A pair of meets on Friday and Saturday saw the Powell High School boys’ swim and dive team take third at the Worland Pre-Invite and the Worland Invitational on Saturday, maintaining strong times while facing new competition on the second day of action.

“For where we’re at in the season, they’re doing very well,” coach Stephanie Warren said. “They’re doing exactly what we expect them to do right now. Any time they can shave off a little bit of time is exciting, especially considering we haven’t gone into taper or anything yet.”

At the pre-invite on Friday the Panthers had one individual winner, as Will Fuller took the top spot in the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.35 seconds.

Hugh Carpenter was the next highest placer, taking second in the 500 free with a time of 5:37.35.

Beyond those two, the Panthers had a number of third place finishes, as Gabe Buchholz placed third in the 200 IM (2:27.21); Carpenter took third in the 50 free (23.9); Trystan Preator took third in the 100 fly (1:03.37); and Tyler Kruger placed third in the 100 free (57.91) and the 100 back (1:08.57).

Overall the Panthers took third as a team with 341 points, as a decent spread of points separated each team as Riverton ran away with the team crown with 540 ahead of Cody with 409 while Powell was ahead of Worland with 202 and Newcastle was fifth with 121.

On Saturday the Panthers returned to Worland to take part in an invitational, adding Jackson and Rawlins to the mix in addition to the same teams from Friday.

The Panthers once again had one individual winner, as Carpenter took the top spot in the 100 free (52.87) and was the only Panther to claim another top three spot as he was second in the 200 free (2:01.18) as well.

Additional top five finishes included Kruger who took fourth in the 100 fly (1:05.21) and fifth in the 100 back (1:08.09); Fuller was fifth in the 100 fly (1:06.16) while Hunter Taylor was fifth in the 100 breast (1:16.73).

Powell again finished third as a team with 300 points, while Riverton was first with 499.5 and Cody was second with 372. 

Rawlins placed fourth with 252.5, Worland was fifth with 199, Jackson was sixth with 191 and Newcastle was seventh with 95 points.

Over both days the Panthers added several new qualifying marks for swimmers, as Buchholz added the 200 IM on Friday, Fuller added the 200 free on Friday, Kruger added the 100 free on Friday and the 100 back on Saturday while Preator added the 200 free on Friday.

The Panthers return home for the final time this week, hosting a meet on Friday which will serve as the team’s senior night at 5 p.m. in a triangular with Worland and Cody.

“They’re always very excited for that meet, any time they get to swim at home they really enjoy it,” Warren said. “They always really seem to put their best efforts out when they can swim at home.”

Powell then heads to Lander for an important meet on Saturday where the Panthers will likely see strong competition, as Warren is hopeful they will see new teams at least once before conference and state.

“We haven’t seen Douglas at all this year yet, and Kemmerer, so some of the teams that we will meet up with at state, it’s always kind of nice to see them at least once before we go to state,” Warren said. “I’m hoping we’ll get that opportunity.”

WORLAND PRE-INVITE

*Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores — 1. Riverton 540, 2. Cody 409, 3. Powell 341, 4. Worland 202, 5. Newcastle 121

200 medley relay — 6. Kooper Arends, Ethan Haslem, Sam Williams and Dayton Lawrence 2:17.88

200 free — 4. Trystan Preator 2:07.4*, 5. Will Fuller 2:07.72*

200 IM — 3. Gabe Buchholz 2:27.21*

50 free — 3. Hugh Carpenter 23.9*, 9. Hunter Taylor 27.49, 13. Gabe Leighton 29.27, 14. Sam Williams 29.53

1-meter diving (six dives) — 6. Dayton Lawrence 140.4, 8. Sam Williams 113.9

100 fly — 3. Trystan Preator 1:03.37*, 8. Gabe Buchholz 1:10.38, 9. Hunter Taylor 1:10.68

100 free — 1. Will Fuller 55.35*, 3. Tyler Kruger 57.91*, 10. Dayton Lawrence 1:08.72, 11. Gabe Leighton 1:09.15, 14. Ethan Haslem 1:19.44

500 free — 2. Hugh Carpenter 5:37.35*

200 free relay — 3. Trystan Preator, Hunter Taylor, Sam Williams and Will Fuller 1:44.77

100 back — 3. Tyler Kruger 1:08.57*, 6. Kooper Arends 1:09.82

100 breast — 10. Ethan Haslem 1:30.33

400 free relay — 2. Will Fuller, Gabe Buchholz, Trystan Preator and Hugh Carpenter 3:46.93; 7. Dayton Lawrence, Gabe Leighton, Ethan Haslem and Tyler Kruger 4:48.46

WORLAND INVITE

Team scores — 1. Riverton 499.5, 2. Cody 372, 3. Powell 300, 4. Rawlins 252.5, 5. Worland 199, 6. Jackson 191, 7. Newcastle 95

200 medley relay — 6. Gabe Buchholz, Hunter Taylor, Tyler Kruger and Hugh Carpenter 2:01.92

200 free — 2. Hugh Carpenter 2:01.18*

200 IM — 6. Will Fuller 2:20.84*, 12. Trystan Preator 2:31.42

50 free — 7. Gabe Buchholz 26.4, T9. Hunter Taylor 27.03, 13. Kooper Arends 28.46, 20. Ethan Haslem 33.31

1-meter diving (six dives) — 6. Dayton Lawrence 146.3, 9. Sam Williams 113.3

100 fly — 4. Tyler Kruger 1:05.21*, 5. Will Fuller 1:06.16*, 10. Gabe Leighton 1:26.27

100 free — 1. Hugh Carpenter 52.87*, 9. Trystan Preator 59.51, 17. Dayton Lawrence 1:07.9, 19. Ethan Haslem 1:18.76

500 free — 9. Gabe Buchholz 6:08.91, 11. Sam Williams 6:36.54

200 free relay — 3. Hugh Carpenter, Hunter Taylor, Trystan Preator and Will Fuller 1:41.14; 10. Dayton Lawrence, Ethan Haslem, Gabe Leighton and Sam Williams 2:04.23

100 back — 5. Tyler Kruger 1:08.09*, 6. Kooper Arends 1:10.28

100 breast — 5. Hunter Taylor 1:16.73, 12. Gabe Leighton 1:35.23

400 free relay — 3. Will Fuller, Gabe Buchholz, Tyler Kruger and Trystan Preator 3:57.18; 9. Dayton Lawrence, Gabe Leighton, Kooper Arends and Sam Williams 4:38.34