The Powell Panther golf team kept its play consistent early in the year, as the girls finished fifth and the boys seventh in Lander at the Terry Berg Invite on Aug. 18-19.

The girls were led by Emery Hernandez who finished eighth with rounds of 90 and 100, earning a second top 10 finish this season.

“Emery had another strong weekend with a second top 10 in a very strong field,” coach Troy Hildebrand said. “She is playing good golf right now but definitely feels like her best golf is ahead of her this fall and I’m looking forward to seeing her growth over the next couple of weeks.”

Just behind Hernandez was Coy Erickson, who shot rounds of 100 and 95 to finish 11th.

“Coy made a nice charge on the second day to get up to 11th place,” Hildebrand said.

He added that she “is hitting very good shots each round” and is hopeful she can make a jump after improving her short game and putting.

Third for the Panthers was Ali Scott, who shot rounds of 116 and 105 to tie for 17th.

“This was Ali’s first experience on the Lander course and she really handled herself well,” Hildebrand said. “She got around the first day in good shape and was able to trim 11 shots off in her second round which was a great sign of things to come for her. We’ll just be working with her on playing her best golf over the last four weeks of the season.”

Maddie Croft was the fourth Panther in, posting rounds of 114 and 119 to take 24th.

“Maddie played in Lander last fall and this week showed an improvement of over 30 shots per round for her. She put together the best nine holes of her year down there on the second day which is a very positive sign in just our second event,” Hildebrand said.

The Panther girls were fifth overall as a team with a 606 over both days, but third overall among 3A teams.

Cody ran away with the team title by 47 points with a 534, as Buffalo’s Addison Bettinger took the individual title once again with a pair of 79 rounds.

Leading the boys for a second straight week was Cody Fisher, who used a strong second day with rounds of 83 and 76 to tie for 11th.

“Cody had another very strong week in this field after opening with 83 to be in 20th place,” Hildebrand said. “Cody has all of the shots and plenty of game to play with the best players in our class week in and week out. We’ll see some new teams over these next two weeks and I expect Cody to continue to play well and hang in there at the top of the leaderboards.”

Second behind Fisher was Park Harvison, who used a career round on the first day with a 78 coupled with an 84 to finish 13th.

“He is getting more comfortable playing really good golf, and that is a big step up as a player when you get to the point where you expect to play well and are able to navigate through the rounds’ ups and downs much better,” Hildebrand said.

Knox Johnson finished third for the Panthers, posting rounds of 94 and 97 to finish 46th.

“Knox had a solid second tournament posting his two career low rounds to date,” Hildebrand said. “He is growing each week as a player and appears to be a player that will be battling for a spot as we work through the rest of the season.”

Tucker Muecke was fourth for the Panthers, posting rounds of 100 and 93 to take 47th, with Hildebrand noting he had a career low round on day two and continues to improve for the Panthers.

Ryder Stewart was fifth for Powell, posting rounds of 95 and 99 to finish one stroke behind Muecke to take 48th.

Kason Sherman posted rounds of 96 and 99 to finish 49th overall, Abel Teten shot rounds of 102 to tie for 55th and Jace Harris shot rounds of 108 and 106 to take 60th.

The Panther boys finished with a 707 over both days, taking seventh of the 10 teams.

Lander took the team title by 44 shots with a 613, as William Oland added the individual title for the Tigers with rounds of 69 and 78.

The Panthers used the rest of last week and this week to prepare for their next tournament, heading down to Worland to take part in an invitational on Thursday and Friday.