For four consecutive years the Powell Panther swim and dive team has been one of the top teams in the state, earning a fourth consecutive third place team finish at the state meet in Gillette this past weekend.

A strong finish to the season was led by a pair of swimmers in Kik Hayano and Kaitlin Diver, who both earned a pair of top five individual finishes to pace the Panthers.

Diver led the way with a pair of fourth place finishes in both the 200 free (2:05.98) and the 500 free (5:40.66).

She jumped higher on the Panther Wall of Fame to fourth place all time in school history in the 500 free, after her preliminary round swim of 5:36.41.

Alongside Diver, Hayano earned a fourth place finish in the 100 fly (1:03.12) and a fifth place finish in the 200 IM (2:24.42).

Hayano moved up the leaderboards alongside Diver, moving to third all time for Powell High School with her 100 fly time in the finals.

Hayano also earned a fifth place spot on the Wall of Fame, earning her spot in the 100 free after serving as the leadoff for the 400 free relay in the finals with her split coming in at 56.75.

The relay team of Hayano, Diver, Patricia Christensen and Addy Powell was able to overcome strong competition to come in fourth place with a 3:54.14.

“Our fastest 400 free relay in at least my seven years on the team,” coach Bob Smartt said. “Sorry to see Douglas DQ because we wanted the satisfaction of beating them after losing to them by large margins all year.”

That was the highest placing relay for the Panthers, with the 200 medley relay (1:59.4) of Christensen, Aubree Fisher, Paige Thomas and Powell along with the 200 free relay (1:48.65) of Hayano, Thomas, Charlee Brence and Diver both placing fifth.

Christensen also had a top four individual finish, placing fourth in the 100 back (1:03.91). Fisher had a top five finish of her own, placing fifth in the 100 breast (1:13.25).

Sixth place finishes came from Aramonie Brinkerhoff in the diving with a score of 317.25, Charlee Brence in the 100 fly (1:06.61) and Baylee Brence in the 500 free (6:02.92).

Those three seniors were part of a strong senior class for the Panthers that accounted for 78 of the Panthers 123 individual points, along with six of the 12 slots on relays.

Powell ended comfortably with a third place finish this year, 50 points ahead of fourth place Cody but well behind the top two of Green River which reclaimed the team championship with 296 points and Lander which was second with 260 points.

Powell will need to replace the point production of its 10 outgoing seniors.

Despite having a slightly lower number of state meet competitors than in recent years, the Panthers have continued a trend of double digit qualifiers after 16 athletes attended the state meet this year, the seventh consecutive year for Powell.

The Panthers will hope to have a strong sophomore class grow stronger heading into the next season as juniors, while looking for new athletes to join and strengthen the team as Powell will have only one diver returning from this year’s roster.

3A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS 

p denotes preliminary swim time

Team scores — 1. Green River 296, 2. Lander 260, 3. Powell 185, 4. Cody 135, 5. Douglas 131, 6. Kemmerer 90, 7. Worland 62, 8. Evanston 50, 9. Buffalo 46, 10. Riverton 41, 11. Rawlins 40, 12. Lyman 34, 13. Sublette County 6, Newcastle 1

200 medley relay — 5. Patricia Christensen, Aubree Fisher, Paige Thomas and Addy Powell 1:59.4

200 free — 4. Kaitlin Diver 2:05.98, 9. Baylee Brence 2:11.32, 30. Kathryn Brence 2:27.56p

200 IM — 5. Kik Hayano 2:24.42, 8. Patricia Christensen 2:26.95, 13. Paige Thomas 2:31.68p, 21. Kate Miller 2:40.33p

1-meter diving (11 dives) — 6. Aramonie Brinkerhoff 317.25, 11. Tori Black 269, 15. Emma Brence 104.7 (eliminated after eight dives)

100 fly — 4. Kik Hayano 1:03.12, 6. Charlee Brence 1:06.61, 8. Paige Thomas 1:06.95, 15. Addy Powell 1:09.59p, 19. Croix Tryon 1:11.2p

500 free — 4. Kaitlin Diver 5:40.66, 6. Baylee Brence 6:02.92, 9. Charlee Brence 5:55.27, 15. Emma Sapp 6:12.43p

200 free relay — 5. Kik Hayano, Paige Thomas, Charlee Brence and Kaitlin Diver 1:48.65

100 back — 4. Patricia Christensen 1:03.91, 8. Addy Powell 1:05.56, 14. Kate Miller 1:09.62p, 16. Cassidy Reimer 1:10.2p, 17. Emma Sapp 1:10.75p

100 breast — 5. Aubree Fisher 1:13.25, 7. Kathryn Brence 1:13.58, 15. Croix Tryon 1:19.28p

400 free relay — 4. Kik Hayano, Kaitlin Diver, Patricia Christensen and Addy Powell 3:54.14