It was a record breaking start for one Powell High School indoor track and field athlete, as Paige Sanders extended her triple jump record, and the Panthers were strong in their opening meet at the Bronc-Bison Rustbuster Invitational on Friday in Gillette.

Sanders claimed the top overall finish in the triple jump, leaping to a victory of 34 feet, 10 inches.

She also added another top finish, taking third in the long jump with a distance of 15-10.

Another Panther enjoyed a similarly strong start, as Karee Cooley won the 1600 meters with a time of 5 minutes, 41.05 seconds, and placed third in the 800 meters with a 7-second personal record of 2:33.12.

“Paige and Karee really had great starts to the season,” coach Scott Smith said.

The Panther girls also had a couple more top eight finishes, as Anyston Keller placed fourth in the 1600 meters (5:52.32), Audrey Johnson took seventh in the 400 meters (1:05.95) and Macie Velasco placed eighth in the 1600 meters (6:18.02). The 4x400 relay team of Cooley, Keller, Johnson and Kara Sanders also placed third with a time of 4:31.1.

Overall as a team, the Panthers placed fifth with 48 points, the second highest among 3A teams only behind Cody which had 70.5 points. Thunder Basin took the overall crown with 141.4 points.

On the boys’ side, the Panthers had several top eight finishes, as Colin Walker was the highest placer taking third in the 3200 meters (11:37).

Karson Howe placed fourth in the 3200 meters (12:18.76), Breckyn Kobbe took seventh in the 200 meters (25.06) and Korbyn Warren placed seventh in the 1600 meters (5:03.73).

The 4x400 relay of Cobey Khan, Michael Stensing, Warren and Alex Werner took seventh with a time of 4:12.49.

The boys took eighth as a team, scoring 17th points. That was fifth among 3A teams, with Cody being the highest 3A team in fourth with 98 points. Sheridan took first with 117.5 points.

Overall for the first meet, Smith said he was proud of the new indoor track participants, placing or getting close to placing in their first efforts in a new environment.

“I was really proud of our new indoor kids,” Smith said. “A few of them placed and even more were just out of placing. They really did a nice job of fighting through the jitters and competing well.”

The Panthers turn right  around and head back to Gillette for another invitational on Saturday, with Smith noting the team will be adding 10 new kids as he is hoping for some early season improvement.

“This early in the season, obviously conditioning will be at the forefront. We hope to start getting more technique refinement in, but with a second meet right away, we will be limited in what we can do,” Smith said. “We would like to see as many or more PR’s this week than we did last week. It will be a bigger meet with more teams and kids which will be a good test for our kids.”

BRONC-BISON RUSTBUSTER INVITATIONAL

* Denotes state qualifying mark

GIRLS RESULTS

Team scores — 1. Thunder Basin 141.4, 2. Sheridan 131.2, 3. Cody 70.5, 4. Campbell County 50, 5. Powell 48, 6. Buffalo 28.2, 7. Lander 27, 8. Burns/Pine Bluffs 15, 9. Douglas 13.7, 10. Tongue River 4, 11. Big Horn 2

55 meters — 26. Ashlee Jacobsen 8.24, 63. Peyton Ott 8.7

200 meters — 11. Kaytlee George 28.79, 16. Audrey Johnson 29.16, 18. Paige Sanders 29.64, 27. Ashlee Jacobsen 30.34, 44. Charlie Taylor 31.49, 58. Rae Jackson 32.75

400 meters — 7. Audrey Johnson 1:05.95, 9. Kaytlee George 1:07.41, 14. Charlie Taylor 1:10.6, 15. Kara Sanders 1:11.64

800 meters — 3. Karee Cooley 2:33.12, 11. Anyston Keller 2:43.31, 15. Kara Sanders 2:50.06

1600 meters — 1. Karee Cooley 5:41.05, 4. Anyston Keller 5:53.32, 8. Macie Velasco 6:18.02, 19. Natalee Laing 6:56.63

55 meter hurdles — 30. Kate Williams 11.42, 36. Rae Jackson 12.11

4x400 relay — 3. Karee Cooley, Anyston Keller, Kara Sanders and Audrey Johnson 4:31.1

Pole vault — T9. Kate Williams 7-6

Long jump — 3. Paige Sanders 15-10, 14. Kaytlee George 14-2 1/2, 18. Peyton Ott 13-8 1/2, 28. Ashlee Jacobsen 12-11

Triple jump — 1. Paige Sanders 34-10*, 10. Kaytlee George 29-1 1/2, 11. Kara Sanders 28-11 3/4

Shot put — 7. Noelle Leighton 29-11 3/4, 15. Meredyth Giltner 26-2, 25. Rowan Borcher 24-2 1/2, 38. Macey Davison 21-3

BOYS RESULTS

Team scores — 1. Sheridan 117.5, 2. Thunder Basin 106, 3. Campbell County 100, 4. Cody 98, 5. Douglas 43, 6. Big Horn 29, 7. Buffalo 19, 8. Powell 17, 9. Burns/Pine Bluffs 13, 10. Tongue River 12, 11. Lander 9.5

55 meters — 12. Breckyn Kobbe 6.9, T19. Cobey Khan 7.01, T32. Tanner Seifert 7.19, 47. Tristin Winninger 7.32, T51. Brayden Benander 7.36, 84. Rowan Diaz 7.7

200 meters — 7. Breckyn Kobbe 25.06, T10. Lincoln Crawford and Tanner Seifert 25.2, 28. Tristin Winninger 26.04, 38. Brayden Benander 26.4, 47. Rowan Diaz 27.01, 84. Ben Smith 31.58

400 meters — 11. Cobey Khan 57.6, 15. Alex Werner 1:00.79

800 meters — 10. Korbyn Warren 2:15.69, 17. Michael Stensing 2:27.58, 21. Thomas Shuman 2:33.76

1600 meters — 7. Korbyn Warren 5:03.73, 10. Colin Walker 5:19.17, 17. Michael Stensing 5:38.18, 21. Ben Smith 5:52.74

3200 meters — 3. Colin Walker 11:37, 4. Karson Howe 12:18.76

55 meter hurdles — 9. Lincoln Crawford 8.92

4x400 relay — 7. Cobey Khan, Michael Stensing, Korbyn Warren and Alex Werner 4:12.49

Long jump — T13. Tristin Winninger 17-7

Shot put — 12. Levi Cox 40-3, 21. Kaden Wolff 35-8 1/4, 27. James Emmett 34-4 1/4, T47. JW Faulkner 30-7, 58. Andrew Walker 24-1 1/4