East's Sydni Sawyer seeks elusive state title in 500

Oct. 25—CHEYENNE — Sydni Sawyer has established herself as one of Class 4A's best 500-yard freestyle swimmers over the past three years.

This fall, the Cheyenne East senior wants to become the best.

Sawyer continued her dominance in the event by winning both in the preliminaries and finals of the East Conference meet last weekend. She also touched the wall first in the 200 freestyle both days.

Those efforts earned Sawyer Prep Athlete of the Week honors from WyoSports' Cheyenne staff.

"One thing that always sets distance kids apart is their mentality," East coach Jon Andersen said. "It is something else to go out there and sprint for that long of a race. That's something (Sawyer) does really well.

"She has the mental fortitude, the confidence in herself and the skills to push her body to the extent she does."

At this point in the calendar, swimmers' bodies are as broken down from training yardage as they're going to get. Sawyer's times at the conference meet reflected that.

She won the 500 in 5 minutes, 28.12 seconds and the 200 in 2:01.37. Sawyer's 200 time isn't far off her season best of 2:00.35, but her 500 was well off her top mark this fall.

Sawyer's season-best mark of 5:20.21 in the 500 was just about the only time she's truly been pushed in that event this season. Green River sophomore Tavia Arnell won that night in 5:19.58, which is the top time in Class 3A.

Sawyer has been well out in front of the competition most times she has swam the 500 this year, and she's had to resort to tricking herself into believing other swimmers are hot on her heels.

"I always imagine someone is right in front of me, and that forces me to push myself more, because I'm always thinking I'm trying to catch them," she said.

Sawyer has developed a strong feel for the tempo she needs to swim to post her best time, Andersen said.

"She feels the water really well and knows her pace," he said. "She can get done with a set of 50(-yard swims) and say, 'I'm running 33 (seconds) or 34, and she'll be really close to what her splits were. She has the body awareness to know how fast she's going.

"In longer races, you have to know — based on how your body feels — how fast you're going in the water. In the 50 freestyle, you just go as fast as you can trying to get back to the wall."

Sawyer has built that feel through a lifetime of competitive swimming. She has really dialed it in over the past few years.

Sawyer placed third at the 4A state meet in the 500 and fifth in the 200-yard individual medley as a freshman at Cheyenne Central. She was second in the 500 and ninth in the IM after transferring to East as a sophomore. Last fall, Sawyer repeated as state runner-up in the 500 while taking third in the 200.

The 200 and 500 freestyles are high school swimming's longest individual events, but Sawyer doesn't consider them distance events because there are longer races at the club level.

"Both of them feel like a sprint to me," she said. "I feel like I'm sprinting the whole time, and I try to train with that pace because you still want a strong sprint pace in those races.

"When you're swimming the 500, you can't mess up one 50 or it throws off your whole pace."

Sawyer's feel and technique help make her deadly between the flags that hang at either end of the pool. It's what she does between the flags and the way that Sawyer and her coaches have been trying to clean up other aspects to make her even faster.

"Her stroke rate slows down as she comes to a wall, and she's a little slow flipping over," Andersen said. "That's where other girls will catch her or get ahead of her. She tracks them back down or overtakes them between the flags, but they'll pull ahead again at the wall.

"She's the fastest swimmer in the water, but the turns have been something we identified that we needed to be more aggressive with, especially in the 500, because there are so many turns."

Sawyer fell in love with swimming, in part, because it was an individual sport, and where she finished hardly depended on others. She knows she has to get better off the wall.

"I'm not as powerful in my turns and walls or underwaters," she said. "They cut off a lot of seconds in longer events if you can get better in those areas. I am getting better, because I recognize that as a weakness."

Others recognized for their efforts include:

n Cheyenne Central girls cross-country: The Lady Indians finished as Class 4A state runners-up by just five points. They put all five of their scoring runners in the top 16, led by junior Rian Cordell-Reiner's fifth-place finish (19:47.7).

n Cheyenne Central boys cross-country: The Indians finished second at the state meet. Sophomore Race Morrell led the way with a fourth-place time of 16 minutes, 15.3 seconds.

n Madison Foley, Tehya Gallegos, Brooke Hansen and Savannah Kirkbride, volleyball, Burns: Foley posted 45 digs to help the Broncs beat Lingle in five sets and Pine Bluffs in four.

Gallegos dished out 46 assists to go with 21 digs.

Hansen posted 34 kills and 19 digs.

Kirkbride chipped in with 29 digs and 22 kills across those matches.

n Cam Hayes, Drew Jackson and Renton Jensen, football, Cheyenne East: Hayes, a senior quarterback, completed 19 of 22 passes for 244 yards and five touchdowns during the Thunderbirds' 69-8 win at Kelly Walsh. He also rushed for 113 yards on eight carries.

Jackson, also a senior, rushed for 108 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries. He also caught three passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Jensen, also a senior, caught 11 passes for 133 yards and two scores.

n Maggie Madsen, girls cross-country, East: The freshman placed fourth at the Class 4A state meet in 19 minutes, 25.9 seconds.

Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on X at @jjohnke.