Blazing temperatures put the Powell Panther cross country teams to the test on Friday in Buffalo, resulting in the girls finishing toe-to-toe with defending state champion Cody and the boys continuing to find their footing early in the season.

Temperatures soared into the mid-90s, which resulted in some red hot times for the Panther girls.

In a 100 runner field, sophomore Kinley Cooley finished second overall in the meet, finishing with a nine-second personal record in 20:38.61.

“She [Cooley] took off with Cody’s lead runner and stayed with her for a good chunk of the race,” Panther cross country coach Ashley Hildebrand said.

Hildebrand said that time put Cooley just three seconds outside of the all-time Panther top 10 list.

Finishing second for the Panthers was fellow sophomore Kenna Jacobsen, coming in fifth place in a time of 21:27.38.

Third for the Panthers was junior Brynn Hillman who finished sixth overall in 21:38.08 — just six seconds off her personal best mark.

Senior Megan Jacobsen finished in eighth place with a time of 22:02.21.

Rounding out the top five for the Panthers was freshman Melissa Merritt, who took almost 1:30 off her time from the first meet — earning a 10th place finish in a time of 22:04.38.

Those five earned top 10 finishes, finishing with 31 points as a team, just three behind Cody with 28.

Sixth place for the Panthers was freshman Audrey Johnson who set a personal record of 23:28.72, finishing 19th.

Just behind Johnson in 20th was sophomore Salem Brown in a near personal best time of 23:29.55.

Sophomore Jordan Black finished 25th with a time of 23:45.37.

Freshman Shelby Zickefoose finished 38th with a time of 25:04.55 and junior Gracie Wolff finished 51st with a time of 26:16.10.

“Coach [Tracy] McArthur and I were really happy with how well our girls raced in the hot temps,” Hildebrand said. “Our new runners are just starting to figure out how to race these 5k’s and our veterans continue to improve and get stronger. It is really fun to watch them gain confidence in their ability to race 5,000 meters in the heat and be so excited for the next race.”

The boys finished seventh overall as a team out of 16 teams.

Competing in a field of 156 runners, senior Daniel Merritt again led the way for the Panthers.

He finished in fourth in a time of 17:38.91.

Hildebrand said he was dealing with an illness all week, so she felt him staying with the lead pack and finishing fourth was an accomplishment in the heat.

She said despite Merritt battling an illness and racing slower than his record breaking performance last weekend, he still raced faster in Buffalo than he did last year.

Freshman Korbyn Warren was again the second runner across for the Panthers, finishing in a personal best time of 18:55.84.

“Korbyn [Warren] has been running really well and we look for him to continue to get better and better each week,” Hildebrand said.

The next four runners  grouped together, with junior Breckin Streeter finishing in a time of 19:53.94 to take 39th place.

Behind him was the trio made up of sophomores Liam Taylor and Juan Torres followed by senior Jace Hyde.

Taylor finished in 42nd place in a time of 20:02.55, Torres finished with a personal best time of 20:05.83 in 43rd place and Hyde finished with a 20:07.11 to finish 45th in his first cross country race.

Junior Justin Hobbs finished in 79th in a time of 21:20.28; junior Stuart Shoopman finished 93rd with a time of 22:04.84; junior Jon Hawley finished 98th with a time of 22:30.59; senior David Polson finished 108th in 23:08.63; freshman Landon Hyde finished 127th with a time of 24:36.32; senior Drew Valdez finished with a time of 26:47.90 in 144th place and freshman Colin Walker finished 146th with a time of 27:02.79.

The Panthers now head to one of the biggest meets of the season in Ethete to take part in the Chief Nation Invitational hosted by Wyoming Indian.

Powell will compete against 19 other teams from all classifications, getting a preview of the state course that the Panthers will compete on in just over a month’s time.

Junior varsity races are scheduled to start at 11 a.m. with varsity girls scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. and boys to follow.