PHS runners shave time at meet

Both the boys and girls Panther cross country teams placed eighth at state in Sheridan over the weekend — and each runner improved on their previous times.

“There was a lot of improvement,” said Powell High School head coach Cliff Boos.

Since each course is different, comparing times from meet-to-meet is not an effective way to gauge a runner’s improvement throughout the season. The best way for a runner to see how they have improved throughout the season is to compare times from the same course. In this case, Powell also ran in Sheridan six weeks ago.

Kaitlyn Decker, a freshman, took more than two minutes off her previous time; she had a time of 23:48.70 and placed 49th in the Class 3A competition.

Senior Emma Korte took 1:20 off her prior time. She ran the race in 26:09.56, placing 80th.

Emma Andreasen, a junior, placed 19th with a time of 21:15.20, taking 50 seconds off her mark from earlier in the season.

Freshman Natalie Dillivan ran 11 seconds faster and placed 59th with a time of 24:04.69.

Kayla Kolpitcke, a freshman, was the top finisher for the girls, placing 15th with a time of 21:04.44. She shaved off three seconds from the earlier competition in Sheridan.

Boos said that while Kolpitcke was close to her previous time, three seconds is a good improvement when you’re running the event in 21 minutes.

Also competing at state was Emily Sweet, a junior, and Teo Faulkner, a senior. Both Sweet and Faulkner were injured when the cross country team previously ran this course.

Faulkner placed 37th with a time of 22:29.87 and Sweet placed 66th in 24:36.22.

There were a total of 90 girls competing amongst 12 teams.

“(The) whole goal is to work hard, keep improving and have fun,” said Boos.

The boys team also had improvement on their previous times.

Jesse Erickson, a junior, took 1:20 off his previous time in Sheridan. Erickson placed 51st with a time of 19:20.52.

Both Alan Merritt and Dylan Cordes shaved off a minute..

Merritt, a sophomore, was the top placer for the Powell boys cross country team, finishing 25th with a time of 18:12.53. Freshman Cordes placed 57th with a time of 19:33.75.

Jayden Yates, a sophomore, took 55 seconds off his time, placing 48th with a time of 19:15.11

Matthew Waite, the team’s only senior, placed 59th with a time of 19:34.14. He took 40 seconds off his time.

Colin Queen, a freshman, took 45th with a time of 19:06.12 and sophomore Steven Shopa placed 85th in 20:50.99; Both Queen and Shopa were injured six weeks ago.

For the boys, there was a total of 100 runners across 14 teams.

Boos described the PHS cross country team as a very positive unit where all the kids are very supportive of each other.

“(It) was a nice finish for a season,” said Boos. “Looking forward to next year.”

With only three seniors on the PHS teams, many of the runners will return next year. Sheridan will host the state cross country meet for the next two years.

In cross country, team points come from adding up the places of the top five finishers on each team. The team with the lowest score wins.