The Kemmerer High School girls’ swimming and diving team was in Jackson over the weekend, turning in strong performances at the Adam Denton Memorial Invitational.
The Lady Rangers swam to a fourth-place finish, winning the 200 medley relay and placing Top 5 in a host of individual events.
“The kids did a really good job,” said KHS head coach Amanda Aimone.”We got to compete against some good athletes over the weekend. I think some of the girls were a little intimidated, but when they were reminded that they belong there, they stepped up and did a good job.”
The Denton Invite was set up like a postseason meet, with the preliminaries held Friday, and finals on Saturday. The top 18 swimmers in each event during the preliminary rounds advanced to Saturday’s finals.
The 200 medley relay team of Ally Bartschi, Charlie Boylen, Logan Rogers and Kalyn Lockwood won the event in a time of 2:03.78. Freshman phenoms Boylen and Rogers also swam well in individual events: Boylen finished third in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.78) and fourth in the 200 individual medley (2:29.33), while Rogers was third in the 50 freestyle (25.67) and fourth in the 100 freestyle (57.42).
Other strong performances included Ally Bartschi in the 100 backstroke (5th, 1:12.70), Kalyn Lockwood in the 50 freestyle (6th, 29.01), Demi Thatcher in the 500 freestyle (8th, 6:38.39), Payton Scherr in the 100 backstroke (9th, 1:18.98) and Arya Newell in the 500 freestyle (9th, 6:53.69).
“Logan Rogers, Charlie Boylen and Ally Bartschi competed strong,” Aimone said. “Bartschi and Boylen swam season bests in one or more events. Payton Scherr and Emileen Dearden also competed the next day and placed for the team. Charlie Boylen swam a lifetime best in the 100 breast, which was exciting for her. Payton Scherr barely missed qualifying in the 200 free. She’s only .3 off the qualifying time. Finally, Emileen Dearden had two season best swims in the 100 free and 100 backstrokes. I was happy with those swims.”
In the diving event, Hanna Walker placed second, while Kalyn Lockwood and Gabby Bartschi placed fourth and seventh, respectively.
