Making the short trip to Cody to start the outdoor season paid dividends for the Powell High School girls’ track and field team, as the Panthers claimed the top spot, winning four events and pre-qualifying five athletes in six events.

“I was really pleased with how well our kids competed, as shown by the number of first places and automatic qualifiers,” coach Scott Smith said.

Those qualifiers included Nalani Jordan, who was the lone two event qualifier, winning the discus with a throw of 121 feet, 5 inches, and placing second in the shot put with a throw of 35-10 1/2. Paige Sanders won the triple jump and qualified with a leap of 35-7 1/2, Kaytlee George was second in the 400 meters with a time of 1 minute, .86 seconds, just ahead of Audrey Johnson in third with a time of 1:01.17.

Anai Torres took third in the shot put with a throw of 34-5 1/2 and was the fifth qualifier.

The final individual event winner was Kate Williams in the pole vault, clearing 8-6, while the 4x400 relay team of Paige Sanders, Kara Sanders, George and Johnson won with a time of 4:19.86.

Additional top five Powell finishes  included Shelby Zickefoose, who placed second in the 1600 meters (5:40.78) and fifth in the 800 meters (2:36.3); Paige Sanders was second in the long jump (16-1 1/2); Keylyn Knuth took third in the high jump (4-9); George took third in the long jump (16-1 1/4) and fourth in the 200 meters (27.67); Kara Sanders was third in the triple jump (30-3 1/2); Ivy Lennon tied for fourth in the pole vault (6-0); Torres took fourth in the discus (103-9); Lynea Christensen took fifth in the 400 meters (1:04.07); Abigail Visocky took fifth in the 300 meter hurdles (52.61) and Nyah Johnson was fifth in the discus (98-4).

Additional top eight finishers scoring points included Macie Velasco, who was sixth in the 800 meters (2:40.18); Christensen was sixth in the pole vault (6-0); Sam Edgell placed sixth in the shot put (33-7) and seventh in the discus (91-11); Kindyle Floy took seventh in the 100 meters (13.93); Ashlee Jacobsen placed seventh in the 200 meters (28.88); Lucy Ostermiller was seventh in the long jump (14-11 1/2) and Sharae Shoopman was eighth in the discus (90-7).

As a team the Panthers finished first with 157.5 points, 19.5 ahead of second place Worland and 41.5 ahead of host Cody in third.

“It was a very nice start, but potentially misleading,” Smith said. “Everyone had kids missing with conflicts, lack of practices and other reasons. It was still a great meet with great competition and our kids performed fantastically.”

The Panthers continue on the road this week, heading a bit further down to Worland for the D&D Invitational on Thursday.

Teams currently registered include 3A teams of Powell, Cody, Worland and Buffalo, 2A Thermopolis, 1A teams Burlington, Shoshoni and Ten Sleep as well as 4A Green River.

CODY INVITATIONAL

* Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores — 1. Powell 157.5, 2. Worland 138, 3. Cody 116, 4. Campbell County 81, 5. Riverton 35.5, 6. Lovell 28, 7. Thermopolis 27

100 meter dash — 7. Kindyle Floy 13.93, 9. Ashlee Jacobsen 14.07, 10. Lucy Ostermiller 14.31, 15. Averie Warner 14.77, 33. Ivy Lennon 15.8

200 meters — 4. Kaytlee George 27.67, 7. Ashlee Jacobsen 28.88

400 meters — 2. Kaytlee George 1:00.86*, 3. Audrey Johnson 1:01.17*, 5. Lynea Christensen 1:04.07

800 meters — 5. Shelby Zickefoose 2:36.3, 6. Macie Velasco 2:40.18, 13. Kara Sanders 2:45.05, 14. Natalee Laing 3:08.35

1600 meters — 2. Shelby Zickefoose 5:40.78, 11. Natalee Laing 6:44.34, 12. Jordyn Nelson 7:33.1

100 meter hurdles — 10. Vera Thomas 18.77, 11. Abigail Visocky 18.81, 13. Kate Williams 19.02, 27. Ivy Lennon 24.63

300 meter hurdles — 5. Abigail Visocky 52.61, 11. Lucy Ostermiller 56.31

4x100 relay — 3. Averie Warner, Ashlee Jacobsen, Kindyle Floy and Lucy Ostermiller 52.62

4x400 relay — 1. Paige Sanders, Kara Sanders, Kaytlee George and Audrey Johnson 4:19.86; 4. Ashlee Jacobsen, Shelby Zickefoose, Macie Velasco and Anyston Keller 4:33.54

High jump — 3. Keylyn Knuth 4-9

Pole vault — 1. Kate Williams 8-6, T4. Ivy Lennon 6-0, 6. Lynea Christensen 6-0

Long jump — 2. Paige Sanders 16-1 1/2, 3. Kaytlee George 16-1 1/4, 7. Lucy Ostermiller 14-11 1/2, 11. Kara Sanders 13-8 1/2, 13. Peyton Ott 13-5 1/2, 18. Cambree Dicks 12-8 1/2, 19. Darby McKee 12-7, 25. Natalee Laing 10-0

Triple jump — 1. Paige Sanders 35-7 1/2*, 3. Kara Sanders 30-3 1/2, 12. Lainni Cary 27-9, 13. Cambree Dicks 27-5, 14. Ryann Hutzenbieler 27-1 3/4, 15. Keylyn Knuth 26-5 3/4, 16. Darby McKee 25-11 3/4

Shot put — 2. Nalani Jordan 35-10 1/2*, 3. Anai Torres 34-5 1/2*, 6. Sam Edgell 33-7, 9, Nyah Johnson 31-0, 12. Noelle Leighton 28-5 1/2, 15. Meredyth Giltner 27-10 1/2, 17. Adrianna Torres 27-8, 24. Rowan Borcher 25-5 1/2, 27. Sharae Shoopman 24-5, 29. Macey Davison 23-10 1/2, 38. Raegan Carter 19-0 1/2

Discus — 1. Nalani Jordan 121-5*, 4. Anai Torres 103-9, 5. Nyah Johnson 98-4, 7. Sam Edgell 91-11, 8. Sharae Shoopman 90-7, 10. Adrianna Torres 86-11, 11. Macey Davison 82-8, 16. Rowan Borcher 78-3, 17. Noelle Leighton 77-1, 20. Meredyth Giltner 74-5, 40. Raegan Carter 39-7