A group of top performances helped propel the Panther boys’ track team to a second place finish at the Jerry Campbell Invite in Buffalo on Saturday. The Powell High School quad finished less than eight points behind Class 4A Sheridan.

The top performance of the day came from PHS senior Toran Graham, who won the shot put with a throw of 55 feet, 6 3/4 inches.

Before Saturday’s meet, Graham had only thrown over 50 feet one previous time at the state meet last year. At the meet in Buffalo, however, all six of Graham’s throws went over 50 feet.

In addition to shot put, Graham placed second in discus as he set another personal best with a throw of 143 feet, 3 inches.

Just behind Graham in both events was fellow senior Sheldon Shoopman, who placed fourth in the shot put and third in the discus.

“You can’t ask for better young men to be leaders than Toran [Graham] and Sheldon [Shoopman],” Panther head coach Scott Smith said. “They are great people to start, then mix in their work ethic and focus to complete the package.” 

Junior Daniel Merritt again had a strong showing in the distance races for the Panthers as he won the 1600 meters with a time of 4:43.34 and qualified for state in the 800 meters with a time of 2:02.86 to take second place. 

Merritt’s time in the 1600 was 0.05 seconds away from the qualifying mark for state.

“All automatic qualifiers (AQ) are good for the team, but the distance races tend to be the most difficult to do, especially this early,” Smith said. “It is a great testament to how hard he has been working through the off season and so far, this season. Distance AQ’s also open training and entry strategies to help him improve even more.”

Other top placers for the Panthers included senior Eli Weimer, who took second in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 2 inches. Sophomore Isaiah Woyak took second in the triple jump with a leap of 39 feet, 4 1/4 inches, and was followed closely by freshman Cody Siefert, who placed third with a leap of 39 feet, 2 inches.

The Panthers will now return to Powell for a home meet on Saturday, as they will welcome Burlington, Cody, Lovell, Meeteetse, Rocky Mountain, Ten Sleep and Worland.

The meet is slated to start at 9 a.m. and weather is forecasted to be in the 60s.

* Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores: 1. Sheridan 95, 2. Powell 87.25, 3. Worland 77, 4. Cody 73.50, 5. Douglas 72, 6. Thunder Basin 61, T7. Big Horn 49, T7. Lovell, 9. Campbell County 44, 10. Buffalo 38, 11. Upton 25.25, 12. Sundance, 13. Moorcroft 8

100 meters: 41. Marshall Lewis 12.50, 50. Zach Ratcliff 12.63, 86. Adam Williams 13.23

200 meters: 48. McKale Foley 26.50, 49. Adam Williams 26.56, 92. Seeger Wormald 28.81

400 meters: 11. Evan Whitlock 57.68, 21. McKale Foley 1:00.35

800 meters: 2. Daniel Merritt 2:02.86*, 6. Ethan Bartholomew 2:09.87, 8. Jace Hyde 2:11.62, 17. Ben Whitlock 2:20.28, 28. Nelson Ho 2:26.43, 33. Francis Rogers 2:29.50, 36. Jon Hawley 2:36.76

1600 meters: 1. Daniel Merritt 4:43.34, 23. Riley Schiller 5:25.16, 24. Liam Taylor 5:29.02, 26. Nelson Ho 5:32.35, 35. Francis Rogers 5:51.03, 39. Jon Hawley 6:00.43

3200 meters: 9. Riley Schiller 11:54.55, 11. Ethan Bartholomew 12:05.31, 14. Liam Taylor 12:45.41

110 meter hurdles: 9. Hyrum Jeide 17.29, 10. Stuart Shoopman 17.91, 11. Simon Shoopman 17.97, 22. Jeremy Harms 20.21

300 meter hurdles: 17. Stuart Shoopman 46.90, 19. Hyrum Jeide 48.02, 20. Simon Shoopman 48.23, 21. Eli Weimer 48.49, 30. Jeremy Harms 53.37

4x400 relay: 5. Powell 3:45.07

High jump: 2. Eli Weimer 6’, 2”*, 7. Isaiah Woyack 5’, 10”, 16. Jace Hyde 5’, 6”

Pole vault: 5. Adam Williams 11’, 6”, T8. McKale Foley 10’, 0”, T13. 9’, 0”

Long jump: 4. Zach Ratcliff 19’, 8”, 11. Isaiah Woyak 18’, 7 1/2“, T15. Marshall Lewis 18’, 2 1/2”, 34. Cody Seifert 16’, 7 1/2”, T42. Evan Staidle 16’, 0”, 51. Tevon Schultz 15’, 4 1/2”, 60. Cole Young 14’, 9 1/2”, 67. Jase Hall 13’, 10 1/2”

Triple jump: 2. Isaiah Woyak 39’, 4 1/4”, 3. Cody Siefert 39’, 2”. 9. Dylan Escalante 36’, 6 3/4”, 15. Evan Staidle 34’, 5”, 18. Tevon Schultz 33’, 1 1/2”, 22. Seeger Wormald 30’, 9 3/4”, 24. Cole Young 29’, 6 3/4”, 26. Jase Hall 27’, 4 1/2”

Shot put: 1. Toran Graham 55’ 6 3/4“*, 4. Sheldon Shoopman 48’, 4”*, 16. Sam Belmont 40’, 6”, 40. Dusty Carter 35’, 5 1/2“, 45. Jonathan Harms 33’, 10 1/2”, 46. Doug Bettger 33’, 6 1/2”, 81. Jase Hall 27’, 1”, 84. Jacob Eaton 26’, 2 1/2”, 85. Jacob Harms 25’, 7 1/4”

Discus: 2. Toran Graham 143’, 3”*, 3. Sheldon Shoopman 142’, 7”*, 29. Sam Belmont 98’, 11”, 32. Dusty Carter 97’, 4”, 41. Jonathan Harms 94’, 2”, 54. Jase Hall 85’, 7”, 60. Doug Bettger 79’, 10”, Jacob Eaton 64’, 11”, 83. Jacob Harms 63’, 11”