A difficult state meet greeted the Panther boys’ swim team last weekend, as they placed sixth at the Class 3A state meet in Gillette. Lander walked away with its 26th straight title on Thursday and Friday, amassing 388 points. Buffalo took second with 211 points, while Powell High School posted 91 points.

“This was probably the toughest competition I have seen in my 25 years of coaching,” Panther head coach Stephanie Warren said.

Despite taking their most qualifiers ever to a state meet — 18 swimmers and divers — PHS only had three competitors vying for the podium on the second day of competition. Warren said that wasn’t because the Panthers performed poorly or were not up to the challenge, but because getting a spot in the consolation final or the championship finals was tougher than it had previously been.

“The kids swam great and they dropped time and they all did a good job but the competition was really stiff fighting for those 12 spots,” Warren said. “They were all shaving off time. Taper was working well but the competition was just tough.”

Of those three finalists, senior Nate Johnston was the lone PHS champion as he took home his third straight 100 breaststroke title in a time of 57.63. Johnston also placed fifth in the 200 IM with a time of 2:02.07.

PHS junior Rui Parker finished fourth in the 100 backstroke in a time of 56.20 and sixth in the 100 fly with a time of 55.34.

The other finals qualifier for the team was sophomore Jon Hawley in diving. He moved his way up on Friday and placed eighth with a final score of 293.65.

“There were 30 divers that qualified for state in 3A and only 13 qualified for 4A,” Warren said.  “We tried to play out our Degree of Difficulty (DD) throughout the competition and Jon [Hawley] played his out perfectly.”

The Panther relay team of Parker, Johnston, sophomore Gabe Rose and senior Francis Rogers placed fourth in the 200 medley relay. Meanwhile, the relay team of Parker, Rogers, senior Kyler Warren and Johnston placed eighth in the 400 free relay and the team of senior Cole Frank, senior Ben Hawley, junior Ashtin Prentiss and Warren placed ninth in the 200 free relay.

The Panthers’ swim season has now officially ended — and they will see a lot of their top talent leave the program, with nine seniors graduating.

“This is a tough year. I saw more tears at the end of the state meet, this was probably the closest group of swimmers we have ever had,” Warren said. “Losing nine seniors is tough and next year is going to be just as tough with seven.”

STATE RESULTS

^ Denotes preliminary mark

Team scores: 1. Lander 388, 2. Buffalo 211, 3. Worland 112, 4. Green River 103, 5. Lyman 99, 6. Powell 91, 7. Riverton 88, 8. Kemmerer 81, 9. Rawlins 68, 10. Cody 63, 11. Sublette County 54, 12. Newcastle 18, 13. Douglas 16

200 medley relay: 4. Rui Parker, Nate Johnston, Gabe Rose and Francis Rogers 1:44.63

200 free: 14. Francis Rogers 2:00.29^, 16. Kobus Diver 2:00.88^, 18. Kyler Warren 2:04.93^, 22. David Polson 2:09.34^

200 IM: 5. Nate Jonston 2:02.07, 15. Gabe Rose 2:21.06^

1 meter diving (11 dives): 8. Jon Hawley 293.65, 16. Ashtin Prentiss 198.10^, 19. Caiden Gerhts 121.85^, 20. Ben Hawley 120.55^, 21. Taggart Shumway 119.55^, 24. Cole Frank 102.75^

100 fly: 6. Rui Parker 55.34, 17. Gabe Rose 1:03.15^, 23. Riley Schiller 1:06.93, 24. Nathan Fuller 1:09.72

100 free: 20. Kyler Warren 56.18^, 23. Tristin Dicks 56.86^, 26. Ben Hawley 57.22^

500 free: 14. Kobus Diver 5:28.09^, 18. Francis Rogers 5:48.76^, 20. David Polson 5:51.74

200 free relay: 9. Cole Frank, Ben Hawley, Ashtin Prentiss and Kyler Warren 1:41.81

100 back: 4. Rui Parker 56.20, 13. Aidan Cannizzaro 1:05.04^

100 breast: 1. Nate Johnston 57.63, 17. Cole Frank 1:09.61^, 20. Cole Fauskee 1:11.29^

400 free relay: 8. Rui Parker, Nate Johnston, Francis Rogers and Kyler Warren 3:37.69