Panther Track teams begin year in Cody

The Powell High School boys’ track and field team opened its spring season by capturing the meet title in Cody on Saturday. The Panther boys edged Cody and Sheridan to place at the head of the six-team field.

The Panther girls, feeling the effects of several missing students, placed fourth. Combined, the two teams saw 10 performances surpass the qualifying standards and automatically qualify for May’s state track and field championships in Casper.

Sophomore Garrett Lynch surpassed the state qualifying standard in the discus by 18 feet and topped the competition in Cody by an almost-identical margin in winning the event with a distance of 153-6. Junior teammate Vince Sleep added a third-place toss of 133-7, which narrowly missed automatically qualifying for the state meet.

Sleep got his revenge in the shot put. The junior uncorked a throw of nearly 50 feet to place second. Lynch also flirted with the 50-foot barrier in the season’s first meet but had to settle for third place overall as Lovell’s A.J. Montanez won the event with a heave of nearly 52 feet.

On the track, senior Josh Cragoe described his winning time of 15.42 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles as “slow.” Despite that assessment, the time was still almost a full second faster than what was needed to automatically qualify the event to the state meet.

Also on the track, the Panthers qualified both of their relay teams. The 4x100 grouping of Garrett Lynch, Brendon Phister, Marco Borja and Josh Cragoe finished second in a time of 45.77 seconds. Jakob Bowers, Marshall McArthur, Zach Thiel and Blaise Gann teamed up in the 4x400 to post a time of 3:39.26. While that mark was only good enough for third place on Saturday, it was more than enough to advance the foursome to May’s state championships.

Not to be outdone, the Panther girls also qualified their only relay team on Saturday. The 4x400 grouping of Desiree Murray, Sierra Morrow, KaDee Harrison and Bailey Sanders took turns carrying the baton to a time of 4.23.82 and a runner-up finish.

Both 4x400 relays surpassed the qualifying standards by roughly three seconds.

The relay was one of three events Murray found herself qualifying for state at Saturday’s meet. The senior also cruised to wins in both the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles to comfortably qualify for the state championships in each.

The Panthers’ final automatic qualifier on Saturday came over in the throwing ring where sophomore Shawnea Harrington uncorked a toss of 37-5 1/2 in the shot put to nearly match her best throw from her freshman season and earn a spot in Casper.

The Panther track team gets a week off and will also enjoy an infusion of returning athletes before taking the track again. The team travels to Worland next Tuesday, April 3.

Boys team scores — Powell 135.5, Cody 121, Sheridan 117, Riverton 94.5, Lovell 86, Jackson 66.

200 — 2. Blaise Gann 24.04, 7. Logan Harsh 24.87, Jakob Bowers 25.33.

400 — 3. Blaise Gann 54.0, 6. Marshall McArthur 54.55, 7. Zach Thiel 54.58, Justin Layton 1:09.25.

800 — 3. Zach Thiel 2:06.0, 5. Mat Abraham 2:18.0.

3200 — 2. Zander Andreasen 10:47.64, 4. Andrew Feller 11:13.17.

300m hurdles — 3. Cameron Bennett 43.64, 5. Brendon Phister 45.66, 7. Kalei Smith 46.79, Tyler Wollam 53.57.

4x400 relay — 3. Jakob Bowers, Marshall McArthur, Zach Thiel and Blaise Gann 3:39.26.

High jump — 7. Josh Cragoe 5-7, Hayden Cragoe 5-7, Kalei Smith 5-7.

Discus — 1. Garrett Lynch 153-6, 3. Vince Sleep 133-7, Garrett Michael 101-0, Riley Stringer 93-4, Matt Walsh 91-2, Ron Ferguson 69-3, Jordan Eversole 66-11.

100 — 2. KaDee Harrison 13.44, Jada Swirles 14.28, Mikaila Moore 14.47, Kadi Cooley 14.96, Paris Miears 15.90, Cassidy Lynn 16.14.

200 — 3. KaDee Harrison 28.24.

400 — Kailee Barrus 1:11.39.

800 — 5. Bailey Sanders 2:40.0, 6. Sierra Morrow 2:42.0, 7. Gretchen Morretti 2:46.0.

1600 — 5. Gretchen Morretti 5:59.0, 7. Sierra Morrow 6:06.42, Kailee Barrus 6:20.83.

100m hurdles — 1. Desiree Murray 16.89, 5. Mikaila Moore 18.36, Megan Wagner 20.92.

300m hurdles — 1. Desiree Murray 49.09, 4. Megan Wagner 56.32,

Shot put — 3. Shawnea Harrington 37-5 1/2, 7. Tori Sleep 32-1, Lex Brady 29-4, Alice Pinter 28-10, Morgan Kasper 27-3, Megan Wagner 25-4, Morgan Ley 17-4.

Discus — 5. Shawnea Harrington 102-0, 7. Tori Sleep 98-5, Alice Pinter 89-4, Megan Wagner 81-6, Lex Brady 79-3, Morgan Kasper 75-3, Morgan Ley 36-6.