Last weekend in Kemmerer, five Swim and Dive teams gathered for the Girls 3A South Conference Meet. From the first dive of prelims to the last heat of the final relay, spectators were treated to a fantastic display of competition. Lander came out on top as the 2025 Conference Champions, winning eight of twelve events to prevail over Kemmerer, Sublette County, Lyman, and Rawlins by more than 150 points.
A fast meet can mean two different things in this sport. It can mean that spectators’ total time in the bleachers is short. Or it can mean that the performances in the pool were fantastic, and that second definition was certainly the case at this meet.
Friday started with diving. Divers performed eight different dives. After round eight, Lander had four divers—Brooklyn White, Adlyn Even, Lyla Rounds, and Brianna Else—in the top 8 places. The final three rounds of diving would take place on Saturday during finals.
Then the swimming began and immediately the records started falling. Kemmerer has one of the few meter competition pools in the state, so this is a rare opportunity for swimmers to compete in meter events instead of their usual yards, and at a conference meet no less. In the first race, the 200 Meter Medley Relay, Lander set the pool and conference meet records, breaking Jackson’s 2015 record by more than 4 seconds. Two heats later, Vayda Havens of Lander broke pool and conference meet records from the 1990s in the 200 Meter Freestyle. Lander swimmers Cadence Hamilton, Daegan Reinhardt, and Brinlee Heller also qualified for finals in that event. (Swimmers had to finish in the top twelve to qualify for finals).
Next up was the 200 Meter IM, where it was Emily Plaisted’s turn to set a new Conference Meet record. Lander swimmers Eden Kemp, Cira Hampton, and Iris Woltman also qualified for finals.
In the 50 Meter Freestyle, Logan Rogers of Kemmerer set a new Conference Meet record. Lander swimmers Sara Kearns, Chayse Denton, Liv Ooten, and Ruby Johnson also qualified for finals.
In the 100 Meter Butterfly, Katy Anderson set new pool ad conference meet records. Eden Kemp and Iris Woltman also qualified for finals in the butterfly. In the 100 Meter Freestyle, no records were set, but Lander’s Sara Kearns, Ann Rudd, Liv Ooten, and Brianna Else qualified for finals.
In the 400 Meter Freestyle, Vayda Havens set another record, smashing the old pool and conference record by 7 seconds. Chayse Denton also qualified for finals.
In the backstroke, Katy Anderson broke the pool and Conference Meet records. Lander’s Cira Hampton, Daegan Reinhardt, and Brinlee Heller also qualified for finals. In the 100 Meter Breaststroke, Lander’s Emily Plaisted, Ruby Johnson, and Ang Rudd qualified for finals.
On Saturday, Lander’s swimmers were again on fire, setting more records. Lander’s 200 Meter Medley Relay group of Cira Hampton, Emily Plaisted, Katy Anderson, and Sara Kearns broke their record from the previous day. Emily Plaisted bested her IM record from prelims, Vayda Havens dropped an additional five seconds off her 400 Meter Freestyle time to best her record in that event. Katy Anderson dropped 1.8 seconds off her prelim time to set a new record in the 100 Meter Backstroke. Lander’s 400 Meter Freestyle Relay team of Chayse Denton, Sara Kearns, Katy Anderson, and Vayda Havens also set a new record from the previous day by knocking 3.57 off their time.
Placing first for Lander in their individual events were: Vayda Havens (200 Meter Freestyle and 400 Meter Freestyle), Emily Plaisted (200 Meter IM), and Katy Anderson (100 Meter Butterfly and 100 Meter Backstroke). Also earning top-six finishes were: Daegan Reinhardt (200 Meter Freestyle and 100 Meter Backstroke), Brinlee Heller (200 Meter Freestyle and 100 Meter Backstroke), Cira Hampton (200 Meter IM and 100 Meter Backstroke), Iris Woltman (200 Meter IM and 100 Meter Butterfly), Sara Kearns (50 Meter Freestyle and 100 Meter Freestyle), Chayse Denton (50 Meter Freestyle and 400 Meter Freestyle), Liv Ooten (50 Meter Freestyle), Brooklyn White (Diving), Lyla Rounds (Diving), Eden Kemp (100 Meter Butterfly), And Rudd (100 Meter Freestyle), Emily Plaisted (100 Meter Breaststroke), Ruby Johnson (100 Meter Breaststroke). Lander’s 200 Meter Freestyle Relay of Emily Plaisted, Daegan Reinhardt, Chayse Denton, and Vayda Havens also took first place.
Sophomore Sara Kearns was involved in arguably the most exciting races of the day in the 50 and 100 Meter Freestyle events. She went head-to-head with Kemmerer’s Logan Rogers in both events just barely being out-touched. Emily Plaisted also had an impressively close finish in the breaststroke final. Plaisted actually swam faster than the pre-2025 conference meet record pace in the event, but ended up third. She was gaining towards the end, so it will be an exciting rematch at state after a couple weeks of taper.
One additional kudos for the Lander program was announced at the end of the meet. Senior Katy Anderson earned Conference Athlete of the Year and Swimmer of the Meet, after setting records in two individual events and swimming on two record-setting relays.
Head Coach Erik DeClue stated, “The team swam pretty well overall. We’re going to have a lot of competition at State. That should really help to push our girls.” Diving Coach Lyndsay Alcaraz had to be pleased with her divers this season as well. Some additional divers were really close to qualifying at the conference meet so the final make-up of the state team is still to be determined. Athletes have one last opportunity to qualify for the meet this Thursday in Riverton at the Last Chance Meet.
Assistant Coach, Greg Anderson, noted, “I really felt the girls attacked their races on Saturday.” This hopefully bodes well for the upcoming two-day state meet which will be held November 8th and 9th in Laramie.
3A Girls South Conference Championship
*=Conference Meet Record x=Kemmerer pool record for meters
Prelims (top finisher plus Lander athletes)
- 200 Meter Medley Relay
1 Lander A 2:07.02*x, Lander B 2:23.95
- 200 Meter Freestyle
1 Havens LAN 2:13.50*x, 2. Reinhardt LAN 2:25.07, 4. Heller LAN 2:30.66, 12. Hamilton LAN 2:46.98, 17. Gallo LAN 3:01.59
- 200 Meter IM
1 Plaisted LAN 2:38.86*, 3. Hampton LAN 2:47.50, 5. Woltman LAN 3:00.23, 7. Kemp LAN 3:04.01
- 50 Meter Freestyle
1 Rogers KEM 27.56x, 2. Kearns LAN 28.04, 3. Denton LAN 29.87, 5. Ooten LAN 32.00, 7. Johnson LAN 32.29, 18. Wood LAN 54.58
- Diving (8 dives)
1 Walker KEM 314.80, 2. White LAN 253.85, 6. Even LAN 82.60, 7. Rounds LAN 182.50, 8. Else LAN 168.25, 9. Russell LAN 156.30, 10. Olssen LAN 151.25, 12. Kitchen LAN 132.75
- 100 Meter Butterfly
1 Anderson LAN 1:09.24*x, 3. Woltman LAN 1:23.75, 4. Kemp LAN 1:26.36
- 100 Meter Freestyle
1 Rogers KEM 1:02.83, 2. Kearns LAN 1:03.44, 3. Rudd LAN 1:08.25, 7. Ooten LAN 1:13.39, 9. Else LAN 1:15.06, 15. Gallo LAN 1:20.87
- 400 Meter Freestyle
1 Havens LAN 4:51.14*x, 3. Denton LAN 5:19.11, 14. Hamilton LAN 6:10.39
- 200 Meter Freestyle Relay
1 Lander A 1:59.91, Lander B 2:12.21
100 Meter Backstroke
1 Anderson LAN 1:09.06*x, 2. Hampton LAN 1:12.93, 3. Reinhardt LAN 1:15.99, 4. Heller LAN 1:19.79
- 100 Meter Breaststroke
1 Williams SUB 1:19.22*, 2. Plaisted LAN 1:19.76, 5. Johnson LAN 1:28.90, 8. Rudd LAN 1:32.29, 14. White LAN 1:36.54, 17. Even LAN 1:44.35, 19. Wood LAN 2:46.80
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SATURDAY FINALS
200 Meter Medley Relay
1 Lander 2:06.43*x
- 200 Meter Freestyle
1 Havens LAN 2:14.34, 2. Reinhardt LAN 2:23.76, 3. Heller LAN 2:30.45, 9. Hamilton LAN 2:44.36
- 200 Meter IM
1 Plaisted LAN 2:38.40*, 3. Hampton LAN 2:50.25, 5. Woltman LAN 2:55.42, 7. Kemp LAN 3:00.59
- 50 Meter Freestyle
1 Rogers KEM 27.73, 2. Kearns LAN 27.85, 3. Denton LAN 29.86, 6. Ooten LAN 31.62, 9. Johnson LAN 32.60
- Diving (11 dives)
1 Walker KEM 443.25*x, 2. White LAN 354.45, 6. Rounds LAN 235.30, 7. Even LAN 231.40, 8. Else LAN 208.90
100 Meter Butterfly
1 Anderson LAN 1:09.73, 3. Woltman LAN 1:20.42, 4. Kemp LAN 1:22.72
- 100 Meter Freestyle
1 Rogers KEM 1:02.47, 2. Kearns LAN 1:02.76, 3. Rudd LAN 1:08.27, 7. Ooten LAN 1:12.70, 12. Else LAN 1:18.36
- 400 Meter Freestyle
1 Havens LAN 4:45.75*x, 2. Denton LAN 5:13.82
- 200 Meter Freestyle Relay
1 Lander 1:57.80
- 100 Meter Backstroke
1 Anderson LAN 1:07.26*x, 2. Hampton LAN 1:13.92, 3. Reinhardt LAN 1:15.17, 5. Heller LAN 1:22.19
- 100 Meter Breaststroke
1 Williams SUB 1:18.73*x, 2. Boylen KEM 1:19.51, 3. Plaisted LAN 1:19.75, 5. Johnson LAN 1:28.88, 7. Rudd LAN 1:30.51
- 400 Meter Freestyle Relay
1 Lander 4:17.43*x
The above information and photo were provided to County 10 by Tamara Anderson and the LVHS Girls Swimming and Diving Team.