The Powell High School indoor track and field team added several automatic qualifiers, and Paige Sanders added the long jump to her list of school records, in yet another meet in Gillette last weekend.

Sanders leaped past the 16 foot mark in the long jump, breaking Anissa Warner’s school record with a jump of 16 feet, 3 inches. Sanders earned an automatic qualification to the state meet while placing fourth in the event.

“It was nice to see Paige break through and get that long jump record. She has been very close every meet, so persistence does pay off,” coach Scott Smith said.

Sanders also added to her triple jump record, extending it to 35-10 3/4 and winning the event in the process.

She was not the only event winner, as the boys’ 4x800 relay team of Thomas Shuman, Michael Stensing, Colin Walker and Korbyn Warren won with a time of 9:18.17.

Across the board the Panthers added a couple of new qualifiers for the state meet in March, as Audrey Johnson qualified for the 200 meters (27.23) taking fourth and Lincoln Crawford qualified in the 55 meter hurdles (8.45) to take fifth.

“While automatic qualifiers aren’t nearly as meaningful in indoor track as they are for outdoor, they are still a great indicator that kids are performing at an elite level, so seeing kids hit those marks is really exciting,” Smith said.

The Panthers have continued to show improvement, as they had a number of top eight finishes for both the boys and girls.

Johnson also took fourth in the 400 meters (1:02.71); Karee Cooley placed fourth in the 800 meters (2:29.13) and the 1600 meters (5:35.95); Warren placed fifth in the 1600 meters (4:52.72) and the 3200 meters (10:55.48); Anyston Keller was sixth in the 1600 meters (5:50.34); Anai Torres was sixth in the shot put (33-4 1/4); Kaytlee George was seventh in the 400 meters (1:05.02) and Kate Williams was seventh in the pole vault (8-6).

Smith said he was impressed with how much the Panthers continued to improve, but noted the growth of one freshman in particular making an impact in the indoor season.

“I have been really impressed this year at how consistently our kids have been improving every week over the season. This was a tough week with two meets in a row and I had expected to see more plateauing,” Smith said. “Kaytlee [George] has really been coming on in her races and jumps. There are more events that she can help us in than she will be able to enter.”

Overall the Panther girls finished fifth with 51 points, the second highest 3A team behind Cody which was third with 66.5 points. Thunder Basin took the girls’ crown with 170.5 points.

The boys’ team was seventh with 30 points, as Cody was the highest 3A team with 60 points in third, and the Sheridan boys took the overall crown with 152 points.

A majority of the Panthers will take this weekend off; some will make their way to the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho, taking part in one of the biggest indoor competitions in the country.

“I know we have some kids going to the Simplot Games which will be a great experience for them. It is one of the top indoor meets in the nation and that kind of atmosphere with 6,000 to 8,000 people in the stands will be a lifelong memory for them,” Smith said.

Those not attending Simplot will stay at home to prepare for the final two meets of the year in Gillette.

“We will be winding down a bit on conditioning and increasing focus on speed development and other technical aspects of their events,” Smith said. “I am really hoping to continue to see the high level of improvement we have seen so far this season.”

BRONC INVITATIONAL

* Denotes state qualifying mark

GIRLS RESULTS

Team scores — 1. Thunder Basin 170.5, 2. Sheridan 108.5, 3. Cody 66.5, 4. Campbell County 55.5, 5. Powell 51, 6. Worland 48, 7. Big Horn 18, 8. Douglas 14, 9. Buffalo 12, 10. Burns/Pine Bluffs 6, 11. Tongue River 4

55 meter dash — 21. Ashlee Jacobsen 7.93

200 meters — 4. Audrey Johnson 27.23*, 9. Kaytlee George 27.92, 19. Ashlee Jacobsen 28.96, 46. Rae Jackson 31.82

400 meters — 4. Audrey Johnson 1:02.71, 7. Kaytlee George 1:05.02

800 meters — 4. Karee Cooley 2:29.13, 14. Anyston Keller 2:41.14, 17. Macie Velasco 2:45.29, 21. Kara Sanders 2:48.67, 28. Charlie Taylor 2:57.74

1600 meters — 4. Karee Cooley 5:35.95*, 6. Anyston Keller 5:50.34, 24. Natalee Laing 6:54.33

55 meter hurdles — 22. Kate Williams 10.29

4x200 relay — 6. Kaytlee George, Paige Sanders, Naomi Whipple and Ashlee Jacobsen 1:55.95

4x400 relay — 6. Paige Sanders, Anyston Keller, Kara Sanders and Karee Cooley 4:33.24

Pole vault — 7. Kate Williams 8-6

Long jump — 4. Paige Sanders 16-3*, 10. Kaytlee George 15-1, T18. Kara Sanders 14-1

Triple jump — 1. Paige Sanders 35-10 3/4*, 17. Kara Sanders 28-8

Shot put — 6. Anai Torres 33-4 1/4, 13. Meredyth Giltner 29-6 1/4, 20. Noelle Leighton 28-1 1/2, T26. Rowan Borcher 25-1 1/2, 35. Macey Davison 22-1

BOYS RESULTS

Team scores — 1. Sheridan 152, 2. Thunder Basin 143, 3. Cody 60, 4. Campbell County 50, 5. Douglas 45.5, 6. Big Horn 36, 7. Powell 30, 8, Worland 20, 9. Buffalo 18, 10. Tongue River 16, 11. Burns/Pine Bluffs 9.5

55 meter dash — T21. Tanner Seifert and Cobey Khan 6.97, 34. Tristin Winninger 7.09, T39. David Stearns 7.18, T45. Brayden Benander 7.23

200 meters — 15. Tanner Seifert 24.42, 19. Lincoln Crawford 24.72, 28. Cobey Khan 25.08, 36. David Stearns 25.5, T37. Tristin Winninger 25.51, 40. Brayden Benander 25.73, 68. Cash Peterson 27.65

400 meters — 11. Alex Werner 56.25, 26. Thomas Shuman 1:02.06, 30. Cash Peterson 1:03.21

800 meters — 13. Colin Walker 2:19.05, 16. Michael Stensing 2:28.48, 18. Thomas Shuman 2:30.01, 23. Karson Howe 2:40.78, 26. Nathan Varian 2:50.67

1600 meters — 5. Korbyn Warren 4:52.72, 13. Nathan Varian 5:28.32, 17. Benjamin Smith 5:38.31, 19. Karson Howe 5:42.95

3200 meters — 5. Korbyn Warren 10:55.48, 9. Colin Walker 11:25.28, 15. Benjamin Smith 12:25.03

55 meter hurdles — 5. Lincoln Crawford 8.45*

4x200 relay — 5. Breckyn Kobbe, Tanner Seifert, Harper Havron and Lincoln Crawford 1:39.3

4x400 relay — 5. David Stearns, Michael Stensing, Brayden Benander and Alex Werner 4:00.9

4x800 relay — 1. Thomas Shuman, Michael Stensing, Colin Walker and Korbyn Warren 9:18.17

Long jump — 10. Tristin Winninger 18-9 1/2

Shot put — 30. Levi Cox 37, 37. Kaden Wolff 35, 42. James Emmett 34-2 3/4, 44. Gabe McMillin 34-1 1/4, 67. Andrew Walker 25-7