Plainsmen Finish Fourth at State Swimming

The Laramie Plainsmen made a charge, but ended up fourth at the 4A State Swimming and Diving Championships last weekend in Gillette.

Laramie fell five points short of their goal to finish in the top three. They ended up with 187 team points and three titles.

Kelly Walsh won the 4A team championships for the second straight year with 253 points. Rock Springs was second with 200, while Gillette finished third at 192 points.

Plainsmen head coach Tom Hudson said,

"We really battled back on the second day. We won three events... we were charging; making up a lot of points... we just needed a little help and didn't quite get, but I'm really proud of the guys."

The difference was the Camels win over the Trojans in the 400 freestyle relay. If Gillette had finished second, LHS would have ended up third in the team race.

Senior Connor Petty certainly peaked at the right time. He won two individual titles and was on a state championship relay. Petty captured the 100 butterfly in 53.28. He followed that with a first place finish in the 100 backstroke in a time of 52.61.

Hudson also said Connor really stepped up.

"We chose those races just because he's so tough and so versatile. He really came through... He is a really tough competitor; hates to lose; and he just got it done."

The Plainsmen came away with a big victory in the 200 freestyle relay. Their winning time was 1:30.04, which was only .13 ahead of Cheyenne East. Petty led off the relay and was followed by junior teammates Andy Weathermon and Cas Sheridan. Freshman Jesse Franc swam the anchor leg and held off the T-Birds.

Sheridan was also runner-up in the 500 freestyle and added a third place finish in the 200 freestyle.