Two days in two different towns resulted in some strong first place finishes for the Powell Panther golf team, as Gunnar Erickson took the individual crown in Thermopolis on Monday and a smaller boys’ team finished on top in Lovell on Tuesday.

THERMOPOLIS INVITE

Heading out of Park County for the first time this season, the Panthers traveled to Thermopolis to take part in a one-day event against Worland, Thermopolis, Lovell and Ten Sleep.

In the team scores the boys came up just short against Lovell by six strokes, finishing with a 349 to Lovell’s 343.

Finishing on top for the first time in his high school career was Erickson, who carded an 80 to take the event by two strokes over Worland’s Tyshon Swalsted.

“He showed signs of real improvement in Cody on day two and carried that right into a really good round in Thermopolis,” coach Troy Hildebrand said. “It’s great to see him trending in such a positive direction.”

Behind Erickson in a tie for seventh was Jackson Hill with an 87 — with Hildebrand saying that his hard work over the summer is continuing to pay off.

Tying Hill in seventh was teammate Will Jackson, who continued his recent improvement to also finish at an 87.

“Will has been steadily improving each week and this was his first round in the 80s this fall,” Hildebrand said. “He was a member of our state team last fall and it is nice to see him returning to that form.”

Continuing the trend of ties within the team was a trio of Panthers, where Andrew Jones, Trey Scott and Cody Fisher all finished with a 91.

“All three guys had some really good stretches during their rounds and all three also had some struggles around the greens,” Hildebrand said. “Each of them felt like they could have been in the 80s pretty easily and that is a positive sign at the midway point of our season.”

Parker Williams and Isaiah Woyak continued the trend, both finishing with a 96 to round out the top eight for the Panthers.

Three more Panther boys finished a round in Thermopolis, with Trey Peterson finishing with a 111, Tucker Robinson a 115 and Renzi Matthews a 121.

On the girls’ side, Coy Erickson had a strong day finishing in a tie for fifth with a 106.

“Coy had another solid day with the second best score of her career to date,” Hildebrand said. “She is really close to putting everything together and breaking 100.”

Finishing in the top 10 for the second tournament in a row was Emery Hernandez, who carded a 110 to take eighth.

“Emery played well again on a course that she had never seen before,” Hildebrand said. “Emery has a lot of talent and drive in many sports and that is paying off this fall in her golf game.”

Erika Cook won her third tournament in a row, finishing with a 69 to win by 29 strokes as Lovell won the girls title by 39 strokes over host Thermopolis.

LOVELL INVITE

The early week action didn’t stop for the Panther boys, as a small group of six older players made the short trip on the first day of school Tuesday to the Foster Gulch Golf Course in Lovell.

Posting the best team score of the season to date, Powell finished on top of the boys’ standings with a 342 — nine strokes ahead of host Lovell which took second with a 351.

Cook once again won for the girls with a 75 and led the Lovell girls to a team title.

Max Cooley of Lovell and Swalstad tied for first with an 81, which was one stroke ahead of Scott who finished with an 82 for third place.

Just behind in a tie for fourth with an 83 was Erickson, while Hill tied for seventh with an 85.

Jackson finished in 10th with a 92, Jones was 11th with a 93 and Woyak rounded out the team in a tie for 13th with a 96.

“Having three players under 85 was a real positive for us at the midway point of our season,” Hildebrand said. “Getting around the 340 mark as a team should be our goal each week and that score would give us a chance to be in the top five or six at state.”

He said that being consistent with scores is the next step for the team, and they will now have an opportunity to work on short game and putting before the team’s next event.

That next competition will be in a week, with the Panthers heading to Buffalo on Thursday and Friday next week for the final regular season event before the postseason.