Powell High School’s golf team got a taste of some stiff competition at the season-opening Riverton Invitational.

With only three boys and one girl able to play, PHS was unable to qualify for team scores, but “there was a lot of quality 4A competition in Riverton, which was good experience for the players that made the trip,” said PHS head coach Troy Hildebrand.

Senior Pax Mitchell shot an 85 Thursday and a 78 on Friday to take 15th place individually at the Riverton Country Club. Hildebrand called it a “very solid first weekend” for Mitchell.

“A couple bad holes over the two rounds is all that kept him out of the top 10 in this field,” said Hildebrand. “Pax always seems to do a great job of finding a way to put together his best round on any given day. I think that is the quality that has best served him over his four years so far.”

Fellow senior Zane Henderson shot a 109 followed by a 98.

Hildebrand said Henderson was a little nervous on day one before playing much better on Friday.

“I really believe that his best golf is ahead of him as he settles into his role and continues to get more varsity tournament experience,” Hildebrand said.

Junior Robert Rodriguez posted rounds of 103 and 108, which Hildebrand called a solid start.

“I know that he is capable of shooting some lower scores as we move through this season, but for his first experience at Riverton I felt like he performed just fine,” Hildebrand said.

Senior Carli Brown, the lone Lady Panther representative at the tournament, opened with a tough first day and a 119 before coming back with a 107 to play much more like she’s accustomed to, Hildebrand said.

“Carli (Brown) is a hard worker and she will only continue to get better over the next five weeks. I fully expect her to be playing her best golf when we head to state in Cody,” Hildebrand said.

Natrona County’s Eryn Ellis shot 78-77 to finish 11 over par and win by two shots over teammate Caitlyn Skavdahl overall. Natrona County ran away with the team title, with their top three scores coming to a two-day total of 494. That was 59 shots better than Evanston.

On the boys side, host Riverton lapped the 10-team field. Their four best golfers averaged under a 75 each day for a two-day total of 597. Evanston finished 61 shots back of Riverton to take second place.

Riverton’s Easton Paxton won the individual title. He played to 3 under par to edge Pinedale’s Jordan Costello by a single shot.

After being off this weekend, PHS’ golfers will return to competition on Sept. 4 and 5 in Buffalo.

Hildebrand expects to have full squads for that event.

“We will get to see some different competition and hopefully be able to see some of the strides that we are making as a team,” he said.