The Powell Panther girls’ track and field squad added some late season automatic qualifiers to the state meet in two weeks. Three new athletes qualified and four new qualifying marks were recorded over two days at the Cody Trackstravaganza and the Bobcat T&F Invitational on Thursday and Friday to cap the regular season.

CODY TRACKSTRAVAGANZA

A blustery, smaller meet Thursday greeted the Panthers, making the short trip to Cody to take on the host Fillies and Sheridan.

Two new Panthers earned qualifying marks for the first time, with Nalani Jordan and Anai Torres both qualifying in the discus with throws of 117 feet, 8 inches, and 114 feet, 2 inches, to take second and third place respectively.

“Seeing Anai and Nalani joining Katie [O’Brien] with the big throws in the discus is huge, and coming at just the right time of the season,” coach Scott Smith said. “I’m really excited to see girls’ discus at regionals because our girls are closing in on the top three girls in the state. For this reason, the girls’ discus may be the most exciting event at regionals.”

One more additional qualifying mark came in Cody, with Paige Sanders adding long jump as a second event with a leap of 16-7.

She was fourth in the event, as teammate Waycee Harvey fell just short of a school record with an impressive leap of 17-10 3/4 in her victory. She also won the 400 meters in 59.58 for a two-win day.

“Waycee has been improving in her long jump all year and I’m really happy for her to see her hitting these big jumps,” Smith said.

The other double event winner for Powell was O’Brien, who won the shot put (38-0 1/2) and the discus (121-7).

Additionally, Kinley Cooley won the 3200 meters (11:59.41) and Addy Thorington was one of four athletes who tied for the high jump win at 5-1.

In the team standings the Panthers finished third with 172 points, as Cody won with 214.5 and Sheridan was second with 197.

BOBCAT T&F INVITATIONAL

Heading further down the road on Friday, the Panthers made the trip down to Thermopolis to battle in a larger meet featuring nearly 20 teams from 1A-3A.

The final new qualifying mark came in the 3200 meters, when Shelby Zickefoose was runner-up in the event and finished in 21:16.97.

“Shelby has come a long way this season and seeing her automatically qualify in the 3200 was very impressive,” Smith said.

Two Panthers had individual victories, with Cooley winning the 1600 meters (5:40.76) and Thorington winning the high jump outright, clearing 5-1 once again.

The 1600 sprint medley relay team of Averie Warner, Sanders, Audrey Johnson and Myah Rakness claimed a win in a qualifying time of 4:36.75 to give Powell a second relay team automatically qualified for the state meet in the event.

Powell also added a fourth team for qualifying in the 4x400 with the quartet of Lauryn Bennett, Rakness, Naomi Whipple and Johnson finishing fourth with a 4:27.72, and a second 4x800 relay team of Kinley Cooley, Karee Cooley, Rakness and Kenna Jacobsen qualifying with a second place finish in 10:09.07.

Powell finished second as a team with 135 points behind Worland which won with 165 points, but well ahead of Kemmerer in third with 74 points.

“Overall I think our kids handled the back-to-back well but I think they were really tired at the end and will be better prepared for that next week,” Smith said.

REGIONAL MEET

Powell will now head into the postseason, making the long trip to Mountain View for the two-day meet.

The 3A West Regional will kick off at noon on Friday before starting once again at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

The Panther girls are the four-time defending champions at the regional meet, with a tight battle expected between Powell and several other teams including Worland once again.

“Both boys and girls are in three-way battles for the team title with realistic pathways for both to have a chance to win,” Smith said.

CODY TRACKSTRAVAGANZA

* Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores — 1. Cody 214.5, 2. Sheridan 197, 3. Powell 172

100 meters — 5. Audrey Johnson 13.61, 8. Averie Warner 14.08, 12. Ashlee Jacobsen 14.48, 14. Paige Sanders 14.57, 16. Naomi Whipple 14.6, 19. Cambree Dicks 15.29

200 meters — 1. Audrey Johnson 28.6, 4. Averie Warner 29.5, 7. Cambree Dicks 31.81

400 meters — 1. Waycee Harvey 59.58*, 7. Naomi Whipple 1:07.99, 8. Ashlee Jacobsen 1:09.09, 9. Paige Sanders 1:10.19

800 meters — 3. Kinley Cooley 2:30.92, 4. Myah Rakness 2:33.4, 8. Karee Cooley 2:38.3, 9. Shelby Zickefoose 2:38.9, 14. Brynn Hillman 2:45.4

1600 meters — 5. Karee Cooley 5:56.82, 6. Myah Rakness 5:57.23, 10. Gracie Wolff 6:31.66, 11. Salem Brown 6:36.28

3200 meters — 1. Kinley Cooley 11:59.41*, 5. Melissa Merritt 13:22.2

100 meter hurdles — 6. Lauryn Bennett 17.85, 9. Charity Siggins 18.73, 10. Addy Thorington 18.25, 13. Leah Graham 18.73, 16. Kate Williams 18.99

300 meter hurdles — 4. Lauryn Bennett 50.01, 12. Leah Graham 54.71, T17. Aramonie Brinkerhoff 55.85

4x100 relay — 3. Averie Warner, Ashlee Jacobsen, Naomi Whipple and Audrey Johnson 54.5

High jump — T1. Addy Thorington 5-1, T7. Charity Siggins and Hali Hancock 4-7

Pole vault — 4. Lauryn Bennett 9-0*

Long jump — 1. Waycee Harvey 17-10 3/4*, 4. Paige Sanders 16-7*, 16. Cambree Dicks 14-0 1/2, 17. Hali Hancock 13-3 1/2

Triple jump — 2. Paige Sanders 34-5 1/4*, 6. Addy Thorington 31-2 3/4, 7. Charity Siggins 30-11 3/4, 8. Nalani Jordan 30-10, 12. Cambree Dicks 26-3 3/4

Shot put — 1. Katie O’Brien 38-0 1/2*, 2. Anai Torres 33-6 1/2, T8. Nyah Johnson 27-2 1/2, 11. Nalani Jordan 26-8

Discus — 1. Katie O’Brien 121-7*, 2. Nalani Jordan 117-8*, 3. Anai Torres 114-2*, 5. Nyah Johnson 105-3

BOBCAT T&F INVITATIONAL

Team scores — 1. Worland 165, 2. Powell 135, 3. Kemmerer 74, 4. Big Piney 53, 5. Thermopolis 47, 6. Rawlins 45, 7. Lovell 43, 8. Burlington 29.5, 9. Pinedale 26, 10. Saratoga 17, 11. Riverside 15, 12. Rocky Mountain 12.5, 13. Dubois 11, 14. Glenrock 8, 15. Little Snake River 7, 16. Greybull 6, 17. Wind River 3, Farson-Eden 2

100 meters — 3. Waycee Harvey 12.9*, 21. Averie Warner 13.9, 31. Ashlee Jacobsen 14.59

200 meters — 2. Waycee Harvey 26.69*, 18. Averie Warner 29, 30. Paige Sanders 30.27

400 meters — 15. Naomi Whipple 1:10.31, 19. Melissa Merritt 1:10.65

800 meters — 3. Kenna Jacobsen 2:27.64

1600 meters — 1. Kinley Cooley 5:40.76, 2. Karee Cooley 5:43.49, 5. Brynn Hillman 5:52.1

3200 meters — 2. Shelby Zickefoose 12:16.97*, 4. Brynn Hillman 13:16.41, 5. Gracie Wolff 13:27.57, 6. Salem Brown 13:33.82

100 meter hurdles — 6. Lauryn Bennett 17.4, 10. Charity Siggins 18.38, 15. Leah Graham 19.25, 16. Addy Thorington 19.46

300 meter hurdles — 13. Leah Graham 54.4, 21. Aramonie Brinkerhoff 56.84

4x100 relay — 10 Averie Warner, Ashlee Jacobsen, Naomi Whipple and Audrey Johnson 54.72

4x400 relay — 4. Lauryn Bennett, Myah Rakness, Naomi Whipple and Audrey Johnson 4:27.72*

4x800 relay — 2. Kinley Cooley, Karee Cooley, Myah Rakness and Kenna Jacobsen 10:09.07*

1600 sprint medley relay — 1. Averie Warner, Paige Sanders, Audrey Johnson and Myah Rakness 4:36.75*

High jump — 1. Addy Thorington 5-1*, T14. Charity Siggins 4-7

Pole vault — 2. Lauryn Bennett 9-6*, 8. Kate Williams 8-0

Long jump — 8. Cambree Dicks 14-6 1/2, 10. Paige Sanders 14-4

Triple jump — 2. Paige Sanders 33-6*, T10. Addy Thorington 31-0, 13. Nalani Jordan 30-9 1/2

Shot put — 3. Katie O’Brien 38-3 3/4*, 6. Anai Torres 33-0 3/4, 22. Nyah Johnson 28-5 3/4, 23. Nalani Jordan 28-4 1/2

Discus — 3. Nalani Jordan 116-1*, 4. Katie O’Brien 114-10*, 14. Nyah Johnson 102, 17. Anai Torres 93-10