Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Lady Warrior Hailey Schumacher burns through the water during the Worland Pre-Invite on Sept. 23 at the Worland Aquatic Center.
WORLAND - With three contests remaining, two of which are this week, the Worland Lady Warriors swim team is pushing even harder to prepare for the regional and state meets. Last week the team traveled to Riverton for a double dual against Riverton High School and Powell High School, and then to Pinedale for the Pinedale Invite.
Worland beat both Riverton and Powell during the double dual and junior swimmer Felicia Aguilar automatically qualified for state in the 100-yard breaststroke. However, at the Pinedale Invite the Lady Warriors had a dip in their performance.
WHS girls swimming coach Mike Blissett noted the team had a tough outing in Pinedale but saw positive takeaways from his swimmers.
"It was a tough meet, the elevation got to the girls a bit and overall we had times that were slower than a normal day. But we knew that going into the meet, our goal was to get near those times, which we did and I took that as a positive," said coach Blissett.
Coach Blissett singled out sophomore Kyra Klinghagen who set a personal record and earned recognition for her sportsmanship. "Kyra dove her personal best score for 11 dives, and by a significant margin. She also won the sportsmanship award that was given to a member of each team and I thought she really deserved it. She had an awesome day and we were all very proud of her," said coach Blissett.
Today the Lady Warriors head to Buffalo for a dual with the Lady Bison. Then tomorrow they compete in the Gillette Invite, which will be one of the bigger meets the team as participated in, as well as the site of the state meet Oct. 28-29.
"Gillette is huge meet," said Blissett. "There are a ton of teams from 3A and 4A, which makes for a long day, but with that comes great competition for the girls and it's going to be an exciting day.
"It's a great facility, the pool itself is really fast and the girls always look forward to getting in the pool and putting up fast times every year. I'm looking forward to it, I can't wait," said Blissett.
Coach Blissett added why the Gillette Invite is one of his favorites of the season as well as the added motivation it provides for his swimmers.
"The atmosphere itself adds a lot to it. You walk into that building and you can feel the electricity to the air. It's something special to be there and the girls respond positively as well. On top of that this is the pool we will swim in for state. So it's nice to get the girls in the water and get familiar with it again.
"It's good to get a feel for the pool ahead of state," said coach Blissett, "Even for those girls who haven't qualified for state yet it gives them the drive to get there. Being in the pool with all those teams and the atmosphere shows them what state will be like."
As the regular season is about finished coach Blissett likes the make-up of his team but also pointed out there's still time for some surprises.
"There's always time for the girls to prove themselves or improve their times. At this point most teams know who fits where but there's always a surprise in these last few weeks. Someone can start dropping all kinds of time and wind up earning themselves a spot at State in a certain race or relay," said coach Blissett.
Results for the Riverton Double Dual and Pinedale Invite are as follows.
Riverton Double Dual
200 Yard Medley
2, Worland (Felicia Aguilar, Megan Molitor, Hannah McEndree, Ellyse Russell), 2:05.89.
200 Yard Freestyle
2, Juli Warren, 2:15.35.
6, Hailey Schumacher, 2:30.93.
200 Yard Individual Medley
5, Kristen Collingwood, 2:40.11.
50 Yard Freestyle
1, Ellyse Russell, 26.33.
4, Kaci Bentley, 29.17.
5, Felicia Aguilar, 31.62.
Diving 1m
2, Kyra Klinghagen, 155.85.
100 Yard Butterfly
3, Kristen Collingwood, 1:14.13.
4, Alejandra Rice, 1:14.13.
100 Yard Freestyle
3, Megan Molitor, 1:03.62
4, Kaci Bentley, 1:04.35.
500 Yard Freestyle
1, Ellyse Russell, 5:46.34.
2, Juli Warren, 6:13.15.
6, Skylar Wrage, 7:02.46.
200 Yard Freestyle Relay
2, Worland (Megan Molitor, Kristen Collingwood, Kaci Bentley, Juli Warren), 1:49.60.
100 Yard Backstroke
4, Hannah McEndree, 1:17.18.
100 Yard Breaststroke
2, Felicia Aguilar, 1:22.35.
3, Megan Molitor, 1:25.89.
400 Yard Freestyle Relay
1,Worland (Hannah McEndree, Kristen Collingwood, Juli Warren, Ellyse Russell), 4:07.94.
Pinedale Invite
Team Rankings
4, Worland, 160.
200 Yard Medley Relay
7, Worland (Felicia Aguilar, Megan Molitor, Hannah McEndree, Kaci Bentley), 2:15.19.
200 Yard Freestyle
3, Kristen Collingwood, Worland, 2:20.85.
200 Yard Individual Medley
4, Juli Warren, Worland, 2:29.33.
50 Yard Freestyle
1, Ellyse Russell, Worland, 26.04.
Diving 1m
3, Kyra Klinghagen, Worland, 284.35.
100 Yard Butterfly
3, Kristen Collingwood, Worland, 1:13.36.
11, Hannah McEndree, Worland, 1:21.19.
100 Yard Freestyle
2, Ellyse Russell, Worland, 57.47.
500 Yard Freestyle
12, Hailey Schumacher, Worland, 6:47.57.
200 Yard Freestyle Relay
2, Worland (Kaci Bentley, Kristen Collingwood, Juli Warren, Ellyse Russell), 1:50.18.
100 Yard Backstroke
9, Megan Molitor, Worland, 1:12.37.
100 Yard Breaststroke
7, Juli Warren, Worland, 1:19.66.
400 Yard Freestyle Relay
2, Worland,(Hannah McEndree, Kristen Collingwood, Juli Warren, Ellyse Russell) 4:09.52.
