Continuing to get in shape early in the year the Powell Panther boys’ swim team made its way down to Riverton to take part in an invitational and narrowly won against five other teams.

“Everything went well, we are still working at getting in shape but we had a lot of personal best times,” coach Stephanie Warren said.

The Panthers finished with 289 points, 13 points ahead of hosts Riverton in second, thanks to a pair of first place finishes from Rui Parker.

Parker won the 50 free (24.08) and the 100 fly (58.56) to add two more state qualifying times to his resume in the early season.

New qualifiers for the Panthers included Ashtin Prentiss in diving (179) who was the highest placing diver for Powell after taking third. 

Nathan Fuller was Powell’s second qualifier. Fuller placed sixth in the 100 fly (1:07.69) to earn his first qualifying mark of the season.

Kobus Diver also turned in a strong performance for the Panthers, taking second in the 200 IM (2:23.01) and in the 500 free (5:36.13).

Parker, Diver, Gabe Rose and David Polson were part of the 200 medley relay that placed second (1:54.54).

Diver, Rose, Parker and Aidan Cannizzaro made up the Panther 400 free relay team that placed second (3:54.27).

One of the biggest time drops of the early season came from Connor Mayes, who took 44 seconds off his 500 free (6:51.92) time and six seconds off his 200 free time (2:20.06).

Another significant time drop came from Lukas Legler in the 200 IM (3:01.93) who shaved off 17 seconds.

The Panthers were without two of their top sprinters on Saturday, as Cole Fauskee and Will Fuller were unable to attend the meet.

Overall the Panthers had 12 top-five individual finishes on the day to help Powell pull away in the team standings.

So far this season the Panthers have seen nearly every team in the 3A north conference, and hope to see more of both conferences at the Gene Dozah Invitational after the winter break on Jan. 7.

“We are definitely looking to keep them in shape and keep them in the water as much as we can,” Warren said. “It’s difficult with Christmas break, families traveling and doing all that stuff. But we do everything we can to keep them in shape for when we come back after the break for the Gene Dozah meet.”

Warren said that her hope is to see as many teams as possible early in the season, to gain a better understanding of what the Panthers have heading into the later stages of the season.

RIVERTON INVITE

* Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores: 1. Powell 289, 2. Riverton 276, 3. Cody 248, 4. Worland 230, 5. Sublette County 138

200 medley relay: 2. Rui Parker, Kobus Diver, Gabe Rose and David Polson 1:54.54; 5. Aidan Cannizzaro, Nathan Dupont, Jon Hawley and Ashtin Prentiss 2:06.50

200 free: 4. Gabe Rose 2:08.17*, 5. David Polson 2:11.74, 8. Connor Mayes 2:20.06, 9. Jon Hawley 2:41.21

200 IM: 2. Kobus Diver 2:23.01*, 10. Trystan Preator 2:52.47, 11. Lukas Legler 3:01.93

50 free: 1. Rui Parker 24.08*, 9. Nathan Dupont 26.16, 12. Ashtin Prentiss 26.71, 13. Tristin Dicks 26.78, 18. Taggart Shumway 28.75, 19. Levi Hawley 31.93, T20. Korbyn Warren 33.33, 22. Alex Watts 35.04, 23. Branton Moore 36.30, 24. Eremon Brinkerhoff 37.21

1-meter diving (six dives): 3. Ashtin Prentiss 179*, 4. Jon Hawley 172.6*, 5. Taggart Shumway 171*, 9. Justin Hobbs 115.85

100 fly: 1. Rui Parker 58.56*, 4. Gabe Rose 1:03.04*, 6. Nathan Fuller 1:07.69*, 9. Trystan Preator 1:13.42

100 free: 5. David Polson 1:00.10, 9. Aidan Cannizzaro 1:03.80, 11. Lukas Legler 1:13.40, 13. Korbyn Warren 1:18.35, 15. Alex Watts 1:23.17, 16. Eremon Brinkerhoff 1:32.28

500 free: 2. Kobus Diver 5:36.13*, 7. Connor Mayes 6:51.92

200 free relay: 4. Tristin Dicks, David Polson, Ashtin Prentiss and Nathan Dupont 1:47.95; 5. Lukas Legler, Nathan Fuller, Connor Mayes and Jon Hawley 2:00.14; 7. Trystan Preator, Levi Hawley, Justin Hobbs and Taggart Shumway 2:03.37; 10. Branton Moore, Alex Watts, Eremon Brinkerhoff and Korbyn Warren 2:27.09

100 back: 3. Aidan Cannizzaro 1:08.75, 6. Nathan Fuller 1:15.75, 12. Justin Hobbs 1:26.12

100 breast: 7. Tristin Dicks 1:28.73, 9. Levi Hawley 1:35.71

400 free relay: 2. Kobus Diver, Gabe Rose, Aidan Cannizzaro and Rui Parker 3:54.27; 7. Nathan Fuller, Tristin Dicks, Lukas Legler and Connor Mayes 4:47.31; 8. Trystan Preator, Alex Watts, Branton Moore and Eremon Brinkerhoff 5:42.27