Lady Plainsmen Swimming and Diving Continues To Impress

It was a weekend of domination turned in by the Laramie Lady Plainsmen swimming and diving team in Casper and Sheridan.

Laramie rolled past Kelly Walsh and Jackson in duals last Friday before they captured the mid-season Sheridan Invite Saturday by 138 points.

The Lady Plainsmen defeated the Trojans 100-to-70 and the Broncs 1116-to-53 at KW. With a line-up moved around, LHS won 11 of the 12 events in the dual. Sisters Olivia and Katie McPherson won two events apiece to lead Laramie.

Head coach Tom Hudson said they enjoyed the meet in Casper.

“It was nice to go there. They have a nice, newly renovated pool there. It’s yards there, instead of meters because it was always kind of a bummer going to the old kind of dilapidated Kelly Walsh. The pool’s better, so we actually had a good meet.”

Senior Morgan Billington qualified in three events at that competition.

Saturday the Lady Plainsmen won five events and rolled past eight opponents at the Sheridan Invite. Laramie scored 347 points, while Sheridan and Cheyenne Central tied for second place with 209 team points.

Hudson knew their performance would open some eyes, even though Green River wasn’t at the meet and Gillette was a little short-handed with a swimmer gone on a recruiting trip.

“To win by over a hundred points is starting to make a statement as to where this team is. We take nothing for granted out of that, but we’re pretty happy about winning by that much, but we know we have to keep the pedal to the medal and keep pushing hard.”

LHS finished first-place in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and also got wins from Olivia McPherson in the 50 free, which was a 1-2-3 effort for Laramie. Carter Burchi won the 200 individual medley and Sage Morton was first in the 400 free. Senior diver Anna Augustin qualified, which gives LHS 17 state qualifiers this season.

The Lady Plainsmen return home Friday and Saturday for five duals.

Laramie Cross Country

Both Laramie High School cross country teams finished in third place at the Rapid City Invite last Friday in South Dakota.

Junior Abigail Whitman won the girls’ race in 19:05 out of 103 participants. Her margin of victory was over eight seconds. Fellow junior Jayla Wulff came in seventh place, while junior Emmy Johnson took 16th in her first race of the season.

The Lady Plainsmen scored 105 teams points for third out of 23 teams at the competition. Rapid City Central was first with 53 points. Hill City (SD) was only four points in front of LHS.

The Plainsmen were led by senior Derk Lyford, who finished third in 16:16.9. Right behind him was junior Mason Swingholm in fourth place at 16:21.1 Senior Jordan Tangeman came in 12.

The Laramie boys’ scored 78 team points and placed third out of 22 teams. Bismarck (ND) won it with 56 points, while Legacy (Bismarck, ND) was second at 59 points.

Laramie races at the Thornton Cross Country Invitational Friday in Thornton, CO.

Lady Plainsmen Volleyball

It was a tough weekend at home last week for Laramie, but they did bounce back on Tuesday night.

The fourth-ranked Lady Plainsmen were riding a three-match win streak but were defeated twice in cross-quadrant play at the LHS gym last Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

The Gillette Camels came in and beat Laramie in four sets last Friday night. Scores of the match were 25-17, 24-26, 25-19, and 25-19 in favor of the Camels. Jennifer Aadland led the way with 13 kills, two blocks, and six digs. Alexis Stucky and Jessica Crane added nine kills apiece.

Saturday a ranked showdown versus No. 3 Thunder Basin was all Bolts, as they swept the No. 4 Lady Plainsmen. Scores went 25-17, 25-22, and 25-22. No stats were made available to KOWB.

Laramie stopped their brief skid with a 3-0 sweep of Cheyenne South at home Tuesday night. The Lady Plainsmen won 25-15, 25-18, and 25-10. Again, no stats were provided from the match to KOWB.

LHS heads to the Casper Invitational this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 28 and 29. Laramie will play Gillette, 3A Mountain View, and the Thunder Basin JV in pool play Friday. Bracket play in either the Gold, Silver, or Bronze bracket will take place Saturday. All matches will be at the Casper Events Center.