It was a dogfight atop the team leaderboard at Saturday’s Gene Dozah Invitational at the Powell Aquatic Center, with just 11 points separating the top three teams.

The Powell High School girls’ swimming and diving team finished third in the nine-team field with 249 points, just 6.5 points behind defending state champion Lander (255.5 points); Buffalo finished in the top spot with 260 points. Cody and Jackson rounded out the top five, with 191.5 and 125 points, respectively.

“While it was disappointing to lose our major home Invite, there were many positives to take away from the Gene Dozah meet,” said PHS head coach Bob Smartt. “Twelve Panthers achieved a total of 19 state qualifying times, a nice improvement from 10 athletes and 15 qualifiers last year at Dozah. On the day, the team had 24 personal best performances at the meet.”

The Lady Panthers were led by diver Emma Karhu, whose event-winning score of 210.05 landed the junior on the Wall of Fame board.

“Emma’s score was a big jump over her previous six-dive best score of 193.45,” Smartt said. “She also showed her versatility by earning swim points for the team in the 50 freestyle.”

Senior Anna Fuller had a pair of top-three finishes on the day, winning silver in the 100 breaststroke (1:17.44) and bronze in the 100 freestyle (59.10). Junior Elizabeth Liggett finished third in two events: the 200 freestyle (2:13.61) and the 500 freestyle (6:08.15). Liggett was joined in the top 10 of the 500 free by Grace Harder in sixth place and Gabby Paterson in ninth.

Freshman Gabby Paterson became the team’s 14th state qualifier, placing ninth in the 500 free with a time of 6:29.59; that was a 16-second improvement on her previous best, Smartt said.

In the 100 butterfly, Addison Moretti, Ashlyn Aguirre and Lucia Harder finished third, fourth and sixth, respectively. Sidney O’Brien was fourth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:08.52, while Lucia Harder finished fourth in the 200 individual medley in a time of 2:34.64.

The 200 freestyle relay team of Lucia Harder, Moretti, Madison Lowery and Liggett finished second with a time of 1:52.33.

Powell will host Worland Thursday in a dual meet at the PAC; on Tuesday, Sept. 24, the team travels to Cody for a dual against the Fillies.

Gene Dozah Invitational  Results

1. Buffalo 260, 2. Lander 255.5, 3. Powell 249, 4. Cody 191.5, 5. Jackson 125, 6. Riverton 83, 7. Douglas 71, 8. Newcastle 63, 9. Worland 61

200 Medley Relay

4. Sidney O’Brien, Anna Fuller, Lucia Harder, Madison Lowery 2:04.71, 10. Maddi Hackenberg, Lauren Lejeune, Kylie Kahl, Natalie McIntosh 2:23.01
200 Freestyle

3. Elizabeth Liggett 2:13.61, 7. Sydney Legler 2:19.87, 9. Grace Harder 2:21.18, 14. Dakota Hansen 2:31.13, 22. Azurdey Burton 2:42.40, 24. Colette Sanders 2:48.88, 33. Katie Beavers 3:25.69

200 IM

4. Lucia Harder 2:34.64, 9. Rachel Kuntz 2:41.50, 12. Sidney O’Brien 2:42.25, 13. Ashlyn Aguirre  2:46.64, 21. Lauren Lejeune 3:03.11

50 Freestyle

6. Madison Lowery 28.14, 10. Emma Karhu 28.94, 11. Emma Mitchell 28.99, 20. Kylie Kahl 31.21, 23. Grace Sapp 31.67, 31. Natalie McIntosh 33.11, 36. KayCee Twitchell 34.94, 43. Jaunita Martinez 40.76, 46. Sarah Miller 42.59

1 Mtr Diving

1. Emma Karhu 210.05, 10. Maddi Hackenberg 105.65, 12. Taycee Walker 95.25

100 Butterfly

3. Addison Moretti 1:11.66, 4. Ashlyn Aguirre  1:11.95, 6. Lucia Harder 1:13.30, 11. Rachel Kuntz 1:14.40

100 Freestyle

3. Anna Fuller 59.10, 9. Madison Lowery 1:03.62, 22. Natalie McIntosh 1:16.87, 35. Hannah Hawley 1:33.09, 36. Jaunita Martinez 1:34.70, 39. Sarah Miller 1:40.63

500 Freestyle

3. Elizabeth Liggett 6:08.15, 6. Grace Harder 6:21.46, 9. Gabby Paterson 6:29.59, 13. Dakota Hansen 6:45.43

200 Freestyle Relay

2. Lucia Harder, Addison Moretti, Madison Lowery, Elizabeth Liggett 1:52.33, 9. Ashlyn  Aguirre, Natalie McIntosh, Emma Karhu, Dakota Hansen 2:03.81,

100 Backstroke

4. Sidney O’Brien 1:08.52, 10. Addison Moretti 1:11.32, 13. Sydney Legler 1:14.61, 16. Kylie Kahl 1:17.72, 19. Grace Sapp 1:18.46, 22. Azurdey Burton 1:21.64, 24. Lauren Lejeune 1:23.98, 26. Maddi Hackenberg 1:27.12, 27. KayCee Twitchell 1:27.85, 35. Katie Beavers 1:39.14, 37. Hannah Hawley 1:50.33

100 Breaststroke

2. Anna Fuller 1:17.44, 9. Gabby Paterson 1:26.10, 1. Emma Mitchell 1:29.18, 17. Colette Sanders 1:35.91

400 Freestyle Relay

4. Addison Moretti, Elizabeth Liggett, Sidney O’Brien, Anna Fuller 4:06.89, 10. Grace Harder, Ashlyn Aguirre, Lauren Lejeune, Gabby Paterson 4:35.14, 19. Azurdey Burton, Katie Beavers, Jaunita Martinez, Grace Sapp 5:35.61