A strong all-around performance led the Powell Panthers to an opening meet victory in Worland, earning six individual qualifying marks for the state meet and a 41.5 point win over the next closest team in the D&D Invitational last Thursday.

Leading the way was Caden Nelson, who won both the 100 and 200 meters with times of 11.46 and 22.98 to qualify in both events.

“Caden’s times are both No. 2 in 3A which is really impressive as they were run into a pretty stiff wind,” coach Scott Smith said.

Isaiah Woyak claimed victory in the triple jump with a leap of 42 feet, 7 inches, qualifying in that event as well as the high jump by placing second and clearing 6-0.

Liam Taylor won in the 1600 meters with a 4:43.48, but was just short of the qualifying standard for the state meet.

“Liam missing automatic qualifying by .06 seconds is sad for him, but really impressive as the 1600 is a race that is annually one of the most difficult to qualify for,” Smith said.

Other event winners included Seston Shoopman in the shot put (43-3 1/4) and Gabe Weimer in discus (129-0).

Powell had a strong showing from its shot put throwers, claiming the first four spots with Weimer behind Shoopman in second (42-10 1/2), and which included a tie for third between brothers Jacob and Jonathan Harms (41-9).

“I was really impressed with how well our throwers did,” Smith said. “Not a lot of experience, but the experienced kids really led the way for the young kids to go out and compete very well. They have been working very hard and I really am looking forward to seeing how well they all end up.”

Powell’s other two qualifying marks came from Stuart Shoopman placing second in the 110 meter hurdles (16.59) and Adam Williams placing second in the pole vault (13-0).

A strong showing from the younger Panthers helped pace Powell, an improvement that has Smith excited for the upcoming season.

“I was very impressed with how our boys competed in our first meet of the year. They are very young but it was nice to see how well they stuck their noses in and really competed as well as our seniors did, and our seniors did a great job overall,” Smith said. “I was very impressed with how much our sophomore and junior boys have improved from last year. They are really going to be fun to watch as the season progresses.”

Overall Powell finished with 162.5 points, ahead of Worland in second with 121 and Thermopolis in third with 107.

L.A. KOHNKE SATURDAY

Powell will stay at home for the second meet of the season, hosting its only meet on Saturday.

That will be the L.A. Kohnke Invite, beginning at 9 a.m. with field events.

Track events will begin with the 1600 sprint medley at 9:15 a.m. and the 4x800 relay at 9:30 a.m. before the rest of the track events start at 11 a.m. with the short distance hurdles.

D&D INVITATIONAL

* Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores — 1. Powell 162.5, 2. Worland 121, 3. Thermopolis 107, 4. Lovell 82, 5. Burlington 76, 6. Riverside 46.5, 7. Cody 32, 8. Ten Sleep 22, 9. Greybull 14, 10. Shoshoni 11, 11. Meeteetse 4

100 meters — 1. Caden Nelson 11.46*, 9. Breckyn Kobbe 12.42, 12. Marshall Lewis 12.56, T17. Toby Sessions 12.76, 52. Evan Staidle 13.91

200 meters — 1. Caden Nelson 22.98*, 17. Breckyn Kobbe 25.67, 24. Marshall Lewis 26.1

400 meters — 7. Landon Hyde 27.36, 10. Thomas Shuman 59.44

800 meters — 4. Liam Taylor 2:07.01, 10. Korbyn Warren 2:19.76, 16. Thomas Shuman 2:28.47, 18. Nathan Varian 2:31.36

1600 meters — 1. Liam Taylor 4:43.48, 5. Korbyn Warren 4:56.59, 16. Colin Walker 5:36.49, 17. Nathan Varian 5:40.41

3200 meters — 7. Colin Walker 12:07.93

110 meter hurdles — 2. Stuart Shoopman 16.59*, 4. Nathan Preator 17.17, 7. Jeremy Harms 18.49, 9. Lincoln Crawford 18.85, 12. Michael Legerski 19.64, 14. Garrett Lennon 20.16, 15. Sawyer Wormald 20.83, 17. Wyatt Heffington 21.23, 18. Renzy Matthews 22.91

300 meter hurdles — 4. Stuart Shoopman 44.19, 6. Nathan Preator 45.06, 11. Garrett Lennon 47.54, 13. Michael Legerski 48.11, 15. Sawyer Wormald 49.52, 16. Jeremy Harms 50.52, 21. Dayton Lawrence 52.48, 22. Wyatt Heffington 53.92, 23. Renzy Matthews 1:00.26

4x100 relay — 3. Breckyn Kobbe, Caden Nelson, Toby Sessions and Marshall Lewis 46.1

4x400 relay — 3. Adam Williams, Liam Taylor, Stuart Shoopman and Landon Hyde 3:46.81

High jump — 2. Isaiah Woyak 6-0*, 7. Landon Hyde 5-8, T12. Nathan Preator 5-6

Pole vault — 2. Adam Williams 13-0*, 4. Garrett Lennon 11-6, 6. Wyatt Heffington 11-0, 10. Dayton Lawrence 9-0, T14. Lincoln Crawford 8-0, 17. Renzy Matthews 6-6

Long jump — 10. Caden Nelson 18-2, 12. Marshall Lewis 18-0, 17. Breckyn Kobbe 17-1, 34. Evan Staidle 14-5

Triple jump — 1. Isaiah Woyak 42-7*, 5. Nathan Preator 39-1, 13. Evan Staidle 35-0, 20. Sawyer Wormald 32-7 3/4, 22. Lincoln Crawford 32-6

Shot put — 1. Seston Shoopman 43-3 1/4, 2. Gabe Weimer 42-10 1/2, T3. Jacob and Jonathan Harms 41-9, 10. Keona Wisniewski 37-4 1/2, T22. Kaden Wolff 33-2 1/2, 26. Brady Harvey 32-7, 30. Landon Smallwood 31-3, 38. Alan Crawford 29-9, 41. James Emmett 28-10, 56. Ricky Gonzalez 20-7 1/2, 58. Carson Moore 17-2

Discus — 1. Gabe Weimer 129–0, T5. Seston Shoopman 117-4, 7. Brady Harvey 115-0, 9. Keona Wisniewski 108-7, 11. Jonathan Harms 106-8, 29. James Emmett 83-6, T30. Kaden Wolff 82-10, 43. Landon Smallwood 73-11, 48. Rowan Diaz 67-3, 51. Alan Crawford 61-9, 62. Ricky Gonzalez 43-0, 64. Carson Moore 30-7