The Powell High School boys’ swimming and diving team closed out the 2018 portion of its season on a high note, posting several state qualifying times and personal bests in a dual against Riverton Tuesday.

With just eight Riverton swimmers participating due to conflicting events, Panthers head coach Stephanie Warren said the meet was less about team scores and more about individual performances.

“It was pretty good for a Tuesday night meet,” Warren said. “It was one of those things where we hadn’t quite recovered from the weekend yet and only had one day of practice. But we still had some overall good swims and everything that came out of it.”

Several Panthers swam personal bests, as well as adding to the number of state qualifying times. Trenton Wilson qualified in the 100 freestyle, marking the third event he’s qualified for in this season.

“Trenton has qualified in one event in every meet so far, which is earlier than he started qualifying last year, so that’s great for him,” Warren said.

Richard Spann qualified in the 100 breaststroke, giving him six qualifying events on the season, while Nate Johnston added the 500 freestyle for his sixth qualification as well. Jay Cox similarly added the 500 freestyle, giving him five qualifying events on the season.

“Overall, it was just great to see some of the kids just drop time, especially with the quick turnaround,” Warren said.

One significant time drop was posted by Dallin Allred in the 500 freestyle. He finished in 7:04.16 and shaved 13 seconds off his personal best. All in all, Warren said the meet was a positive way to head into the holidays, and with several swimmers ill, the break comes at an opportune time.

“We are kind of fighting the sicknesses right now. We had three kiddos out [Tuesday], so the break is coming at a good time,” she said. “Hopefully we can get recouped, but at the same time we need to keep them in the water as much as possible; there’s just a lot of that stuff going around. So hopefully we get everybody past that and come back fresh.”

The Panthers will be back in the pool Friday, Jan. 4 for a home dual against perennial powerhouse Lander — the first time the two teams will meet this season. That will be followed by the Gene Dozah Invitational Saturday, Jan. 5.

“We have two home meets right off the bat when we start back up, so we’ll be preparing for those,” Warren said. “Those will be fun, because the first one will be against Lander, one of the funner meets that we have all year long. So we’ll see how that plays out. It’s been a great start to the season, and it will be a good indicator of where we’re going to be as we move forward.”

Powell v. Riverton Dual Results

Powell 122, Riverton 51

200 Medley Relay

1. Powell 2:02.30, 2. Powell 2:03.72

200 Freestyle

1. Richard Spann 2:12.21, 2. Mathew Hobbs 2:20.15, 3. Francis Rogers 2:20.31, 4. Ben Cannizzaro 2:25.84, 5. Cole Frank 2:37.40

200 IM

1. Josh Wright 2:44.35, 2. Joe Rogers 2:47.65

50 Freestyle

1. Jay Cox 24.97, 3. Kyler Warren 28.60, 4. Ben Hawley 30.72, 6. Cole Howard 38.35

1 Mtr Diving

1. Cole Frank 140.50, 2. Ben Hawley 119.50

100 Butterfly

2. Mathew Hobbs 1:16.30

100 Freestyle

2. Trenton Wilson 59:17, 3. Riley Schiller 1:10.87, 5. Caiden Gerhts 1:16.20 

500 Freestyle

1. Nate Johnston 5:42.61, 2. Jay Cox 5:56.34, 4. Ben Cannizzaro 6:29.14, 5. Dallin Allred 7:04.16

200 Freestyle Relay

1. Powell A 2:00.98, 2. Powell C 2:01.64

100 Backstroke

1. Francis Rogers 1:12.97, 2. Trenton Wilson 1:13.11, 4. Joe Rogers 1:19.93, 5. Kyler Warren 1:25.25

100 Breaststroke

2. Richard Spann 1:10.63, 3. Josh Wright 1:25.85, 5. Riley Schiller 1:42.35

400 Freestyle Relay

1. Powell A 4:16.65, 3. Powell B 4:20.47, 4. Powell D 5:30.67