Kemmerer sophomore Teryn Thatcher placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke at the 3A West Conference swimming and diving championships on Friday, Oct. 20, and Saturday, Oct. 21, in Powell. (COURTESY PHOTO / Amanda Aimone)

The Lady Ranger swim and dive team traveled to Powell for the 3A West Conference Championships on Friday, Oct. 20, and Saturday, Oct. 21. They competed both days and had a great showing.

The first day, the Lady Rangers had four swimmers qualify for two individual events to swim the next day. Teryn Thatcher in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, Brooklynn Hagler in the 200 IM and 100 freestyle, Alexis Krall in the 50 and 100 freestyle, and Stevie Moyles in the 200 free and 100 backstroke. That’s the most the Lady Rangers have qualified for the finals since 2013. Along with those four girls, the Lady Rangers also qualified all three relays into the finals. With the swimming events covered, Sydnie Julander would add her skills on the diving board by finishing in the 6th position after prelims and semi-finals.

Alexis Krall placed 5th in the 100-yard freestyle at the Conference swimming and diving championships in Powell. (COURTESY PHOTO / Amanda Aimone)

The second day presented a challenge. The ladies needed to be on their “A” game because everyone was going to be competitive. They showed that they had the grit that was needed to compete.

The Lady Rangers’ day started out with the 200 Medley relay team of Moyles, Thatcher, Hagler, and Krall finishing 5th with a personal record of 2:03. Next Stevie Moyles would swim to an 11th place finish in the 200 freestyle. Hagler and Thatcher would prove to be tough in the 200 IM, where they finished 8th and 10th in that event.

Stevie Moyles, Teryn Thatcher, Brooklyn Hagler and Alexis Krall finished 5th in the 200-yard medley relay with a personal team record of 2:03. (COURTESY PHOTO / Amanda Aimone)

Alexis Krall would get to show her speed in the 50 freestyle, finishing 9th with a personal best time of 27.99. Sydnie Julander would get her turn on the board to throw her final 3 dives of an 11-dive format. There would be a lot of changes for the Lady Rangers throughout the competition, but Julander would hold for a 6th place by nailing her 11th five of the competition. She would end up with a score of 261.25, becoming the highest scoring freshman of the meet.

Alexis Krall and Brooklynn Hagler would be up again to show their speed in the 100 Freestyle. Hagler finished in 7th with a personal best time of 1:01.77 and Krall finished in 5th place with a personal best time of 1:00.67.

The 200-free relay team of Moyles, Thatcher, Krall, and Hagler would get to blaze through the water with another 5th place finish and a personal best time of 1:51. Moyles would have to turn right back around and get into the water to swim the 100 backstroke where she would finish in 12th place.

One big highlight for the Lady Rangers would come in the 100 breastroke with Teryn Thatcher. She would swim to a conference championship with a time of 1:12.95, finishing 2 seconds ahead of her next competitor. That time is the second fastest posted in 3A so far.

The Lady Rangers finished their day with the 400 Free relay of Skylar Morgan, Victoria Peck, Sydnie Julander, and Sophie Failoni. It should also be noted that Shelby Swann swam in this relay the day before to get them there the next day. The Lady Rangers would swim to a 6th place finish with a personal best time.

Overall Lander would claim the championship crown with Powell in second, Sublette third, Lyman fourth, Riverton fifth, and Kemmerer sixth.

Another award was given to the Lady Rangers when Coach Amanda Aimone was awarded Coach of the Year alongside Coach Greg Gray of Sublette.

“Overall we had a fantastic weekend. I asked these ladies to accomplish three things this meet: 1. Be mentally tough; 2. compete; and 3. have fun and I can proudly say they accomplished all three,” Aimone said. “I think we saw a great example of competitiveness from Teryn in the 100 breast and it showed when you watched her race. It was just so fun to watch.”

Rangers swim coach Amanda Aimone was voted the 3A west Coach of the Year at the conference swim meet in Powell. (GAZETTE PHOTO / Theresa Davis)

The Lady Rangers head to Green River on Thursday, Oct. 26, for the Last Chance meet and then it’s off to state in Gillette, to compete on November 2 and 3.