By Josh Hall

Herald Sports Editor

EVANSTON — Jim Levine has been coaching swimming for more than four decades.

But on Wednesday, the Evanston High School boys’ swimming coach witnessed something he has seen very few times in his coaching career, especially at this point in the season.

With the state meet more than a month away, and the tapering season weeks away, Colter Camphouse dropped five seconds off his time in the 100-yard backstroke to become the third Evanston state qualifier this season during a dual meet with Rock Springs and Lyman. 

“It’s very unusual at this time of the year, because we work them hard in practice,” Levine said. “They’re swimming tired. To knock five seconds off is a great accomplishment. 

“When you get in to conference, or when you taper someone for state, then it’s not unusual. It’s hard to do, but it happens.”

Levine had told Camphouse before the meet this would be the last time the sophomore would compete in the 100-yard backstroke if he didn’t make the state cut.

It wasn’t a punishment, but Camphouse has multiple events he was closer to making the state cut in.

“I figured I had to qualify or I wasn’t going to have another chance,” Camphouse said. “It feels pretty good, being a sophomore. A lot of swimmers don’t qualify until they’re seniors. It feels good, but I’d like to qualify in some more events.”

Camphouse finished second in the backstroke with a time of 1:02.85. Even his teammates were impressed with what he accomplished. 

“To see it done at this point in the season, that’s really incredible,” Evanston senior Caleb Richins said. 

Richins and fellow senior Dylan Phillips, both state qualifiers this season, were honored for senior night in the final home meet of the season at Davis Middle School.

“I thought we did great,” Philips said. “I was excited how we performed as a team.”

Evanston suffered a 92-77 loss to Rock Springs and an 85-81 loss to Lyman.

But Levine was more focused on the times Evanston swam.

“We swam very well, across the board,” Levine said. “Almost everyone had best times.”

The Red Devils’ relay team of Camphouse, Richins, Phillips and Vince Bloomfield won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:43.05.

“I feel like we did very well,” Richins said. “Everybody swam their best and we had many guys that were close to qualifying (for state).”

Evanston will compete in three more meets before conference starts Feb. 2-3 at Kelly Walsh. The state meet will be held Feb. 16-17 in Laramie. 

“I think our goal as a team is just compete to the best of our ability,” Richins said. “We’re just going to go and try our hardest.”

TEAM SCORES: EVANSTON VS. ROCK SPRINGS AND LYMAN

Lyman 86, Rock Springs 81

Rock Springs 92, Evanston 77

Lyman 85, Evanston 81

TOP-5 EVANSTON AND LYMAN COMPETITORS

200-yard medley relay

1. Lyman — Wynn Officer, Stone Olguin, Carson Walker, Carter Huntsman — 1:54.12

3. Evanston A — Jayden Cornell, Ben Cook, Caleb Richins, Vince Bloomfield — 15:54.68

5. Evanston B — Jarod Stahl, Alex Stewart, Bodie Wicks, Parker Milewski — 2:51.05

200-yard freestyle

2. Dylan Phillips, Evanston — 1:59.34

3. Colter Camphouse, Evanston — 2:03.24

4. Hansen Bradshaw, Lyman — 2:05.41

200-yard IM

2. Cooper Haycock, Lyman — 2:12.61

3. Stone Olguin, Lyman — 2:19.02

4. Jayden Cornell, Evanston — 2:33.54

5. Vince Bloomfield, Evanston — 34.24.94

50-yard freestyle

1. Carson Walker, Lyman — 24.36

2. Caleb Richins, Evanston — 24.92

3. Ben Cook, Evanston — 25.33

4. Wynn Officer, Lyman — 25.63

5. Carter Huntsman, Lyman — 25.89

100-yard butterfly

1. Cooper Haycock, Lyman — 1:00.52

2. Caleb Richins, Evanston — 1:01.37

5. Wynn Officer, Lyman — 1:09.26

100-yard freestyle

1. Bradshaw Hansen, Lyman — 54.14

2. Kyler Legault, Lyman — 58.51

5. Jayden Cornell, Evanston — 1:01.31

500-yard freestyle

2. Dylan Phillips, Evanston — 5:33.77

3. Ben Cook, Evanston — 6:02.43

4. Vince Bloomfield, Evanston — 6:26.52

200-yard freestyle relay

1. Evanston A — Colter Camphouse, Caleb Richins, Vince Bloomfield, Dylan Phillips — 1:43.05

2. Lyman — Hansen Bradshaw, Cooper Haycock, Kyler Legault, Jaxton Peacock — 1:43.37

5. Evanston B — Joseph Young, John Thompson, Parker Milewski, Conner Fackrell — 2:13.31

100-yard backstroke

2. Colter Camphouse, Evanston — 1:02.85 (state qualifier)

3. Carson Walker, Lyman — 1:03.21

4. Stone Olguin, Lyman — 1:04.68

100-yard breaststroke 

2. Carter Huntsman, Lyman — 1:23.14

3. Jaxon Peacock, Lyman — 1:30.72

5. Jarod Stahl, Evanston — 1:38.99

400-yard freestyle relay

1. Lyman — Stone Olguin, Cooper Haycock, Hansen Bradshaw, Carson Walker — 3:34.68

3. Evanston A — Dylan Phillips, Reed Robinson, Connor Fackrell, Colter Camphouse — 4:19

5. Evanston B — Ben Cook, Jayden Cornell, Bodie Wicks, Jarod Stahl — 4:29.31