Local swimmers rack up personal records for Powell

On February 7, the Powell Panthers, aided by North Big Horn County swimmers and divers, had a very successful conferance meet in which they took third overall as a team.

To start, Lovell junior Hugh Carpenter took second place in the 100-yard fly. He also placed third in the 200-yard IM and second in the 100-yard fly. Will Fuller placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke and fourth in the 50-yard freestyle. Conner Mayes placed eighth in the 200-yard IM and eighth in the 500-yard freestyle.

Lovell senior Taggart Shumway placed second in the 1-meter diving and seventh in the 50-yard freestyle. Finally, Gabe Buchholz took eighth in the 100-yard butterfly.

There were some new state qualifiers also. Buchholz qualified for the 100-yard backstroke, and Shumway qualified in the 50-yard freestyle.

There was also an assortment of personal records. Carpenter PR’d in the 100 free, the 100 fly and 200 IM; Buchholz PR’d in the 100 back, and the 100 fly; Fuller PR’d in the 50 free, and the 100 back: Mayes PR’d in the 500 free and the 200 IM; and Shumway PR’d in the 50 free and the 1-meter dive.

“The boys had a very successful conference meet,” coach Jerry Rodriguez said. “We had multiple lifetime best times and finalists. Third place overall is what we expected, so the team is in a good place going into the final weeks of the season.”