During the winter months in Powell, Wyoming, many high school athletes find themselves either playing basketball, taking the season off, or doing indoor track. This is the second year of Powell High School having an Indoor Track team. With that, they have continued to grow and improve from their first season. 

On Mar. 1st-2nd, the Powell Indoor Track team made the long trip over the snowy mountain to Gillette to compete at State.  

“The team did really well. We had five new school records,” Indoor Track Assistant Coach Mrs. Tracy McArthur said. “We are only in our second year of our program… we had more people come out this year than we did last year, and we took more people to state this year than we did last year. So I consider both of those a success.”

The Lady Panthers were able to place five of their girls on the podium for individual events. Junior Kinley Cooley made her way up to 2nd in the 3200 with a 12:06.72 and 4th in the 1600 running a 5:31.02. Both of these times earned her the new school records. 

“I think I helped the team score some points in distance side of things,” Cooley said. “I was seeded to place 6th in the mile and I jumped up to fourth… and then in the two mile I was seeded third and jumped up to second.”

The Lady Panthers were also able to get two more girls on the podium in the 3200, Kinley Cooley’s younger sister, freshman Karee Cooley, placing 5th with a 12:29.94 and senior Brynn Hillman placing 7th with a 12:57.09. The other two girls included junior Kenna Jacobsen, who placed 6th in the 800 with a 2:28.14, missing the school record of 2:28.09 by a hair. Senior Katie O’Brien was the last girl individual who placed, with a throw of 36’-08” in the shot put, she earned a 3rd place finish.  

“I didn’t perform my best, but it also wasn’t the worst performance I could do,” O’Brien said. “I was still able to… place third and perform decently but not as well as I normally do.”

The Lady Panthers were also successful in placing three out of their four relays. This included the 1600 Meter Sprint Medley team of freshman Ashlee Jacobsen, senior Aramonie Brinkerhoff, sophomore Audrey Johnson, and K. Jacobsen who placed 5th with a time of 4:38.83. The next relay to place was the 4×800 Meter team consisting of the Cooley sisters, K. Jacobsen, and Hillman, placing 2nd with a time of 10:39.96. The last relay to place was the 4×400 meter relay team consisting of A. Jacobsen, Myah Rakness, Melissa Merritt, and A. Johnson. 

“[Our goal was] to get as many kids on the podium as we could and we felt like a lot of that would be our relays,” Mrs. McArthur said. “Getting four kids at once up on the podium. So, we really focused on our relays.” 

The Panthers were able to place four individuals up on the podium. One of those included junior Liam Taylor. Taylor placed 8th in the 800 with a time of 2:05.92. This was a big feat for Taylor, since he was the underdog coming into the race, being placed in the slower heat of the 800. 

“I think the only reason I won is because I did one more mile than [Worland runner Trajn Swalstad], I did one more pushup than him, and that’s why I crossed the finish line first,” Taylor said. “You know he’s beaten me all throughout cross country. He’s beaten me all throughout last year in outdoor, in fact, he’s beaten me every single time. Except now, I beat him literally by the skin of my teeth.”

The other three Panthers who were able to get their spot on the podium included jumpers Tevon Shultz and Sondre Furuhaug for their performance in the Triple Jump. Shultz placed 6th with a jump of 38’-05 ½” and Furuhaug placed 8th with a jump of 38’-00”. The last Panther to get on the podium was Stuart Shoopman. He placed 4th in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 8.34. 

“I felt we did pretty well,” senior Chance Franks said. “We wanted to be on the podium for all events and we were really close, but it’s just how the events went.”

Besides having the four individual placers, the Panthers were able to place two more relay teams. These teams included the 4×200 team of Franks, Furuhaug, Shoopman, and Shultz who placed 6th with a time of 1:39.47. The other relay that made their way to the podium was the 1600 Meter Sprint Medley Relay consisting of Shoopman, Furuhaug, Franks, and Taylor placed 5th with a time of 3:52.03. 

Overall, the Panthers and Lady Panthers found great success in their second year of Indoor track, and with many more changes to come next year, they hope to continue and grow that success. 

“3A is a big division because even smaller schools like Tongue River and Big Horn are also 3A but four of those schools [3A schools] are actually going to move up to 4A next year,” McArthur said. “Star Valley, Evanston, Green River, and Riverton will move up to 4A next year. I think that will benefit Powell because we won’t be competing against Star Valley and Evanston who have really strong Indoor track programs.”