A close competition at the 3A West Regional Track and Field meet saw the Powell Panther boys fall just behind the top teams, finishing third behind hosts Mountain View and Lovell which were separated by half a point.

Over the two days the Panthers were fueled by sophomore Caden Nelson, who claimed victories in the 100 meters in 11.27, the 200 meters in 22.62 and the long jump by a personal best leap of 21 feet, 6 1/2 inches.

“Caden had a great meet … He is well set up for next week,” coach Scott Smith said.

Smith added that Nelson was the first three-individual-event champion since Kyle Sullivan in 2011 for the Panthers.

Powell also got second place finishes from Adam Williams in the pole vault (12-6) and Isaiah Woyak in the triple jump (43-4 1/2).

Panther third place finishers included Stuart Shoopman in the 110 meter hurdles (15.53), Jeremy Harms in the pole vault (12-6) and Gabe Weimer in the shot put (44-1).

Weimer earned a qualifying spot at state after placing in the top eight.

Additional athletes who qualified for state by placing in the top eight included Evan Whitlock in the 400 meters (54.34), Liam Taylor in the 800 meters (2:03.98), Korbyn Warren in the 3200 meters (10:56.33), Nathan Preator in the 300 meter hurdles (43.17), Landon Hyde in the high jump (5-10), Marshall Lewis in the long jump (19-9 1/2) and Jonathan Harms in both the shot put (42-2 1/2) and the discus (130-11).

Powell also added one new relay to the state qualifiers, as the 4x400 team of Preator, Hyde, Taylor and Whitlock finished fourth in 3:38.51, with all top four relay finishes earning spots at the state meet.

Powell finished in third with 118.5 points, 11.5 ahead of Worland, but 19 behind winner Mountain View, which beat Lovell by 1/2 a point.

“It was great to see teams we compete with very often do well this weekend in Lovell and Worland, as well as 4A Cody and 1A Burlington,” Smith said. “I think we are very fortunate to compete with some of the best schools in the state week in and week out. We really all make each other better.”

STATE MEET

Powell will now head to Casper this weekend, taking part in the Wyoming State Track and Field Championships beginning Thursday afternoon.

The Panthers are the defending champions in 3A and are expected to be in the mix for another state championship, seeking the first back-to-back for the boys since 2006-07.

Powell will battle against Mountain View which is going for its first title since 2019, while Lovell is seeking its first ever title in 3A, having won five 2A titles with the most recent coming in 2018.

Competition from the East will include the top teams in Douglas and Buffalo as well as Worland in the West.

“We are hoping both our boys and girls bring a lot of individual medals home and it totals up to top four team finishes,” Smith said.

3A WEST REGIONALS

*Denotes state qualifying mark, p denotes preliminary time in short distance and hurdle races, top 8 individually and top 4 relays automatically qualify for state even if mark is not reached

Team scores — 1. Mountain View 137.5, 2. Lovell 137, 3. Powell 118.5, 4. Worland 107, 5. Lander 67, 6. Thermopolis 65, 7. Lyman 49, 8. Pinedale 18

100 meters — 1. Caden Nelson 11.27*, 12. Breckyn Kobbe 12.18p, 13. Marshall Lewis 12.2p

200 meters — 1. Caden Nelson 22.62*, 10. Marshall Lewis 24.62p, 11. Breckyn Kobbe 25.25p

400 meters — 7. Evan Whitlock 54.34, 11. Landon Hyde 56.6p, 13. Thomas Shuman 58.23p

800 meters — 4. Liam Taylor 2:03.98, 11. Korbyn Warren 2:09.87, 18. Thomas Shuman 2:20.93

1600 meters — 13. Korbyn Warren 5:00.19, 15. Colin Walker 5:23.71, 17. Nathan Varian 5:31.23

3200 meters — 8. Korbyn Warren 10:56.33, 12. Colin Walker 12:09.44, 14. Nathan Varian 12:26.81

110 meter hurdles — 3. Stuart Shoopman 15.53*, 4. Nathan Preator 16.13*, 9. Lincoln Crawford 17.55p, 11. Jeremy Harms 18p

300 meter hurdles — 4. Stuart Shoopman 42.59, 6. Nathan Preator 43.17, 11. Sawyer Wormald 45.06p, 14. Michael Legerski 45.82p

4x100 relay — 4. Stuart Shoopman, Nathan Preator, Breckyn Kobbe and Caden Nelson 45.37*

4x400 relay — 4. Nathan Preator, Landon Hyde, Liam Taylor and Evan Whitlock 3:38.51

4x800 relay — 5. Landon Hyde, Colin Walker, Thomas Shuman and Korbyn Warren 9:19.71

1600 sprint medley relay — 2. Stuart Shoopman, Marshall Lewis, Evan Whitlock and Liam Taylor 3:48.37*

High jump — T6. Landon Hyde 5-10

Pole vault — 2. Adam Williams 12-6*, 3. Jeremy Harms 12-6*, T10. Lincoln Crawford and Wyatt Heffington 10-6

Long jump — 1. Caden Nelson 21-6 1/2*, 6. Marshall Lewis 19-9 1/2, 17. Evan Staidle 16-10 1/4, 19. Breckyn Kobbe 16-9 3/4

Triple jump — 2. Isaiah Woyak 43-4 1/2*, 15. Evan Staidle 36-0, 17. Sawyer Wormald 35-7

Shot put — 3. Gabe Weimer 44-1, 6. Jonathan Harms 42-2 1/2, 10. Keona Wisniewski 40-3 1/2, 11. Seston Shoopman 40-0 1/2

Discus — 6. Jonathan Harms 130-11, 9. Brady Harvey 126-6, 12. Gabe Weimer 117-8