It was a young and inexperienced team that took to the pool this season for the Powell High School swimming and diving team, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t competitive.

The Panthers took 15 swimmers, including eight underclassmen, to last weekend’s 3A State Meet in Gillette, placing a respectable fourth out of 12 teams.

“I thought overall, the meet went very well,” said PHS head coach Stephanie Warren. “We were hoping to see a bunch of times drop and best swims, and overall, that’s exactly what we saw.”

“From our beginning swimmers to our most experienced ones, they all for the most part had pretty good time drops and some good performances,” Warren said.

Junior Richard Spann was the team’s lone individual champion, finishing in the top spot in the 100 backstroke with a time of 54.23. He also finished second in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:06.58, earning All-State honors in both. Spann also swam legs in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays, which finished third and sixth, respectively.

“Richard [Spann] had a phenomenal backstroke time in his state championship swim,” Warren said. “He’s worked all season on the little things to help him get his best times. He’s definitely put a lot of work into it, and this was the result.”

Spann said he was nervous leading up to his event, but as the race got closer he was able to get into the mindset needed to win.

“I just kept telling myself, ‘I can win this,’” he said. “I knew the best way to do that was to tackle it head-on and go for it.”

Junior Bryce Hogen placed second in diving with a score of 305.35, earning All-State honors; he also finished third as part of the 200 medley relay and eighth as part of the 200 freestyle relay.

“For his junior year, it was pretty cool to see Bryce [Hogen] be able to accomplish that,” Warren said. “It was nice to have him up there [on the podium]. He was working on harder dives all season to help get him there, and his hard work paid off.”

Hogen said the state meet, his third as a Panther, was roughly what he expected it to be, though placing second was definitely a highlight.

“I thought I performed pretty well, and I thought our team did pretty good,” he said. “We had a lot of young kids on the team, so for us to be able to pull a podium placement and good placements through all of the events was pretty special.”

The 3A State Meet was the last hurrah for three Panther seniors: Trenton Wilson, Joe Rogers and Pedro Teixeira. All three swam admirably for their final competition.

Wilson finished sixth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:39.27, and ninth in the 200 freestyle, with a time of 2:04.42. He also swam a leg of the 200 freestyle relay, finishing eighth.

Battling a nosebleed prior to the 500 free, it looked like Wilson would not be able to compete, with Warren telling meet officials that her swimmer would have to scratch. But with just minutes before the start of the event, coaches were able to staunch the bleeding and get Wilson into the pool: He swam his fastest time of the season.

“He [Wilson] never ceases to amaze us with what he’s capable of doing,” Warren said. “About 30 minutes before the 500, he got a bloody nose that wasn’t stopping. Right as I was about to declare a fault start, they told me they got it stopped. So they packed his nose and he was able to swim. He was a trooper; he did an amazing job.”

As for Wilson, he said the experience was a memorable one, though he thinks he could have done better if not for the pre-race distractions.

“I thought I would have to pull out of it, but it stopped right before,” he said. “The ref told me if I bled in the pool they would pull me out and DQ me from the meet, so I was more focused on not bleeding and less on swimming at that point.”

Joe Rogers was 10th in the 200 freestyle, posting a time of 2:05.74, and 15th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 56.22. He also swam legs in the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams, finishing eighth and sixth, respectively.

“Joe [Rogers] made it into the finals in the 200 freestyle and did well,” Warren said. “He swam really well in the relays as well, swimming some of his best times.”

Teixeira qualified in two events, finishing 20th in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:09.91, and 22nd in the 100 breaststroke, posting a time of 1:17.68.

“Pedro didn’t make it into the finals on day two, but on day one, he was still able to end on a strong note,” Warren said. “His breaststroke time was a little bit faster than his best time, so it was good for him to get that.”

Juniors Jay Cox and Ben Cannizzaro turned in solid showings, setting the stage for what will hopefully be stellar senior seasons for both. Cox finished 11th in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:08.28, and 14th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.37. He also swam legs in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays, placing third and sixth respectively. Battling illness for much of the season, Cox was able to gut through and post solid times.

“I don’t know that Jay [Cox]’s times were quite what he wanted,” Warren said. “He had gotten sick earlier in the season and was fighting sickness for so long, and I don’t think his taper worked quite the way we were hoping. But he still made it into the finals, which was awesome to see.”

Cannizzaro had a pair of 11th-place finishes, posting a time of 1:03.58 in the 100 butterfly and 5:59.40 in the 500 freestyle.

“Ben Cannizzaro had a great meet, for his second year at state making it into the finals in both of his events was awesome for him,” Warren said.

Sophomore Tarren Blackmore made the finals of the 100 butterfly, finishing seventh with a time of 1:01.58. Fellow sophomore Matthew Hobbs unfortunately didn’t make it past the prelims, finishing 14th in the 200 freestyle and 17th in the 100 backstroke.

“Matthew Hobbs swam a couple of different events than what we were originally hoping he was going to swim,” Warren said. “But I know he swam season-best times in both of his events.”

Six freshmen qualified for state this season, with Nate Johnston reaching the finals in both of his individual events. Johnston placed seventh in the 200 IM with a time of 2:16.39, and followed that with an eighth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke, posting a time of 1:07.71. He also swam legs in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays, finishing third and sixth, respectively.

Freshmen Cole Frank and Ben Hawley qualified for diving, with Frank placing 10th with a score of 240.15 and Hawley 14th with a score of 129.90. Francis Rogers made it to day two as part of the 200 freestyle relay team; with teammates Joe Rogers, Wilson and Hogen, they placed eighth in the event. Riley Schiller, the final Panther to qualify for state at the Last Chance Meet the week before, finished 20th in the 500 free, while Josh Wright was right on the cusp of making it to day two in the 500 free and the 100 backstroke, finishing 15th and 13th, respectively.

“Overall, I thought our underclassmen did well,” Warren said. “It’s not uncommon for the freshmen that qualify at state to not quite make it into day two because of where they’re at growth-wise. But Nate [Johnston] made it in to both of his events; he was able to experience that day two swimming and did a really good job.”

“It’s kind of heartbreaking for the guys who didn’t make it to day two, because they worked so hard,” the coach said. “But there’s a lot to look forward to in the future.”

Spann said he thought the freshmen handled the pressures of the state meet well, and is looking forward to seeing how they progress next season.

“All the freshmen got their chances to swim, some made it to the finals,” he said. “I think the upperclassmen were able to pull them all together, get them riled up and cheer for one another. I think they enjoyed the experience.”

3A State Meet Results

1. Lander 286, 2. Rawlins 241, 3. Sublette County 148, 4. Powell 137, 5. Lyman 126, 6. Kemmerer 99, 7. Worland 98, 8. Buffalo 89, 9. Riverton 84, 10. Douglas 28, 11. Cody 21, 12. Newcastle 17

200 Medley Relay

3. Richard Spann, Nate Johnston, Jay Cox, Bryce Hogen 147.42

200 Freestyle

9. Trenton Wilson, 2:04.42, 10. Joe Rogers 2:05.74, 11. Jay Cox 2:08.28, 14. Matthew Hobbs 2:06.89

200 IM

2. Richard Spann 2:06.58, 7. Nate Johnston 2:16.39, 15. Francis Rogers 2:25.53,

1 Mtr Diving

2. Bryce Hogen 305.35, 10. Cole Frank 240.15, 14. Ben Hawley 129.90

100 Butterfly

7. Tarren Blackmore 1:01.58, 11. Ben Cannizzaro 1:03.58, 20. Pedro Teixeira 1:09.91

100 Freestyle

14. Jay Cox 54.37, 15. Joe Rogers 56.22,

500 Freestyle

6. Trenton Wilson 5:39.27, 11. Ben Cannizzaro 5:59.40, 15. Josh Wright 6:07.45, 20. Riley Schiller 6:22.16

200 Freestyle Relay

8. Joe Rogers, Francis Rogers, Trenton Wilson, Bryce Hogen 1:42.36

100 Backstroke

1. Richard Spann 54.23, 13. Josh Wright 1:05.82, 17. Matthew Hobbs 1:07.37

100 Breaststroke

8. Nate Johnston 1:07.71, 16. Bryce Hogen 1:12.91, 20. Francis Rogers 1:16.12, 22. Pedro Teixeira 1:17.68

400 Freestyle Relay

6. Jay Cox, Joe Rogers, Nate Johnston, Richard Spann 3:41.18

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