A quick trip north to Billings saw the Powell Panther cross country team finishing with strong times to open the season. The Panther girls finished third and the boys saw strong improvement individually to start the season.

Leading the way for Powell was Kinley Cooley, who started the season with a fourth place finish (19:52.66), just 14 seconds off her school record time and a minute faster than last year’s time.

Coach Ashley Hildebrand said it was the best individual finish by any girl at the meet in program history.

Behind Cooley was her freshman sister, Karee, who finished 11th in her first high school race with a time of 20:13.3.

“Karee ran a really strong race,” Hildebrand said.

Hildebrand said the time placed her at No. 7 already on the Panther top 10 best times list.

Just behind the Cooleys was Kenna Jacobsen, who finished in 13th with a time of 20:24.9, just 17 seconds off her personal best.

Fourth on the team for the Panthers was Brynn Hillman, who finished in 33rd with a time of 21:46.

“Brynn ran a fantastic race,” Hildebrand said. “We were very pleased with her performance and so happy for her because she had to sit out our 2023 track season with an injury. It was great to see her healthy and competing at a high level again.”

The fifth runner across for Powell was Myah Rakness, who finished 37th with a 22:04.9 in her first ever high school cross country race.

Sixth for Powell was Melissa Merritt, who finished in 41st with a 22:18.1, and Powell’s final varsity runner was Gracie Wolff who finished in 24:08 to take 66th.

As a team the girls also had their highest finish ever at the Billings Invitational, taking third overall with a team score of 88.

That was just five behind defending state champion Cody, while Hardin High School ran away with a team score of 43.

The boys’ varsity team only had two runners participating in the race, but saw two massive improvements to open the season.

Liam Taylor was the first across for Powell, taking 26th with a personal best time of 17:30.5 — two minutes faster than his time last year.

Not far behind was Korbyn Warren, who finished in 34th with a personal best time of his own with a 17:51.5.

“They are both very close to breaking into our all time top 10 and we think we will see them get there this season,” Hildebrand said.

The junior varsity girls saw Shelby Zickefoose lead the way, improving her time by two minutes from last year to take seventh with a time of 22:47.7.

Salem Brown was the next across in 16th place with a 23:24.6, while freshmen Ashlee Jacobsen and Ava Gilliatt came in 35th (24:42.7) and 37th (24:52.2) respectively.

“It was good to see Ashlee and Ava race so well in their first race at the high school, especially since they both have been sidelined with some nagging injuries,” Hildebrand said.

She said that the Panther girls will add three more runners to the rotation this week to give Powell a full team at both varsity and junior levels.

Two boys also ran in the junior varsity race, with Nathan Varian placing 86th with a time of 21:33 and Thomas Shuman placing 135th with a 23:38.8 in their first high school cross country races.

“We are very happy with how well our kids competed this week and are excited to see how the season progresses,” Hildebrand said. “This is a great group of kids who really support each other and work to make themselves and each other better.”

BUFFALO FRIDAY

Powell continues its early season this weekend by heading to Buffalo on Friday afternoon to take part in another invitational.

Hildebrand said the Panthers would add more runners into the boys rotation, with the hopes of continuing to improve on both sides early in the season.