Team faces Cheyenne South on Saturday for a shot at state

The Powell Panthers will have to fight their way through 3A soccer newcomer Cheyenne South on Saturday if they wish to compete at the 2011 3A state soccer tournament. The pairing became official following Powell’s 3-1 loss at Worland on Tuesday.

“It was a really hard loss for the team,” Panther head coach Brett Hanlin said of the defeat. “Worland wasn’t outplaying us.”

Friday game against Rawlins stands in the way of state

The Powell High School boys’ soccer team wrapped up the regular season with a 5-0 loss at Worland on Tuesday. The loss drops Powell to 3-11 overall and leaves the team needing to defeat Rawlins this Friday in order to achieve a spot in the state tournament.

“We just didn’t play as well as we have this whole season,” said Panther soccer coach Travis Rapp. “We got away from playing to feet and got back into the bad habit of booting the ball upfield.”

NWC bareback rider the lone CNFR qualifier

Northwest College bareback rider Jordan Gill was named the 2011 Big Sky Region champion in bareback riding following the completion of college rodeo’s regular season last weekend. The Trappers concluded the season at the University of Montana.

Gill didn’t place in Missoula, Mont., for Northwest College, but that hardly mattered. The Trappers’ top rider this season had managed to amass enough points through the season’s other nine rodeos that he was still able to hold a 45-point margin of victory in the season standings over his nearest pursuer — Miles Community College’s Brendon Lemmon.

Panther relay team torches school record

The Powell High School girls’ 4x800 relay team shattered a school record that had stood for 22 years in Cody on Friday. The foursome of Desiree Murray, Kassey MacDonald, Sierra Morrow and Tally Wells carved more than seven seconds off the previous Powell best.

“They wanted to go after it today and they ran it down,” said Panther assistant track coach Tracy McArthur. “Running the girls’ race along with the boys’ helped because it gave them someone to chase.”

Panther relay team torches school record

The Powell High School girls’ 4x800 relay team shattered a school record that had stood for 22 years in Cody on Friday. The foursome of Desiree Murray, Kassey MacDonald, Sierra Morrow and Tally Wells carved more than seven seconds off the previous Powell best.

“They wanted to go after it today and they ran it down,” said Panther assistant track coach Tracy McArthur. “Running the girls’ race along with the boys’ helped because it gave them someone to chase.”

Ten goal outburst allows several to see action

After a frustrating season of near-miss opportunities against ranked opponents, the Powell Panthers were in need of a confidence boost in advance of this week’s state tournament play-in game. Pinedale happened to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

The Panthers filled their prescription for a win with a one-sided 10-0 victory at Pinedale on Friday. Seven players scored goals as Powell limited the host Wranglers to just one shot on goal over the 80 minutes.

Team drops 12-2 games to Troopers

The Powell Pioneers opened the 2011 baseball season in Sheridan on Saturday, dropping a pair of doubleheader games by identical 12-2 final scores. Both games were stopped after six innings.

“It’s the early part of the season and the games were closer than the scores show,” said Pioneer head coach Mike Jameson. “We had a few key plays we didn’t make and a few key hits that we didn’t get. It could have been a lot different ball game.”

Petersen, Lesu named male and female athletes of year

Northwest College basketball players Megan Smith and Chantz Ramos were honored on Tuesday night as the winners of the Trapper Awards for the 2010-2011 academic year. The announcement came during Tuesday’s ceremony recognizing the achievements of the college’s student-athletes over the past year.

“What can I say about him?” Northwest College men’s basketball coach Andy Ward asked rhetorically. “He’s an extremely hard worker. We were fortunate to have him in our program. He does so much more than just compete on the court.”

Sullivan wins hurdle titles as seven compete

Kyle Sullivan and Josh Cragoe finished 1-2 in the 110-meter hurdles on Monday at the Wyoming Track Classic in Casper. Sullivan added the 300-meter hurdle title as well, taking nearly a second and a half off his season-best time in the process.

The performances were among eight top-three finishes by Panther athletes at the Wyoming Track Classic. The event had been scheduled to be held last Friday, but the threat of poor weather conditions prompted meet officials to push the event back to this week.

Powell High School girls’ soccer coach Brett Hanlin could only shake his head on Tuesday afternoon. He’d just watched his Panthers dominate play for many of the 80 minutes, but fall by a 1-0 count to Lander.

Two hours later, Powell boys’ coach Travis Rapp felt pretty much the same way.