Powell High School assistant boys swimming coach Jerry Rodriguez summed up his team’s performance in four words.

“Wow, what a weekend,” he said.

The Panther swimmers battled their way to 270 team points, and took second in the five-team 3A West Conference meet Friday and Saturday at the Lander Pool in Lander. Lander Valley came out on top with 405 points, but several Panthers continued to cut time while others claimed conference titles, and PHS also brought home other hardware after an inspiring weekend.

“The overall meet was just really good. It was so important that they swam well on Friday so they could earn their spots Saturday. And they did,” PHS head coach Stephanie Warren said. “And it was so amazing to see them drop more time. I’ve been saying that they’ve been swimming tired, and they’re still swimming tired and they’re still dropping time.”

After Friday’s preliminaries, the improvements started immediately for the Panthers on Saturday. PHS’ 200 medley relay team of Billy Baker, Alex Bjornestad, Seth Fuller and Kacey Creed posted a season-best time of 1:49.27 to finish second behind Lander.

“That was a really good start-off for us,” Warren said of the results of the first event.

PHS’ 400 free relay, comprised of Ben Wetzel, Creed, Josh Riedhammer and Bjornestad, also placed second behind Lander after a time of 3:39.67, but that was only after the Panthers finally took it to the Tigers.

“Relays are always really fun, because you not only get to see how you do, but your teammates, too,” Baker said. “You feel like you’ve accomplished more because you did it with your team.”

What Baker and three of his teammates did Friday was place second in the 200 free relay behind Lander. On Saturday, in the finals, Baker, Riedhammer, Fuller and Wetzel swam four seconds better than their Friday time, posting a 1:35.04 to outlast Lyman (1:37.64) and Lander (1:37.76). It was PHS’ first relay victory over Lander this season.

“It’s definitely a lot of fun. It’s exciting ... you’re tired so you definitely have to put yourself in the right mindset,” said Wetzel who anchored the relay just moments after winning the 500 free. “It was definitely fun to come back and get that victory, especially over Lander.”

Wetzel, last season’s 500 free state champion, won the event Saturday with a time of 5:17.32. He also took home conference champ honors in the 200 free after swimming a 1:53.04, more than seven seconds better than Lander’s Chance Nelson.

Wetzel, a senior, was subsequently named 3A West Conference Swimmer of the Year, and was joined by sophomore Tyson Wages, who earned the Spirit Award. Coach Rodriguez shared 3A West Conference Coach of the Year honors with Kemmerer coach Kami Dietrich.

Baker joined Wetzel as an individual champion after a season-best time of 57.55 in the 100 backstroke.

All-conference honors went to Wetzel, Baker, Fuller (third in the 100 free), Bjornestad (third in the 100 breaststroke) and all three PHS relay teams.

Sophomore Nate MaGill continued his resurgence this season after posting an impressive 338.60 points over 11 dives, good enough for third place and All-Conference honors. MaGill struggled to regain his form earlier this season after he gave up swimming to wrestle last season.

A return to the diving board wasn’t a smooth transition, but MaGill has picked up steam lately. Saturday’s result was evidence of that, as his score was a massive jump up from the 276.60 he posted in his first 11-dive event on Jan. 31.

“I’m extremely shocked,” MaGill said of his progress. “At the beginning of the year, every meet I was closer and closer to qualifying [for state]. But now I don’t have to worry about that, and I’m just improving.

“I was worried that I wouldn’t make it to state this year or even place in conference. I’m just really relieved and ecstatic.”

Braden Schiller highlighted a plethora of Panther swimmers that cut time, as the freshman qualified for state in the 200 free with a time of 2:15.37, up from his previous best of 2:16.82.

PHS’ second-place finish mirrored its two previous conference finishes. Sublette County finished third with 189 points, while Lyman (159) and Kemmerer (154) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Warren said she was happy with the effort and can’t wait to see what her team does at the state meet on Feb. 27-28 in Gillette.

“We just had a great meet. They came to swim and they swam well,” Warren said. “They all did their part to pull together as a team.”

Notes: A small contingent of Panthers are still seconds away from qualifying for state events, and Warren will take those athletes to a special qualifiers meet at Cody High School on Thursday.