A busy two-week stretch for the Panther swim team was capped by a second-place finish at a quad in Buffalo and a No. 11 placing at the Gillette Invitational. The Powell High School squad will now prepare to make its way to Douglas for the 3A North Conference meet on Friday and Saturday.

BUFFALO QUAD

The weekend started in Buffalo on Friday for the Panthers, as they finished as the runners up with a score of 313 points. They came in ahead of Cody and Riverton but behind hosts Buffalo, who posted 374 points.

The only event winner for the Panthers was senior Nate Johnston, who placed first in the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.40.

Other top finishes included Johnston taking third in the 100 free with a 53.77, senior Cole Frank third in diving with a score of 307.05 and junior Rui Parker claiming third in the 100 breast with a 1:08.54.

GILLETTE INVITE

On Saturday, the Panthers headed to a meet featuring 10 teams from 4A as well as top 3A competitors Lander, Buffalo and Green River, who Powell saw for the first time all season.

The Panthers went on to place 11th out of 17 overall teams with 139 points. However, PHS finished only behind Lander, Buffalo and Green River among 3A squads.

With the meet featuring top competition around the state, top 10 finishes were difficult for the Panthers to come by.

Johnston placed seventh in the 200 free with a time of 1:54.18 and ninth in the 500 free with a time of 5:21.49. Parker was the only other top finisher for the Panthers, taking seventh in the 100 fly with a time of 58.17.

Powell was unable to score in the diving competition, as Gillette started the 11 dives the day prior, while the Panthers, Buffalo and Riverton were in the quad.

“They started the 11 dives on Friday night and finished them on Saturday, but it sucked because of that we were unable to score any points in diving for the team,” PHS head coach Stephanie Warren said.

The Panthers were able to get needed experience on the diving board, however, as Gillette held an exhibition competition at the end of the invite; Frank finished third in the six dives with a score of 160.70.

Despite not adding any new qualifiers, senior Kyler Warren added new qualifying times over the two days in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free. That brought his total to four qualifying times. Parker also added qualifying times in the 500 free and the 100 breast, completing his qualifications for every event at the state meet.

CONFERENCE MEET

The season is quickly coming to a close for the Panthers as they will head back on the road this weekend to take part in the 3A North Conference meet for the first time ever.

Before this season the Panthers competed in the western conference, which featured the likes of Lander, Green River and Lyman.

Powell will now compete in the North Region against Buffalo, Newcastle, Douglas, Worland and Cody.

With some athletes already beginning their taper, Warren hopes the Panthers will be able to add some final qualifiers either this weekend or at a last chance meet in Cody on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

“We have Aidan [Cannizzaro] who is close in the 100 back and Tristin [Dicks] is close in several events,” Warren said.

Going into conference, the Powell coach expects a difficult meet as they will match up again with Buffalo — which is seen as one of the top teams in 3A — along with Worland, who has gone back and forth with the Panthers all season.

The Panthers will then begin to taper their state qualifiers as they prepare for the state meet which is back in Gillette on Feb. 17-19. The Powell swimmers will look to improve on their sixth place finish a year ago.

BUFFALO QUAD

* Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores: 1. Buffalo 374, 2. Powell 313, 3. Riverton 233, 4. Cody 178

200 medley relay: 2. Rui Parker, Nate Johnston, Gabe Rose and Francis Rogers 1:49.67, 4. Riley Schiller, Cole Fauskee, Aidan Cannizzaro and Kyler Warren 2:03.67

200 free: 7. Francis Rogers 2:12.45, 9. Nathan Fuller 2:37.62

200 IM: 1. Nate Johnston 2:08.40*, 6. Riley Schiller 2:40.54

50 free: 5. Kyler Warren 25.73*, 6. Francis Rogers 25.97, 9. Cole Fauskee 26.34, 10. Gabe Rose 26.56, 11. Tristin Dicks 26.62, 14. Aidan Cannizzaro 27.34, 18. Taggart Shumway 29.96

1-meter diving (11 dives): 3. Cole Frank 307.05*, 4. Caiden Gerhts 255.35*, 5. Taggart Shumway 248.85, 6. Justin Hobbs 231.90

100 fly: 4. Gabe Rose 1:04.00*, 5. Riley Schiller 1:12.27, 7. David Polson 1:15.86, 9. Lukas Legler 1:22.99, 10. Eremon Brinkerhoff 2:02.60

100 free: 3. Nate Johnston 53.77*, 8. Caiden Gerhts 1:02.79, 13. Nathan Fuller 1:09.86, 15. Connor Mayes 1:10.78, 16. Caden Sherman 1:19.04, 18. Eremon Brinkerhoff 1:54.08

500 free: 4. Rui Parker 5:47.23*, 5. Kobus Diver 5:50.59*

200 free relay: 4. Gabe Rose, Kyler Warren, Cole Fauskee and Kobus Diver 1:50.49, 6. Aidan Cannizzaro, Tristin Dicks, Caiden Gerhts and Cole Frank 1:51.61, 9. Lukas Legler, David Polson, Taggart Shumway and Nathan Fuller 2:04.41, 10. Caden Sherman, Eremon Brinkerhoff, Justin Hobbs and Connor Mayes 2:28.22

100 back: 4. Aidan Cannizzaro 1:08.42, 5. 5. Cole Fauskee 1:10.45, 10. Connor Mayes 1:22.63, 11. Lukas Legler 1:24.10, 12. Justin Hobbs 1:26.09

100 breast: 3. Rui Parker 1:08.54*, 4. Cole Frank 1:14.18*, 6. Kobus Diver 1:16.47, 8. Kyler Warren 1:18.11, 10. Tristin Dicks 1:20.79, 12. Caden Sherman 1:59.71

400 free relay: 2. Rui Parker, Kobus Diver, Francis Rogers and Nate Johnston 3:51.93, 6. David Polson, Taggart Shumway, Riley Schiller and Caiden Gerhts 4:26.25, 7. Nathan Fuller, Connor Mayes, Lukas Legler and Tristin Dicks 4:42.30

GILLETTE INVITATIONAL

* Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores: 1. Laramie 483, 2. Lander 477, 3. Cheyenne Central 396, 4. Buffalo 310, 5. Cheyenne South 255, 6. Kelly Walsh 250, 7. Sheridan 248, 8. Green River 183, 9. Rock Springs 166, 10. Campbell County 154, 11. Powell 139, 12. Riverton 117, 13. Thunder Basin 79, 14. Cheyenne East 63, 15. Newcastle 57, 16. Douglas 25, 17. Natrona County 13

200 medley relay: 5. Rui Parker, Nate Johnston, Gabe Rose and Francis Rogers 1:47.34

200 free: 7. Nate Johnston 1:54.18*, 30. Kyler Warren 2:11.15*, 46. Caden Sherman 2:59.67

200 IM: 16. Francis Rogers 2:22.31*, 29. Nathan Fuller 2:43.30

50 free: 15. Rui Parker 24.23*, 40. Cole Fauskee 26.31, 44. Cole Frank 26.49, 54. Aidan Cannizzaro 27.56, 55. Riley Schiller 27.64, 62. David Polson 27.98, 75. Connor Mayes 29.59

100 fly: 7. Rui Parker 58.17*, 19. Gabe Rose 1:03.19*, 35. Nathan Fuller 1:14.29, 42. Lukas Legler 1:20.62, 47. Eremon Brinkerhoff 2:09.17

100 free: 31. Kyler Warren 58.08*, 36. Tristin Dicks 59.78, 49. Caiden Gerhts 1:03.73, 65. Lukas Legler 1:11.48, 71. Caden Sherman 1:16.49, 79. Eremon Brinkerhoff 1:31.18

500 free: 9. Nate Johnston 5:21.49*, 22. Kobus Diver 5:44.59*, 27. David Polson 6:01.06*

200 free relay: 13. Kobus Diver, Kyler Warren, Cole Fauskee and Cole Frank 1:46.91

100 back: 26. Aidan Cannizzaro 1:09.04, 27. Kobus Diver 1:09.68, 31. Riley Schiller 1:11.04, 32. Cole Fauskee 1:11.31, 47. Justin Hobbs 1:23.87, 49. Taggart Shumway 1:24.88

100 breast: 19. Francis Rogers 1:11.88*, 27. Gabe Rose 1:16.15, 34. Tristin Dicks 1:21.10, 54. Connor Mayes 1:38.82

400 free relay: 10. Rui Parker, Kobus Diver, Francis Rogers and Nate Johnston 3:46.78

1-meter diving (six dives): 3. Cole Frank 160.70, 4. Taggart Shumway 1:57.50, 7. Caiden Gerhts 1:14.65, 8. Justin Hobbs 96.70