Lady Warriors in the pool today for 3A East conference meet in Douglas

WORLAND - The 3A East girls swimming conference meet beings today and ends tomorrow in Douglas. The competition will be tough as Worland High School goes against Buffalo, Cody, Douglas Newcastle, and Rawlins, but the Lady Warriors will shoot for their for their fifth-straight conference championship.

This week will also be the final chance for the Lady Warrior swimmers to make it to state by either automatic qualifying or placing among the top eight in their respective event.

Adding to the challenge of this weekend, is the Douglas pool being a meter pool and could add a few seconds for the Lady Warriors in their events.

"Obviously we'd love it if everyone could qualify," said WHS girls swimming coach Mike Blissett. "The thing is, this time of year time cuts are pretty unpredictable other than that they should happen across the board for everyone. You just never know how each individual girl is going to respond to the training."

Added Blissett, "The other factor to consider is that we're competing in a meter pool for conference, which is different than we're used to. Although we can convert times and make comparisons, it's tough to say how the added length and conversion times will affect the perceived individual performance in each event."

Last week the Lady Warriors swam in their final regular season meet of the season in Laramie. Even though they were mostly going against 4A schools, Worland stood tall and represented the program proudly, finishing 11th and were the third highest placed 3A team behind Lander, sixth, and Lyman (ninth).

"We were in the top 10 in team points for almost the entire meet, and third in 3A behind Lander and Lyman. It was pretty fun watching the scores and knowing that even as a 3A school, we can hold our own against nearly half of the 4A girls' teams. It was also great to see how well our girls performed individually against the best competition in the state," said Blissett.

Another benefit to the meet in Laramie was Blissett having some of his young swimmers take notice of the 4A swimmers. Every little detail down to hand placement he had them watch, with the hopes that they could use those techniques themselves during conference this week.

"I was able to get my girls to watch for certain techniques we have been working on in practice - kicks speed, hand placement, turns, starts, breathing, you name it. I think some of our girls had their eyes opened to what we've been telling them is possible versus what they think they're capable of. Hopefully, it pays off this week," said Blissett.

Heading into conference the Buffalo Lady Bison are the strong favorites to take the conference crown from Worland, as they've looked strong in the pool all season long and have even outscored the Lady Warriors in a couple meets. But, as in all sports, you don't know until you know, and just because one team is the favorite on paper it doesn't mean they'll be hoisting the conference title at meet's end.

For the Lady Warriors, Blissett wants his team to worry about what only they can control, which is their performance in the pool.

"Buffalo has looked incredible all season long, and the meet sure does look like it's theirs to win. We can't control how Buffalo or any other team performs - that's up to Buffalo and those other teams. The only thing we can control is ourselves. If we show up and swim and dive at our very best, then how we finish as a team is something we can be proud of no matter where that happens to be in the standings.

"Looking back and comparing where our team started this season to what we're doing now, we're thrilled with the progress these girls have made and are excited for them to compete this weekend. You never know what can happen in the moment, so I wouldn't count any team out of anything just yet," said Blissett.