Sophomore Nate MaGill earns state berth in diving

Nate MaGill was fed up with the near misses.

Six days after falling .60 points short of qualifying for the Class 3A state meet in diving, the sophomore broke through the ceiling Friday in the Panthers’ home dual against Worland at the Powell Aquatic Center.

MaGill’s 157.65 points (145 were needed to qualify) and subsequent first-place finish in his event was just one highlight during PHS’ 102-78 victory over the Warriors. MaGill is now one of 12 Panthers in possession of a state berth when 3A swimmers travel to Gillette for state competition on Feb. 27-28.

For MaGill, who had previously qualified in the 100 breaststroke, adding his specialization to his belt was inportant.

“I wanted it pretty bad,” said MaGill, who swam in junior high but gave up the sport in favor of wrestling as a freshman last winter. “I’ve been working so hard in practice, trying to get closer to qualifying, and now it’s such a relief.

“I can stop worrying about qualifying now and instead work toward getting as high up on that state podium as possible.”

PHS head coach Stephanie Warren added about MaGill: “Now that Nate is qualified, I am looking forward to watching him continue to increase his diving score as we start preparing for our 11 dive meets coming up. He has been learning something new every week since he started.”

MaGill was the Panthers’ lone new state qualifier of the day, but freshman Braden Schiller added the 100 backstroke to his state resume by shedding three seconds off his previous season high time. Several other Panthers made strides by cutting time off their own events while also setting season- and personal-best times.

In the 200 free, sophomore Joe Kuntz’s time of 2:17.53 was more than two seconds better than his best, and Schiller dropped six seconds in the same events. In the 50 free, Kuntz (27.26), sophomore Owen Dent (28.39), and freshmen Jared Fuller (29.90) and Wes Patrick (36.26) all swam personal bests.

Junior Josh Riedhammer (1:07.79) cut more than three seconds in the 100 fly, while Dent (1:05.54) and Patrick (1:23.68) improved in the 100 free.

Last season’s 500 freestyle state champion, senior Ben Wetzel, took first in the event Friday with a season-best swim of 5:16.92, and his teammates Fuller (6:33.38) and freshman Ky Davis (7:26.31) also dropped time. In the 100 backstroke, junior Seth Fuller improved by 1.64 seconds with a time of 1:01.98 to take first place. In the 100 breaststroke, freshman Kacey Creed’s time of 1:14.24 was good for first place and was also a personal best.

To wrap up the day of bests, PHS’ 400 free relay team of Alex Bjornestad, Billy Baker, Wetzel and Seth Fuller claimed second by just .25 seconds with a season-best time of 3:49.88. The performance was just four seconds slower than last year’s season-best time at the state meet.

“We continue to see improvements and time drops in all swimmers,” Warren added. “Each meet we get one swimmer a littler closer to that qualifying time and hope to still pick up a couple of qualifiers for state.”

The Panthers will host Cody at 5 p.m. Friday at the Powell Aquatic Center before hitting the road for the Worland Invite at 10 a.m. Saturday.