By Susan Gray Gose
The Lander Valley High swimming and diving team spent Friday and Saturday racing the top swimmers in the state in Laramie. The two-day invitational meet featured Wyoming’s top 4A swim teams as well as some of Lander’s biggest rivals in the 3A division, including Worland, Lyman, Douglas, and New Castle.
The Tigers were challenged, coming off of a tough week of workouts as they head this week into “peak week,” when they take on their hardest double practice of the season before beginning the long awaited taper before the state meet. Many swimmers added time to their races, but a few had standout performances.
Senior Anastasia Cornale took first in the 100-yard freestyle on Friday and second in the 100-yard butterfly on Saturday. Senior McKenzie Lilygren raced to third in the 100-yard breaststroke on Friday, and freshman Ashlon Koch took third in the 200-yard individual medley on Saturday.
The Tigers’ 200-yard medley relay of Koch on backstroke, Lilygren on breaststroke, Cornale on fly, and senior Molly Fehringer on freestyle placed fourth on Friday, elbowing out many 4A squads and beating all of the 3A teams. Similarly, the Lander 400-yard freestyle relay of junior Olivia Fowler, junior Lily Gose, Koch, and Cornale took fourth, the fastest 3A foursome in the mix.
Senior LVHS diver Lillian Chandler had a banner weekend, achieving 11-competition dives for the first time—a requirement to qualify for state. She missed making the state standard, but Diving Coach Faith Hamilton praised her improvement and hope for more success in coming meets.
“Lillian’s first 11-dive meet went well,” said Hamilton. “Her performance wasn’t her best, but she learned a lot about the format and I feel confident she will surprise a lot of people at Conference and State.”
The Tigers host the 3A West Conference meet in their pool this Friday and Saturday. The team hopes to defend its title from last year but faces stiffer competition this year from Powell and Lyman.
The team competes in the 3A State meet on Nov. 2 and 3 in Laramie. Thirteen swimmers so far are qualified: Leah Brown, Cornale, Fehringer, Fowler, Gose, Anja Harms, Noelle Harris, Koch, Lilygren, Kristen McPherson, Makayla McPherson, Li Platz, and McKella Stigers. Others Tigers hope to qualify this weekend or at the Last Chance meet in Lander next week.
RESULTS: Laramie Pre-Invite, Oct. 12, 2018
200 Yard Medley Relay: 1. Campbell County ‘A’ (B. Christensen, J. Holwell, K. Rehard, M. Hauber) 1:53.73, 4. Lander ‘A’ (A. Koch, M. Lilygren, A. Cornale, M. Fehringer) 2:01.92
200 Yard Freestyle: 1. Hannah Gross NEW 2:03.36, 2. Anastasia Cornale LAN 2:06.50, 40. Shaylissa Bald Eagle LAN 2:47.75
200 Yard IM: 1. Olivia McPherson LAR 2:21.70, 8. McKenzie Lilygren LAN 2:29.29, 19. Lily Gose LAN 2:38.96, 20. Makayla McPherson LAN 2:39.14, 30. Kristen McPherson LAN 2:52.60, 31. Li Platz LAN 2:55.31, 35. Anne Baron LAN 3:07.13, 40. Madeline Logan LAN 3:20.80
50 Yard Freestyle: 1. Piper Carroll, SHE 24.75, 14. Olivia Fowler LAN 27.30, 25. Anja Harms LAN 28.02, 80. Sierra Firth LAN 32.43, 99. Karah Ratliff LAN 37.68
100 Yard Butterfly: 1. Taylor Baldacci SHE 1:03.06, 16. Noelle Harris LAN 1:13.51, 17. Li Platz LAN 1:15.10, 18. Molly Fehringer LAN 1:17.31, 32. Jessica Baron LAN 1:40.79
100 Yard Freestyle: 1. Anastasia Cornale LAN 56.82, 9. Ashlon Koch 1:00.52, 15. Anja Harms LAN 1:02.03, 18. Lily Gose LAN 1:02.40, 28. Leah Brown LAN 1:03.75, 44. McKella Stigers LAN 1:07.44, 56. Kristen McPherson LAN 1:11.74, 57. Jenny Bautz LAN 1:11.77, 66. Madeline Logan LAN 1:17.90, 73. Karah Ratliff LAN 1:25.92
500 Yard Freestyle: 1. Jenny Holwell CAM 5:40.05, 4. Olivia Fowler LAN 6:01.82, 16. Makayla McPherson LAN 6:28.74, 19. Sierra Firth LAN 6:54.50
200 Yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Laramie (C. Burchi, K. McPherson, C. Weathermon, O. McPherson) 1:41.16, 8. Lander ‘A’ (M. Fehringer, A. Harms, M. Lilygren, O. Fowler) 1:51.05
100 Yard Backstroke: 1. Jadyn Mullikin SHE 1:01.35, 18. Ashlon Koch LAN 1:10.43
100 Yard Breaststroke: 1. Olivia McPherson LAR 1:08.16, 3. McKenzie Lilygren LAN 1:15.80, 15. McKella Stigers LAN 1:22.03, 25. Molly Fehringer LAN 1:24.92, 29. Jenny Bautz LAN 1:26.11, 39. Anne Baron LAN 1:36.16
400 Yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Cambell County (J. Holwell, M. Hauber, K. Rehard, B. Christensen) 3:44.80, 4. Lander (O. Fowler, L. Gose, A. Koch, A. Cornale) 4:05.55
RESULTS: Laramie Invite, Oct. 13, 2018
200 Yard Medley Relay: 1. Sheridan ‘A’ (J. Mullikin, Z. Robison, T. Baldacci, P. Carroll) 1:52.93, 13. Lander ‘A’ (L. Brown, M. Stigers, M. McPherson, M. Fehringer) 2:09.00
200 Yard Freestyle: 1. McKenna Hauber CAM 2:00.02, 13. Olivia Fowler LAN 2:13.07, 26. Lily Gose LAN 2:19.71, 57. Anne Baron LAN 2:50.59
200 Yard IM: 1. Taylor Baldacci SHE 2:19.96, 3. Ashlon Koch LAN 2:25.73, 18. Noelle Harris LAN 2:41.59, 22. Kristen McPherson LAN 2:49.83, 29. Jenny Bautz LAN 3:05.60
50 Yard Freestyle: 1. Olivia McPherson 24.52, 26. Leah Brown LAN 28.14, 27. Anja Harms LAN 28.16, 41. Molly Fehringer LAN 28.63, 108. Madeline Logan LAN 35.10, 126. Karah Ratliff LAN 38.22
1 mtr Diving: 1. Gabriella Haigler NCH 398.10, 18. Lillian Chandler LAN 198.60
100 Yard Butterfly: 1. Jenny Holwell CAM 1:01.60, 2. Anastasia Cornale LAN 1:02.76, 17. Makayla McPherson LAN 1:13.87, 19. Noelle Harris LAN 1:14.63, 20. Li Platz LAN 1:16.30, 39. Shaylissa Bald Eagle LAN 1:33.76
100 Yard Freestyle: 1. Olivia McPherson LAR 53.71, 27. Anja Harms LAN 1:03.82, 30. Molly Fehringer LAN 1:04.43, 28. Leah Brown LAN 1:03.75, 41. McKella Stigers LAN 1:07.05, 51. Li Platz LAN 1:08.77, 67. Anne Baron LAN 1:17.39, 76. Madeline Logan LAN 1:21.01, 82. Karah Ratliff LAN 1:30.05
500 Yard Freestyle: 1. McKenna Hauber CAM 5:28.37, 4. Anastasia Cornale LAN 5:42.46, 17. Lily Gose LAN 6:19.76, 19. Makayla McPherson LAN 6:21.31, 29. Sierra Firth LAN 6:53.97, 35. Shaylissa Bald Eagle LAN 7:39.03,
200 Yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Laramie (C. Burchi, K. McPherson, C. Weathermon, O. McPherson) 1:42.17, 8. Lander ‘A’ (O. Fowler, M. Fehringer, A. Koch, A. Cornale) 1:51.46
100 Yard Backstroke: 1. Jadyn Mullikin SHE 1:00.65, 6. Olivia Fowler LAN 1:06.36, 21. Kristen McPherson LAN 1:11.95, 23. Leah Brown LAN 1:12.37
100 Yard Breaststroke: 1. Jenny Holwell LAR 1:07.32, 10. Ashlon Koch LAN 1:17.96, 20. McKella Stigers LAN 1:22.28, 25. Molly Fehringer LAN 1:24.92, 29. Jenny Bautz LAN 1:27.67, 42. Jessica Baron LAN 1:39.32
400 Yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Laramie (C. Burchi, A. Roesler, S. Morton, O. McPherson) 3:44.80, 7. Lander (O. Fowler, L. Gose, A. Koch, A. Cornale) 4:05.73