BIG PINEY – The Sublette County boys’

swim team had a busy opening weekend. On

Friday, Dec. 7, the team competed against

Lander and Kemmerer at the Big Piney Triangular

meet.

Less than 24 hours later, the athletes were

in the pool again halfway across the state for

the Rawlins Pentathlon.

Pinedale senior Nile Debebe qualified for

state in five events: the 200-meter freestyle,

400-meter freestyle, 50-meter freestyle, 100-

meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly. Pinedale

senior Tanner Boespflug qualified in the

100-meter backstroke.

Big Piney High School senior Marcus Mahaffey

broke the Sublette County record in

the 400-meter freestyle with a final time of 5

minutes. 10.94 seconds. Mahaffey also qualified

for state in six different events over the

weekend: the 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter

freestyle, 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle,

100-meter backstroke and 100-meter

butterfly.

Big Piney sophomore Tyler Hacklin qualified

in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-

meter freestyle. Big Piney junior Corben

Jessen qualified in the 50-meter freestyle.

Lander won the Big Piney Triangular Meet,

but Sublette swimmers put up a strong fight

and finished second. Head Coach Brian Gray

was happy with the results.

“We had a good start to the season,” he

said. “Our guys swam well and worked hard

this week. We competed well against the defending

state champs (Lander) on Friday. It

was a good weekend to see where they are at

in terms of conditioning.”

Sublette County won the 200-meter freestyle

relay. The team of Debebe, Hacklin,

John Covill and Mahaffey completed the race

almost a full second ahead of Lander with a

time of 1:55.24.

In the 400-meter freestyle relay, Boespflug,

Debebe, Brayden Hymas and Mahaffey finished

in third place with a time of 4:42.40.

Sublette County took third, fourth and

fifth place in the 200-meter medley relay.

Boespflug, Hacklin, Ben Maxfield and Jessen

placed third with a time of 2:18.14. Conner

King, J.T. Day, Toby Covill and Logan Bing

finished fourth with a time of 2:34.10. Kobbe

Mitchell, Ed Gudino, Trevor Moller and Jordan

Lyon came in fifth with a time of 2:35.24.

Sublette County dominated the 50-meter

freestyle sprints. Hacklin placed first with

a time of 28.04 seconds. Jessen was close

behind in second place and a time of 28.05

seconds. Maxfield placed third with a time of

29.07 seconds.

King took second place in the 100-meter

backstroke with a time of 1:26.69. John Covill

placed third with a time of 1:27.36, followed

by Hymas in fourth place at 1:28.66 and Jordan

Lyon in fifth at 1:29.99.

In the 100-meter freestyle, Hacklin finished

third with a time of 1:04.82. Day placed fourth

at 1:13.65, followed by Mitchell in seventh

and Bing in 10th place.

Mahaffey’s record-breaking swim in the

400-meter freestyle placed him fifth overall in

the race. Debebe came in seventh to a time of

5:30.29 followed by Boespflug in eighth with

a time of 5:42.63.

Mahaffey placed fourth in the 200-meter

freestyle with a time of 2:23.98. Debebe finished

close behind in fifth place to a time of

2:25.91. Hymas came in seventh place to a

time of 2:43.60. John Covill placed 10th at

2:48.34.

Toby Covill represented Sublette County

in the 100-meter butterfly with a third-place

finish and a time of 1:35.38.

In the 100-meter breaststroke, Jessen

placed fifth to a time of 1:28.90. Maxfield finished

seventh with a time of 1:32.01, followed

by Gudino in ninth place and Trevor Moller

in 10th.

Boespflug represented Sublette County

in the 200-meter individual medley with an

eighth-place finish and a time of 2:58.78.

In the diving event, Day placed fourth with

103.60 points. Trenton Taylor placed fifth

with 91.25 points.

On Saturday, the team traveled to compete

in the Rawlins Pentathlon against 60 swimmers

from eight teams. Sublette County came

in third place with 42 points.

“The pentathlon is a good meet to compare

where the guys are at for the season,”

Gray said. “Nearly everyone started out faster

this year than last year in most or all of their

events.”

To complete the pentathlon, swimmers

competed in five events: the 100-meter butterfly,

100-meter backstroke, 50-meter freestyle,

100-meter breaststroke and 100-meter freestyle.

The times from each event combined to

form a final time to rank the 60 swimmers.

Mahaffey led Sublette County and finished

eighth overall with a combined time of 4:49.12

Debebe placed 22nd with a combined time of

5:06.07. Maxfield finished 29th with a total

time of 5:18.03. Boespflug came in at 30th

with a combined time of 5:18.65. Hacklin finished

40th with a total time of 5:33.34. Moller

placed 50th with a time of 6:07.35. Gudino

placed 52nd with a time of 6:16.00. Toby Covill

finished 54th with a time of 6:19.93.

Coach Gray is already looking forward to

next weekend’s busy schedule.

“We saw some great efforts and competition

this weekend,” Gray said. “Our younger,

new swimmers had a good opportunity to see

where they sit and did well. We’re looking

forward to improving our conditioning over

the upcoming weeks in December.”

On Friday, Dec. 14, Sublette County competes

at the Lander Quad, followed by the

Riverton Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 15.