A quick week-long blitz ended the regular season and started the postseason for the Powell High School golfers, as the Panthers competed well in Lander at the Terry Berg Invite before carrying momentum into the first day of conference in Evanston on Tuesday.

Cody Fisher placed the highest on the boys’ side in Lander, as he led after day one with a 72, but a windy second day led to a 75 and he finished second overall.

“He has worked very hard this season and all four years for us so it is great to see him playing so well as we head to conference and state,” coach Troy Hildebrand said.

Park Harvison returned to action for the Panthers, as he put up two more rounds in the 70s with a 76 and 78 to finish in fifth.

Kason Sherman finished in a tie for 23rd, posting rounds of 82 and 88.

Xander Clark returned to the course as well for the Panthers, as he put up two rounds of 88 and 92 to take 31st.

“He stepped up and put together a great run in the middle of his round to get back on track and then went even par over his final four holes,” Hildebrand said.

Tucker Muecke was close behind, finishing in a tie for 35th with rounds of 94 and 90.

The final Panthers finished in a three way tie for 46th, as Ryder Stewart shot dual rounds of 98 while Ostin Kolb posted rounds of 95 and 101.

William Oland of Lander won the individual title with rounds of 73 and 71.

Powell finished in third place as a team with rounds of 318 and 333, while both Fremont County schools were only separated by a single stroke as Lander won with a score of 612 ahead of Riverton.

On the girls’ side the Panthers were led by Emery Hernandez, who posted rounds of 92 and 87 to place fourth.

“Emery had a very tough opening nine of the tournament, but her last 27 holes were excellent. She’s stringing together a lot of pars and really limiting the big numbers,” Hildebrand said.

Another top 10 finisher for the Panthers was Ali Scott with two rounds of 98 to finish eighth.

Hadley Gutierrez had a strong tournament, as she posted rounds of 112 and 107 to take 16th.

“Hadley has been improving each week in practice and tournaments, so it was great to see her post back-to-back personal bests this week,” Hildebrand said.

Grace Gordon was the final Powell golfer in Lander, as she had rounds of 109 and 118 to take 20th.

Ruth Needham of Thermopolis won the individual title with rounds of 82 and 81.

As a team Powell was second with scores of 299 and 292, behind Thermopolis which won with rounds of 280 and 288.

CONFERENCE START

Powell’s busy week didn’t end in Lander, as the Panthers made the trip to Evanston for the 3A West Conference Tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“This is a tough stretch right here, but it is good for us to maybe ride the momentum of this week (Lander) into the conference tournament,” Hildebrand said.

After day one the Panther girls led the team standings by 19 strokes with a score of 311, as Scott sat in second with a 98 and Hernandez was just behind in third with a 100. Both golfers were within three strokes of the leader, Kenley Wilson from Lovell.

Gordon was eighth with a 113, while Gutierrez and Maddie Croft were tied for ninth at 114.

Fisher led the boys standings with a 72 while Harvison sat second with a 75.

Clark was tied for 18th with a 91, Muecke was 23rd with a 94 while Stewart was 25th with a 99. As a team, the Panthers boys were second after the first day.

Wednesday’s round concluded after the press deadline; catch a full recap of the conference tournament in Tuesday’s Tribune.