Two new challenges presented themselves to a smaller than usual Powell High School girls’ swim and dive team this past weekend, as the Panthers competed in a meter pool for the first time on Friday in Big Piney and had a second meet in two days for the first time in Pinedale on Saturday.

Starting in Big Piney, the team of eight competed in a quad against some new and some familiar faces.

Lynea Christensen had the highest finishes, as she took second in diving with a 130.15 and third in the 400 freestyle with a time of 5 minutes, 41.29.

Meredyth Giltner was the next highest finisher, as she took fourth in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:45.74.

Autumn Weckler and Claire Hultgren added fifth place finishes, as Weckler was fifth in the 100 free (1:28.43) and Hultgren was fifth in the 100 back (1:34.81).

“The meter pool was OK. We talked about it in practice a lot leading up to the meet, so the girls were as mentally prepared as they could be,” coach Bailey Jackson said. “The real issue was with the pool depth. It’s an old pool and it was very shallow. The girls needed to work extra hard on controlling the depth of their starts and turns.”

As a team the Panthers were fourth, finishing with 13 points in a meet only scored to five places. Evanston was third with 28 and Worland was second with 31 as host Sublette County was first with 106.

Down to seven competitors on Saturday, the Panthers competed in the second pool of the Sublette County duo in Pinedale, taking on all of their conference opponents, as well as several 4A teams.

Christensen again led with a pair of third place finishes, first in the 200 free (2:17.4) and again in the diving with a score of 161.15.

The other top 10 finish came from Sophie Erkkila, who took ninth in the 100 breast (1:28.24).

“They did pretty well. A couple of girls got some PRs. A few more hit some process goals during their swims instead of time goals,” Jackson said.

Having low numbers was the main challenge of the weekend, Jackson said, as the Panthers finished ninth as a team with 55 points, as Lander won the meet with 337.

“We took it as a challenge to return to our measures of success we talked about earlier in the year,” Jackson said. “We can’t win any meets with only seven girls, but we can improve and get PRs. This weekend was the first time that mindset was really put to the test … This weekend was a reminder that as we head into conference, success is going to look different than it has in the past.”

The Panthers have two more weeks before they head to Lyman for that conference meet, as they start by heading  to the east to take part in an invitational in Buffalo on Saturday.

“The goal is to get healthy, stay healthy and swim our best,” Jackson said.

BIG PINEY INVITE (Meter pool)

*Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores — 1. Sublette County 106, 2. Worland 31, 3. Evanston 28, 4. Powell 13

200 medley relay — 3. Lynea Christensen, Meredyth Giltner, Autumn Weckler and April Weckler 2:56.48; 4. Lily Paisley, Sophie Erkkila, Claire Hultgren and Michelle Hedges 3:22.73

200 free — 8. Sophie Erkkila 3:26.18, 10. Meredyth Giltner 3:27.05

50 free — 7. April Weckler 35.18, 10. Autumn Weckler 37.85, 12. Claire Hultgren 38.47, 16. Lily Paisley 52.06

1-meter diving (six dives) — 2. Lynea Christensen 130.15

200 free relay — 4. Sophie Erkkila, Lynea Christensen, Claire Hultgren and Autumn Weckler 2:33.7; 6. Meredyth Giltner, Michelle Hedges, Lily Paisley and April Weckler 3:03.98

100 free — 5. Autumn Weckler 1:28.43, 9. Michelle Hedges 1:55.28

400 free — 3. Lynea Christensen 5:41.29*, 10. April Weckler 6:54.41

100 back — 5. Claire Hultgren 1:34.81, 10. Sophie Erkkila 1:52.66, 11. Lily Paisley 2:01.1, 12. Michelle Hedges 2:09.97

100 breast — 4. Meredyth Giltner 1:45.74

PINEDALE INVITE (Yard pool)

Team scores — 1. Lander 337, 2. Jackson 281, 3. Kemmerer 160, 4. Sublette County 140, 5. Rock Springs 121, 6. Lyman 80, 7. Worland 77, 8. Evanston 65, 9. Powell 55

200 medley relay — 7. April Weckler, Sophie Erkkila, Lynea Christensen and Claire Hultgren 2:25.39

200 free — 3. Lynea Christensen 2:17.4*, 35. Michelle Hedges 4:00.1

50 free — 29. Claire Hultgren 33.83, 34. April Weckler 34.43, 43. Lily Paisley 45.24

1-meter diving (six dives) — 3. Lynea Christensen 161.15*

200 free relay — 7. April Weckler, Claire Hultgren, Meredyth Giltner and Lynea Christensen 2:09.63

100 free — 38. Sophie Erkkila 1:23.41, 40. Meredyth Giltner 1:24.08, 46. Michelle Hedges 1:57.25

100 back — 15. Claire Hultgren 1:24.49, 16. April Weckler 1:26.03, 23. Meredyth Giltner 1:38.79, 24. Lily Paisley 1:42.08

100 breast — 9. Sophie Erkkila 1:28.24