After the Class 3A West Star Valley Regional meet on Friday and Saturday in Afton, Powell High School track and field is sending 25 athletes to the 3A state meet this week at Kelly Walsh High School in Casper.

The PHS boys and girls secured 13 qualifiers for the state competition, which begins at 11 a.m. Thursday, continues at 9 a.m. Friday and finishes up Saturday with a 9 a.m. start time.

Despite more harsh spring weather, which featured low temperatures and rain, the Powell boys (69.66) and girls (76.50) both managed fourth-place finishes. The Cody Broncs won the boys team race while Star Valley claimed first in the girls standings. Given the conditions, PHS head coach Scott Smith was pleased with the end result.

“It went well; I was really happy with how our kids got through it,” Smith said. “Not a pleasant couple of days, but it was regionals and you just have to keep going on and our kids did.”

Several PHS athletes pre-qualified for state throughout the regular season, but over the weekend, individuals finishing in the top eight and relay teams in the top four punched their tickets.

Panther boys

Twelve PHS boys are on their way to state after the weekend’s regional.

Senior Kalei Smith picked up three events after winning the 110-meter hurdles and the long jump and tying for second in the high jump. In the preliminary round of the 110 hurdles, Smith registered a lifetime best of 14.84 seconds. He posted a 15.18 in the finals to win the race on finals day. Smith jumped a distance of 20 feet, 2 inches to win the long jump and cleared 5’10” in the high jump, as did junior Jackson Griffin, for a runner-up finish.

Smith was sidelined for all but one regular-season meet this year due to dual knee injuries, and also experienced some muscle cramping in PHS’s regular-season finale. But the athlete looked to be in good shape in Afton, coach Smith said.

“He got through it pretty well, he wasn’t complaining. He had a big smile on his face the whole time,” coach Smith said. “He was like a little kid having fun and getting to play again and he did quite well.”

Freshman AJ Lewis also qualified for state in the long jump with a leap of 18-03.25. Sophomore Nate MaGill qualified in the 110 hurdles with an eighth-place time of 18.26. In the 300 hurdles, sophomore Paige Gann placed seventh in 46.42.

Junior Cody Akin finished eighth in the 1600 run (4:55.76) before helping the Panthers’ 4x800 relay team (freshman Jesse Erickson and juniors Teagan Cordes and Kaden Moore) earn a state berth with a fourth-place time of 9:02.53.

The Panthers earned a handful of qualifiers in the throwing events after seniors Carter Baxter (second at 47-03) and Ben Argento (fourth with a personal record of 43-01) and sophomore Zach Easum (sixth at 42-04) qualified in the shot put. In the discus, Baxter finished fourth with a heave of 126-04 while Easum finished eighth at 124-04.50.

Coach Smith was impressed with Argento’s performance after the thrower had to win a throw-off on May 11 to be one of PHS’ four competitors in Afton. Given the weather conditions, Smith was pleasantly surprised with Argento’s finish.

“Again, in that driving rain, that was the time to come through and he did,” Smith said. “That’s huge.”

Senior thrower Riley Stringer was unable to compete at the regional due to a tear in his left pectoral muscle. He already pre-qualified in the regular season, however, and his status for the state meet is uncertain.

Panther girls

The Lady Panthers placed 12 athletes in the top eight in Afton, paced by two wins from junior Anissa Warner.

Warner won the high jump by 2 inches with a clearance of 5-03. She also captured the triple jump with a leap of 35 feet. She also took third in the long jump at 15-07. Joining Warner in the high jump will be sophomore Shayla Harsh, who cleared 4-07. In the triple jump, junior Lexee Craig was third with a distance of 33-04.50.

Freshman standout Julia Kay O’Neill continued her impressive season with a win in the 800 in 2:41.61. She also placed second in the 400 (1:00.93), just ahead of her senior sister SarahJean O’Neill (1:03.20).

“She dominated in the 800,” coach Smith said of Julia Kay. “She’s running with the best and she’s doing a great job of it.”

Smith was also relieved to see SarahJean make it through the weekend after the runner had been dealing with asthma attacks for several weeks.

“To me, that was a big thing,” Smith said. “It was good to see her running well again and not having any problems.”

The O’Neill sisters also teamed with senior Stephanie Liggett and junior Danna Hanks to place third in the 4x400 relay in 4:21.56.

Hanks also took third in the 100 hurdles (17:00) and sixth in the 300 hurdles (50.74). Her sister, freshman Maddy Hanks, finished eighth in the pole vault with a clearance of 8 feet.

In the 1600 run, sophomore Teo Faulkner finished eighth in 5:55.80. Senior Gretchen Morretti used a time of 12:36.06 to place seventh in the 3200.

“It was really nice to see them both get in and get to compete next week,” Smith said of Faulkner and Morretti.

Stringer’s younger sisters, freshmen twins Kodi and Kooper Stringer each punched their tickets in the throwing events. Kodi threw the shot put 30-06.75 to place eighth while Kooper threw the discus 92-01 to earn her way.

Senior Bailey Sanders will also join PHS in Casper after pre-qualifying for state in the 4x800 relay.

After a strong weekend in Afton, the focus is now on Casper and state medals, coach Smith said.

“I’m really happy with the kids we’ve got going to state,” he said. “We don’t have the depth as a couple of other teams, but we have some kids that really have a chance to make some noise.

“The kids are going to go down and compete and work hard and we’re going to hopefully have a lot of fun.”