The Kemmerer High School boys’ swimming and diving team had an season opener to remember over the weekend, winning Friday’s Lyman Invitational, and finishing second at Saturday’s Rawlins Pentathalon.

“Coach Willoughby and I are so happy with how the boys did, especially since we had four guys out due to illness,” said KHS head coach Amanda Aimone. “We had five state qualifiers over the weekend out of our 12 guys; Seth Krell, Colter Krell, Camden Killian, Connor Dietrich and Malachi Villarreal.”

Lyman Invitational

The Rangers won the team title at Friday’s Lyman Invitational with 151 points, while host Lyman finished second, with 134 points. Sublette County was third, with 126 points.

Kemmerer finished first in seven of 12 events, led by wins in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle by freshman Malachi Villarreal. Bowman Sandall won the diving portion of the event, while Seth Krell and Camden Killian won the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke, respectively.

The relay team of Seth Krell, Camden Killian, Malachi Villarreal and Connor Dietrich won both the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.

Rawlins Pentathlon

At Saturday’s Rawlins Pentathlon, Lander won the team title with 280 points, followed by Kemmerer with 101 points.

Evanston was third with 67 points, followed by Lyman (63 points), Sublette County (61 points), Jackson (38 points), Rawlins (27 points) and Douglas (13 points).

Overall Individual rankings were: Seth Krell 5th, Malachi Villarreal 11th, Camden Killian 14th, Colter Krell 22nd, Connor Dietrich 26th and Bowman Sandall 5th in diving.

Five Rangers are now qualified for the 3A State Meet, with three qualified in multiple events. Senior Seth Krell qualified in the 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, and the 100 breaststroke; freshman Malachi Villarreal qualified in the 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle; junior Camden Killian qualified in the 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley.

Freshman Colter Krell qualified in the 50 freestyle, while senior Connor Dietrich qualified in the 100 butterfly. 

“I think our five qualifiers did a great job, but we had a lot of good things happen,” Aimone said. “A special shoutout needs to go to Seth Krell. He placed 5th at the Rawlins Pentathlon, which totals all your swims together out of five swimming events. The Rangers haven't had a guy place in the Top 8 since 2017, and that was his cousin Carl Krell, who finished 3rd.”

The KHS boys’ swimming and diving team will be on the road again this weekend for the Green River Invitational.