Written by Susan Gray Gose
The Lander Valley High School swimming and diving team traveled to Jackson over the weekend to compete against 4A powerhouse Laramie and 3A rivals Jackson and Sublette. The Tigers were able to top Jackson and Sublette at the two-day Adam Denton Memorial Invite but couldn’t defeat Laramie, the 4A-State champions last year, who arrived with a deep roster of strong swimmers.
Still, several LVHS swimmers posted wins against the Laramie girls who swam without swim caps to maximize their training drag in the pool. Senior foreign exchange student Anastasia Cornale of Italy continued to prove she is a force to be reckoned with in Wyoming by winning the 100-yard butterfly in 1:02. She currently holds the fastest time in that event among 3A swimmers. Freshman Ashlon Koch also came out on top in the 200-yard I.M., and senior McKenzie Lilygren raced to first in the 100-yard breaststroke.
The Adam Denton Memorial Invite is formatted like a championship meet with preliminary heats on Friday and finals on Saturday. The Tiger relays quads easily topped Jackson and Sublette in the finals but came in second to Laramie’s squads.
The tough competition helped several LVHS swimmers lower their existing state qualifying times and two swimmers add new qualifying standards. Junior Makayla McPherson raced to a Q time in the 200-yard I.M., bringing her total events to three, while junior McKella Stigers posted a season best in the 100-yard breaststroke and qualified for her first state event. The addition of Stigers brings the team’s number of qualified swimmers to 13. Last year, the 3A-state championship Tigers had 19 swimmers and 3 divers qualified, so work remains to be done.
The team travels to Riverton on Friday for a tri-meet and to Worland on Saturday for an invitational.
FINALS RESULTS: Adam Denton Memorial Invite, Jackson, Sept. 15, 2018
Team Scores: 1. Laramie 476, 2. Lander 284, 3. Jackson 206, 4. Sublette 166
200 Yard Medley Relay: 1. Laramie (Olivia McPherson, Katie McPherson, Carter Burchi, Catie Weathermon) 1:58.83, 2. Lander (Ashlon Koch, McKenzie Lilygren, Makayla McPherson, Molly Fehringer) 2:03.84
200 Yard Freestyle: 1. Sage Morton LAR 2:04.85, 4. Olivia Fowler LAN 2:11.74, 8. Lily Gose LAN 2:21.64, 13. Li Platz LAN 2:39.70, 14. Anne Baron LAN 2:46.72
200 Yard IM: 1. Ashlon Koch LAN 2:26.73, 3. McKenzie Lilygren LAN 2:31.14, 6. Noelle Harris, 2:44.06, 7. Makayla McPherson 2:40.64, EXH Sierra Firth LAN 3:02.28
50 Yard Freestyle: 1. Olivia McPherson LAR 24.76 (*pool record), 3. Anastasia Cornale LAN 26.56, 7. Anja Harms LAN 28.19, 8. Molly Fehringer LAN 28.31, 11. Leah Brown LAN 29.05
1 mtr Diving: 1. Maddie Appelhans LAR 314.15
100 Yard Butterfly: 1. Anastasia Cornale LAN 1:02.15, 5. Noelle Harris LAN 1:13.79, 7. Makayla McPherson LAN 1:12.63, 9. Li Platz LAN 1:15.98
100 Yard Freestyle: 1. Anna Roesler LAR 57.85, 7. Anja Harms LAN 1:0310, 8. Molly Fehringer LAN 1:04.00, 13. Kristen McPherson LAN 1:08.23, 15. McKella Stigers LAN 1:09.50
500 Yard Freestyle: 1. Sage Morton LAR 5:35.71, 4. Ashlon Koch LAN 5:52.71, 8. Lily Gose LAN 6:26.89, 12. Shaylissa Bald Eagle LAN 7:52.24, 13. Jessica Baron LAN 8:08.65
200 Yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Laramie (Carter Burchi, Catie Weathermon, Katie McPherson, Anna Roesler) 1:45.29, 2. Lander (McKenzie Lilygren, Molly Fehringer, Olivia Fowler, Anastasia Cornale) 1:51.06
100 Yard Backstroke: 1. Olivia McPherson 1:03.23, 2. Olivia Fowler LAN 1:05.34, 5. Kristen McPherson LAN 1:11.60, 7. Leah Brown LAN 1:11.54, 14. Lillian Chandler LAN 1:24.46
100 Yard Breaststroke: 1. McKenzie Lilygren LAN 1:15.03, 7. McKella Stigers LAN 1:21.76, 12. Jenny Bautz LAN 1:27.25. 15. Sierra Firth LAN 1:32.58
400 Yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Laramie (Anna Roesler, Sage Morton, Taylah Graves, Olivia McPherson) 3:53.70, Lander (Ashlon Koch, Olivia Fowler, Lily Gose, Anastasia Cornale) 4:02.87