The Powell Panthers posted some impressive times on a hot Thursday in Worland, as the girls’ team placed third and the boys’ team placed fifth.

“We had another strong meet in Worland on Thursday,” coach Ashley Hildebrand said. “It was another hot day and we have a few kids who have been hit with a bug, but our kids had a really good day despite those things.”

Leading the way for the Panther girls once again was Kinley Cooley, who broke away early and outraced the field to a comfortable victory with a time of 19 minutes, 6.3 seconds, winning by 30 seconds over the next fastest competitor.

Her younger sister Karee was the next Panther across the line, finishing in 14th with a time of 21:10.6.

Melissa Merritt was the third runner across in 16th with a time of 21:22.6, while Macie Velasco and Shelby Zickefoose were close in 18th and 19th with times of 21:51.5 and 21:59.7, respectively.

Eleasah Horsley was the final Panther varsity runner across, finishing in 21st with a time of 22:13.8.

The Panthers were missing one of their top runners in Kenna Jacobsen.

“We were missing Kenna this week who did not run because of illness and her absence certainly impacted our team score, but we are still really pleased with how the girls ran,” Hildebrand said.

Powell finished third as a team with 68 points, as Cody ran away with the team title with a score of 32 and Buffalo placed second with a score of 66.

On the boys’ side, the Panthers were led by Korbyn Warren who crossed the finish line in a time of 17:49.1 for his season best time to take 15th.

Liam Taylor was the next to cross with a time of 18:02.3, finishing in 17th.

Colin Walker was third for the Panthers, placing 23rd in a time of 18:38.4.

Finishing out the team scoring for Powell was Alex Warner in 41st with a time of 20:09.6 and Channing Wenzel in 45th with a time of 20:31.8.

Sixth for the Panthers was Michael Stensing in 47th with a 20:55.4 and Nathan Varian was seventh across in 51st with a time of 21:30.9.

“Both Liam and Nathan have been fighting illness, but are hopefully on the comeback and will be back in top shape next week,” Hildebrand said.

For the junior varsity runners, the Panther girls were led by Salem Brown who placed third with a time of 23:13.2; Jordan Black was eighth with a time of 23:37.1; Ashlee Jacobsen was 15th with a time of 25:24.7; Allison LeBlanc was 17th with a time of 26:06; Paige Sanders was 19th with a time of 26:38.3 and Jordyn Nelson was 21st with a time of 27:02.5.

Thomas Shumanled the Powell boys, finishing 12th with a time of 21:31.1; Ben Smith was 30th with a time of 23:26.6 and Nelson Kohlbus was 33rd with a time of 24:05.3.

This week the Panthers will return close to home, heading to Cody on Thursday afternoon to take part in the Foxes and Hounds Invitational.

This race will bring a new challenge for the Panther varsity runners, with Hildebrand saying the team is looking forward to the different style of race.

“The JV runners start at the gun and the 1-7 varsity runners are released every 20 seconds starting with the No. 7 runners,” Hildebrand said. “This is a really exciting and fun race that our kids love, putting the fastest runners in a position where they have to chase rather than lead during the race.”