Lady Warriors to use home meet to hit more qualifying times

The Worland Lady Warriors swimming and diving team kept things rolling last week in meets in Cody Sept. 5-6.

Swimming at the Cody Triangular and Terry Bartlett Invitational, the Lady Warriors had another exciting week in the pool.

Shae Whitlock added the 500-yard freestyle (6:29.79) and 200-yard freestyle (2:17.42) to her list of state qualifying events and won the 100-yard freestyle during the invitational with a time of 59.71.

"Shae picked up the 200 free and 500 free and is still tearing it up in the pool," said WHS girls swimming coach Danielle Warren.

While Whitlock was the only Worland swimmer to hit state qualifying times, there were still plenty of highlights for the Lady Warriors.

Tylee Clark is on the cusp of qualifying in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. Lila Ramirez cut time in the 100-yard butterfly and is also knocking on the door of qualifying.

For their efforts in Cody, Clark and Ramirez were named the Swimmers of the Week by Warren and assistant coach Justin Howe.  

"Tylee Clark ripped it open in two races. She swam a perfect 50, around a 30 flat, which is awesome for her. She turned around and swam a 100 back. She swam a 1:15.80, and qualifying is 1:15.19. She's right there, dancing around it. Her 50, she took one breath down, two breaths back, perfect flip turn, everything was spot on.

"Lila Ramirez cut two seconds in the 100 fly. She's been coming to morning swims all summer. I've been really impressed with her work ethic and all the things she's been doing in and out of the water," said Warren.

Grace Beamer is another Worland swimmer who is cutting time and moving closer to qualifying.

With so many swimmers so close to qualifying for state, one meet is all the Lady Warriors need for the dominoes to start falling.

"Grace Beamer cut two or three seconds in the 100 free, she also had a great meet. All around, there were great swims. It was a little heartbreaking because Lila and Tylee are so close to qualifying. But they're going to get it, and that's rewarding to know," said Warren. "We want to get as many qualified and going to state because that gets everyone excited in the program. Success breeds success. That's been the best part of the season so far."

Hitting those qualifying times could come down to perfecting turns or other elements of a swimmer's stroke. And with Friday's home meet at 4 p.m. at the Worland Aquatic Center, family and friends cheering them on could also help push the Lady Warriors over the top.

"Some of our newer swimmers don't have open turners or things like that. There are so many things to learn or review at the beginning of the season. There's room for improvement, and the girls are working toward getting those pieces down. We have our home meet coming up, and they always swim well there.

"They always swim great at home, and I'm excited to pick up a few extra Q times. Kiera [Warren] dropped three seconds in the IM, and she's right there as well. We've got so many knocking on the door. We're just excited to get as many as we can get qualified and then start working for state," said Warren.