First meet excitement mixed with large time drops helped the Panther girls’ swim team qualify 11 athletes for state in the Bruce Gresly Pentathlon on Saturday in Lander.

Leading the way for the Panthers was senior Emma Mitchell, who finished top five in all five races, earning state qualifying times in each race — including a first-place finish in 100 breast with a time of 1:13.08.

Mitchell also finished runner-up in both the 100 fly and the 50 free.

The next highest finisher for the Panthers was defending state diving champion, senior Kami Jensen, who finished second in the diving with a 323.60 — .75 points behind first-place.

“It was definitely a good start to the season, reflecting their hard work in practice,” Panther swimming coach Bob Smartt said.

Other athletes who reached qualifying marks for the Panthers were junior Kik Hayano, senior Gabby Paterson, sophomore Paige Thomas, junior Aramonie Brinkerhoff, junior Charlee Brence, junior Croix Tryon, junior Grace Sapp, freshman Patricia Christensen and freshman Addy Powell.

Overall those 11 athletes combined for 22 state qualifying marks, and overall as a team the Panthers combined for 35 personal best times in the meet.

The Panthers had three athletes, Mitchell, Hayano and Thomas, finish in the top 10 overall average for the meet after only one finished in the top 10 last year. Hayano also earned the good sportsmanship award for the Panthers.

The Panthers will have this week to practice before making a short trip on Friday to take part in an early season invitational in Cody.

“It will be fun to see our athletes compete at Cody in the events not offered in Lander,” Smartt said.

Team scores were not recorded in Lander.

BRUCE GRESLY PENTATHLON

100 fly: 2. Emma Mitchell 1:04.23*, 6. Kik Hayano 1:08.89*, 10. Charlee Brence 1:10.59*, 11. Paige Thomas 1:10.96*, 17. Croix Tryon 1:12.49*, 21. Grace Sapp 1:15.15, 22. Kaitlin Diver 1:15.16, 25. Baylee Brence 1:16.62, 26. Gabby Paterson 1:16.70, 27. Addy Powell 1:17.23, 30. Patricia Christensen 1:18.26, 46. Brinly Casey 1:25.31, 68. Kathryn Brence 1:34.93, Emma Sapp 1:47.20

100 back: 3. Emma Mitchell 1:04.36*, 5. Grace Sapp 1:04.80*, T7. Paige Thomas 1:08.65*, 9. Patricia Christensen 1:09.36*, 11. Addy Powell 1:10.26*, 14. Kik Hayano 1:10.93*, 22. Baylee Brence 1:13.53, 23. Gabby Paterson 1:13.72, 38. Kaitlin Diver 1:20.07, 40. Croix Tryon 1:20.57, 44. Kathryn Brence 1:21.86, 53. Emma Sapp 1:25.00, 57. Charlee Brence 1:25.49, 60. Brinly Casey 1:26.01

50 free: 2. Emma Mitchell 26.36*, 13. Kik Hayano 27.95*, 14. Gabby Paterson 28.00*, 18. Paige Thomas 28.15, 19. Grace Sapp 28.33, 29. Kaitlin Diver 29.27, 30. Addy Powell 29.38, 35. Baylee Brence 29.81, 39. Charlee Brence 30.11, 40. Patricia Christensen 30.32, 44. Croix Tryon 30.54, 56. Kathryn Brence 31.67, 75. Brinly Casey 34.18, 78. Emma Sapp 34.52

100 breast: 1. Emma Mitchell 1:13.08*, 9. Gabby Paterson 1:19.01*, 10. Paige Thomas 1:19.20*, 13. Kik Hayano 1:21.18, 14. Kathryn Brence 1:21.89, 17. Grace Sapp 1:23.22, 19. Kaitlin Diver 1:23.79, 28. Patricia Christensen 1:26.08, 32. Croix Tryon 1:27.66, 37. Brinly Casey 1:29.97, 46. Charlee Brence 1:34.54, 53. Baylee Brence 1:36.55, 56. Emma Sapp 1:37.38, 57. Addy Powell 1:37.38

100 free: 4. Emma Mitchell 59.43*, 7. Gabby Paterson 1:00.19*, 10. Kik Hayano 1:00.65*, 18. Grace Sapp 1:03.14, 23. Kaitlin Diver 1:04.95, 24. Baylee Brence 1:04.54, Paige Thomas 1:04.66, 31. Addy Powell 1:05.98, 35. Patricia Christensen 1:06.90, 45. Charlee Brence 1:09.25, 49. Croix Tryon 1:10.97, 71. Kathryn Brence 1:16.21, 77. Brinly Casey 1:19.71, 81. Emma Sapp 1:21.50

1-meter diving (11 dives): 2. Kami Jensen 323.60*, 6. Aramonie Brinkerhoff 2:59.25*, 9. Tori Black 219.10

1-meter diving (six dives): 4. Emma Brence 102.15