Foot to pavement for nearly 30 miles every week this summer paid off immediately for Powell High School senior Daniel Merritt, as he broke the Panther cross country record by 25 seconds in his first meet of the season.

“It felt great to start the year off so well, it gives me great confidence in the remainder of the season,” he said.

Heading into Montana, Merritt was not sure what to expect. He said it feels like you are running blind as opposed to running against Wyoming competition where he knows all of his competitors.

Over the summer Merritt put in the work, but said he did not run as many miles each week as he had planned because he wanted to keep some of the speed he had gained in the track season.

This is not the first time Merritt has broken a school record in recent months, he also broke the PHS mile record at the state track meet in May.

Beating this record meant a little more to Merritt, as breaking this record meant that he broke his brother’s record set in 2017.

“It was fun to break my brother’s record, but I soon remembered that I am not racing him this year,” Merritt said. “It is the other runners in the state I should focus on beating.”

With another boost of confidence in just the first meet of the season, Merritt is looking to improve his 13th place finish at the state meet in his final season.

He said his goal is to break 16 minutes in the 5K this year, in addition to getting top 10 at the state meet.

“I want to do everything in my power to get the team as high of a placement at state as I can,” Merritt said.

Merritt and the Panthers went on the road for their second meet of the season on Friday, moving back in state to participate in the Buffalo Invitational.