Evanston competes at Southwest Invite

Josh Hall
Posted 9/25/17

The Evanston girls swimming team took fourth at the Southwest Invite on Saturday in Lyman.

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Evanston competes at Southwest Invite

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LYMAN – Evanston High School girls swimming coach Kate Schmidt feels strongly about a rule she has for her team – if a student-athlete misses a practice, they do not get to participate in the meets for that week.

On Saturday, during the Southwest Invite at the Lyman Aquatic Center, the Lady Red Devils competed with just 11 swimmers. 

But despite that low number of participants, Evanston still had a strong showing in a tight race, finishing fourth with 156 points in a meet that featured five teams.

“We just can’t compete against teams that have 30 girls when we have 11,” Schmidt said. “It’s too hard. But the girls swam well in their events. They really did.”

Green River won the meet with 318 points, Sublette County (165) was second, Lyman (157) was third and Kemmerer (69) fifth.

“I thought we did pretty good,” Evanston senior Jade Caves said. “It definitely wasn’t our best meet, but it definitely wasn’t our worst. We have a good team. We’re really strong when we have all of our girls.”

McKinzey Camphouse finished second in the 200-yard individual relay (2:38.16) and was second in the 100-yard backstroke (1:12.89) to lead the way for Evanston. 

Marie Davis once again came close to making the state-qualifying time in the 200-yard freestyle. The junior took second in the event with a time of 2:16.89.

Rachel Buzarde qualified for state in her fifth event this season after finishing fourth in the 50-yard freestyle in 27.37. The freshman had already made the state cut in the 100, 200 and 500-yard freestyle, along with the 100-yard backstroke.  Buzarde said last week she also hopes to qualify in the 100-yard butterfly.

While Schmidt is pleased with Buzarde’s accomplishments, she also gets just as excited when her athletes drop time. 

Schmidt was quick to point out how Brooke Phillips cut approximately 25 seconds off her time in the 500-yard freestyle. 

“(Phillips) does work really hard, and we’ve been working on kicking and flip turns,” Schmidt said. “She really takes stuff in and tries to do exactly what you’re asking. Today, she did those things and her time showed that. She did awesome.”

Then there was Annellie Beachell and Kathryn Williams, who both shed time in the 200-yard individual medley. Beachell dropped 10 seconds while Williams cut six seconds off her previous personal best.

“We had girls cutting lot of times today, just not enough to qualify for state yet,” Schmidt said. “But they are swimming well. Now that they see their hard work paying off with these times coming down so significantly, I think we’re just going to see them continue to cut time in the next couple of week before conference.”