Despite battling State FFA, the North Big Horn Music Festival, ACT testing and the prom for the attention of its athletes, the Powell High School track and field teams managed to pull off some impressive performances Saturday at the Lovell Invitational.

The Panthers and the Lady Panthers both took home team titles. The boys sprinted to 255 points, easily outdistancing runners-up Lovell with 71 points. On the girls’ side, the Lady Panthers finished with 171 points, ahead of Lovell’s 97 points and Meeteetse’s 69.

“This meet is always a tough one, with so much going on,” said PHS head coach Scott Smith. “But it was a nice day. We had some good performances and the kids had fun. It’s a smaller meet, and we had some new kids scoring points and working towards getting letters across the board.”

The two Powell teams combined to win 15 events, highlighted by Brody Karhu clearing 14 feet, 1 inch in the pole vault, unofficially the best vault in the state in all classes this season. Karhu also finished second in the 400 meter dash.

“He [Karhu] made it on his first attempt,” Smith said of the vault. “He hits the pit and he looks up and the bar is still there. So he does a back flip to celebrate.”

Karhu was game to try for another height, but with a running event looming, Karhu and coach Smith decided to quit while he was ahead.

“The 400 was coming up, and he gave me a look like, ‘What do I do next, coach?’” Smith said. “I told him, ‘Let’s end it as a good day, not on a miss.’”

Lady Panther Jenna Hillman, who missed the last two meets due to illness, showed a strong return to form Saturday, winning the 200 and 400 meter dash and finishing second in the 100 meters. The talented freshman is expected to be an important point-getter as the season reaches its halfway point.

“Jenna Hillman had a really good day,” Smith said, adding, “After being as sick as she was, it was good to see her starting to come back, especially in the 400.”

Up next for the PHS track teams is an invitational Thursday in Laurel, Montana. Smith said he expects to have a full team making the trip, barring any unforeseen illnesses or circumstances.

“There are four or five facilities in the state of Montana that they run state track meets at, and Laurel is one of them,” he said. “It’s a good facility, so that should be kind of fun. It’s a 10-lane track, so that will freak some kids out. It’s an unlimited entry invite, so we’ll take as many kids as can go.”

Lady Panthers

Junior Sabrina Shoopman continued her assault on the hurdles Saturday, winning the 100 meter hurdles in a time of 17.17. Her meet was cut short before she could run the 300 meter hurdles, however, due to more pressing concerns.

“Well, there’s this thing called prom,” Smith said, chuckling. “We had an awful lot of that actually. Kids have hair appointments, and there’s only so many people in town who do hair. It’s one of the reasons we go to Lovell on this weekend, so that kids can still go to part of the meet and be able to participate in their other events, like FFA and the district music festival.”

Other winners on the girls’ side included Emma Karhu in the pole vault, clearing a height of 9 feet, 3 inches; she also finished second in the 200 meter dash, less than a second behind teammate Hillman. Karhu’s vault also prequalified the sophomore for state.

Cassidy Miner won the shot put with a toss of 33 feet, 1 inch, adding a third-place finish in the discus to finish out her day.

Caitlyn Miner had a solid day on the track, placing second in the 100 meter hurdles and third in the 100 meter dash. Hailee Hyde and Hailee Paul notched second-place finishes in the 800 meter and 1600 meter runs, respectively. Hyde also placed third in the high jump.

“Hailee Hyde in the 800 dropped her time by almost 10 seconds; Hailee Paul improved her best mile [1600] time this year by almost 15 or 20 seconds,” Smith said. “ It’s nice to see those distance kids do well. They work awfully hard, so it’s nice to see that work pay off.”

In the field events, Gabri Lundberg placed second in the high jump with a height of 4 feet, 8 inches. Maddie Hackenberg was second in the pole vault, while Elsie Spomer was third in the triple jump. Spomer was also the top Lady Panther in the long jump, finishing seventh.

Regan Thompson was third in the shot put with a toss of 28 feet, 7.5 inches, while Hannah Saville finished fourth in the discus, with a throw of 82 feet, 6 inches.

Panthers

On the boys’ side, Dylan Preator continued to shine in the hurdles, winning both the 110 and 300 meter hurdles. The junior also won the triple jump with a distance of 40 feet, 10.5 inches, and finished second in the long jump with a jump of 20 feet.

Jay Cox and Alan Merritt got it done on the track, winning the 400 meters and the 3200 meters, respectively. Merritt also finished second in the 1600 meters. Smith said the battle between Cox, teammate Brody Karhu and Rocky Mountain’s Skyler Drewes in the 400 meters was one to remember.

“Brody and Jay Cox ran an incredible 400,” he said. “To see those two running that fast this time of year is pretty encouraging. Skyler Drewes from Rocky Mountain is a talented kid, and he kind of played the rabbit for Jay and Brody. They passed him on the straightaway, but he stayed in the race. It was good to have that kind of quality running against each other.”

Merritt’s time in the 2-mile beat his previous best time by almost 30 seconds.

“He [Merritt] was pretty much by himself out there,” Smith said. “He also dropped about six seconds off his best mile time, as well. I’m just really pleased with the improvements made by all of our distance runners.”

Champions in the field events included Colby Warner in the high jump with a height of 6 feet, 2 inches. Ryan Good won the discus with a toss of 148 feet, 9 inches, a state prequalifying mark, as well as a personal best. He also finished second in the shot put.

In sprints, Kaelan Groves was second in the 100 meters, while Riley Bennett finished third in the 200 meters. Isaac Summers was runner-up in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:17.05 — dropping 10 seconds off of his previous best. Tyler Pfeiffer finished second in the 3200 meters in a time of 10:59.47.

In only his second meet since an injury last year, Aidan Jacobsen had a solid showing in the mile, finishing fourth with a time of 5:06.92.

“It was a good meet for him [Jacobsen] just coming back,” Smith said. “It’s good to see him running for the first time in two years.”

Senior Reece Hackenberg was second in the pole vault and fourth in the discus, and Jacob Hieb finished second in the 300 meter hurdles.

Lovell Invitational Results

Girls Results

Team Scores

1. Powell 171, 2. Lovell High School 97, 3. Meeteetse 69, 4. Rocky Mountain High School 32, 5. Greybull HS 20, 6. Riverside HS 10, 7. Burlington HS 9

100 Meter Dash

2. Jenna Hillman 13.53, 3. Caitlyn Miner 13.68, 7. Elsie Spomer 15.02, 9. Jayden Asher 15.17, 10. Sarah Dunkerley 15.23, 12. Kameron French 15.38, 21. Charlotte Wilson 16.56

200 Meter Dash

1. Jenna Hillman 27.63, 2. Emma Karhu 28.03, 10. Jayden Asher 32.33, 17. Charlotte Wilson 46.85

400 Meter Dash

1. Jenna Hillman 1:03.93

800 Meter Run

2. Hailee Hyde 2:41.91

1600 Meter Run

2. Hailee Paul 6:39.79

100 Meter Hurdles

1. Sabrina Shoopman 17.17, 2. Caitlyn Miner 17.38, 4. Abigail Urbach 18.55, 5. Tegan Lovelady 18.78

300 Meter Hurdles

3. Abigail Urbach 54.49

High Jump

2. Gabri Lundberg 4’8”, 3. Hailee Hyde 4’4”, 4. Kylie Kahl 4’2”, 5. Kameron French 4’

Pole Vault

1. Emma Karhu 9’3”, 2. Maddie Hackenberg 8’, 9. Kylie Kahl 7’

Long Jump

7. Elsie Spomer 12’4”, 8. Sarah Dunkerley 12’3.25”

Triple Jump

2. Sabrina Shoopman 31’2.25”, 3. Elsie Spomer 31’.75”, 4. Jaz Haney 31’.25”, 9. Sarah Dunkerley 26’11.5”

Shot Put

1. Cassidy Miner 33’1”, 3. Reagan Thompson 28’7.5”, 6. Addie Braten 26’8”, 9. Megan Good 25’.50”, 14. Traci Gutierrez 22’9”,  15. Alissa Staidle 22’8”, 16. Kaylee Stewart 21’1”

Discus Throw

3. Cassidy Miner 89’5”, 4. Hannah Saville 82’6”, 8. Traci Gutierrez 75’2”, 9. Addie Braten 73’6”, 10. Reagan Thompson 71’4”, 12. Alissa Staidle 68’10”, 14. Megan Good 63’4”, 15. Kaylee Stewart 62’6”

Boys Results

Team Scores

1. Powell 255, 2. Lovell High School 71, 3. Rocky Mountain High School 45, 4. Greybull HS 43, 5. Burlington HS 35, 6. Riverside HS 18, 7. Meeteetse 8

100 Meter Dash

2. Kaelan Groves 11.90, 5. Kadden Abraham 12.22, 7. Reed Smith 12.50, 10. Kalen Sapp 12.81, 16. Evan Habeck 13.08, 18. Kaden Salas 13.20, 21. Geordan Weimer 13.45

200 Meter Dash

3. Riley Bennett 24.69, 4. Reed Smith 24.76, 9. Evan Habeck 25.97, 12. Kalen Sapp 26.89 

400 Meter Dash

1. Jay Cox 50.93, 2. Brody Karhu 51.02, 6. Dylan Cordes 55.96, 10. Ben Whitlock 1:00.05, 11. Kyler Warren 1:00.07, 12. Caiden Gerhts 1:00.71, 14. Dylan Escalante 1:01.52 

800 Meter Run

2. Isaac Summers 2:17.05, 3. Riley McKeen 2:28.21 

1600 Meter Run

2. Alan Merritt 4:53.78, 4. Aidan Jacobsen 5:06.92, 5. Ethan Bartholomew 5:07.91, 6. Isaac Summers 5:27.15, 8. Riley McKeen 5:46.36, 9. Jace Bohlman 5:50.44

3200 Meter Run

1. Alan Merritt 10:33.51, 2. Tyler Pfeiffer 10:59.47, 3. Jace Bohlman 12:26.26

110 Meter Hurdles

1. Dylan Preator 17.29, 3. Eli Weimer, 4. Kadden Abraham 19.65, 6. Brent Childers 21.51, 7. Thallen Sessions 22.10

300 Meter Hurdles

1. Dylan Preator 44.58, 2. Jacob Hieb 50.22, 3. Brent Childers 51.43, 4. Eli Weimer 53.76, 5. Thallen Sessions 55.87

4x400 Meter Relay 

1. Powell 3:44.27

800 Meter Relay 

1. Powell 10.17.46

High Jump

1. Colby Warner 6’2”, 7. Eli Weimer 5’2”

Pole Vault

1. Brody Karhu 14’1”, 2. Reece Hackenberg 12’, 3. Reed Smith 11’6”, 4. Riley Bennett 11”, 4. Kaelan Groves 11’, 7. Jacob Hieb 9’6”

Long Jump

2. Dylan Preator 20’, 6. Dylan Escalante 16’6”, 10. Kalen Sapp 14’, 11. Colton Decker 13’8.5”, 12. Pedro Teixeira 13’2”

Triple Jump

1. Dylan Preator 40’10.5”, 5. Dylan Escalante 34’11.75”, 8. Colton Decker 28’10.5”

Shot Put

2. Ryan Good 44’, 4. Toran Graham 40’7.25”, 5. Zeke Frankenberry 40’2.25”, 6. Geordan Weimer 39’5”, 7. Lane Shramek 38’9”, 8. Canyon Gonzales 38’7”, 9. Carter Olsen 38’6”,  10. Carson Olsen 36’7”, 13. Nate Belmont 33’1”, 16. Isaac Gutierrez 31’, 18. Sam Belmont 30’7”, 22. Kaden Salas 28’9”,  23. Josh Wright 26’1”

Discus Throw

1. Ryan Good 148’9”, 4. Reece Hackenberg 132’6”, 5. Zeke Frankenberry 132’1”