Despite weather delays and difficult competition in Billings on Friday, senior Daniel Merritt raced to a second place finish — breaking the Powell High School cross country record by 25 seconds.

Merritt started out strong, pulling ahead of the competition and racing with the lead group for a majority of the race.

He and a runner from Gallatin High School in Bozeman broke away with 800 meters left, setting up an exciting finish between the two runners.

Merritt finished second, just .04 seconds behind the winner — finishing in a time of 16:09.72.

Merritt’s finish broke the previous school record held by his brother Alan Merritt, who finished the 5k race in 16:34.54 in 2017.

“Daniel [Merritt’s] summer of training and hard work these last two weeks paid off in a big way,” Panther cross country coach Ashley Hildebrand said. “He had a beautiful start and ran away with the lead pack for the majority of the race.”

Merritt’s new record broke his top time by 55 seconds from last year.

The next racer for the Panthers was freshman Korbyn Warren, who finished in 73rd place with a time of 18:58.29.

Sophomore Liam Taylor was in third for the Panthers, finishing in 93rd place with a time of 19:28.21. 

Junior Breckin Streeter finished just behind Taylor, crossing the line in 19:28.69 in 95th place.

Senior Kyle North rounded out the scoring for the Panthers, finishing in 102nd place with a time of 20:05.39.

Junior Justin Hobbs came in at No. 116 overall, finishing sixth on the Panther roster in a time of 20:48.88.

Junior Stuart Shoopman was Powell’s final varsity runner, finishing in 136th in a time of 21:40.96.

Overall the boys’ team placed 12th out of 29 in attendance.

In the girls’ race, the Panthers raced out to a ninth place finish overall out of the 29 teams competing.

Sophomore Kinley Cooley led the way for the Panthers, finishing in 23rd with a time of 20:53.72, nearly breaking her personal record from last season.

Sophomore Kenna Jacobsen was nearly the second Panther across in her debut race — racing with Cooley for the entire race before going down 75 meters from the finish line.

Hildebrand said that she has recovered and is expected to race this upcoming weekend in Buffalo.

Junior Brynn Hillman ran a personal best by 10 seconds, coming in 40th and finishing in 21:32.96.

“The Billings Invite is the biggest meet we will run in all season and can be intimidating, but we are really proud of how well all of our younger and first time runners raced at this meet and how well our veteran runners competed,” Hildebrand said.

Senior Megan Jacobsen finished next for the Panthers, coming across in 22:01.14 in 49th place.

Hildebrand said that time is expected to drop throughout the season as she becomes more comfortable with racing and pacing herself.

Sophomore Salem Brown finished 83rd with a time of 23:36.57, just behind her personal record.

Freshmen Audrey Johnson and Melissa Merritt placed 84th and 90th respectively; with Johnson running a 23:37.35 and Merritt running a 23:52.79.

Hildebrand said that she expects sophomore Jordan Black and junior Gracie Wolff to be back in the lineup this coming weekend.

The Panthers head to Buffalo to compete in an invitational on Friday; the races are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.