It was a classic battle between the upstart and the established champions at the Riverton Aquatic Center on Friday afternoon. Five teams came to the Riverton Invite but it boiled down to a dual between the Lander Lady Tigers and the host Lady Wolverines of Riverton.
Lander won the meet with 157 points, Riverton was second at 99.
“We’re not quite able to beat lander yet, but we have high hopes for future years,” Riverton head coach Gretta Roth said. “We have some great middle school swimmers coming up.”
Of the dozen events, Lander won nine, Riverton two and Evanston’s outstanding one-meter diver, Rachel Johnson, gave the Lady Red Devils one.
“We went to Evanston on Saturday and got to watch her dive again,” Roth said.
Lily Ormond won the 500-yard freestyle and Prestley Barta the 100-yard breaststroke; all the other events, including all three relays, went to Lander.
“We had a couple of wins, we had another state qualifying time with Chloe Smith in the 200 IM,” Roth said.
Lander’s Daegan Reinhardt won the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard free style. Vayda Havens took first in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly. Katy Anderson won the 200-yard freestyle and Emily Plaisted the 100-yard backstroke.
Riverton has seven girls qualified in a variety of events led by Luci Pfisterer.
“Five girls are very close to qualifying,” Roth said. “We’re excited for the next few meets to see if we can get there.”
Riverton Invitational Team Scores: 1. Lander 157, 2. Riverton 99, 3. Evanston 47, 4. Worland 8, 5. Rawlins 5.
Lander’s head coach Erik Declue motivated his swimmers from the side of the pool Friday in Riverton. 
Katy Anderson took a breath during her winning 200-yard freestyle entry Friday at the Riverton invitational. Sara Kearns, Katy Anderson, and Brinlee Heller dove off the blocks to start the final heat of the 200-yard freestyle. Anderson won the event for the visiting Tigers. Nataleigh Gambler swam the 200-yard freestyle for Riverton in the second heat Friday. Vayda Havens swam breastroke for Lander in the 200-yard medley relay. Riverton swimmers cheered on their teammates poolside.
h/t Carl Cote, County 10
Individual Results:
200 Yard Medley Relay: 1. Lander (Daegan Reinhardt, Vayda Havens, Sara Kearns, Katy Anderson) 1:57.12, 2. Riverton 2:03.85
200 Yard Individual Medley: 1. Daegan Reinhardt, LAN 2:25.11, 2. Chayse Denton, LAN 2:29.92, 4. Chloe Smith, RIV 2:37.72, 6. Ashlyn Jones, RIV 2:47.16, 7. Ruby Johnson, LAN 2:49.40
50 Yard Freestyle: 1. Vayda Havens, LAN 25.63, 2. Prestley Barta, RIV 26.54, 3. Ang Rudd, LAN 27.39, 4. Iris Woltman, LAN 28.32, 5. Addi Peart, RIV 28.80, 6. Ellie Coughanour/Ashytn Bebout, RIV 28.84
200 Yard Freestyle: 1. Katy Anderson, LAN 2:02.41, 2. Sara Kearns, LAN 2:07.71, 3. Brinlee Heller, LAN 2:15.76, 4. Kendra Crippen, RIV 2:19.47, 5. Lead Edwards, RIV 2:20.27, 7. Sissa Hovander, RIV 2:23.07, 8. Ashytn Bebout, RIV 2:27.27
500 Yard Freestyle: 1. Lily Ormond, RIV 5:44.74, 2. Sara Kearns, LAN 5:45.56, 3. Chayse Denton, LAN 6:11.85, 4. Ellie Coughanour, RIV 6:14.17, 5. Eden Kemp, LAN 6:29.91, 6. Isbella Gallo, LAN 7:03.30
1-Meter Diving: 1. Rachel Johnson, EVN 256.35, 3. Brooklyn White, LAN 182.10, 6. Addi Peart, RIV 171.45
400 Freestyle Relay: 1. Lander (Emily Plaisted, Vayda Havens, Sara Kearns, Chayse Denton) 3:51.02, 2. Riverton 4:07.61
100 Yard Butterfly: 1. Vayda Havens, LAN 1:04.14, 2. Luci Pfisterer, RIV 1:07.54, 3. Emily Plaisted, LAN 1:11.06, 4. Iris Woltman, LAN 1:15.06, 6. Chloe Smith, RIV 1:15.82, 7. Clair Houtman, RIV 1:16.58
200 Yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Lander (Cira Hampton, Daegan Reinhardt, Ang Russ, Emily Plaisted) 1:49.67, 2. Riverton 1:55.54
100 Yard Freestyle: 1. Daegan Reinhardt, LAN 58.89, 2. Cira Hampton, LAN 1:00.07, 3. Leah Edwards, RIV 1:03.05, 4. Graci Heiner, RIV 1:03.07, 5. Liv Goten, LAN 1:03.52, 6. Ruby Johnson, LAN 1:06.00, 7. Sissa Hovander, RIV 1:07.60
100 Yard Backstroke: 1. Emily Plaisted, LAN 1:05.14, 2. Lily Ormond, RIV 1:06.11, 6. Gracie Helner, RIV 1:19.61, 7. Lily Dunn, RIV 1:25.60
100 Yard Breaststroke: 1. Prestley Barta, RIV 1:14.81, 2. Cira Hampton, LAN 1:19.69, 4. Carlee Anderson, RIV 1:21.08, 5. Luci Pfisterer, RIV 1:21.12, 6. Brinlee Heller, LAN 1:21.53, 7. Claire Houtman, RIV 1:21.60