As the Panthers rapidly approach the end of the spring season, they show both promising results and areas for improvement. 

Both the Panther and Lady Panther track and field teams traveled to Lovell April 21. to compete in the Lovell Invitational. The Lady Panthers captured the win while the boys pushed to fourth place.

“The track meet went great,” head track and field coach Mr. Scott Smith said. “Mid 60’s, no wind until the last hour. The kids performed and competed very well. We had a lot of kids get first, and had some more state pre-qualifiers.”

Using the good weather to their advantage, numerous athletes snatched up first place finishes and secured pre-qualification for the state meet. The athletes will be using the remainder of the season to prepare for Regionals and State.

“I thought the meet went well in all aspects,” senior Abigail Urbach said. “Each and every person competing for Powell worked hard. I want to keep improving and moving forward to state, there is [still] a lot of room for growth.” 

The top placers for the Lady Panthers on the track include Urbach, who took first in the 100 meter hurdles, and senior Jenna Hillman who took first place in both the 100 meter dash and the 400 meter dash. Junior Anna Bartholmew took third behind Hillman in the 400 meter dash, and sophomore Waycee Harvey, who pushed for third in the 100 meter dash and sophomore Brynn Hillman who took second in the two mile. Freshman Kenna Jacobsen took first in the 800 meter run.

The notable placers in field events included Harvey, who placed first in the long jump with a jump of 15 feet 7 inches while junior Sydney Spomer took first in the triple jump with 33 feet 1 inch. Sophomore Lauryn Bennett took first in the pole vault with a vault of 8 feet and 1 inch and Jacobsen followed with a vault of 7 feet and 7 inches. Senior Reagan Thompson took second in shot put with a throw of 36 feet and 3 inches and junior Grace Coombs took first in discus with a throw of 106 feet and 7 inches. 

Moving onto the Panther team, the top runner for this meet included junior Hyrum Jeide, who placed second in the 300 meter hurdles 

In the field events sophomore Adam Williams took first in the pole vault with a vault of 12 feet even. Senior Sheldon Shoopman, placed third in shot put with a throw of 47 feet 9 inches and senior Toran Graham took second in discus with a throw 143 feet and 7 inches. 

Over the past couple weeks, the Panther soccer team traveled to Lander and Pinedale on April 22 and April 23. On April 25, the boys played at home. In a nutshell, they brought home a total of two wins and one tie against defending State Champions, Worland Warriors.

“We didn’t play great; there was bad weather, but we pulled away,” sophomore Gunnar Erickson said. “We need to improve on a lot of things such as getting the ball in the net, improving touch passes, and reading the defense, but that will come over time.”

The Lady Panther soccer team journeyed to Lander and Pinedale along with the Panthers. The ladies’ odds weren’t in their favor as they fell to the Lander Tigers. But their luck took a turn when they prevailed over the Pinedale Wranglers.

“Lander was a challenge, it was a bit of a blowout on our end but our girls played very hard,” Head Coach Mrs. Kaitlin Loeffen said. “We are looking good, we have a couple girls out with injuries so we aren’t necessarily at full strength but the girls that are going to be here are going to give it their all.”

As they approach the final stretch of the season, the Lady Panthers are pushing to improve for their upcoming games and looking to rack up a couple more wins.

“We as a team did pretty good this weekend,” senior Kabrie Cannon said. “We won against Pinedale and there was a lot of improvement in our offensive attack and our defensive side really stepped up. However, we are still looking to improve our offensive attack and hopefully find the back of the net in the next games.”

Going into Monday’s game against Worland, the Lady Panthers had high hopes. Unfortunately, they lost a hard battle to the warriors, with a final score of 0-6. The girls have lost their chance to compete in the State Tournament.