A crowded field of runners in Bozeman saw the Powell Panther girls’ cross country team finish third as a team, while the Panther boys battled without their top runner.

Leading the way for the Panthers once again was Kinley Cooley, who finished fifth overall with a time of 19:14.87.

Kenna Jacobsen was second across for the Panthers in 19th with a time of 20:17.

Karee Cooley was third across in 32nd with a 20:55, with Melissa Merritt close behind in 38th with a 20:59.

Shelby Zickefoose rounded out the top five for the Panthers, placing 66th with a time of 21:41.

Eleasah Horsley finished a minute faster than last week, placing 85th with a time of 22:06, followed by Macie Velasco in 100th with a 22:29.

In Bozeman the Panthers were allowed to enter up to 10 runners, as Jordan Black and Salem Brown joined the Panther varsity squad, placing 144th in 23:08 and 164th in 23:33 respectively.

Overall, the Panther girls placed third as a team, just behind Bozeman and Gallatin, but three points ahead of Hardin who defeated Powell in the first meet of the season in Billings.

“Our varsity girls team ran aggressively from the start and competed extremely well,” coach Ashley Hildebrand said.

On the boys’ side, the Panthers were led by Korbyn Warren, who took the top spot after Liam Taylor was unable to attend due to illness.

Warren finished 92nd in a competitive field of 243 runners, finishing in 17:57 in a race that featured a winning time of 15:38.

“Korbyn led the charge and ran really well this week after not feeling well in Buffalo last week,” Hildebrand said.

Second across was Colin Walker, who broke his goal of 19 minutes, setting a personal best time of 18:17 to finish 109th.

Nathan Varian, Alex Werner and Troy Cheatham were the final three scorers across for the Panthers, finishing 145th, 146th and 147th, respectively. Varian finished in 19:09 while Werner and Cheatham finished in 19:10.

Channing Wenzel was the sixth Panther runner across in 166th place, running a personal best of 20:20.

The Panther boys finished 23rd as a team.

Ashlee Jacobsen led the JV girls in 36th with a 24:19, Caydee Eden finished 71st in 25:11, Allison LeBlanc placed 74th in 25:14, Paige Sanders finished 85th in 25:36 and Jordyn Nelson finished 122nd with a time of 29:14.

The JV girls finished 14th overall.

The JV boys were led by Michael Legerski who took 96th with a 20:36, Thomas Shuman placed 136th with a 21:34, Ben Smith finished 184th with a 22:38 and Nelson Kohlbus placed 196th with a 22:51.

“We are so pleased with how well our kids ran in this meet,” Hildebrand said. “Not only did our varsity girls run really well as a team, but all of our kids had a successful day. Our newer runners are getting into better shape and learning how to pace themselves and race with confidence.”

Powell will now head back into Montana one last time, heading to Fergus for an invitational on Friday before returning to Wyoming competitions for the rest of the season starting next week in Worland.