Fast times flew at the Absaraka Conference swim meet on Friday and Saturday in Powell, as the Powell Panther girls’ swim and dive team finished fourth as a team, while two Panthers claimed individual titles and a state record fell at the competition.

Leading the way for the Panthers were two seniors, as Kaitlin Diver claimed the top spot in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1 minute, 3.27 seconds and Patricia Christensen took the win in the 100 backstroke with a 1:03.44.

“It was great to see both Patricia and Kaitlin close out their high school conference careers on a high note,” coach Bob Smartt said. “It’s nice to have both girls swimming their events faster than they did at the state championship last year.”

Diver’s time placed her fourth on the Wall of Fame for the Panthers, while Christensen just missed out on making it in the backstroke.

Diver added a second place finish in the 500 free, swimming a personal best time of 5:35.21 to move up to third in Panther history.

Christensen also swam a personal best in the 200 free, clocking a time of 2:05.97 to take third.

Powell added a brand new qualifier for the state meet, as Tempie Day’s 10th place finish with a time of 6:41.51 helped add another swimmer to the state team for the Panthers.

“Tempie had a strong finish in her 500 freestyle race with a seven second personal best to earn her first state qualification,” Smartt said.

Other Panther ‘A’ finalists included Daisy Carpenter who placed fifth in the 100 back (1:12.37); Lynea Christensen took fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:20.96) and Brooke Brown placed sixth in the 100 fly (1:15.71).

Panthers in the ‘B’ finals included Sophie Erkkila who took ninth in the 100 breast (1:28.95); Lilly Pittman placed 10th in the 100 breast (1:30.55); Carpenter placed 11th in the 100 free (1:07.41) and Brown took 12th in the 100 back (1:15.83).

Lynea Christensen also placed 11th in the 1-meter diving with her score of 243.6 through 11 rounds.

Overall the Panthers had a strong weekend.

“It is a great team vibe when all 14 of our athletes had at least one lifetime personal best performance,” Smartt said. “It shows that we have a fast pool and the athletes love to swim at home in front of friends and family.”

One additional highlight at the conference meet was Buffalo freshman Milan Monterastelli breaking the 3A state record in the 100 breast, finishing in a time of 1:04.33 to break the record of 1:04.81 set by Lyman’s Brynlee Busskohl in 2020.

In the team race the Panthers finished fourth with 168 points, as Buffalo ran away with the team title by 80 points at 358, ahead of Cody in second.

Powell now heads out on the road the remainder of the season, starting with a quick trip to Cody today (Tuesday) to take part in the Last Chance Meet at 5 p.m.

“We are hoping to have girls continue their season improvement,” Smartt said. “We have several athletes that are only a few seconds away from the state qualifying standard.”

Following the last chance meet, those who have qualified for the state meet will continue to practice until the state meet in Laramie on Nov. 7-8.

ABSARAKA CONFERENCE MEET

* Denotes state qualifying mark, p denotes preliminary race time

Team scores — 1. Buffalo 358, 2. Cody 278, 3. Douglas 212, 4. Powell 168, 5. Worland 133, 6. Newcastle 52

200 medley relay — 2. Daisy Carpenter, Patricia Christensen, Kaitlin Diver and Lynea Christensen 2:04.49

200 free — 3. Patricia Christensen 2:05.97*, 16. Claire Hultgren 2:36.45p, 17. Autumn Weckler 3:05.38p, 18. Leah Sockey 3:09.96p

200 IM — 13. Lilly Pittman 3:07.41p

50 free — 15. April Weckler 32.67p, 19. Sophie Erkkila 35.24p

1-meter diving (11 dives) — 11. Lynea Christensen 243.6

100 fly — 1. Kaitlin Diver 1:03.27*, 6. Brooke Brown 1:15.71*

100 free — 11. Daisy Carpenter 1:07.41, 15. Claire Hultgren 1:12.1p, 19. Meredyth Giltner 1:26.68p

500 free — 2. Kaitlin Diver 5:35.21*, 10. Tempie Day 6:41.51*, 15. Leah Sockey 8:18.39p, 16. Autumn Weckler 8:22.23p

200 free relay — 5. Claire Hultgren, Meredyth Giltner, Leah Sockey and Autumn Weckler 2:26

100 back — 1. Patricia Christensen 1:03.44*, 5. Daisy Carpenter 1:12.37*, 12. Brooke Brown 1:15.83, 15. Baylee Kraft 1:18.62p, 17. April Weckler 1:24.85p

100 breast — 5. Lynea Christensen 1:20.96*, 9. Sophie Erkkila 1:28.95, 10. Lilly Pittman 1:30.55, 14. Meredyth Giltner 1:35.57p

400 free relay — 5. Kaitlin Diver, Patricia Christensen, Daisy Carpenter and Lynea Christensen 4:43.26