One last opportunity to qualify for the state meet paid off for sophomore Dayton Lawrence, as he reached the benchmark in diving in Cody on Feb. 11 at the Terry Bartlett Last Chance meet, the Powell Panther swim and dive team’s final competition before the state meet.

Lawrence earned a qualifying mark in the 1-meter diving with a score of 167.45 over his six attempts.

“It was really exciting to see him be able to qualify. It just needed to all come together,” coach Stephanie Warren said. “He was struggling to get it all together one time. It was nice to see him with the Cody kids again, they just kind of relaxed and had a good time. It was a good thing for him.”

Lawrence qualifying also helps the Panthers at the state meet, Warren said, as it means they will have alternates in relays.

Also at the last chance meet the Panthers had three winners, as Hugh Carpenter won the 100 fly in 59.65 seconds, Will Fuller won the 100 free in 55.22 and Gabe Buchholtz won the 500 free in 6:20.52.

The meet was not scored.

Following the meet the Panthers have been tapering and preparing for the state meet starting Thursday afternoon in Gillette.

“Tapering has been going well,” Warren said. “I think we are seeing an increase in energy in the boys which is always a good sign, meaning that they are getting some rest and that the taper workout should be working.”

Heading to the state meet the two favorites for the top spots are Lander and Buffalo with Cody closely behind, as Warren believes those are the three most likely to end up with trophies at state.

That means the Panthers will have their attention mostly focused on individual times and relays as they try to make a splash at state.

“I think we’re just gonna really be focusing on individual times and relays,” Warren said. “I think Lander, Cody and Buffalo are going to be kind of your trophy teams this year. There might be a couple other ones in there that we haven’t seen too much of, but we’re just going to really be focusing on our team itself and individual improvements.”

She said that this will be the final time the Panthers are able to compete in this current pool in Gillette before its new one opens, and that the Panthers typically enjoy their best performances in this pool regardless of what meet they are competing at.

The state meet is set to start at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday and conclude on Friday morning.

TERRY BARTLETT LAST CHANCE

* Denotes state qualifying mark

200 free — 2. Will Fuller 2:07.84

200 IM — 2. Hugh Carpenter 2:19.34*, 3. Sam Williams 2:34.14

50 free — 7. Gabe Buchholtz 26.79, 12. Tyler Kruger 27.25, 13. Hunter Taylor 28.14, 15. Dayton Lawrence 31.47, 18. Onyx Miller 32.61, 19. Jim Black 34.59

1-meter diving (six dives) — 2. Taggart Shumway 218.7*, 6. Dayton Lawrence 167.45*

100 fly — 1. Hugh Carpenter 59.65*, 4. Sam Williams 1:12.41

100 free — 1. Will Fuller 55.22*, 3. Conner Mayes 56.31*, 8. Jacob Gardner 1:09.72, 10. Jim Black 1:18.1

500 free — 1. Gabe Buchholtz 6:20.52, 3. Hunter Taylor 6:40.08, 4. Taggart Shumway 7:05.66

100 back — 2. Trystan Preator 1:12.65, 3. Onyx Miller 1:31.32

100 breast — 2. Conner Mayes 1:16.38, 3. Tyler Kruger 1:20.16, 4. Trystan Preator 1:23.02, 5. Jacob Gardner 1:29.81