Elite competition prevented the Panthers from achieving cross country team glory on Friday, but that didn’t stop three Powell runners from earning all-conference recognition. Andrew Feller, Sierra Morrow and Tally Wells each placed in the top 10 of the 3A West individual standings.

“Like we mentioned, this side of the state is so strong,” said Panther coach Cliff Boos. “You definitely saw that in the team performances and the times on Friday.”

Those times prompted at least one coach to question whether the course had been set up to a full 5-kilometer distance. After being measured twice by GPS and once with a wheel, Boos is convinced it was.

“That’s just how strong a field we had,” the Panther coach said. “It was almost a perfect course to run. It’s fairly flat. The grass is good. There’s long straight sections that kids could stride out on and we had good weather with no wind. It was a great day to go fast.”

And several runners did just that.

Jackson’s Oliver Scoville broke his high school’s record with a 3A West winning time of 16:01 in the boys’ race. Jackson also produced the No. 2, 4 and 5 runners to easily capture the regional title and send the message that they intend to defend their 3A state title this week in Douglas.

Preventing a Jackson sweep atop the standings was Powell’s Andrew Feller, who placed third in a time of 16:39, 43 seconds faster than his school record time at Worland two weeks earlier.

“I just wanted to keep up with the fast kids,” Feller said of his race strategy.

Feller executed his strategy to perfection. After surviving a crowded starting chute that featured 84 runners, Feller quickly got in with the lead group of runners and stayed there throughout Friday’s race.

“He always runs those last few hundred yards so strong,” Boos said. “It’s just been great to see him progress throughout the year.”

The Panthers also received a high finish from Zander Andreasen, who placed 13th in a time of 17:20. Rounding out Powell’s roster for Friday were Grant Nickles (41st, 19:05), Matt Abraham (54th, 20:03), Chase Wellner (56th, 20:06), Quin Wetzel (58th, 20:23) and Wyatt Horner (69th, 21:19).

As a team, the Panther boys finished fifth in the six-school region. The Panthers had a similar regional finish a year ago before peaking at the state meet to return home with a third-place trophy.

On the girls’ side, Class 3A newcomer Star Valley finished five points better than Cody to win the regional title. Jackson clipped Powell by four points for third place.

“The girls had a good race,” Boos said. “Last year we were second to Jackson by eight points and were able to get them at state, so there’s a chance we can be up there at Douglas. The girls are really competitive and they’ve been getting better and better every week.”

The Panthers were led to the finish line by sophomore Sierra Morrow, who placed eighth overall in a time of 20:34. Tally Wells was close behind in ninth position with a time of 20:35.

“Sierra had been fighting an illness and she’d been having trouble practicing the week before the race,” Boos said. “She got over it just in time, and Tally has been running strong all year for us.”

Freshman Bailey Sanders cruised home in 21:06 to finish 15th, followed by two-time all-state runner Desiree Murray in 21:19 and 16th place. Powell’s lineup was rounded out by Tess Mitchell (25th, 21:56) and Carly Klein (38th, 23:56).

The Panthers leave Friday for Douglas. The team will spend the afternoon re-familiarizing themselves with the 5K state layout after running at the Douglas golf course earlier in the year for a regular-season meet. The state championship races take place Saturday. The boys’ 3A championship race begins the day at 10:30 a.m. The girls’ 3A championship race is slated to begin at approximately noon.

Boys’ team standings: Jackson 26, Star Valley 75, Lander 81, Cody 152, Powell 167, Lyman 302.

Girls’ team standings: Star Valley 44, Cody 49, Jackson 69, Powell 73, Lander 100, Lyman 121.