Busy week of meets has Panther team peaking at right time

With wins over Cody and Buffalo last week — and a strong team showing at the Gillette Invitational over the weekend — the Powell High School boys swim team head to the regional tournament on a positive note.

The Panthers finished out their home season Tuesday with a decisive 125-45 dual win over Cody. The team had been battling illness going into Tuesday’s dual, but it wasn’t a factor on the stat sheet.

“The boys bounced back from whatever bug they were battling the weekend before,” said PHS head coach Stephanie Warren. “Meets early in the week can be tough, but they swam well.”

On Friday, PHS traveled to Buffalo for a dual against the Bison. The Panthers then spent the weekend at the Gillette Invitational, a 4A event featuring 17 teams, only six of which are classified as 3A schools. PHS finished second among 3A teams (behind only Lander) and 11th overall for the meet with 171.5 points. Hudson Wilkerson qualified for state in the 50 freestyle, finishing 24th out of 99 swimmers to go along with his fourth place finish in the 1 meter dives, while Kacey Creed finished sixth out of 38 in the 100 butterfly.

Nate MaGill qualified in the 1 meter dives, Joe Rogers in the 200 IM (Buffalo meet) and Dillinger Wilkerson in the 200 IM and 100 freestyle. Trenton Wilson also qualified in the 100 freestyle.

In the 100 freestyle, Chris Lopez swam to a 27th place finish out of 82; Garret Henderson finished 30th in the same event. In the 500 freestyle, Trenton Wilson finished 20th out of 33 participants. Richard Spann had strong showings in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke, finishing 10th and eighth, respectively. Dillinger Wilkerson and Nate MaGill finished 18th and 19th in the 100 breaststroke.

“I was really pleased with how the team performed against the bigger schools,” Warren said. “The qualifying standards are different for 4A. Because the standards are higher, it’s nice for our guys to see that they can perform close to or at those qualifying times. It’s a great confidence-builder heading into conference next weekend.”

With the regular season complete, the Panthers will taper their training a bit this week in preparation for regionals in Riverton on Friday and Saturday.

“The team is definitely hitting their peak for being tired; they’re ready to ease back off a little bit,” Warren said. “We’ll get them some rest so we can get ready for conference this coming weekend. We’re hoping the worst of the sickness has moved on and we can take a healthy team to Riverton.”

Warren said the Panthers are excited to face Lyman, a team they haven’t faced this season and who beat out Powell for state runner-up honors last season.

“It will be interesting to see where we stand against Lyman this year,” she said. “They have a small team, but they have some really fast swimmers. And of course Lander is there, so we’re all pretty excited to see what the outcome will be.”

The Panthers have three swimmers, Austen Layton, Dallin Allred and Wes Patrick, who have yet to qualify for state in any event; this weekend will be their final opportunity.

“With the taper this week, we’re really hoping they will feel rested and be able to get those qualifying times,” Warren said. “They’re the last three we need to get qualified. It would be wonderful to take the full team to state, it would be the first time in many, many years.”

200 Medley Relay

1. Jared Fuller, Dillinger Wilkerson, Kacey Creed and Richard Spann 1:59.73 2. Braden Schiller, Nate MaGill, Chris Lopez and Hudson Wilkerson 2:05.88, 3. Gavin Asay, Bryce Hogen, Ben Cannizzaro and Alex Hanson 2:12.05

200 Freestyle

1. Dillinger Wilkerson 2:11.99, 2. Braden Schiller 2:21.33, 3. Jay Cox 2:29.76, 5. Austen Layton 2:55.25

200 IM

1. Kacey Creed 2:15.38, 2. Richard Spann 2:21.50

50 Freestyle

1. Chris Lopez 27.07, 2. Jared Fuller 28.01, 3. Alex Hanson 28.05, 4. Gavin Asay 28.40, 7. Wes Patrick 30.69, 8. Ben Cannizzaro 31.55, 10. Austen Layton 34.12, 11. Dallin Allred 34.72

1 Meter Six Dives

1. Hudson Wilkerson 207.35, 2. Nate MaGill 188.50, 3. Garret Henderson 161.85, 4. Alex Hanson 149.95, 5. Bryce Hogen 110.25

100 Butterfly

1. Richard Spann 1:04.03, 2. Gavin Asay 1:11.21, 3. Ben Cannizzaro 1:12.51

100 Freestyle

2. Dillinger Wilkerson 57.78, 3. Jared Fuller 1:01.04, 4. Bryce Hogen 1:03.08, 5. Hudson Wilkerson 1.03.22, 6. Braden Schiller 1:03.46, 7. Nate MaGill 1:06.13

500 Freestyle

1. Joe Kuntz 5:54.35, 3. Dallin Allred 8:06.54

200 Freestyle Relay

2. Nate MaGill, Austen Layton, Ben Cannizzaro and Trenton Wilson 2:02.97

100 Backstroke

1. Kacey Creed 59.11, 2. Trenton Wilson 1:15.88, 3. Garret Henderson 1:16.43, 4. Joe Rogers 1:17.99, 6. Wes Patrick 1:36.76

100 Breaststroke

1. Jay Cox 1:18.96, 2. Trenton Wilson 1:20.75, 4. Joe Kuntz 1:23.80, 5. Joe Rogers 1:27.09, 6. Chris Lopez 1:28.88

400 Freestyle Relay

2. Joe Rogers, Dallin Allred, Wes Patrick and Jay Cox 5:05.53

200 Medley Relay

1. Richard Spann, Kacey Creed, Joe Kuntz and Garret Henderson 1:58.87, 3. Joe Rogers, Nate MaGill, Jared Fuller and Ben Cannizzaro 2:09.20, 4. Trenton Wilson, Dillinger Wilkerson, Gavin Asay and Alex Hanson 2:17.43

200 Freestyle

1. Richard Spann 2:05.43, 2. Dillinger Wilkerson 2:18.93, 3. Braden Schiller 2:20.68, 4. Jay Cox 2:28.30, 6. Austen Layton 2:57.87

200 IM

1. Kacey Creed2:23.62, 2. Joe Rogers 2:32.96, 3. Gavin Asay 2:39.22

50 Freestyle

3. Trenton Wilson 26.95, 4. Bryce Hogen 28.12, 5. Jared Fuller 28.37, 6. Ben Cannizzaro 31.28, 7. Wes Patrick 32.47, 8. Dallin Allred 34.80

1 Meter Six Dives

1. Hudson Wilkerson 228.65, 2. Nate MaGill 190.65, 4. Garret Henderson 140.85, 5. Bryce Hogen 123.75

100 Butterfly

2. Joe Kuntz 1:04.42, 3. Gavin Asay 1:12.59, 4. Ben Cannizzaro 1:13.82, 5. Dillinger Wilkerson 1:17.30, 6. Austen Layton 1:36.86

100 Freestyle

1. Garret Henderson 59.07, 2. Trenton Wilson 59.60, 3. Jared Fuller 1:01.28, 4. Braden Schiller 1:02.97, 5. Hudson Wilkerson 1:03.44, 7. Wes Patrick 1:11.44

500 Freestyle

1. Richard Spann 5:57.03, 2. Dallin Allred 7:51.60

200 Freestyle Relay

1. Dillinger Wilkerson, Joe Rogers, Trenton Wilson and Chris Lopez 1:49.62, 2. Bryce Hogen, Jay Cox, Braden Schiller and Hudson Wilkerson 1:52.33, 3. Austen Layton, Wes Patrick, Ben Cannizzaro and Nate MaGill 2:15.47

100 Backstroke

4. Chris Lopez 1:22.49, 5. Nate MaGill 1:22.81

100 Breaststroke

1. Kacey Creed 1:10.53, 2. Joe Rogers 1:19.46, 3. Jay Cox 1:21.63, 4. Joe Kuntz 1:21.73, 6. Chris Lopez 1:39.86

400 Freestyle Relay

1. Richard Spann, Joe Kuntz, Garret Henderson and Kacey Creed 4:04.45, 2. Gavin Asay, Hudson Wilkerson, Braden Schiller and Jared Fuller 4:20.04

200 Medley Relay

8. Richard Spann, Kacey Creed, Joe Kuntz and Garret Henderson 1:54.25

200 Freestyle

8. Kacey Creed 1:59.37, 29. Trenton Wilson 2:09.48, 51. Austen Layton 2:55.25

200 IM

10. Richard Spann 2:16.70, 23. Dillinger Wilkerson 2:30.23

50 Freestyle

24. Hudson Wilkerson 26.31, 32. Joe Rogers 26.87, 39. Jared Fuller 27.70, 44. Braden Schiller 27.84, 79. Wes Patrick 30.87, 81. Ben Cannizzaro 30.55

1 Meter 11 Dives

4. Hudson Wilkerson 368.95, 7. Nate MaGill 313.65, 24. Garret Henderson 249.35, 29. Bryce Hogen 2:11.05

100 Butterfly

6. Kacey Creed 57.94, 29. Joe Kuntz 1:06.28

100 Freestyle

27. Chris Lopez 58.93, 30. Garret Henderson 59.97, 38. Bryce Hogen 1:03.52, 63. Wes Patrick 1:09.20

500 Freestyle

20. Trenton Wilson 5:59.56, 27. Ben Cannizzaro 6:30.08

200 Freestyle Relay

12. Richard Spann, Garret Henderson, Joe Kuntz and Kacey Creed 1:42.08

100 Backstroke

8. Richard Spann 1:01.33, 21. Jared Fuller 1:06.79, 30. Chris Lopez 1:13.66, 33. Joe Rogers 1:15.45

100 Breaststroke

18. Dillinger Wilkerson 1:12.43, 19. Nate MaGill 1:13.16, 30. Gavin Asay 1:18.31, 41. Joe Kuntz 1:21.91

400 Freestyle Relay

11. Joe Rogers, Trenton Wilson, Chris Lopez and Dillinger Wilkerson 4:05.83