Volleyball

The Lady Panthers battled against the Thermopolis Lady Bobcats Sept. 12, falling short in each set. Powell lost the first two sets 25-12 and 25-23 came back in the third with a score of 28-26 and then losing the fourth set and the game with a score of 25-14.

The Lady Panthers  then headed to the Rawlins Invitational tournament Sept. 13-14, where all 3A volleyball teams attended. In this two-day tournament, Powell would go on to play other 3A teams from around the state such as Big Piney, Torrington, Newcastle and many others.

The Lady Panthers won four and lost two sets Sep. 13 and lost two games on Sep. 14, ultimately finishing last in the Gold Bracket of the tournament.

Next for the Lady Panthers will a road trip to Lander on Friday, Sept. 20.

Cross Country: 

The Powell cross country teams ran at the Red Lodge Invitational in Red Lodge, MT, on Sept. 14 with the girls placing fifth and the boys second.

Senior Kayla Kolpicke led the Lady Panthers with a seventh-place finish. Other notable finishes included sophomore Kabrie Cannon (14th ) sophomore Karina Boreen (21st) and junior Hailee Hyde (31st).

“As a team, we’ve worked really hard and we’ve been seeing improvements through that hard work,” senior runner Kaitlyn Decker said. “We’ve really come together and built like a camaraderie between, and we’ve all been encouraging each other and that really helps us a team.”

The boys were paced by  junior Tyler Pfeifer who led the team with a second-place finish.  Other notable placements include junior Joey Hernandez who placed sixth, sophomore Riley Schiller (20th) and sophomore Cole Frank (22nd).

Cross Country will compete at the Rocky Mountain Invitational on Sept. 23..

Swimming 

The Lady Panther Swim team placed third as they hosted the Gene Dozah Invitational Sept. 14. Many other teams throughout the state attended this meet,such as Buffalo, Cody, Jackson, Lander, Pinedale, Riverton and Worland.

The Lady Panthers placed third overall at the meet with a score of 249. There were 24 personal best performance titles earned by the swimmers and another Lady Panthers who qualified for state.

Freshman Gabby Paterson placed ninth in the 500yard freestyle with a time of 6:29.59. She joins a list of 32 PHS athletes who have qualified for state in various events.

A notable achievement at the meet was junior diver Emma Karhu, who placed third on the Powell Hall of Fame for her diving record made at this meet, along with six other divers from PHS history, scoring 210.05 on her six dives.

Next up for the PHS Lady Panthers is a dual with the Worland Lady Warriors at home Thursday, Sept. 19.

Tennis

The PHS Tennis team also had a very busy weekend, with a Friday match in Sheridan against Sheridan High School and Saturday matches against Kelly Walsh High School and Natrona County High School.

The boys’ tennis team kept their undefeated record with a 3-2 win against Sheridan along with a 5-0 win against both Kelly Walsh and Natrona, making them Conference champs.

The girls lost to Sheridan and Kelly Walsh with a score of 1-4 and beat Natrona with a score 5-0.

Next up for Powell tennis is the regional tournament in Casper Friday-Saturday, Sept. 20-21..

Golf 

The PHS Golf team attended the Regional Golf tournament in Evanston Sept. 12-13.

The team as a whole took seventh, and three PHS Golf players were ranked as all-conference players.

Senior Crandell Sanders placed 8th, junior George Higgins placed 5th and senior Mycah Wainscott was 3rd in the overall tournament.

State golf will be Friday-Saturday, Sept 20-21, at Star Valley.

Football

The PHS Football team had a victory at home against the Lander Tigers Sept. 13, winning 17-7

“The first quarter was a little bit slow like one would think, but then as the second quarter came around they really just kicked it into gear and just maintained that fire,” senior Brody Karhu said. “We want to do better than we have done in the past few years and that’s a huge driving factor. We want to get some wins under our belt and our main goal is to make it to the championship.”

Along with the win, another $4,000 were during that game for Powell High School senior quarterback Ethan Asher after being hospitalized from a car accident.

“If Ethan was with us, he would still want us to go on strong,” Karhu said. “He would want us to do the best we can, especially because he can’t physically be here with us and we knew his goal was to make it to the ship so we’re still gonna live those goals out and take those goals for him.”

The Panthers next host Douglas on Friday, Sept. 20.