On October 20th and 21st the Powell High School [PHS] girls swim team won the swimming and diving conference meet in Cody for the third consecutive year in a row, winning with 324 points in total. 

Athletes, including swimmers and divers, would compete in relays, involving four swimmers, heats, where different teams compete against one another, and diving. 

PHS would have three swimmers making it to the 200 individual medley: senior Kik Hayano placed second with 2:26.5, sophomore Patricia Christensen placed fourth with 2:28.6, and Senior Paige Thomas placed seventh with 2:32.8.

The PHS team made waves by dominating the preliminaries during their first day of competing and making it to the finals. Stress was high, especially for many seniors, with the conference being the last time they would compete together as a team.

“Individually, I could have made sure that I was not in my head so much,” senior diver Aramonie Brinkerhoff said. “As a senior, there definitely was a stress for each dive, like, ‘Wow, this is the last of this dive I will ever throw at a diving conference.’ Which caused my performance to be a little inconsistent.”

Fellow swimming and diving athletes have shared their appreciation and love for their upperclassmen over the years spent working together, following the great success of the conference.

“I’m sure this meant much more to our seniors,” swimmer Christensen said. “They lost their freshman year but have been a powerhouse ever since.”

Following the senior’s freshman year, the girls swim and diving team has successfully won the past three annual swimming conferences they have participated in. As this is their final year attending PHS, the senior class will no longer be able to compete in the swimming functions. The departure of the swimmers and divers made the third and final victory all the more rewarding.

“It feels amazing to win for a third time. I know especially us seniors feel it was a great way to start wrapping up our swim careers,” senior swimmer Baylee Brence said. “This third conference title shows our dedication to the sport and team. All of the girls work super hard to improve in this grueling sport. I couldn’t be prouder of the team.”