CODY — During Cody High School’s boys swimming Senior Night on Tuesday, the Broncs just wanted to have fun in the Paul Stock Aquatic Center pool.

Powell High School just wanted to relax.

With the Panthers going through their toughest week of practice this week, and swimming its third meet in five days, several PHS swimmers saw Tuesday, an 84-50 dual victory, as a way to regain some strength with another big weekend looming.

“It’s definitely a bit different,” PHS senior and defending Class 3A 500 freestyle state champion Ben Wetzel said. “You come in thinking of this more as, it’s not a practice, but you don’t want to miss a workout. You need to take advantage of the time you have in the pool and still push yourself.”

While some PHS swimmers lost time in some events, several Panthers continued cutting time despite fighting through fatigue that comes naturally with the end of the season.

Sophomore Owen Dent made a huge push forward, trimming a robust 13.33 seconds off his 200 freestyle time to finish second in 2:33.89. Freshman teammate Braden Schiller won in 2:19.18. Wetzel (100 fly) and fellow senior Alex Bjornestad (50 free) cut .10 and .25 seconds of time, respectively. Freshman Gavin Asay dropped 1.5 seconds from his 100 free time while Schiller cut .16 in the same event. Sophomore Joe Kuntz shaved 1.21 seconds off his 500 free time, and junior Josh Riedhammer followed suit, cutting .07 in the same race. Riedhammer also rid himself of .29 seconds in the 50 free.

“Not too bad for a mid week swim meet during one of our hardest training weeks,” PHS assistant coach Jerry Rodriguez said.

The Panthers have been put through the grind by the PHS coaching staff, as tough morning practices have been the norm as of late and added to the fatigue. And, while the experienced prep swimmers have grown accustomed to the wear and tear of the long season, the freshmen are still getting adjusted.

“Middle school swimming was a piece of cake compared to high school,” standout freshman Kacey Creed said. “But you just keep pushing yourself and get rest as you need it, and you get through it.”

Lander Valley Invite

The Panthers swam well Saturday, surviving four other teams to take second at the Lander Valley Invite at the Pool in Lander.

PHS notched 209 points to beat out Cheyenne South (195) for second place. But Lander asserted its dominance with 441 points to take first.

Wetzel was PHS’ lone first-pace finisher at the invite. Wetzel sat out of the 500 free on Friday, and the rest seemed to pay off, as he swam to a win in 5:17.24 in Lander, more than 16 seconds better than runner-up Matthew Kelton or Worland.

In other areas however, PHS head coach Stephanie Warren was pleased as her athletes continued to cut time.

“I was happy with the results,” Warren said. “We continued to swim hard despite fatigue, and I was happy with our performances.”

Kuntz knocked three seconds off his 500 freestyle time, posting a 6:09.90. Schiller and Jared Fuller also made improvements, as Fuller posted a personal-best 1:06.07 in the 100 freestyle, while Schiller earned a best of his own with a 1:06.01 in the event. Freshman Ky Davis also made strides, cutting nearly four seconds from his 100 backstroke with a time of 1:22.64.

Sophomore Nate MaGill, who spent several weeks of the season working toward a state diving qualification, finished fifth in diving Saturday. After he completed 11 dives for 276.60, Warren was left impressed with his overall performance.

“That was a really good score for 11 dives, especially because it can sometimes be difficult to stay consistent with that many dives,” she said.

Riverton Quad

What was scheduled to be a quad meet on Friday turned into a six-team event, but the Panthers seemed unwavered by the change.

The meet was scored as a double dual, and PHS earned victories over four of its five opponents at Riverton High School. The Panthers edged Worland 87-84, thumped Riverton 118-46, blasted Cody 109-57 and snuck past Cheyenne South 89-84. PHS’ nemesis Lander Valley again got the best of the Panthers, defeating them 120-56.

Kuntz added a new event to his collection of state qualifications, swimming to a 1:10.96 in the 100 backstroke. Dent just missed qualifying in the same event, with an emphasis on just missed. Needing a 1:21.00 to qualify, Dent registered a 1:21.53, but Warren remained confident the youngster would soon break through.

“He swam really well, and I know he’s going to crack that ceiling here in the next meet or two,” she said.

Warren stressed that it's normal for swimmers to add time to their events at this point of the season, but she praised her team after several swimmers recorded personal bests Friday.

Freshman Ky Davis dropped nearly 10 seconds off his 200 freestyle time, going from a 2:50.57 to a 2:40.83. Freshman Wesley Patrick, who is new to the sport this season, made improvements in the 100 freestyle, chopping five seconds off his previous best for a 1:16.63. Riedhammer cut a chunk of time off his 500 freestyle time, dropping from a 6:07.18 to a 5:55.22, good for third place.

Next on the Panthers’ calendar is a 4 p.m. dual at Buffalo on Friday. Following that, PHS travels to the Gillette Invite on Saturday at the Campbell County School Aquatic Center. Warren is hopeful the chance for her swimmers to compete in the 3A state meet pool will give them a good feel for the surroundings when state competition begins Feb. 27.

“Gillette is a really important meet. It’s bigger than state, and it’s a mix of 3A and 4A schools ... and it’s a lot of swimmers,” Warren said. “It’s also a chance to swim in the state pool before state, and they’ll be doing so against some very, very fast swimmers.”