PINEDALE — The Evanston and Davis middle school boys’ swimming and diving teams were dominant throughout the 2017 season.

Head coach Sherri Busch is excited to see what the future has in store for that group.
Evanston/Davis capped an undefeated season by winning the middle school conference meet earlier in the week.

“They’re talented,” Busch said. “We really have a good group of boys. I’ve never had an undefeated season where we’ve won conference. It tickles me.”

Busch, now in her 10th year coaching, is also excited about what her team might be capable of accomplishing down the road.

“I’m tickled to see where they are going to go in their swimming careers,” she said. “They are talented boys, and if they want to, they are capable of anything.”

Evanston and Davis had 16 swimmers place in the top 12 at conference. The team finished with 320 points. Green River was second with 187 and Rock Springs was third with 168.

Lyman took sixth at conference with 83 points.

“We all worked really hard throughout the entire season,” eighth-grader Jaxon Nicholls said. “It paid off because we went undefeated. If we all stick together, I think we can win state one day.”
 

Nichols was first in the 200-yard freestyle relay and also took home the gold in the 100-yard backstroke, while setting personal-best times in both events.

It wasn’t a complete surprise for Nichols. He hasn’t been challenged in the water much this season.

“It felt really good,” Nichols said. “I was really happy. I wasn’t completely surprised, but I was really happy with the times I got.”

Gage Beachler, another eighth grader, also took first in the 100-yard freestyle. And he did it while battling bronchitis. But there was no way Beachler was going to sit the meet out.

Even though he wasn’t 100-percent, Beachler decided he would try to score as many points for his team as possible. He ended up scoring the maximum.

“It felt really good,” he said. “It felt even better with being sick with bronchitis.”
Beachler also hopes the team will stick together at the high-school level. He believes the team has the potential to accomplish something special in a few years.

“There’s a lot of room for improvement for me and the rest of our team,” he said. “We just need to keep working hard and not stop swimming.”

The team also proved to be successful on the diving board.

Tayo Gillies, s seventh grader, took first with 155.05 points, while eighth grader Kayden Mason was third with 137.50 points.

“The kids all did tremendous,” diving coach Rich Hauig said. “They worked hard and they kept improving.’

Havic hopes to see the diving program at Evanston High School make a comeback. He started the Evanston High School boys’ program in 1971 and became the first girls’ swimming and diving coach a few years later. Hauig coached at the high school for nine years and has been coaching at the middle-school level ever since.”

“Evanston has quite a tradition at diving,” he said. “I hope it comes back. We’ve had a lot of divers win multiple state titles.”

Busch, also the coach of the Red Devils Aquatic Team, hopes to see student-athletes continue swimming year-round.

‘I want to encourage people to put their kids in year-round swimming if they want to be on a competitive level,” she said. “It makes a big difference if they’re in the pool all year.”

DAVIS AND EVANSTON MIDDLE SCHOOL
RESULTS

200-yard medley relay
1. Evanston A (Eric Greer, Zachary Smith, Jaxon Nichols, Steel Smith) — 2:12.87
11. Evanston D (Porter Hall, Kyler Hogeman, Jaxson Daniels, Nick Lawlar) — 3:06.75
12. Evanston C (Eli Brooks, Kayden Mason, Easton Koop, Mccoy Vozakis) — 3:06.84

200-yard freestyle
1. Jaxson Nicholls — 2:06.81
3. Gage Beachler — 2:19.31
5. George Stephen — 2:41.35
9. Micheal Tobin — 2:47.45
16. Porter Hall — 2:58.39
23. Nick Lawlar — 3:20.98
26. Tanner Word — 3:33.54
28. Brayton Robertson — 3:34.97

100-yard IM
4. Erik Geer — 1:19.23
5. Steel Smith — 1:21.00
7. Cash Robinson — 1:21.85
10. Lyman Alexander — 1:27.58
22. Easton Kopp — 1:40.98
25. Eli Brooks — 1:43.71

50-yard freesyle
3. Zachary Smith — 29.82
4. Dylan Schneider — 30.23
21. Kayden Mason — 33.92
27. Kyle Barker — 35.61
38. Kenyon Lavato — 38.47
51. Gavin Branning — 42.58
52. Jamar McDowell — 42.78
54. Jacob Anson — 43.35
55. Braddock Brown — 43.26
65. Eric Hughes — 48.34
70. Keenan Nebeker — 57.37

1-meter diving
1. Tayo Gillies 155.05—16.0
2. Kayden Mason 137.50—12.0
8. Kyler Hogeman 101.25—5.0
10. Peyton Odum 92.45
18. Wyatt Sawyer 60.70
21. Jaxson Daniels 54.20
22. Kade Sims 40.50

50-yard butterfly
2. Hunter Jensen — 35.46
4. Eric Greer — 36.51
13. Easton Kopp — 44.06
14. Jaxson Daniels — 46.71

100-yard freestyle
1. Gage Beachler — 1:02.05
5. Dylan Schneider — 1:08.80
12. George Stephen — 1:13.76
13. Micheal Tobin — 1:13.77
18. Jaydon Welling — 1:17.65
26. Hyrum Baxter — 1:21.85
34. Peyton Odum — 1:29.68

100-yard backstroke
1. Jaxson Nicholls — 1:04.61
6. Steel Smith — 1:21.21
11. Kyle Barker — 1:33.51
18. Tanner Word — 1:48.69
21. Gavin Branning — 1:51.53
27. Eric Hughes — 2:03.43

100-yard breaststroke
3. Zachary Smith — 1:22.15
4. Cash Robinson — 1:28.61
15. Hanky Phillips — 1:43.01
19. Mccoy Vozakis — 1:44.72
21. Hyrum Baxter — 1:47.37
26. Tayo Gillies — 1:52.37
29. Eli Brooks — 1:54
31. Kyler Hogeman — 1:56
32. Keenan Nebeker — 2:03.05

200-yard freestyle relay
1. Evanston A ( Hunter Jensen, Dylan Schneider, George Stephen, Gage Beachler) — 2:02.19
8. Evanston B (Jaydon Welling, Micheal Tobin, Kyle Barker, Tayo Gillies) — 2:25.83

TEAM SCORES
1. Evanston/Davis 320
2. Green River 187
3. Rock Springs 168
4. Ranger Fall Swim Team 109
5. Pinedale 108
6. Lyman 83
7. Rawlins 82
8. Big Piney 56