Hot temperatures led to a battle on the course in Worland on Friday for the Powell Panther cross country team, as the Panther girls finished second and the boys took eighth.

Powell was led by Karee Cooley, who finished second with a time of 19 minutes, 18 seconds, running nearly two minutes faster than her time last year on the same course.

Anyston Keller and Shelby Zickefoose were the second and third runners across for Powell, running nearly identical times of 20:35.1 and 20:35.2 to take 10th and 11th.

Melissa Merritt was Powell’s fourth runner, taking 14th with a time of 20:59.

Kaytlee George was fifth for Powell, taking 16th with a time of 21:18.

“Melissa has taken Kaytlee under her wing, from talking her into going out for cross country to providing encouragement and running with her in practice and it is really paying off,” coach Ashley Hildebrand said. “Kaytlee has consistently been our fifth scoring runner for the last three meets and continues to race well each week.”

Kara Sanders was sixth across for Powell, taking 23rd with a time of 22:24 and Macie Velasco was the final Panther across in 39th with a time of 24:58.

Overall, the Panthers placed second as a team, finishing with 49 points, just eight behind winner Cody.

“Cody’s No. 1, 2 and 3 runners finished in between our No. 1 and 2 runners, so we need to work on breaking those points up,” Hildebrand said.

For the boys, the Panthers were led once again by Korbyn Warren, who finished 15th with a time of 18:06.

“Korbyn has been very consistent each week and continues to work hard in practice,” Hildebrand said. “We look for him to drop more time over the next few weeks and move into top 10 contention.”

Colin Walker finished just behind Warren in 22nd, finishing in 18:41.

Nathan Varian was the third runner across in 19:14 to take 35th.

“Nathan missed a directional flag at one point in the race and had to go back and go around the flag so that cost him some time. I am confident he would have run under 19 minutes if he hadn’t had to go back,” Hildebrand said.

Alex Werner was fourth for Powell with a time of 20:08 to take 45th. Hildebrand said as Werner continues to get in shape she expects him to lower his time into the 18s in the next couple of weeks.

Ben Smith was the final runner for the Panthers, taking 48th with a time of 20:14.

Hildebrand said the boys’ team was missing some runners but expects the Panthers to be at full strength soon and to improve from eighth place.

In the JV race the girls’ team also placed second, led by Paige Sanders in sixth with a time of 22:33.

“Paige, who is our school record holder in the triple jump and a sprinter on the track team, has really started coming on this season as her endurance has improved,” Hildebrand said.

Ashlee Jacobsen placed 10th in a time of 24:05, Natalee Laing was 12th in 24:19, Charlie Taylor was 15th in 25:53 and Hayden Serr was 17th in 26:46.

The boys’ JV team was led by Troy Cheatham who ran in 19:51 to take third, with Hildebrand noting he earned a varsity spot in the next meet for the Panthers.

Karson Howe was 23rd in a time of 21:45, also earning a spot on varsity, Thomas Shuman was 30th with a time of 22:27 and Wyatt Hill was 43rd with a time of 24:17.

Powell makes the short trip to Cody on Friday for the Foxes and Hounds Invitational at 2 p.m. at Olive Glenn Golf and Country Club.

It’s a unique event, as JV racers start the event, and every 20 seconds following the varsity runners will start, beginning with the No. 7 runners all the way through the No. 1 runners.

Powell will finally return home to host a meet at the Powell Golf Club next Thursday, Oct. 9.