After completing four rounds on the same course in two days on Thursday and Friday, the Powell Panther golf teams posted strong scores on the nine hole course in Thermopolis, as the girls placed third and the boys fifth in the eight team field.

Leading the way for the Panther girls were Emery Hernandez and Coy Erickson, as Hernandez finished with rounds of 110 and 96 to take ninth, one stroke ahead of Erickson who had rounds of 111 and 96 to tie for 10th.

“Emery and Coy both had a tough round on the first day but bounced back on day two with rounds that were much more like their usual golf,” coach Troy Hildebrand said. “They will both put in a couple solid weeks of practice and I expect both of them to be in the mix for top 10 places in the next two tournaments.”

The third golfer for the Panthers was Maddie Croft, who showed significant improvement and finished with rounds of 125 and 112.

“Maddie made a huge leap this week as she got into her third tournament and really started to figure some things out,” Hildebrand said. “She is getting much more consistent in all areas of her game and her work on and around the greens is growing by leaps and bounds.”

On the boys’ side, the Panthers were led by Cody Fisher, who turned in rounds of 83 and 79 to take 10th.

“Cody continues to post rounds in the upper 70s and low 80s each week and his growth from last year has been a real bright spot for us,” Hildebrand said. “It is great for our team to be able to count on that type of play and leadership out of him in his sophomore season.”

Just two strokes behind Fisher was Trey Scott, who recorded rounds of 85 and 79.

“Trey had a tough first nine holes of the tournament but as he came through we talked about a goal for his second nine of the day and he did a great job of going out and getting that done to post the 85 on day one,” Hildebrand said.

Third in line for the Panthers was Jackson Hill, who finished with scores of 81 and 84 in Thermopolis.

“Jackson was more consistent this week with two strong rounds in the low 80s,” Hildebrand said.

Fourth for the Panthers was Park Harvison, who recorded rounds of 96 and 98.

“Park doesn’t have much tournament experience yet, so each event offers him the opportunity to really grow as a player for us,” Hildebrand said.

Fifth on the team for Powell was Jace Harris who recorded a pair of 99s.

“Jace is right on the cusp of breaking through and shooting some scores in the low 90s,” Hildebrand said. “Both days he got off to very strong starts and then ran into some adversity near the end of his rounds.”

Rounding out the team for the Panthers was Julian Frost, who finished with scores of 106 and 121.

“Julian had an overall tough weekend but he has shown plenty of strong golf previously and I know that he’s going to be working hard over the next few practices to put his best foot forward in Cody,” Hildebrand said.

Overall, the boys’ winner was Hayden Overfield, who posted rounds of 77 and 71 on his home course. On the girls’ side, Eliana Hopkin of Cody won after shooting 87 and 89.

Lander won the boys’ title shooting 306 and 315, and the Cody girls won after posting rounds of 281 and 283.

The Powell boys’ scores were 345 and 340, while the girls had scores of 336 and 304.

“[For the boys] Wheatland in the east and Lander on our side have kind of established themselves at the top but there is a large group of us in that third to sixth place range and it will come down to the team that is able to find just a little improvement in these next two weeks,” Hildebrand said. “The 304 on day two was easily our best team total of the season [for the girls] and is a great sign for this group heading down the stretch.”

Powell now heads into the postseason, starting with a quick trip to Cody on Thursday and Friday.

The Panthers will compete at Olive Glenn Golf Club in the 3A West Conference tournament starting at noon on Thursday and at 10 a.m. on Friday.