3 days Ago By Matt Atencio WyoSports
CHEYENNE — Last season left Laramie senior Maggie Turpin feeling somewhat unsatisfied. Despite winning the Class 4A 1-meter diving championship and being named the state’s lone All-American in swimming and diving, the one accolade that had eluded her was the Wyoming state record. Turpin finally accomplished that goal during the 4A state finals Saturday in Cheyenne.
Her mark of 478.50 not only won her the state title by almost 35 points, it also broke the previous record of 464.25.
"I'm just grateful," Turpin said. "My big word with my coaches is 'purposeful,' and everything we do is super purposeful and full of intention. When I go to practice, I practice with intent and my coach coaches with a ton of purpose and attention.
"We just put in hours and hours into the weeks, and the weeks add up, which brings me a ton of success.” Turpin entered her final dive after posting scores of 49.50 and 48.
She saved her best dive for last with a flawless rotation and entry to score 58.10 points – the highest mark of the day. “My 105 wasn't very good, which was disappointing because that is my dive,” Turpin said.
“I had a lot of energy and so I just got up on the board (and thought), 'I need 58 points to do what I need to do.' "It was more about understanding what you know how to do and not thinking about it too much. That's what I did.
” In total, the Plainsmen put six divers inside the top 10 and two in the top five. It was a great showing of the depth Laramie possesses on the diving board, Turpin said. “I 100% give (Laramie diving coach Ben Herdt) all the credit for that,” she said.
“He's amazing at being emotionally and physically supportive. The way he coaches and the way he sets us up is why we do what we do.” Turpin and the rest of the diving team's efforts paid off in a big way for Laramie, which ran away with the team title Saturday.
The Plainsmen posted 231.50 team points, beating second place Green River by 23.5 (208).
The win felt validating for the rest of the team, according to head coach Tamara Bretting. “After last year, they were pretty disappointed in their finish,” Bretting said. “For them to come back and win another title, it is really bringing these girls together and making them overjoyed.
” One of Laramie’s most critical wins came in the last event of the meet. While it held a lead over Green River, the Plainsmen needed a strong finish to ensure they would walk away with the team title. They got just that, taking first in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3 minutes, 44.
30 seconds. “We just really were determined to win,” said sophomore Addi Graves, who swam the second fastest leg of the race for the Plainsmen with a time of 55.29.
“We were all in a really good mood and we were excited, so we knew there was a good chance for us to win if we won that relay. We were all just really motivated to try our best.” Graves finished the day as one of Laramie’s best swimmers, taking second in the 200 freestyle and third in the 100 backstroke.
“She has the fastest arms in the pool,” Bretting said. “Her starts (may not always be) the best, but she out-swims everybody and it's so much fun to watch her, and I hope that she keeps growing the way that I know she can.” Laramie also picked up six more individual top-six finishes on the day.
Libbie Roesler took second in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.75). Rowyn Birdsley and Brynlee Enevoldsen took second (443.
85) and sixth (390.45), respectively, in 1-meter diving. Rea Caputo-Wilkowski placed fifth in the 100 butterfly.
Brooklyn Smith took third in the 500 freestlye (5:30.05) and sixth in the 200 individual medley (2:02.87).
Morgan Gelwicks finished sixth in the 500 freestlye (5:43.54) and sixth in the 200 individual medley (2:21.51).
"We had a meeting this morning talking about how we all just need to stay in a good mindset," Graves said. "We (knew we needed to) all be in a supportive mindset and try our best which will bring up the attitudes, and we all just tried our best." Cheyenne Central took third place, posting 158 team points.
The Indians sat in fifth place entering the final two events of the meet, but a pair of top three finishes helped them climb back up the standings. It was emblematic of the entire weekend, according to Indians coach Josh Bott. “It was awesome,” the coach said.
“The whole day was like that and every girl stepped up and we did a lot of moving up in every race. Those last two races when everyone was starting to get tired are a big deal. When they can step up and finish like that, it was awesome to see.
" Central junior Kayleigh Hood got the Indians back into the mix when she placed second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.61. Hood also got the Indians some critical points earlier in the meet when she placed third in the 200 individual medley (2:14.
87). "This year, the main thing I have been working on is to get that (100 backstroke) time lower, which I did a little bit, but it's always been a really competitive thing," Hood said. "We knew we needed to do well (in the backstroke) and just do the best we can, and both myself and Laura did.
" Hood also played a critical part for the Indians in hanging onto the third spot in the 400 freestyle relay. Her time of 54.79 on the third leg of the race got the Indians into second heading into the final 100 yards.
Even though they weren't able to hold onto that spot, it gave Central enough breathing room to hold onto third place. "(Bott) told us if we get third or up (in the 400 free relay), we will be third at the meet," Hood said. "We just knew we needed to get our heads in the game and go out and swim as hard as we can and leave it all in the pool.
" Sophomore diver Ella Reed picked up a third-place finish for the Indians, posting a final score of 434.70. Laura VanHorn finished fifth in the 100 backstroke (1:04.
20), and Lillie Bailey placed fifth in 200 individual medley (2:21.14). Indians junior Sydney Gough posted a time of 5:31.
56 to win the consolation final of the 500 freestyle. Her time would have been good enough for fourth place had she made the finals, but she missed out on qualifying in the event during Friday's preliminaries. Still, seeing her respond the way she did was a positive thing, Bott said.
"I love it when athletes have a short memory," the coach said. "We talked this morning about not remembering what happened the day before because, either way, good or bad, it doesn't matter in the finals. You have to step up and have a good race, and she took that to heart.
" Cheyenne South posted 47 team points to take 10th. The Bison didn't have any individual swimmers competing in the finals, but did have a handful of athletes competing in the consolation heats. Sophomore Jaelyn Brown picked up the highest individual finish for the Bison, winning the consolation heat in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:04.
16. The Bison's best finish as a team came in the 400 freestyle relay, where they took sixth (4:01.03).
Cheyenne East took 11th place, posting 41 team points. Junior Nzelle Ayokosok was the only individual swimmer to compete in the finals during Saturday's meet. She picked up a second-place finish in the 50 freestyle (25.
25) and a fourth place finish in the 100 freestyle (55.78). Ayokosok garnered 24 of the team's 41 points.
"I could barely remember (the 50 freestyle)," Ayokosok said with a laugh. "I just remember that I took way too many breaths on the second turn because I wanted to see where the person next to me was, which is a big mistake because you aren't supposed to do that. "I went a little slower than I wanted to, so I started freaking out and sprinting, which is what got me to where I was.
".
