Kemmerer Ranger sophomore Grady Killian swims the second leg of the 200 free relay at the Evanston Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 6, as Collin Smith finishes the first leg. The boys are at home this weekend. (COURTESY PHOTO / Josh Hall) 

The Kemmerer boys’ swim team competed at the Evanston Invitational over the weekend against five other teams.

It was the Rangers’ first competition since December, and the boys made great efforts, according to coach Amanda Aimone.

“The boys had a good meet coming off Christmas break,” Aimone said. “We had some great swims from the 200 medley relay and the 400 free relays.”

Team rankings at the tournament were as follows: Green River with 382 points, Rawlins with 205, Lyman with 180, Rock Springs with 172, Evanston with 160 and Kemmerer with 123 points.

Although the Rangers finished last at the tournament, several Kemmerer swimmers posted season-best times, including Carl Krell, Ben Wergin, Brayden Dearden and Alvaro de Vicente.

Krell placed second in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke with two season best times.

“Noah Hankin also had a great meet,” said Aimone. “He cut ten seconds off his 200 and 100 freestyles.”

Krell, a senior, is enjoying his last year swimming for Kemmerer.

“I did pretty good in Evanston,” Krell said. “I cut time in my 100 breaststroke and had a seasonal best time in the 200 IM.”

Krell has set his sights on breaking his own 50.89 state record in the 100 butterfly and hopes that he can help his team finish in the top three at the State competition.

“I have adjusted my training to meet these goals by trying to work smarter instead of harder, but at the same time keeping the intensity up in practice,” Krell said. “Every little thing counts in swimming down to the hundredth of a second.”

Krell continues to be a key leader for the Rangers as a senior.

“I would say the best thing about being a swimmer is being able to eat all you want and being athletically fit and having an entire body workout,” Krell said. “Also you can do it your entire life. I’m not quite sure where or what I’m doing for college yet, but swimming is definitely in the options.”

The team is preparing for conference, which will be hosted in Kemmerer on Feb. 2 and 3.

But until then, the team will be completely focused on the overall goal of competing at state.

“Practice is going well,” Aimone said. “This Monday was one of the best practices for them so far. We saw great efforts. We talked about pushing themselves in practice so that in competitions it would become second nature, and I think they really tried to emulate that.”

There has been a schedule change for the Rangers. The boys’ swim team will travel to Big Piney on Friday, Jan 12, because of a scheduling conflict that cancelled the previous home meet.

Kemmerer will host an invitational on Saturday, Jan. 13 at home.