Long bus rides taking off early in the morning mixed with tough competition led to an important learning season for the Powell Panther indoor track and field teams, which wrapped up the state competition last weekend in Gillette.

Leading the way for the Panthers was Cody Seifert in the triple jump, winning the individual title with a leap of 42-7 1/2.

“It was great to see Cody finish the season at full strength and we really got to see what he is capable of with his dominating performance,” coach Scott Smith said.

Seifert’s victory in the triple jump was by more than 2 feet over the nearest competitor.

The next highest placers for the boys were Stuart and Simon Shoopman in the 55 meter hurdles, where Stuart placed fourth (8.42) and Simon placed sixth (8.45).

The only other placer for the Panthers was Daniel Merritt in the 800 (2:03.4) where he finished sixth.

For the relays the highest placing team for the Panthers was the 1600 sprint medley, where the team of Seifert, Simon Shoopman, Chance Franks and Merritt finished third (3:50.85).

Overall the boys’ team placed seventh with 32 points, with Cody running away with the team rankings at 113 points.

On the girls’ side the highest individual placers for the girls were in the shot put, where Katie O’Brien (33-2 1/4) placed fifth and Grace Coombs (31-9 1/4) placed seventh.

“Grace and Katie have been working hard all season and it was great to see them both get on the podium,” Smith said. “They still have a lot of potential and adding the discus to their arsenal will make them both much better in outdoor.”

Kinley Cooley was the sole Panther to earn two top eight finishes, placing seventh in the 1600 (5:50.07) and eighth in the 3200 (12:58.29).

Hali Hancock tied for seventh in the high jump (4-8) and Anna Bartholomew was the other Panther to place, taking eighth in the 800 (2:29.5).

Powell had a strong performance in the 1600 sprint medley, placing second with the team of Audrey Johnson, Abby Wambeke, Anna Bartholomew and Kenna Jacobsen (4:33.38).

Overall the Panther girls placed ninth, finishing with 23.5 points as Cody also ran away with the girls’ competition with 118 points.

CONTINUING TO GROW

After the conclusion of the first indoor season for the Panthers, Smith is grateful for how hard the kids competed despite the early mornings and long bus rides.

“I was very proud of our kids,” Smith said. “Indoor track is tough, we don’t really have facilities, [and we have] early morning departures for long bus trips and high caliber competition — I loved the way the kids competed.”

He said the primary goal of the program is to build a good base with the kids so they are ready to continue improving outdoors, and he believes they are ready to do so.

“I think that all the kids that have been participating in a winter sport are way ahead of kids that have been laying around in their homes all winter, so the kids that haven’t done a winter activity before are going to notice a large developmental difference when we start getting into our first meets,” Smith said.

STATE MEET

BOYS RESULTS

Team scores: 1. Cody 113, 2. Torrington 88, 3. Evanston 79, 4. Star Valley 57, 5. Lander 51, 6. Mountain View 47, 7. Powell 32, T8. Big Horn and Pinedale 29, 10. Riverton 28, 11. Green River 21.5, 12. Lovell 17, 13. Rawlins 14, 14. Douglas 5, 15. Burns/Pine Bluffs 4.5, 16. Worland 4, 17. Buffalo 3

55 meter dash: T10. Cody Seifert 6.86, 37. Seeger Wormald 7.73

200 meter dash: 27. Simon Shoopman 25.26

800 meter run: 6. Daniel Merritt 2:03.4, 29. Liam Taylor 2:19.45

1600 meter run: 10. Daniel Merritt 4:48.7, 23. Korbyn Warren 5:07.24, 35. Liam Taylor 5:24.15, 44. Tate Allred 5:46.37

55 meter hurdles: 4. Stuart Shoopman 8.42, 6. Simon Shoopman 8.45

4x200 meter relay: 6. Cody Seifert, Simon Shoopman, Chance Franks and Logan Jensen 1:39.92

4x400 meter relay: 7. Chance Franks, McKale Foley, Logan Jensen and Daniel Merritt 3:46.58

4x800 meter relay: 9. Tate Allred, Liam Taylor, Korbyn Warren and McKale Foley 9:43.38

1600 sprint medley: 3. Cody Seifert, Simon Shoopman, Chance Franks and Daniel Merritt 3:50.85

Pole vault: T10. McKale Foley 8-6

Triple jump: 1. Cody Seifert 42-7 1/2, 17. Logan Jensen 34-10, 21. Seeger Wormald 33-7 1/4

GIRLS RESULTS

Team scores: 1. Cody 118, 2. Star Valley 94, 3. Rawlins 71, 4. Torrington 56, 5. Evanston 44, 6. Buffalo 41, 7. Worland 38.5, 8. Pinedale 24, 9. Powell 23.5, 10. Lander 20, 11. Douglas 18, 12. Mountain View 17, T13. Green River and Burns/Pine Bluffs 14, 15. Big Horn 9, 16. Riverton 8, T17. Lovell and Glenrock 7

55 meter dash: T17. Sydney Spomer 7.95, 24. Averie Warner 8.1

200 meter dash: 21. Audrey Johnson 29.15, 25. Averie Warner 29.74, 46. Aramonie Brinkerhoff 31.99

400 meter run: 11. Anna Bartholomew 1:03.76, 25. Myah Rakness 1:13.3

800 meter run: 8. Anna Bartholomew 2:29.5, 10. Kenna Jacobsen 2:30.09, 27. Melissa Merritt 2:47.44, 31. Myah Rakness 2:52.66

1600 meter run: 7. Kinley Cooley 5:50.07, 11. Kenna Jacobsen 5:56.17, 18. Melissa Merritt 6:13.14

3200 meter run: 8. Kinley Cooley 12:58.29, 12. Melissa Merritt 13:16.12, 17. Brynn Hillman 13:56.51

55 meter hurdles: 22. Aramonie Brinkerhoff 10.45, 25. Gretel Opps 10.59, 26. Charity Siggins 10.67

4x200 meter relay: 10. Audrey Johnson, Abby Wambeke, Averie Warner and Sydney Spomer 1:57.01

4x400 meter relay: 5. Anna Bartholomew, Audrey Johnson, Abby Wambeke and Kenna Jacobsen 4:23.37

4x800 meter relay: 9. Kinley Cooley, Myah Rakness, Melissa Merritt and Brynn Hillman 11:27.12

1600 sprint medley: 2. Audrey Johnson, Abby Wambeke, Anna Bartholomew and Kenna Jacobsen 4:33.38

High jump: T7. Hali Hancock 4-8, T15. Charity Siggins 4-4

Triple jump: 10. Sydney Spomer 31-1, 20. Charity Siggins 26-8 1/2

Shot put: 5. Katie O’Brien 33-2 1/4, 7. Grace Coombs 31-9 1/4