Six athletes qualified for the state championships in the first weekend of action for the Powell Panther swim and dive team, as the Panthers competed well at home Friday and at a pentathlon in Cody on Saturday.

POWELL QUAD

Starting out the season on Friday the Panthers welcomed Cody, Newcastle and Worland to the Powell Aquatic Center.

Powell had one winner at the meet, as Will Fuller had a strong start to his junior year by winning the 100 back in 1 minute, 3.59 seconds, and also placed second in the 50 free with a 24.88 to qualify in both events.

Two other Panthers finished runner-up, as Tyler Kruger finished second in the 100 fly with a 1:04.56 and Taggart Shumway finished second with a 194.05 in diving.

Powell had two more qualifiers, both in the 100 fly, as Conner Mayes finished fourth (1:07.77) and Trystan Preator finished fifth (1:08.05).

Mayes also earned a qualifying time in the 200 IM after finishing fourth in 2:30.53.

“It’s a really great way to start off our season,” coach Stephanie Warren said. “It’s really good to see them step up and to come out and work hard that first weekend. That motivates a lot of the other kids. They’re like, ‘oh man, they’re going to state, I want to go too.’ So it will help them to work harder in practice.”

Powell also got top five finishes from Nelson Kohlbus, who finished fourth in the 200 free (2:11.26) and the 500 free (6:23.31); Gabe Buchholtz placed fourth in the 100 back (1:17.87) and Sam Williams placed fifth in the 100 free (1:01.31).

The Panthers placed second with 112 points. Cody ran away in first with 198 points, Newcastle was third with 91 points and Worland finished with 57.

TERRY BARTLETT PENTATHLON

Making the short trip to Cody on Saturday the Panthers took part in the Terry Bartlett Pentathlon, with athletes competing in the 100 fly, 100 back, 50 free, 100 breast and 100 free.

“On Saturday it was kind of like a mini conference for us,” Warren said. “It was really neat to see where everyone’s actually starting now, because then we’ll see them all again at conference and we can just see how everyone’s growing.”

Kohlbus became the sixth Panther to earn a qualifying mark, racing his way to qualifying times in the 50 free (25.73) to finish 15th and the 100 free (55.63) to finish eighth.

The highest pentathlon placer was Fuller in 16th with an overall time of 4:58.94, with Kohlbus close behind in 17th with a 5:02.54.

Shumway had another top finish, improving on his score from Friday with a 198.85 but finished third in diving.

“He picked up right where he left off,” Warren said. “He’s had a great two weeks of practice leading into a great performance. It’s good for him too because he’s like, ‘man, I can be in the 200’s quite frequently.’ So he’s excited about what’s to come.”

There were no team scores kept at the event.

RIVERTON WEEKEND

In the second and final weekend of the first semester the Panthers will head down to Fremont County, taking part in an invitational in Riverton.

Warren said the Panthers may also be heading down for a dual on Friday to fill in for Worland against the Wolverines, before the Saturday invitational.

After the strong first weekend, Warren said she is looking forward to the Panthers getting in the pool again before they head into winter break.

“I think where we’re at right now is a pretty good place to be,” Warren said. “Super excited to see what all we have to work with … We’re just going to keep on keeping on and just keep looking forward to the opportunities we have to see these kids improve.”

POWELL QUAD

* Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores — 1. Cody 198, 2. Powell 112, 3. Newcastle 91, 4. Worland 57

200 medley relay — 3. Will Fuller, Conner Mayes, Trystan Preator and Taggart Shumway 1:59.86; 5. Gabe Buchholtz, Jacob Gardner, Tyler Kruger and Sam Williams 2:14.68

200 free — 4. Nelson Kohlbus 2:11.26, 6. Trystan Preator 2:20.81

200 IM — 4. Conner Mayes 2:30.53*, 8. Jacob Gardner 3:02.22

50 free — 2. Will Fuller 24.88*, 5. Tyler Kruger 27.19, 7. Taggart Shumway 27.48, 10. Sam Williams 28.78, 15. Dayton Lawrence 33.54

1-meter diving (six dives) — 2. Taggart Shumway 194.05*, 8. Dayton Lawrence 83.8

100 fly — 2. Tyler Kruger 1:04.56*, 4. Conner Mayes 1:07.77*, 5. Trystan Preator 1:08.05*

100 free — 5. Sam Williams 1:01.31, 7. Gabe Buchholz 1:01.76, 11. Onyx Miller 1:12.86

500 free — 4. Nelson Kohlbus 6:23.31

200 free relay — 3. Conner Mayes, Taggart Shumway, Trystan Preator and Gabe Buchholtz 1:51.72; 5. Onyx Miller, Jacob Gardner, Dayton Lawrence and Nelson Kohlbus 2:03.65

100 back — 1. Will Fuller 1:03.59*, 4. Gabe Buchholtz 1:17.87

100 breast — 10. Onyx Miller 1:40.15, 11. Jacob Gardner 1:40.6

400 free relay — 3. Tyler Kruger, Nelson Kohlbus, Sam Williams and Will Fuller 4:09.69

TERRY BARTLETT PENTATHLON

No team scores were kept

JV 50 fly — 9. Jacob Gardner 37.91

100 fly — 16. Trystan Preator 1:08.88, 17. Conner Mayes 1:09.2, 21. Will Fuller 1:11.03, 24. Nelson Kohlbus 1:11.36, 32. Gabe Buchholz 1:17.58, 35. Sam Williams 1:21.18

JV 50 back — 11. Jacob Gardner 41.2

100 back — 12. Will Fuller 1:06.58*, 16. Nelson Kohlbus 1:08.94, 28. Conner Mayes 1:14.7, 30. Gabe Buchholtz 1:15.91, 32. Trystan Preator 1:17.01, 39. Sam Williams 1:23.1

JV 50 free — 11. Jacob Gardner 31.84

50 free — 15. Nelson Kohlbus 25.73*, 16. Will Fuller 25.86*, T23. Taggart Shumway 26.74, 25. Conner Mayes 26.83, 33. Trystan Preator 28.24, 37. Sam Williams 28.95, T40. Gabe Buchholtz 29.21, 44. Dayton Lawrence 31.76

1-meter diving (six dives) — 3. Taggart Shumway 198.85*, 9. Dayton Lawrence 69.55

JV 50 breast — 12. Jacob Gardner 44.65

100 breast — 18. Will Fuller 1:16.86, 24. Nelson Kohlbus 1:20.88, 27. Conner Mayes 1:22.28, 33. Gabe Buchholtz 1:26.66, 36. Trystan Preator 1:30.21, 37. Sam Williams 1:31.83

JV 100 free — 12. Jacob Gardner 1:15.77

100 free — 8. Nelson Kohlbus 55.63*, 18. Will Fuller 58.61, 22. Conner Mayes 59.45, 28. Taggart Shumway 1:02.66, 29. Trystan Preator 1:03.18, 32. Gabe Buchholtz 1:04.02, 34. Sam Williams 1:04.4, 46. Dayton Lawrence 1:19.02