Swimming: Whitlock earns all-state honors in 200-yard IM

Competing against some of the fastest swimmers in the state, the Worland Lady Warriors had plenty of highlights from last week's 3A State swimming and diving meet in Cheyenne.

Swimming at the 3A State meet on Nov. 7-8, the Lady Warriors 200-yard medley relay team got the momentum rolling on the final day of the meet. The medley relay with Shae Whitlock, Keira Warren, Lila Ramirez and Elizah Pratty finished third with a time of 2:03.60.

In the 200-yard individual medley, Whitlock swam the second fastest time in program history and finished second at 2:23.00, earning her all-state honors.

To earn all-state honors, a swimmer must finish in the top two of their event or be on a winning relay team.

"It was exciting to have a few in the finals, that was fun," said WHS girls swimming and diving head coach Danielle Warren. "I loved how our medley relay was able to step up. Everyone hit their fastest times and it was fun to see each of the girls hit their own. Getting third in the state is a big deal. Shae getting second and second in our record books for the 200 IM. She's the second fastest IM-er girl in the history of the program. She also made the record board in the 200 free in the 200 free relay. That was amazing and exciting."

Next up for the Lady Warriors was diver Delanie Johnson. After missing the finals last season, the sophomore scored a 297.95 and finished fifth in the 1-meter diving.

"Delanie was fifth and was just one point from fourth, which was awesome. I'm super proud of her. She dove really good on the second day. She just ripped it open and it speaks volumes to how much she's grown this season. Finishing fifth as a sophomore is awesome and the sky is the limit this year," said Warren.

Keira Warren finished 12th in the 100-yard butterfly (1:13.93), Whitlock touched the wall at 57.43 in the 100-yard freestyle to finish fourth, and Taylor Campbell had sub-:40 splits in her 500-yard freestyle race to finish eighth at 6:17.32.

"Keira made it to the consolation in the fly. She hasn't really swum the fly but got a 1:11 in the prelims and a 1:13 in the consolation. She added time but still had a great swim. Shae getting fourth in the 100 free and swimming a 57.43 was the fastest she's ever swam in her whole life," said Warren. "Taylor ripping it out at 6:17 in the 500, that's amazing for a freshman. Her goal was to be under 40 seconds on every split and she did that."

The Lady Warriors 200-yard relay team finished second at 1:49.82, Keira Warren swam a 1:14.10 in the 100-yard breaststroke, the third fastest time in program history, to finish third, and Pratt came in ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:19.83.

"Getting second in the 200 free relay was amazing. Everyone swam their hearts out and we were under a 1:50, which is really, really good. Keira was third in the 100 breaststroke and she's now the third fastest in Worland High School history. That's a really great time," said Warren.

As a team, the Lady Warriors finished fifth with 106 points. Kemmerer and Buffalo tied for third with 118 points, Cody was second with 199 points and Lander Valley won the 3A State title with 431 points.

Worland was sitting third heading into the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, but did not have a team in the event. Warren and assistant coach Justin Howe went back and forth on whether they should have a 400-yard relay team. Doing so would have meant breaking up other relays, and ultimately, they landed on letting each swimmer have fun, swim their best events and keep their stronger relays intact.

"They were right there with Buffalo and Kemmerer for third. We could have split up our relays and possibly finished third, but it was fun to let the girls do what they could do and finish going for it. We're excited for where they finished," said Warren.

Look to next week's edition of the Northern Wyoming News for a recap of the Lady Warriors 2024 season.