A close field at the 3A State Championships in Gillette led to the Powell Panthers finishing with 74 points and ending up No. 10 overall in the team standings.

In the team standings, the Panthers were 38 points behind fourth place Riverton, while Riverton finished 65.5 points behind third place Green River. Lander cruised en route to its 27th consecutive state swim title finishing with 326 points.

“We knew going in that the competition was going to be very tight,” coach Stephanie Warren said. “Usually there is a little more flux in there, but it shows how tough it is with that many bodies in there swimming for those 12 spots.”

Powell was powered by championship finals appearances by Rui Parker, who finished fifth in the 100 fly (55.45) and sixth in the 100 back (56.83).

The Panthers had one additional finisher in the top six for the meet, with Jon Hawley diving to a sixth place finish (335.15).

“Jon did very well,” Warren said. “His goal was a podium finish and he worked really hard for that.”

Hawley is one of two divers returning in the top six heading into next season, with the top four finishers in diving graduating this year.

In addition to top six finishes, the Panthers had five top 12 finishes; Gabe Rose finished ninth in both the 200 IM (2:12.64) and the 100 fly (57.93); Kobus Diver in the 500 free (5:19.92); Ashtin Prentiss placed 11th in diving (313.65) and Aidan Cannizzaro placed 12th in the 100 back (1:02.62).

“We cut time for the most part,” Warren said. “We had more in the finals this year than we had last year so that was a good thing … It’s hard because we had more people in the finals this year but we didn’t place as high last year, that speaks to the amount of points that were being spread out and our relays didn’t finish as high as last year.”

FUTURE OUTLOOK

The Panthers, along with a large portion of the state swimmers, will look to rebuild after strong graduating classes leave programs all around the state.

“As a whole, swimming around the state is losing a lot of seniors,” Warren said. “It will be interesting to see how it shakes out next year.”

Powell will return only two finalists from events this year, with Hawley and Rose returning to the team next year.

Warren said it is too early to know what the team will look like next year, but is hopeful the Panthers will be able to rebuild despite likely having smaller numbers after graduating one-third of the team this year.

STATE MEET

p denotes preliminary round time

Team scores: 1. Lander 326, 2. Buffalo 220, 3. Green River 177.5, 4. Riverton 112, 5. Cody 100, 6. Worland 88, 7. Kemmerer 80, 8. Evanston 76, 9. Lyman 74.5, 10. Powell 74, 11. Sublette County 33, 12. Rawlins 27, 13. Newcastle 7, 14. Douglas 0

200 medley relay: 8. Rui Parker, Kobus Diver, Gabe Rose and Adam Williams 1:46.84

200 free: 20. Hugh Carpenter 2:02.12p, 23. David Polson 2:06p, 25. Conner Mayes 2:07.07p

200 IM: 9. Gabe Rose 2:12.64, 19. Nathan Fuller 2:27.03p

50 free: 13. Cole Fauskee 24.09p, 22. Nathan Dupont 24.64p, 26. Adam Williams 25.03p

1-meter diving (11 dives): 6. Jon Hawley 335.15, 11. Ashtin Prentiss 313.65, 13. Taggart Shumway 216.25p, 19. Justin Hobbs 108.3p

100 fly: 5. Rui Parker 55.45, 9. Gabe Rose 57.93, 19. Nathan Fuller 1:02.4p, T20. Trystan Preator 1:04.78p, 22. Nathan Dupont 1:05.12p, 24. Conner Mayes 1:05.36p

100 free: 17. Hugh Carpenter 54.64p, 22. Cole Fauskee 55.26p, 28. Will Fuller 57.23p

500 free: 8. Kobus Diver 5:19.92, 23. David Polson 6:00.51p

200 free relay: 7. Cole Fauskee, Nathan Dupont, Adam Williams and Rui Parker 1:36.33

100 back: 6. Rui Parker 56.83, 12. Aidan Cannizzaro 1:02.62, 15. Will Fuller 1:03.17p, 18. Adam Williams 1:03.96p

100 breast: 15. Kobus Diver 1:07.17p

400 free relay: 10. Cole Fauskee, Gabe Rose, Hugh Carpenter and Kobus Diver 3:39.47