Panther Swimmers take third at state

Posted 2/20/18

Lander won its 22nd consecutive state championship, scoring 325 points. Lyman placed second with 197 and Powell took third with 189. Kemmerer was fourth with 125 and Rawlins was fifth with 125.

Head coach Stephanie Warren said the coaches and …

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Panther Swimmers take third at state

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The Powell High School swim team took third at last week’s 3A State Swim and Dive Championships in Laramie, with senior Hudson Wilkerson claiming the state championship title in diving.

Lander won its 22nd consecutive state championship, scoring 325 points. Lyman placed second with 197 and Powell took third with 189. Kemmerer was fourth with 125 and Rawlins was fifth with 125.

Head coach Stephanie Warren said the coaches and swimmers were really hoping to “see some good time drops” and almost every swimmer improved their times in either the preliminaries or finals.

With a new coach this season, a new location for the state meet — Laramie — and having some new elements added to the training this year such as weight lifting, “We were kind of just looking to see what was the final results of everything going to be with all the different variables,” Warren said. “I think overall with the state meet we were very pleased with what had happened, with the way the boys performed, with the way the times cut.”

“I think it was kind of better than we had expected,” Warren added. “That’s always an encouraging thing finishing one season and getting ready to go into the next season.”

State Meet Championship and Awards

Hudson Wilkerson won the state championship in the 11-dive event with a score of 438.55; the runner-up, from Rawlins, finished with 368.9 points.

“That was really exciting for Hudson,” Warren said. “Hudson ... has always had a goal to be the best he can be at the high school level and for the three years he’s been here, he’s consistently been working toward that — trying to better himself.”

Hudson Wilkerson, a Lovell High School student, said winning the state championship feels good.

“All your hard work going into it and having it pay off is the best feeling,” he said.

In pursuit of a state title, Hudson Wilkerson spent the last two summers going to a diving camp at Duke University and went to a USA camp in Laramie last summer, coach Warren said. Hudson also reached out to Olympic coaches and a Jamaican Olympic diver whom he met at the Duke University camps, seeking advice throughout the season.

“He is constantly looking for a way to better himself,” Warren said. “He is very goal oriented and willing to put himself out there to do whatever he can to get better.”

With the state title, Hudson is a contender for the All-American Award.

“It was really exciting to see him be able to meet that goal of being a state champion and watching him along the way,” said Warren, adding that “being a small part of that has been a very exciting thing for me as well.”

Hudson placed ninth in diving his freshman year, then second his sophomore and junior years. He has a goal of diving for the University of Wyoming next year.

Senior Kacey Creed won the Sportsmanship Award for the state meet.

Seniors

“This group of seniors that we had are definitely a group that will be missed,” Warren said.

There were five seniors on the swim team this year — Kacey Creed, Hudson Wilkerson, Dillinger Wilkerson, Gavin Asay and Jared Fuller.

As a whole, Warren said the seniors have “been a very dedicated group to swimming.”

Creed placed second in both of his individual events, the 100 breaststroke and the 100 butterfly, and was a member of both the third-place relay teams — the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.

Creed said his high school swim career was “amazing.” He plans to join the Navy after high school.

Dillinger Wilkerson, who started swimming his freshman year, said swimming is hard “because you challenge yourself every day and work to improve.”

Of his state meet, Asay said he placed the best he has all four years of competing at the high school level. Asay said swimming is hard and requires the athlete to “push themselves every day.”

Fuller, who started swimming at age 9, had the best times in his swim career in Laramie and said his swim career was worth it.

“It was the best time of my life,” Fuller said.

While some of the depth of the team will be lost with the outgoing seniors, Warren said she hopes the underclassmen and next year’s incoming freshmen will step into those places.

Creed’s advice for the underclassmen is to “swim hard and come to practice ... leave it all in the pool.”

Fuller’s advice for underclassmen is that “kicking is way more important than you think” and “to swim hard — it’s all worth it at the end.”

Dillinger Wilkerson advised the underclassmen to “try their best and don’t quit” while Asay said “to keep it up. They all do such good work.”

Hudson Wilkerson, meanwhile, said to stick with it because “your senior year is where it all pays off. Just keep pushing on no matter how bad you think it is, it’s always going to get better.”

All of the seniors thanked their teammates, parents and coaches — including Jerry Rodriguez.

Hall of Fame Board

After this season, the Hall of Fame leaderboard in the Powell Aquatic Center will have some changes.

Dillinger Wilkerson made the PHS Hall of Fame Board in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.60 to secure the third place spot. With the new addition, former PHS swimmer Jory Turk, who now coaches for Sheridan, will be removed.

Kacey Creed secured his spot as No. 1 in the breaststroke improving his time from last year — dropping from 1:01.76 to 1:01.54.

Creed also secured the second place spot on the board for the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.06, down from 55.14.

Hudson Wilkerson will move up from fourth in the six-dive category to the No. 1 spot with a score of 301.10 — improving from an earlier score of 266.40. That moves former PHS diver Marty Lane down to second place and takes Jonah Kliewer off the record board.

Richard Spann remains in third place on the PHS Hall of Fame board for the 100 backstroke, but he improved his previous time of 56.20 seconds with a showing of 55.53.

As for the points scored throughout a swimmer’s career, Creed finished in second place all time with 713 points scored — just three points away from the No. 1 slot held by Roy Oursler.

Sophomore Richard Spann is currently in eighth place with 488 points.

Hudson Wilkerson closed out his Panther swimming career in 10th place with 461 points, Jared Fuller in 18th with 324 and Gavin Asay in 23rd with 301 points.

200 Medley Relay: 3. Richard Spann, Kacey Creed, Jared Fuller and Dillinger Wilkerson 1:43.38

200 Yard Freestyle: 10. Joe Rogers 2:01.69 (5.87)*, 12. Jay Cox 2:04.69 (4.16), 13. Trenton Wilson 2:05.16 (6.91), 17. Matthew Hobbs 2:10.05 (2.47)

200 Yard IM: 2. Richard Spann 2:09.51 (6.60), 4. Jared Fuller 2:14.56 (6.17)

50 Yard Freestyle: 12. Jay Cox 2447 (0.82)

Diving: 1. Hudson Wilkerson 438.55 (11.75), 5.  Bryce Hogen 284.80 (18.15)

100 Yard Butterfly: 2. Kacey Creed 55.06 (1.08), 7. Gavin Asay 1:00.08 2.49), 18. Bryce Hogen 1:08.38 (3.01), 19. Ben Cannizzaro 1:08.53

100 Yard Freestyle: 8. Dillinger Wilkerson 53.17 (4.05), 9. Joe Rogers 54.07 (2.67)

500 Yard Freestyle: 5. Trenton Wilson 5:48.13 (15.30), 11. Gavin Asay 6:00.85 (4.84)

100 Yard Backstroke: 3. Richard Spann 55.53 2.70), 6. Jared Fuller 1:00.21 (3.23)

100 Yard Breaststroke: 2. Kacey Creed 1:01.54 (0.87), 5. Dillinger Wilkerson 1:04.82 (5.29)

400 Yard Freestyle Relay: 3. Joe Rogers, Jared Fuller, Jay Cox and Kacey Creed

*(improvement from prior best)

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