-83 loss.

The 30-point loss to the 19-time defending Tigers was the best start for the Panthers in years.

“We’ve always faced them the first meet of the season,” said PHS head coach Stephanie Warren. “We’re used to seeing them this early on, but what we’re not used to is being as close to them as we were on Friday.

“We’re definitely a lot closer than we have been in the past.”

Nine Panthers qualified for at least one state event Friday, and six qualified for two.

“For what we had this year, close to half the team was in those qualifications, it was a really good start,” Warren said.

Powell’s upperclassmen led the charge to state with 11 qualifications between juniors and seniors, but sophomore Kacey Creed led the charge with two individual victories.

Creed won the 100-yard fly with a time of 1:01.50 and the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:20.07.

Senior Seth Fuller stamped two tickets to state, first with a win in the 500-yard free (5:46.49) and runner-up finish in the 50-yard free (23.28).

Junior Nate Magill won the 1-meter diving competition with a personal best 167.95.

“He dove well, but there’s things that we both went, ‘Oh yeah, we can work on that,’” Warren said. “A good goal now is to shoot for the 4A qualifying score.”

Magill then qualified in the 100-yard breast with a third place time of 1:18.61.

Senior Josh Riedhammer was the runner-up in the 100-yard fly (1:01.58) and fifth in the 100-yard free (1:02.03) to qualify in both events.

Senior Tyson Wages took third in the 100-yard free (59.54) and fourth in the 100-yard back (1:10.56), and qualified in both events.

Junior Joe Kuntz also qualified in two events. First, in the 200-yard IM, in which he took fourth place with a time of 2:30.97, then with a fifth place performance in the 500 free, with a time of 6:24.77.

Senior Brandon Anderson made his debut for the Panthers with a qualification in the 100-yard fly. His time of 1:07.03 was good for fourth. Anderson was also fourth in the 50 free, where his time of 26.57 was just .07 seconds shy of another qualifying time.

Two other sophomores — Gavin Asay and Braden Schiller — also qualified in the Panthers’ first outing.

Asay qualified with a fourth place finish in the 500-yard free (6:23.23), and also took fifth in the 200 free (2:19.20).

Schiller qualified in the 100-yard back (1:11.67) with a fifth place showing, and was sixth in the 200 free with a time of 2:19.66. 

Warren said the performance of the sophomores bodes well for the Panthers’ chances at the conference and state meets, where depth matters more.

“It definitely gives us a chance to look at the depth we might get to have,” Warren said. “Hopefully they’ll have more opportunities to qualify in more events. That will help us when we look at our options (at state).”

Junior Owen Dent didn’t qualify Friday, but showed progress that has the PHS coaching staff excited for his potential this season.

Dent was seventh in the IM with a time of 2:40.66.

“In his IM, he was only about three seconds off of his personal best time for last year. When they’re coming back and they’re so close to that personal best time at the very first of the year, that’s a pretty good indicator that they’re going to be able take a good amount of time later in the year,” Warren said.

Freshman Chris Lopez cut nearly seven seconds in the 100-yard free, from 1:10.54 last season to 1:03.88 on Friday.

“He’s another one to keep an eye on,” Warren said.

The Panthers will be in Cody for a 4 p.m. meet on Friday and in Lander for another dual against the Tigers at 10 a.m. Saturday.