Dividing the team into two, the Powell High School cross country team took the varsity squad to Montana for the Mountain West Classic on Saturday in Missoula, while the junior varsity squad competed in a varsity meet in Lander on Thursday.

A challenging course in Montana brought a new hurdle to overcome, with coach Ashley Hildebrand noting the Panthers competed well on a hilly course after workouts at airport hill earlier in the week.

“The course was not easy,” Hildebrand “Our kids said it was really hard, but they were happy with how they were able to use the hill to their advantage. Many of our kids ran season best and personal best times and for them to do that on this course is proof that they are working hard, their bodies are responding to the workouts and that they should run much faster in the coming weeks.”

The Panther girls once again had an impressive finish, led by Karee Cooley, who placed 10th overall with a time of 18 minutes, 46.1 seconds.

A trio of Panthers ran packed together to help the team score, as Anyston Keller ran a 19:51.6 to take 34th, Aubree Kraft was 36th with a 19:56 and Kaytlee George was 41st with a 20:04.

All three of those times were personal bests according to Hildebrand, and Kraft moved up to No. 6 in school history and George joined the top 10 in 10th.

Kara Sanders rounded out the scoring for the Panthers with a season best time of 21:59.2 to take 135th overall.

She was followed closely by Eleasah Horsley in 145th with a time of 22:02.3 while Paige Sanders was the seventh runner with a personal best time of 22:19 to take 160th.

“These three girls are so important to our team, placing as the fifth runner is our final scorer, and runners 6 and 7 serve to displace other runners so their teams score more points,” Hildebrand said. “They can be the difference in many races, so it is really good to see them continue to push themselves to bring their times down and keep them closer together.”

As a team the Panther girls took sixth with a score of 232, only being beaten by ‘AA’ schools from Montana in a field of 450 runners and 82 teams.

“The girls’ team had an outstanding meet,” Hildebrand said.

The boys’ also had a good day on the course, as Ryder DeBoer ran a personal best time of 17:54.9 to take 112th overall.

Nathan Varian was the next across in 150th with a season best time of 18:16.4.

Michael Stensing was the third runner with a time of 18:51.6 to take 207th.

Channing Wenzel placed 280th with a time of 19:29, while Ben Smith rounded out the team score as the fifth runner with a time of 19:32.4 to take 289th.

Karson Howe was the sixth runner with a 19:41.1 to take 303rd and Wyatt Hill ran a personal best time by almost two minutes with a 20:25.9 to take 352nd.

The Panthers were 37th as a team with 905 points, as 499 runners amid 86 teams were entered in the event.

“This group just keeps getting better and better, and they are really focused on making the podium at state,” Hildebrand said.

Earlier in the week the Panther junior varsity squad made the trip to Lander, taking part in a varsity race in another challenging, hilly course.

Landyn Horsley was 25th with a season best time of 24:06, Abigail Curdy was 27th with a personal best time of 24:21, Natalee Laing placed 30th with season best 24:36, Charlie Taylor was 35th with a 25:21, Beth Black took 38th with a time of 25:41 and Jordyn Nelson was 59th with a 30:25.

As a team the girls were fifth with a score of 132, competing against six other varsity teams.

The Panther boys had two entries, as Justin Marquez took 63rd with a 21:59 and Matthew Watson was 76th with a 22:53.

Powell remains a bit closer to home this week, going to Worland on Friday afternoon for the Warrior Invitational.