The Lady Plainsmen Dominate in Jackson

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen swimming and diving team won the title at the Adam Denton Memorial Invitational in Jackson last weekend.

The Lady Plainsmen scored 638 points last Friday and Saturday and easily beat the host Jackson Lady Broncs, who finished a distant second with 540 points. They won eight of the 12 events.

Head coach Tom Hudson said their depth showed up as a major factor, but so their power.

“Really the top end did, too. We won eight events, which is unusual. We usually don’t win that many even at a dual meet. Yeah, it was a strong weekend for us, all the way around.”

Freshman Olivia McPherson won two events. She shattered the pool records in the prelims. McPherson swam the 50 freestyle in 24.89 seconds and the 100 freestyle in 55.46 last Friday. She won both events in the finals, as well.

Hudson added, “She was able to set two pool records in Jackson, which has a rich tradition; had some fast times. For her to break two pool records made it a successful weekend, too.”

Junior Maggie Clerkin was also a double event winner, as she took first in the 200 and 500 freestyle races.

In addition, Carter Burchi won the 200 individual medley, while Teryn White was first on the diving board. Laramie also won the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

The Lady Plainsmen return to action Tuesday with a double dual in Cheyenne. LHS will swim East and South at South High School. The meet starts at 4 p.m.

Tennis

The Plainsmen and Lady Plainsmen won three duals on the road last Friday and Saturday.

The boys slipped past Green River and Rock Springs in Sweetwater County by a final score of 3-2 in both duals. The number two doubles team of Mao Matsuda and Qingfeng Li were the only position in the line-up that won both their matches.

The girls swept both the Wolves and Tigers by scores of 5-0.

The weekend finished with identical 5-0 sweeps for both squads at Rawlins on Saturday.

Head coach Elizabeth Clower said, “The girls ended up undefeated in conference, which is just a great lift and boost as we head into regionals… With the boys, I was really happy we had different people step up to make sure we won those two matches on Friday, and that was pretty huge for them.”

The Plainsmen will have a make-up match at Cheyenne South Tuesday. South does not have a girl’s squad, so the Lady Plainsmen will win the match by 5-0 default score.

Cross Country

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen finished second in Division 1 of last Friday’s John Martin XC Invitational in Fort Collins.

Freshman Abigail Whitman took tenth in a time of 19:23. She was followed by fellow freshmen Emmy Johnson and Jayla Wulff in 13th and 14th place. As a team, LHS scored 76 points and came within two points of champion Fossil Ridge, CO.

The Plainsmen came in fourth place with 119 points. They saw Kelly Walsh win the team title with Poudre and Fossil Ridge in second and third.

Junior Philip Henry took fourth individually at 16:11, while junior teammate Albert Steiner was sixth only ten seconds behind.

Golf

In their final tune-up before this week’s state championships, the Laramie High School golf teams were in the Oil City for the Casper Invitational last Thursday and Friday.

Both LHS teams came in eighth place in the team standings after competing at the Casper Country Club and Casper Municipal Golf Course.

The Lady Plainsmen shot a two-day total of 695. Scottsbluff, NE dominated the field with a 595 score. Senior Amanda Warren came in fifth place after she carded a 181. She was 24 strokes behind the winner, but only eight strokes out of second place.

The Plainsmen fired a 684. Kelly Walsh won it with a 623 total. Individually, Laramie was led by Colby Clay. The junior fired a 165 over the two days on the two different courses. He tied for 19th place.

The 4A State Golf Championships are Friday and Saturday at the Rolling Green Country Club in Green River.