(Lander, WY) – Fans who found themselves at the Bruce Gresly Aquatic Center last Friday or Saturday were treated to some exciting performances at the 3A South Conference Meet. Records were set in three different events by the host Tigers. Lander dominated the meet, claiming victories in ten of twelve events and placing the maximum of four athletes in finals in eight of nine individual events. With so many individuals scoring points, Lander prevailed easily. Lander scored 492 points with second-place Kemmerer at 198, followed by Sublette County, Lyman, and Rawlins.
Record-setting performances started with the first swimming event in the preliminary competition. Lander’s 200 Yard Medley group of Emma Jones, Emily Plaisted, Katy Anderson, and Vayda Havens set the conference meet record for that event with a time of 1:53.67. Later that day, the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay group of Sara Kearns, Lara Robertson, Anderson, and Havens bested the school record they just set last week. Their time of 1:40.32 set not just a new school and conference meet record, but also broke the 3A State record. The previous state record was 1:40.69 recorded by Buffalo in 2020.
Individual event records weren’t challenged until the Finals on Saturday. Vayda Havens broke the school and conference meet records in the 500 Yard Freestyle with a swim of 5:24.59. Katy Anderson couldn’t quite match the conference record she set last year in the backstroke, touching the wall just three-tenths of a second short.
Conference meets consist of a preliminary session where the top twelve finishers advance to the finals where points are awarded. Only four individuals from a particular team can score points. On a team with Lander’s depth, this means some swimmers with qualifying times did not advance to finals because there were four teammates who placed ahead of them. For example, in the preliminary 50 Yard Freestyle race, Lander placed six swimmers in the top 12, but two were shut out of finals due to the four-entry rule. Only one relay entry per team may advance to the finals as well. Lander’s record-setting 200 Yard Freestyle lineup sat out the finals to rest, but Lander still won the event.
Twenty-one different athletes contributed points towards Lander’s victory. Lander’s event winners were: Lara Robertson (200 Yard Freestyle), Cira Hampton (200 Yard IM), Vayda Havens (50 Yard Freestyle and 500 Yard Freestyle), Katy Anderson (100 Yard Butterfly and 100 Yard Backstroke), and Sara Kearns (100 Yard Freestyle). Also scoring for Lander were: Ang Rudd, Ella Giesmann, Liv Ooten, Daegan Reinhardt, Shyrone AnesiShoyo, Chayse Denton, Iris Woltman, Brooklyn White, Adlyn Even, Brianna Else, Emma Jones, Isabella Gallo, Emily Plaisted, and Ruby Johnson. Contributing to relay wins were: Jones, Plaisted, Anderson, Havens, Denton, Giesmann, Woltman, AnesiShoyo, Robertson, and Reinhardt.
The four seniors on the team were also honored at this, their final home meet of the season. Seniors Demyri Cunningham, Emma Jones, Lara Robertson, and Sierra Selley were given flowers as statements were read aloud about their plans for the future. It was a great tribute to the years of hard work these athletes have contributed to this team.
Head Coach Erik DeClue commented on the team’s effort. “The team swam hard this weekend. It was impressive to watch them fight through the soreness to break those records. I’m super proud of this team.” Coach DeClue, along with assistants Lyndsay Alcarez and Greg Anderson, will enjoy seeing what happens as taper kicks in fully.
The team competes at the last-chance meet on Thursday. That meet provides one last opportunity to qualify for the state meet. The 3A State Championships will be held November 7th and 8th in Cheyenne.
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3A South Conference Championships
Team Scores: Lander 492, Kemmerer 198, Sublette County 177, Lyman 154, Rawlins 142
First place and Lander results only for Finals, Lander results only for Prelims
*=Conference Meet Record
- 200 Yard Medley (Finals)
1.Lander A (Jones, Plaisted, Anderson, Havens) 1:55.51
Prelims: Lander A (Jones, Plaisted, Anderson, Havens) 1:53.67*, Lander B (Hampton, Johnson, AnesiShoyo, Reinhardt) 2:03.44, Lander C (Heller, Woltman, Salway-One Horn, Rudd) 2:19.71, Lander D (Gallo, Selley, Kemp, Even) 2:27.41
- 200 Yard Feestyle
1.Robertson 2:02.67, 2. Rudd 2:16.56, 5. Giesmann 2:21.02, 6. Ooten 2:24.65
Prelims: Robertson 2:06.98, Giesmann 2:20.31, Rudd 2:20.76, Ooten 2:22.76, Johnson 2:22.71, Cunningham 2:40.77, Gallo 2:37.13, Salway-One Horn 2:48.20
- 200 Yard IM
1.Hampton 2:29.04, 2. Reinhardt 2:29.42, 3. AnesiShoyo 2:33.55, 7. Kemp 2:51.31
Prelims: Reinhardt 2:26.10, Hampton 2:27.65, AnesiShoyo 2:34.37, Kemp 2:47.16, Heller 2:49.57
- 50 Yard Freestyle
1.Havens 25.51, 2. Kearns 25.71, 3. Denton 26.77, 7. Woltman 27.84
Prelims: Havens 25.33, Kearns 25.55, Denton 26.78, Woltman 28.47, Else 30.05, Selley 30.14, Even 32.24, Delbridge 32.94, Rounds 33.19
- Diving
1.Walker KEM 385.45, 2. White 315.30, 6. Even 241.15, 7. Else 196.80
Prelims: White 148.35, Even 114.50, Else 83.60
- 100 Yard Butterfly
1.Anderson 1:02.05, 3. Jones 1:08.43, 4. AnesiShoyo 1:10.22, 5. Woltman 1:11.39
Prelims: Anderson 1:01.97, Jones 1:08.51, AnesiShoyo 1:10.02, Woltman 1:14.02, Wood 1:17.45, Salway-One Horn 1:28.69
- 100 Yard Freestyle
1.Kearns 56.72, 2. Denton 59.58, 4. Rudd 1:00.02, 6. Giesmann 1:05.09
Prelims: Kearns 56.78, Denton 57.81, Rudd 1:00.13, Giesmann 1:03.17, Selley 1:08.22, Cunningham 1:09.06, Rounds 1:25.06
- 500 Yard Freestyle
1.Havens 5:24.59*, 2. Robertson 5:46.80, 4. Ooten 6:29.92, 9. Gallo 7:19.56
Prelims: Havens 5:40.31, Robertson 5:52.50, Ooten 6:28.49, Gallo 7:20.91, Delbridge 7:25.35
- 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
1.Lander (Denton, Giesmann, Woltman, Plaisted) 1:49.73
Prelims: Lander A (Kearns, Robertson, Anderson, Havens) 1:40.32*, Lander B (Denton, Giesmann, Woltman, Plaisted) 1:51.09, Lander C (Else, Even, Rounds, Ooten) 2:09.12, Lander D (Cunningham, Delbridge, Salway-One Horn, Wood) 2:16.89
- 100 Yard Backstroke
1.Anderson 1:01.41, 2.Jones 1:04.77, 3. Hampton 1:05.37, 5. Reinhardt 1:06.56
Prelims: Anderson 1:01.43, Jones 1:05.25, Hampton 1:05.35, Reinhardt 1:05.83, Wood 2:00.13
- 100 Yard Breaststroke
1.Williams SUB 1:11.59, 2. Plaisted 1:12.87, 4. Johnson 1:21.43, 9. Heller 1:29.09, 11. Kemp 1:31.99
Prelims: Plaisted 1:13.61, Johnson 1:20.10, Heller 1:25.03, Kemp 1:30.53
- 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
1. Lander (Denton, AnesiSHoyo, Robertson, Reinhardt) 3:56.79
Prelims: Lander A (Denton, AnesiShoyo, Robertson, Reinhardt) 3:56.51, Lander B (Rudd, Kearns, Hampton, Giesmann) 4:08.73, Lander C (Kemp, Heller, Ooten, Johnson) 4:42.75, Lander D (Cunningham, Delbridge, Gallo, Selley) 4:59.23
The above write-up and scoring breakdown was provided to County 10 by Tamara Anderson and the LVHS Girls Swim and Dive Team.