The Powell High School girls claimed third and the boys took fifth in the Powell Invitational cross country meet Thursday.

Head coach Cliff Boos said the only home meet of the year, held at the Powell Golf Club, went very well. It was run in near-perfect conditions, pleasant enough for the scores of fans who lined the course while still cool enough for the runners.

“Overall, very impressed with the kids,” Boos said. “Everything went really well. We had a lot of compliments on the course; the kids liked running on the fairways.”

Seniors Ben Wetzel and Bailey Sanders said they were impressed with the showing during the home meet. The cross country squads are close, with a lot of talking and teasing before the races and then cheering and support during and after them.

“I thought the team had a great showing overall. We saw improvement on all fronts,” Wetzel said. “Danna Hanks showed great improvement as well as Gretchen Moretti. The teams look good, and we couldn’t be in a much better position heading in to conference and state. All we can do now is hope our hard training pays off, go out and run our races.”

Cody won the girls race with 41 points, followed by Worland with 63, with Powell right behind with 66. Riverton scored 95, Lovell had 125 and Thermopolis brought up the rear with 129.

Moretti, a senior, was the first runner across the finish line for the Lady Panthers, taking eighth in a time of 20:56.12.

“She got a T-shirt, top 10,” Boos said. “That was pretty good.”

Moretti, in her lone season of cross country, said she was pleased with her finish.

“I’m a little out of breath, but that’s to be expected. It’s always nice to place at a home meet,” she said. “I felt we did a good job, place-wise and time-wise.”

Sophomore Kylie Cannon finished 11th in 21:38.90 and said it was a “fun race.”

“I’m glad she was feeling better this time,” Boos said.

Sanders, who fell off after a fast start that had her near the leaders, finished 13th at 22:00.47. Boos said she seemed to have lost a few steps in the middle of the race.

Sanders, who led the team in stretching before the race and was in the middle of a team photo afterward, said she felt the squad performed well.

Sophomore Teo Faulkner was 16th in 22:16.17 and freshman Emma Andreasen was 18th in 22:24.67. Hanks, a junior, claimed 28th place in 24:31.74.

Hanks said the course was pleasant to run on — “and no hills,” a good-hearted reference to the team’s practices on a rugged grade near the Powell Municipal Airport. The other girls smiled at that, but the teams will return to “The Hill” for a workout today (Tuesday.)

“Looks like we have a good solid five for conference and state,” Boos said of his girls squad. Wetzel said he feels the Lady Panthers have a chance at a top five or even top three finish at state and Boos said he feels the team is in good shape right now.

Keiliana Montanez, a Worland freshman, won the race with a time of 19:33.66. Jules Ward of Thermopolis was second in 19:35.82, and Jaclyn Caldwell of Lovell claimed third in 20:05.43.

Cody’s Mishayla Waltari was fourth in 20:14.34 and teammate Erin Wooley took fifth in 20:17.70.

Wetzel almost pain-free

Cody made it a sweep, winning the boys race with 34 points, followed by Worland with 63 and Lovell with 65. Riverton was fourth with 100, Powell fifth with 108 and Rocky Mountain was last with 131.

Wetzel, who said the pain in his foot that has hampered him during the season is just about gone, paced Powell with a 11th-place finish in a time of 18:51.02.

“As far as my race goes I was happy,” he said. “The pain from my stress fracture is finally starting to dissipate. I’m hoping only to see improvement from here as I can train more going down the final stretch and really give it my all.”

“He did pretty well yesterday, I thought,” Boos said Friday.

Sophomore Matthew Waite was 19th in 19:08.80 and junior Alex Aguirre finished 21st in 19:22.24. Freshman Aaron Smith crossed the finish line in 27th place in 19:58.53 and classmate Jesse Erickson was 31st in 20:06.09.

Cody’s Brody Smith won the meet in a time of 15:41.72. Lovell’s A.J. Dickson was second in 17:17.05, followed by teammate Jacob Newman in 17:17.90, Hunter Graves of Cody in 17:19.48 and Jaden Swalstad of Worland in 17:29.18.

The 3A West Conference Meet will be held in Afton Friday afternoon. The cross country season will conclude with the Class 3A State Meet in Sheridan Saturday, Oct. 25.

Middle schoolers wrap season

Powell middle school runners did well in their final meet of the year. Boos said he sees a lot of talent on the horizon.

“They did really well,” he said.

The boys won the meet with 48 points, claiming their second meet of the season in addition to a win at Sheridan. Cody was second with 53, followed by Lovell with 56, Riverton with 82 and Worland with 110.

Eighth-grader Alan Merrit claimed first, coming home in 11:56. Jesse Brown, a seventh-grader, was 10th in 13:03. Eighth-grader Alex Smith was 12th in 13:25 and seventh-grader Aiden Jacobson took 14th in 13:38. Seventh-grader Jay Cox was 20th in 14:06 and classmate Dylan Cordes finished 22nd in 14:18.

One of the team’s top runners, Colin Queen, broke his collarbone during a school recess this fall, and was lost for the season.

For the middle school girls, seventh-grader Kayla Kolpitcke took 11th in 13:16. Classmate Kaitlyn Decker was 15th in 14:49.96 and Ashlyn Aguirre, also a seventh-grader, was 37th in 16:37.98.

Since Powell Middle School only had three girl runners, it did not register a score. Cody won the race with 42 points.