Panther swimmers take bronze at conference

Posted 10/18/16

Multiple girls improved and moved up the standings on Saturday to help boost Powell to a comfortable third-place finish.

Leading the way was Lady Panthers’ 200-yard medley relay team, made up of junior Julia Kay O’Neill (backstroke), Caitlyn …

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Panther swimmers take bronze at conference

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Powell High School’s swimmers and divers had a solid opening day at the Class 3A West conference tournament in Lyman, with 14 of the 18 Powell girls making the finals or consolation finals. But they competed even better on day two.

Multiple girls improved and moved up the standings on Saturday to help boost Powell to a comfortable third-place finish.

Leading the way was Lady Panthers’ 200-yard medley relay team, made up of junior Julia Kay O’Neill (backstroke), Caitlyn Miner (breaststroke), Rylie Kannard (butterfly) and Aspen Aguirre (freestyle).

After a third-place showing in Friday’s prelims, the team posted its fastest time of the year on Saturday and won a back-and-forth battle to trump Pinedale by 0.04 seconds.

“That was thrilling to watch,” PHS head coach Luke Robertson said, noting multiple lead changes across the four different strokes.

The relay team finished third in Friday’s prelims. Vaulting up to be conference champs, “I think that really helped set the tone for the rest of the day,” Robertson said.

PHS senior Claire Miner also earned All Conference honors by claiming second in the 100 fly, while — in a standout performance — freshman Ashlyn Aguirre took fifth. Ashlyn Aguirre shattered her prior best in the butterfly by nine seconds on Friday (qualifying her for state), then bested that time by another second on day two to move up from sixth place.

“That was remarkable,” Robertson said.

Meanwhile, the coach said Caitlyn Miner and O’Neill did “really well” to finish third and fourth, respectively, in the diving competition.

“I thought they looked good on the board and of course they helped us with the points in diving and also contributed as swimmers as well,” Robertson said.

Caityln Miner, a sophomore, earned her third All Conference honor of the day by taking second in the 100 free; junior Aspen Aguirre finished fifth in that event.

O’Neill posted her fastest time ever in the 100-yard backstroke on Friday and later finished fourth. Fellow junior Rylie Kannard broke her personal record in the event both days and came in just behind O’Neill in fifth.

In the 50-yard freestyle, Aspen Aguirre posted her best time to make the finals as the fifth seed, then she bested that time on Saturday to claim fourth place.

Sophomore Katrina Twitchell — who also posted a state-qualifying time in the 100-yard freestyle — finished fourth in the 200-yard freestyle.

“It’s always nice to have girls with multiple qualifications,” Robertson said; Twitchell left conference with qualifications in three events, up from one.

Also scoring points for the Panthers in the 200 free were a pair of youngsters: Anna Fuller in eighth and Sidney O’Brien 10th.

“It was kind of exciting to see a couple kids make console finals as freshmen,” Robertson said, adding, “That’s a good sign for the future.”

Senior Katie Brown — who just missed a qualifying time in the 100 breast — earned a “Pink Panther” swim cap from Robertson at the meet. The coach said Brown supported her teammates throughout both days and “had a really good attitude.”

Powell finished with 200 points, ahead of host Lyman’s 142, but trailing the 342 points put up by Lander and 309 from Pinedale. PHS missed out on some points when its 200-yard free relay team was disqualified for leaving the block a little early on an exchange.

Powell now has a week off before the season-ending Class 3A State Meet in Gillette, Oct. 28-29. Of the 18 girls who competed at conference, 11 qualified in at least one event this year.

200 Medley Relay

1. Julia Kay O’Neill, Caitlyn Miner, Rylie Kannard and Aspen Aguirre 2:04.49

200 Free

4. Katrina Twitchell 2:22.29, 8. Anna Fuller 2:28.15, 10. Sidney O’Brien 2:31.62

200 IM

8. Katie Brown 2:45.20, 10. Rylie Kannard 2:46.38, 11. Emily McCaslin 2:46.69

50 Free

4. Aspen Aguirre 27.63

Diving

3. Caitlyn Miner 320.30, 4. O’Neill 314.60

100 Fly

2. Claire Miner 1:11.78, 5. Ashlyn Aguirre 1:14.43

100 Free

2. Caitlyn Miner 58.85, 5. Aspen Aguirre 1:02.41

500 Free

9. Beth McCaslin 6:47.71, 10. Sydney Horton 6:47.96, 12. Rachel Kuntz 6:55.39

100 Back

4. O’Neill 1:09.26, 5. Kannard 1:09.94, 10. Claire Miner 1:11.80

100 Breast

10. Brown 1:23.56

400 Free Relay

3. Aspen Aguirre, Claire Miner, O’Neill and Caitlyn Miner 4:13.87

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