Swimming in their home pool paid off for the Powell Panthers, as the hosts finished third in a home quad while adding one new qualifier for the state meet.

That new qualifier came in the form of Brooke Brown, who finished third in the 100 butterfly in a time of 1 minute, 12.7 seconds.

“It was wonderful to see Brooke earn her state qualification time in the 100 butterfly,” coach Bob Smartt said. “The week before at the Buffalo meet she was 1/10 of a second off the standard. She left absolutely no doubt at our home meet blasting the qualification time by 3.6 seconds.”

Brown was also close to qualifying for the 100 backstroke, finishing sixth with a time of 1:15.65, just .05 seconds away from qualifying in that event.

“Brooke was our most improved athlete last year and she’s continued to work very hard in practice, which has enabled her to swim so well in competition,” Smartt said.

In the home quad the Panthers had one event winner, as Kaitlin Diver took the top spot in the 200 IM in 2:27.2 and the 100 fly in 1:04.96.

Patricia Christensen added a pair of second place finishes, taking second in the 200 free in 2:10.13 and the 100 back in 1:06.59.

Additional top eight finishes included Tempie Day, who took third in the 500 free (6:49.11); Lynea Christensen took fourth in the 200 free (2:19.48) and fifth in diving (170.25); Sophie Erkkila placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:32.19); Daisy Carpenter took seventh in the 100 free (1:07.28); Autumn Weckler placed seventh in the 500 free (8:10.92); Meredyth Giltner was seventh in the 100 breast (1:41.49); Claire Hultgren was eighth in the 100 free (1:11.14) and Leah Sockey was eighth in the 500 free (8:34.83).

“This week was a season high for us with 18 personal bests,” Smartt said. “We have a fast pool and the athletes usually respond well to swimming at home. They’re more comfortable with the starting blocks and the turns at our home pool. Also, long bus trips can be tiresome, so it’s always nice to compete at home.”

Powell had two relay teams also place second, as the team of Carpenter, Patricia Christensen, Diver and Brown took second in the 200 medley relay (2:10.95) and the team of the Christensen sisters, Diver and Carpenter took second in the 400 free relay (4:13.49).

Powell was third as a team in points with 235 just ahead of Worland with 223, while Buffalo ran away with the team title with 355 and Cody was second with 291.

The Panthers will have two more chances to add qualifiers to their state team, the Absaraka Conference meet this weekend at home as well as the Last Chance Qualifier in Cody next Tuesday, Oct. 28.

The conference meet this weekend is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. start on Friday before gearing back up for finals at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. Powell will be welcoming in Buffalo, Cody, Worland, Douglas and Newcastle for the meet.

“Buffalo should be a big favorite to win our conference meet, Cody will be the second seed,” Smartt said. “Douglas comes into the meet as the third seed, we would like to show well against Douglas.”

HOME QUAD

*Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores — 1. Buffalo 355, 2. Cody 291, 3. Powell 235, 4. Worland 223

200 medley relay — 2. Daisy Carpenter, Patricia Christensen, Kaitlin Diver and Brooke Brown 2:10.95; 8. April Weckler, Lilly Pittman, Autumn Weckler and Meredyth Giltner 2:47.87

200 free — 2. Patricia Christensen 2:10.13*, 4. Lynea Christensen 2:19.48*, 9. Claire Hultgren 2:38.81, 11. Leah Sockey 3:17.07

200 IM — 1. Kaitlin Diver 2:27.2*

50 free — 9. Daisy Carpenter 31.11, 13. April Weckler 34.25, 15. Autumn Weckler 36.83

1-meter diving (six dives) — 5. Lynea Christensen 170.25*

100 fly — 1. Kaitlin Diver 1:04.96*, 3. Brooke Brown 1:12.7*, 9. Baylee Kraft 1:26.71

100 free — 7. Daisy Carpenter 1:07.28, 8. Claire Hultgren 1:11.14, 10. Lilly Pittman 1:11.88, 16. Sophie Erkkila 1:24.34, 17. Meredyth Giltner 1:27.78

500 free — 3. Tempie Day 6:49.11, 7. Autumn Weckler 8:10.92, 8. Leah Sockey 8:34.83

100 back — 2. Patricia Christensen 1:06.59*, 6. Brooke Brown 1:15.65, 9. Baylee Kraft 1:21.05, 10. Lilly Pittman 1:26.71

100 breast — 6. Sophie Erkkila 1:32.19, 7. Meredyth Giltner 1:41.49, 9. April Weckler 1:46.57

400 free relay — 2. Kaitlin Diver, Lynea Christensen, Patricia Christensen and Daisy Carpenter 4:13.49; 6. Baylee Kraft, Claire Hultgren, Brooke Brown and Tempie Day 5:10.25; 7. Lilly Pittman, Leah Sockey, April Weckler and Meredyth Giltner 5:50.12