Heading into the postseason the Powell Panther cross country team continued to be strong, as Kinley Cooley claimed the 3A West Conference title to help the girls to a second place finish while Liam Taylor placed fourth to lead the boys to a fourth place finish in Lander.

“This was definitely one of the toughest courses that we have run on all season,” coach Ashley Hildebrand said. “The Lander course started on the high school football field and our runners then covered all kinds of terrain including pavement, mowed pasture, gravel roads and a very long uphill and downhill section. However, these kids are really tough too and they got after it as usual.”

Cooley was the first across the line to claim the conference crown, winning in a time of 20 minutes, 9.82 seconds.

Powell added a second runner to All-Conference honors, with Kenna Jacobsen placing eighth in a time of 21:10.3.

Third across for the girls was Karee Cooley with a time of 21:32.07 to take 12th.

Melissa Merritt was 16th with a time of 22:37.05 and Shelby Zickefoose rounded out the team score for Powell with a time of 22:48.03 to take 18th.

Rounding out the varsity team the Panthers saw Macie Velasco place 20th with a time of 22:52.42 and Eleasah Horsley finish 21st with a time of 22:56.32.

The girls’ team placed second in the team standing with 51 points, just eight points behind Cody who took first, but 12 points ahead of Worland in third.

For the boys it was Taylor who crossed first, taking fourth with a time of 17:38.49 to earn All-Conference honors.

“Liam had an excellent race,” Hildebrand said.

Second across was Korbyn Warren, finishing in 16th with a time of 18:43.4, and Alex Werner was 19th with a time of 18:57.15.

“Alex is getting into good shape and we are excited to see him running so well at this point in the season,” Hildebrand said.

Nathan Varian was fourth across for the Panthers, taking 37th with a time of 20:18.03, despite suffering a fall on the course.

Troy Cheatham was fifth for the Panthers, taking 45th in a time of 20:26.31, Michael Stensing was 47th with a time of 21:00.16 and Colin Walker was the final varsity runner in 48th with a 21:01.23.

The boys’ team finished with 109 points to take fourth, behind Lander in third with 94, Mountain View in second with 41 and Worland took the boys’ team crown in first with 33 points.

“Our younger boys are gaining confidence and figuring out how to race aggressively and our older boys have been consistently strong,” Hildebrand said.

The JV teams ran in the same race alongside the varsity, as Salem Brown placed 28th for the girls in a time of 23:22.12; Jordan Black was 31st with a time of 23:39.3; Caydee Eden was 39th with a 25:19.6; Allison LeBlanc was 41st with a 26:03.52; Paige Sanders was 42nd with a 26:05.85; Ashlee Jacobsen was 44th with a 26:38.04 and Jordyn Nelson was 50th with a 29:20.49.

For the boys, Ben Johnson was 53rd with a time of 21:26.9 and Thomas Shuman was 58th with a 21:49.3.

Michael Legerski did not race due to illness and Nelson Kolhbus opted to be a guide runner for Nelson after David Holland was unable to attend.

“I thought it was a very noble thing for him to do and he did a great job,” Hildebrand said. “We were very worried about Jordyn safely navigating this course with so much uneven footing, a very long uphill and steep downhill, and he helped her to run a great race.”

The Panther cross country team will now make the long trek to Cheyenne on Saturday, taking part in the state championships at the Little America.

The Panther girls are the defending state champions, and are expected to be in another battle against Cody alongside Buffalo and Worland for the team crown while Cooley will be seeking her first individual state title.

The boys are hoping for a better team finish than 15th a year ago at state after they already showed improvement at the conference meet after taking sixth last year.

Races are set to begin at 10:30 a.m. with the 2A girls, the 3A girls are set to start at 11:30 a.m. while the 3A boys will be the last race at 1 p.m. before awards are presented.