The Powell High School swim and dive team improved in many ways by the end of the year, as the Panthers finished eighth at the 3A State Championships in Gillette on Thursday and Friday.

The Panthers were led by Autumn Kleinfeldt in diving, as she finished just one point out of second place as she finished third with a score of 322.75.

“She’s a very naturally gifted athlete. Pair that with Heather’s coaching in diving, and I think we can expect really great things from her next year,” coach Bailey Jackson said.

She also added a ‘B’ final placement in the 50 free, as she took 11th with a time of 28.33 seconds.

Lynea Christensen was the next highest placer for the Panthers, as she took sixth in diving with a score of 281.8, and also made it to the ‘A’ final in the 100 butterfly, finishing seventh with a time of 1:08.5.

“Since she qualified in everything, we had a wide range of options. Ultimately we went with the fly because we thought that gave her the best chance to make finals and it worked,” Jackson said. “It also means that the balance we found between swimming and diving worked. It’s always a concern when a kid does both, just because they’re not getting the same amount of training in either diving or swimming as the others who only do one. But Lynea proved that it can be done.”

Two other Panthers made it to the ‘B’ finals, as Tempie Day finished 11th in the 500 free (6:29.91) and Stella Leighton placed 13th in the 100 fly (1:15.12). Two other competitors came up just short of making it to ‘B’ finals, as Meredyth Giltner was 17th in the 100 breaststroke (1:23.1) and Sophie Erkkila was one place behind in the same event with a time of 1:25.16.

The highest placing Panther relay team was eighth in both the 200 medley and the 200 free relays.

That experience could prove to be invaluable to the Panthers moving forward, as they took one senior with them to the state meet with hopes of improving even more heading into next year.

“They learned that they can do it. They learned it’s possible and that state may seem big and scary, but it’s just another meet at the end of the day,” Jackson said. “They learned they are more than capable of competing at the state level. Even the girls who didn’t make ‘B’ finals were first and second alternate. Swimming finals at state next year is a very achievable goal for all of them.”

As a team the Panthers finished eighth in a closely contested field with 115 points, and were only 20 behind sixth placed Lyman.

Lander claimed the team title once again by 130 points.

“Tenth through sixth places are much closer than we initially thought. Lyman got sixth, we got eighth, but with a difference of only 20 points. That’s one swimmer,” Jackson said. “We’re graduating one senior from the state team. Everyone else is coming back. We add in a few new qualifiers and get a few freshmen to join, and our results next year could change drastically.”

3A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

P denotes preliminary race time, finals to 16 places

Team scores — 1. Lander 509, 2. Buffalo 379, 3. Kemmerer 280, 4. Douglas 230, 5. Sublette County 178, 6. Lyman 135, 7. Rawlins 127, 8. Powell 115, 9. Worland 103, 10. Newcastle 86

200 medley relay — 8. April Weckler, Lynea Christensen, Stella Leighton and Autumn Kleinfeldt 2:10.76

50 free — 11. Autumn Kleinfeldt 28.33

1-meter diving (11 dives) — 3. Autumn Kleinfeldt 322.75, 6. Lynea Christensen 281.8

200 free relay — 8. Autumn Kleinfeldt, Lilly Pittman, April Weckler and Claire Hultgren 1:57.32

100 fly — 7. Lynea Christensen 1:08.5, 13. Stella Leighton 1:15.12

500 free — 11. Tempie Day 6:29.91

100 breast — 17. Meredyth Giltner 1:23.1p, 18. Sophie Erkkila 1:25.16p

400 free relay — 10. April Weckler, Lilly Pittman, Claire Hultgren and Lynea Christensen 4:23.06