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WORLAND — Saving their best for last, the Worland Warriors boys swimming team ended their season on a high note during last week’s 3A State meet in Gillette.

“We could have swum a little better in a couple of events, but we still wouldn’t have finished any better. We were too far behind Buffalo but third out of 13 teams is pretty good. A lot of people took notice of Worland swimming at state,” said WHS boys swimming coach Justin Howe.

The Warriors finished third at the 3A State meet, scoring 112 points. Buffalo was second with 211 points, and Lander won their 26th consecutive 3A State championship with 388 points.

The 3A field was stacked this year, and with Lander fielding one of their strongest teams, the Warriors knew going into state that a championship was not within reach. Instead of maximizing the team’s points, Howe shifted to an individual focus by entering swimmers in their best events. Even with that individual focus, the Warriors still finished third, a testament to the team’s talent.

Gage Stanek and Traeten Quigley, the Warriors top swimmers all season long, earned All-State honors. A swimmer must finish in the top two of an event or be on a winning relay to earn All-State.

Quigley finished second in the 100-yard butterfly (52.13) and was narrowly out-touched by Brennen Blackburn of Lander, who won with a 51.81. Quigley also swam the fastest 100-yard butterfly in WHS history.

Stanek came in second in the 100-yard backstroke (55.47), he also posted the second-fastest backstroke in WHS history.

“Traeten is my technique guy. You watch Traeten to learn how to swim. At that meet, more than ever before, you saw the toughness come out of him. You could tell he wanted to go fast, and it was amazing. He lost the 100 fly by a few hundredths of a second.

“You can always see the toughness in Gage. He doesn’t like to lose, and he goes for it in the water. With the pressure at state, both Gage and Traeten overcame that pressure and did great. I didn’t know if Traeten would be disappointed not winning, but he looked up at his time and had a big smile on his face. He now has the fastest fly in Worland history, and Gage is second for the backstroke,” said Howe. “They both swam the IM and made the record board in that.”

The Warriors had two relay teams finish third, the 200-yard medley (1:42) and 200-yard freestyle (1:33.58.).

Warriors Walker Cooper, Trae Bennett and Wyatt Whitlock had excellent state meets. Cooper finished seventh in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. Whitlock was 10th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.17), and Bennett was 12th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.65).

“Walker Cooper was outstanding. He’ll be great in those freestyle events next year. Trae Bennett was outstanding for us in the finals for the medley relay. Wyatt Whitlock swam a good 100 fly and got under a minute. Then he made the finals in the 100 breaststroke. I didn’t expect Wyatt to have the fast time in the 100 breast, and he ended up doing just that,” said Howe.

Gavin McEndree qualified in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke. McEndree missed out on making the finals in the backstroke by the slimmest of margins. But the senior rallied from missing out on the backstroke and swam his fastest leg in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

“Gavin McEndree qualified in the 100 fly, but that event was absolutely stacked this year, so he didn’t make the finals in that. If he had swum his time in the 100 back, he would have made the finals, but he messed up some turns and didn’t make it. But that’s life, sometimes things don’t go as planned. He swam in the 400 free at the end and swam a 57, which was outstanding. He bounced back and still performed,” said Howe. “That was his last event as a Worland Warrior, and he was great.”

Howe was also impressed with his only state diver Melvin Croft, who finished 11th with a score of 283.65.

“Melvin does a lot of diving on his own. Coach Warren is there once or twice a week, and the rest of the time, he’s working on his own. To push yourself when no one else is there that’s pretty amazing. It was fun to watch him dive at state,” said Howe.

It was an excellent first season for Howe, who wrapped up his first season as the head coach of the Warrior program. While he’s been involved with the Warrior program as an assistant coach for the past decade, taking over as the head coach this season was seamless, thanks in part to this year’s team.

“The state meet was perfect and my favorite moment from this season in the water. But some of my favorite moments were out of the water. They gave the Powell coach flowers and said some great things to her, the support they showed to the Jefferies and would talk to them after races. Then out on the road, I never had one problem. They’re just good kids. They supported each other, and they were just a team. It might be one of the more tight-knit teams I’ve ever had,” said Howe.

For his returning swimmers, Howe stressed the importance of offseason work. The returning Warriors don’t need to stay in race shape but need to be in the pool enough to perfect their technique.

“Getting in the pool is so important. You can see how comfortable the top swimmers are in the water. Traeten is a good example of that, it’s almost like the water is his second home. You don’t have to stay in race shape, but it’s important to be in swimming shape. We’ll try to get to some USA meets during the summer just to keep it in our muscles and in our minds. Then I’m hoping we can have some of them swim in USA before the high school season starts,” said Howe.

Point scorers for the Warriors at the 3A State meet are as follows.

200-yard medley relay

3, Worland (Gage Stanek, Trae Bennett, Traeten Quigley, Walker Cooper), 1:42.

200-yard individual medley

6, Traeten Quigley, 2:04.31.

10, Gage Stanek, 2:09.84.

50-yard freestyle

7, Walker Cooper, 23:64.

1-meter diving

11, Melvin Croft, 283.65.

100-yard butterfly

2, Traeten Quigley, 52.13. (School record, fastest time)

100-yard freestyle

7, Walker Cooper, 51.66.

200-yard freestyle relay

3, Worland (Canton Green, Gage Stanek, Walker Cooper, Traeten Quigley), 1:33.58.

100-yard backstroke

2, Gage Stanek, 55.47. (School record, second fastest.)

100-yard breaststroke

10, Wyatt Whitlock, 1:05.17.

12, Trae Bennett, 1:06.65.

400-yard relay

10, Worland (Gavin McEndree, Jack Bishop, James Williams, Wyatt Whitlock)