After a week off from competition, the Powell Panthers indoor track and field team made its way back to Gillette last Friday — showing improvement in the second outing for the Panthers this season.

The Panthers’ top placer was Sydney Spomer in triple jump, who finished fourth with a leap of 32 feet, 10 1/2 inches.

“We saw huge improvement over the last meet that reflects not only that, but how well they are learning to compete in the different environment the indoor track offers, and also how hard they have been working to get better,” coach Scott Smith said.

Just behind Spomer and reaching the top eight individually for the Panthers was Kenna Jacobsen in the 800 (2:34.15) and Brynn Hillman in the 3200 meter run (12:58.22).

The highest placing relay for the Panther girls was the 4x200 relay of Spomer, Anna Bartholomew, Audrey Johnson and Abby Wambeke (1:55.7), which finished fifth.

Overall the Panthers saw time drops across the board despite having to learn to deal with difficult circumstances in order to reach the meet.

“Leaving at 5 a.m. and still having to compete 14 hours later in your third or fourth event teaches the kids the importance of taking care of themselves with nutrition, getting proper rest before the meet, how to get rest during the meet and other things that help keep their energy levels high over a long period of time,” Smith said.

On the boys’ side the Panthers saw one athlete make finals, with Simon Shoopman placing eighth in the 55 hurdles (8.59).

Smith said that the team has been doing a great job of keeping each other motivated to perform better and practice hard, going out in each event to compete against both 3A and 4A competition each meet.

“Competing against the 4A schools has been great for our kids,” Smith said. “Excuses of not having the facilities available and other types of comments have not been showing up. Our kids want to compete against the best as they know they will get better from it. Realistically, most of the kids and coaches have been keeping an eye on how they are faring against the 3A kids, but they aren’t backing off from the 4A kids in the least.”

Overall the girls’ team placed in a tie for 14th with Douglas and a tie for sixth in 3A in the team standings with 16 points. The boys’ team placed in a tie for 15th with Worland and a tie for sixth among 3A teams with two points scored.

Powell will again make the trip to Gillette this weekend on Friday, hoping to continue finding the right events with only two meets remaining until the state meet on March 3-4 in Gillette.

“We are hoping for continued improvement,” Smith said. “New kids in new events for them will also help us plan for state, which is less than a month away.”

GIRLS RESULTS

Team scores: 1. Cheyenne Central 94.5, 2. Natrona County 74.5, 3. Thunder Basin 71, 4. Cody 66.5, 5. Sheridan 53, T6. Torrington 37 and Campbell County, 8. Rawlins 32, 9. Kelly Walsh 28.5, 10. Cheyenne East 24.5, 11. Worland 21.5, T12. Laramie and Buffalo 19, T14. Powell and Douglas 16, 16. Green River 5, 17. Big Horn 2

55 meter dash: 38. Averie Warner 8.09, 89. Peyton Borcher 8.78, 92. Amiya Love 8.91, 118. Hali Hancock 9.74

200 meter dash: 24. Anna Bartholomew 28.95, 42. Audrey Johnson 29.72, 51. Abby Wambeke 30.07, 56. Averie Warner 30.22, T73. Sydney Spomer 30.89, 105. Aramonie Brinkerhoff 32.36, 118. Gretel Opps 32.69, 119. Peyton Borcher 32.71, 131. Amiya Love 34.3

400 meter dash: 57. Myah Rakness 1:13.58

800 meter run: 5. Kenna Jacobsen 2:34.15, 17. Myah Rakness 2:46.48

1600 meter run: 10. Kenna Jacobsen 5:46.42, 11. Kinley Cooley 5:46.62, 13. Brynn Hillman 5:50.98, 23. Melissa Merritt 6:17.4

3200 meter run: 8. Brynn Hillman 12:58.22, 9. Kinley Cooley 13:00.1, 16. Melissa Merritt 13:38.74

55 meter hurdles: 32. Aramonie Brinkerhoff 10.33, 42. Gretel Opps 10.7

4x200 meter relay: 5. Sydney Spomer, Anna Bartholomew, Audrey Johnson and Abby Wambeke 1:55.7; 16. Peyton Borcher, Aramonie Brinkerhoff, Amiya Love and Averie Warner 2:06.42

4x400 meter relay: 7. Anna Bartholomew, Kenna Jacobsen, Audrey Johnson and Abby Wambeke 4:31.01

High jump: 12. Hali Hancock 4-6

Long jump: 23. Sydney Spomer 13-8

Triple jump: 4. Sydney Spomer 32-10 1/2

Shot put: 16. Katie O’Brien 31-7, 20. Grace Coombs 30-4

BOYS RESULTS

Team scores: 1. Natrona County 118, 2. Cheyenne Central 111.5, 3. Torrington 66.5, 4. Sheridan 65.5, 5. Cody 55, 6. Laramie 42, 7. Thunder Basin 39.5, 8. Cheyenne East 31, 9. Campbell County 27, 10. Kelly Walsh 9.5, 11. Tongue River 5, 12. Cheyenne South 3.5, T13. Green River and Big Horn 3, T15. Powell and Worland 2, 17. Douglas 1

55 meter dash: T104. Toby Sessions and Trevion Solberg 7.73, 127. Heyden Keever 9.61

200 meter dash: 55. McKale Foley 26.47, 57. Logan Jensen 26.57, T91. Trevion Solberg 27.66, 103. Toby Sessions 28.52

400 meter dash: 44. Thomas Shuman 1:02.64

800 meter run: 40. Liam Taylor 2:30.46, 51. Tate Allred 2:39.17, 60. Isaac Fransway 2:58.15

1600 meter run: 37. Liam Taylor 5:32.19, 55. Tate Allred 5:55.91

3200 meter run: 23. Colin Walker 13:52.32

55 meter hurdles: 8. Simon Shoopman 8.59, 12. Stuart Shoopman 8.85

4x200 meter relay: 15. McKale Foley, Simon Shoopman, Logan Jensen and Stuart Shoopman 1:44.89

4x400 meter relay: 8. McKale Foley, Simon Shoopman, Logan Jensen and Stuart Shoopman 4:05.5

Long jump: T61. Logan Jensen 16-2 ½, 81. Trevion Solberg 13-5 1/2