As the 3A State Track and Field Meet approaches, the Panthers are in a favorable position. 

Powell High School’s track and field team excelled at the Class 3A West Regional Meet in Lander last weekend, placing first as a team in the girls’ division and third in the boys’ division. The girls posted 188.5 team points, while the boys put up 91. Mountain View finished first in the boys’ competition, with 149.

A handful of Panthers took gold in their respective events on the girls’ team. Jenna Hillman in particular dominated, finishing first in the 100, 200 and 400. Hillman was also a member of Powell’s 4x400 relay team — joined by Anna Bartholomew, Waycee Harvey and Megan Jacobsen — which finished first. 

“Jenna being a champion in all four events is remarkable,” PHS head coach Scott Smith said. 

Kami Jensen finished first in the 100 hurdles. After falling in the preliminaries, she qualified for the finals and bounced back with a win. 

“Her perseverance and quick thinking really paid off,” Smith said of Jensen.

Other first-place finishers in the girls’ meet were Emma Karhu in the pole vault and Cassidy Miner in discus.

Overall, the team’s stellar outing sets the girls up well for state, which is now just days away.

“They had great performances this weekend that should give them confidence to really get after the competition at state,” Smith said. 

While the boys didn’t have any first-place finishers, there were several notable performances in Lander. Reed Smith (100), Riley Bennett (200, pole vault), Cole Frank (400), Daniel Merritt (1600, 3200), Hyrum Jeide (110 hurdles), Simon Shoopman (110 hurdles), Zeke Frankenberry (discus), Toran Graham (shot put) and Sheldon Shoopman (shot put) finished in the top five of their events. 

Even without Kadden Abraham, one of Powell’s best sprinters and hurdlers, the team competed well in its first postseason event. With Abraham slated to return at state, Smith feels confident in where the team stands.

“Getting Kadden Abraham back and healthy will be a boost,” Smith said. “The rest of the boys really stepped up to pull out third and another round of improvements would put us in a good position to bring home a trophy.”

Altogether, 40 Panthers will compete at the 3A State Track and Field Meet. The event will be held from Thursday to Saturday in Casper. 

Girls’ results:

Team scores: 1. Powell 188.5, 2. Mountain View 129.5, 3. Lander 109, 4. Lyman 96.5, 5. Kemmerer 59, 6. Pinedale 43, 7. Lovell 42, 8. Worland 26.5

100: 1. Jenna Hillman 12.75, 2. Waycee Harvey 13.28, 7. Emma Karhu 13.73, 21. Mikayla Graham 14.96

200: 1. Jenna Hillman 26.44, 3. Waycee Harvey 27.06, 15. Kylie Kahl 29.10

400: 1. Jenna Hillman 59.00, 5. Anna Bartholomew 1:02.10, 12. Abby Wambeke 1:05.70

800: 4. Anna Bartholomew 2:26/67, 5. Megan Jacobsen 2:26.82, 12. Hailee Hyde 2:40.15, 13. Brynn Hillman 2:40.75

1600: 7. Brynn Hillman 6:02.00, 15. Jozi Simpson 6:34.28

3200: 6. Brynn Hillman 13:15.89, 15. Jozi Simpson 15:25.46

100 hurdles: 1. Kami Jensen 16.82, 3. Abigail Urbach 17.31, 9. Lauryn Bennett 18.38

300: 5. Emma Karhu 49.20, 9. Kami Jensen 50.74, 10. Lauryn Bennett 52.46, 17. Abigail Urbach 1:00.03

4x100: 5. Kylie Kahl, Mikayla Graham, Kenzie Ratcliff, Emma Karhu 53.62

4x400: 1. Anna Bartholomew, Waycee Harvey, Megan Jacobsen, Jenna Hillman 4:07.85

Sprint medley relay: 4. Kylie Kahl, Addy Thorington, Kami Jensen, Megan Jacobsen 4:35.73

4x800: 2. Anna Bartholomew, Hailee Hyde, Brynn Hillman, Megan Jacobsen 10:33.67

High jump: 4. Kenzie Ratcliff 4-11, 7. Addy Thorington 4-5, 9. Hailee Hyde 4-5

Long jump: 4. Waycee Harvey 16-4.75, 9. Kenzie Ratcliff 14-8, 14. Sydney Spomer 14-4.5, 21. Elsie Spomer 13-6.25

Triple jump: 3. Sydney Spomer 32-8.75, 4. Elsie Spomer 31-11.75

Pole vault: 1. Emma Karhu 10-3, 3. Kami Jensen 8-3, 3. Lauryn Bennett 8-3

Discus: 1. Cassidy Miner 114-6, 2. Grace Coombs 110-10.5, 8. Megan McDaniel 93-0, 19. Brooke Bessler 82-10.5

Shot put: 2. Reagan Thompson 36-11.5, 3. Cassidy Miner 36-3, 7. Katie O’Brien 32-11, 17. Megan McDaniel 27-8.5

Boys’ results:

Team scores: 1. Mountain View 149, 2. Lander 127, 3. Powell 91, 4. Lovell 89, 5. Lyman 82, 6. Worland 74, 7. Pinedale 44, 8. Kemmerer 36

100: 5. Reed Smith 11.84, 10. Zach Ratcliff 12.10, 15. Sam Whitlock 12.44

200: 3. Riley Bennett 22.82, 6. Reed Smith 23.70

400: 2. Cole Frank 51.85, 19. Ben Whitlock 58.01

800: 6. Daniel Merritt 2:03.69, 10. Ethan Bartholomew 2:08.77, 14. Joey Hernandez 2:11.19, 16. Jace Hyde 2:12.09

1600: 5. Daniel Merritt 4:45.61, 9. Joey Hernandez 4:58.31, 11. Ethan Bartholomew 4:59.26, 15. Jace Hyde 5:08.32

3200: 5. Daniel Merritt 10:29.75, 11. Joey Hernandez 11:18.46, 13. Riley Schiller 11:43.07

110 hurdles: 4. Hyrum Jeide 16.76, 5. Simon Shoopman 17.06, 9. Eli Weimer 17.90, 10. Stuart Shoopman 17.93

300 hurdles: 6. Hyrum Jeide 43.24, 8. Simon Shoopman 44.85

4x400: 3. Hyrum Jeide, Dylan Escalante, Sam Whitlock, Cole Frank 3:36.26

4x800: 3. Ethan Bartholomew, Jace Hyde, Joey Hernandez, Daniel Merritt 8:49.31

High jump: 7. Cole Frank 5-6

Long jump: 6. Zach Ratcliff 20-2.25, 15. Dylan Escalante 17-3.75, 17. Marshall Lewis 16-10.25, 18. Reed Smith 16-2.5

Triple jump: 12. Dylan Escalante 36-6

Pole vault: 2. Riley Bennett 13-5, 6. Adam Williams 11-11

Discus: 3. Zeke Frankenberry 147-10, 8. Sheldon Shoopman 138-10, 16. Toran Graham 107-5

Shot put: 4. Toran Graham 49-4.5, 5. Sheldon Shoopman 49-0, 7. Lane Shramek 45-9, 10. Geordan Weimer 44-0