LADY PANTHER TRACK AND FIELD

Claiming first at Regionals, the Lady Panthers scored 111.5 points at the 3A West Regionals in Pinedale May 10-11, edging Lyman by a half-point and the hosts by 2.5 points.

Junior Sidney O’Brien competed in the 100-meter hurdles, the 300-meter hurdles and the 4×800 relay. She will be competing in the relay at state in Casper.

“I am a little nervous; it’s a long weekend,” O’Brien said. “I ran it last year, but we only ran it once this year and it was our only way to make it to state. That was a lot of pressure.”

Her relay teammates are junior Hailee Paul and sophomores Elizabeth Liggett and Hailee Hyde. Hyde also placed in the 1600 and in the high jump, placing just behind senior Gabri Lungberg, who placed second in high jump. The 4×400 relay also placed, made up of freshmen Abigail Urbach and Jenna Hillman, senior Caitlyn Miner and junior Sabrina Shoopman, all who placed well in their other events. Urbach and Hyde also placed in the 1600 medley along with freshmen Kylie Kahl and Jayden Asher.

Other jumpers who placed were sophomores Maddie Hackenberg, who placed  8th in long jump, and 4th in pole vault, and Emma Karhu, who placed second in pole vault. Karhu also placed in the 300-meter hurdles. Shot put throwers Rachel Bonander, a senior, and Cassidy Miner, a sophomore, placed. Bonander also came in second in the discus.

State is the ultimatum for the track team, which will occur May 16-18..

“I felt like I could have done better and  I should have been more confident in myself” Miner said. “I am preparing by focusing more and practicing as much as I can.”

PANTHER TRACK AND FIELD

The Powell boys picked up 156.5 points at 3A West Regionals in Pinedale. That amount put them into the second-place spot, just behind Mountain View who won with 184 points.

Junior Dylan Preator and sophomore Kadden Abraham qualified for state in both the hurdle races, while seniors Alan Merritt and Jayden Yates and sophomore Joey Hernandez all performed equally well in the distance races. Senior Kaelan Groves, junior Brody Karhu and freshman Reed Smith racked up points in the pole vault. Juniors Jay Cox and Aidan Jacobsen and freshman Cole Frank represented Powell skillfully in the middle distance races.

“I love how competitive the hurdles are,” Abraham said. “I’m excited to compete in my events at state. I think I’ll do really well since there isn’t any outstanding competition in the East.”

Jay Cox had a noteworthy day. In the 800, he earned a new personal record of 1:58, which put him in first place, and allowed him to break the stadium record. Cox also took gold in the 400-meter dash and the 4×400 relay, which is made up of Cox, Preator, Karhu and Jacobsen.

“I love running the 4×400 relay,” Cox said. “Winning alone is fun but sharing the victory with my teammates is more enjoyable. Running itself isn’t my favorite. In fact, I’d describe it as agonizing, especially the 800.”