The Powell Panthers succeeded in their battle for a top 10 spot at a competitive state swim meet, finishing ninth with some athletes competing on the second day of the meet in Laramie.

“It was very tough,” coach Stephanie Warren said. “Interestingly enough the 4A times were slower in ways than the 3A times. It was a competitive meet for sure.”

Despite a strong effort the first day the Panthers were unable to put an individual or relay swim in the ‘A’ finals on Saturday, but had several athletes swimming in ‘B’ finals.

The highest placement for the Panthers came from Adam Williams, who had a pair of eighth place finishes in the 100 free (52.56) and the 100 back (1:00.5).

Just behind Williams was Gabe Rose, who earned a ninth place finish in the 100 fly (59.45), and Will Fuller who placed ninth in the 100 back (1:00.66).

Garrett Lennon was the highest placing diver for Powell, earning a 10th place finish in his first state competition with a 325.3, just ahead of Jon Hawley who placed 11th in his final competition as a Panther with a 308.1.

The final placer Saturday individually was Fuller who finished 12th in the 50 free (24.02).

Both the 200 medley relay (1:48.82) and the 400 free relay (3:38.3) placed eighth for the Panthers while the 200 free relay placed 10th (1:42.85).

“This year was a growing year for us in a lot of ways,” Warren said. “Generally speaking we have had a really good season … We’re proud of everything the boys have accomplished this year.”

Powell improved its standing to ninth this season after placing 10th a year ago, 20 points behind eighth place Lyman but 25 points ahead of 10th place Rawlins with 27.

Lander ran away with the team title for its 28th consecutive state title with 308 points.

FUTURE OUTLOOK

Despite only losing three seniors from this year’s team, the Panthers are losing a majority of their points.

“We have three high performers leaving this year. Adam played a big role in our team these last two years, Gabe has been a key performer in our team all four years and Jon scored points for us in both areas (swimming and diving) over the last four years,” Warren said. “We need to have some of the younger ones pick up where they left off.”

One of the positives for Powell heading into next year will be reclassification, as Evanston, Green River and Riverton will be moving up to 4A with no new teams joining 3A.

Those were three of the top six teams at this year’s meet.

“There’s a lot of teams the same size as ours (in 3A). That gives us a lot to look forward to next year,” Warren said.

3A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Top 12 are finals times, p denotes preliminary race time

Team scores — 1. Lander 308, 2. Buffalo 242, 3. Evanston 175, 4. Riverton 143, 5. Cody 116, 6. Green River 104, 7. Kemmerer 102, 8. Lyman 72, 9. Powell 52, 10. Rawlins 27, 11. Sublette County 21, T12. Newcastle and Douglas 15

200 medley relay — 8. Hugh Carpenter, Gabe Rose, Will Fuller and Adam Williams 1:48.82

200 free — 16. Hugh Carpenter 2:02.01p

200 IM — 11. Gabe Rose 2:15.83, 28. Trystan Preator 2:31.92p

50 free — 12. Will Fuller 24.02, 28. Garrett Lennon 25.66p

1-meter diving (11 dives) — 10. Garrett Lennon 325.3, 11. Jon Hawley 308.1, 14. Taggart Shumway 214.55p

100 fly — 9. Gabe Rose 59.45, 16. Trystan Preator 1:04.02p, 23. Conner Mayes 1:07.13p

100 free — 8. Adam Williams 52.56

500 free — 19. Hugh Carpenter 5:55.28p

200 free relay — 10. Conner Mayes, Taggart Shumway, Jon Hawley and Garrett Lennon 1:42.85

100 back — 8. Adam Williams 1:00.5, 9. Will Fuller 1:00.66

400 free relay — 8. Hugh Carpenter, Gabe Rose, Will Fuller and Adam Williams 3:38.3