With the warm weather just around the corner and the school year in its final stretch, it is officially Outdoor track season for the Panthers. Many athletes are returning for the Panthers, and they have big expectations and goals to achieve.

“I want to keep improving my times and become a stronger, more reliable runner,” junior Karee Cooley said. “For the team, I want us to compete at a higher level, push each other, and see that hard work pay off.”

The season started off quickly with the first meet in Cody on March 27. Some of the Panther athletes used the meet as a starting point for the season, trying to see where they fall into place.

“I feel like the first meet went well for the team,” sophomore Braxton Nelson said. “We had a lot of boys place in events… It was just a really good starting point for me to see how I’m jumping and how fast I am.”

The team is trying to prepare for the season the best they can and is getting ready to compete at high levels.

“We’ve been putting in a lot of work early with conditioning, staying consistent with workouts, and focusing on recovery,” Cooley said. “People are also supporting each other more, which is helping to build a stronger team environment.”

The Panthers are putting more stress on the significance of staying healthy both physically and mentally this season.

“Some obstacles are being sore and injured, doing multiple jumps takes it out on your legs,” Nelson said. “The most important obstacle would just be coming over that mental block and never thinking you can’t do it.”

The Panthers, although separated by different events, still work as one to build and grow together as a team.

“As a team, I think it’s important that we always support each other during a race and after them too,” sophomore Kindyle Floy said. “Just always being there for one another, which we already do good.”

Early injuries for the Panthers brought concern for the future of the season and how it will affect placement in the end.

“We have had some injuries which have taken people out of the relays,” junior Paige Sanders said. “I hope we can avoid that going into the season because relays make or break how the team places at state.”

Still early in the season, the Panthers aim for improvement as they reflect on how the first meet went.

“For myself, I didn’t perform as well as I had hoped,” junior Lincoln Crawford said. “As a team, I think we did well, but there’s still room for improvement.” 

With big goals in mind for the end of the season, the Panthers have a plan for how they can accomplish their goals.

“All meets are preparation for regionals and state,” Head Track Coach Scott Smith said. “The other part is just a lot of conditioning for the runners and technique for the field events people.”

You can catch the Panthers for their last two regular-season meets on May 2 in Lovell and May 8 in Cody.