Returning to the course last Thursday and Friday the Powell Panther golf teams saw strong performances in Lander, with both teams placing sixth and strong individual scores leading to personal best rounds.

The highest placer for either team was Emery Hernandez, who posted a 92 in her first round and an 89 in her second round to finish tied for third. The second day marked her first ever tournament round in the 80s.

“Emery had a great tournament and really hung in there around the top of the field on a course that she had never seen before,” coach Troy Hildebrand said. “Picking up a third place in this field is a great spot to be at this point in her season. She just played very steady both days and was able to bounce back very quickly from any adversity.”

The next highest placer for the Panther girls was Coy Erickson, who posted individual rounds of 103 and 95 to take 16th.

“Coy played a solid round the first day but then came back the second day and cut off eight shots,” Hildebrand said. “She seemed to find some confidence in her swing that she will be able to build on from this point forward.”

Rounding out the girls’ score in Lander was Maddie Croft, who posted scores of 170 and 151 to take 29th in the tournament.

“Maddie is still very new to tournament golf and the back nine at Lander can be extremely difficult for girls,” Hildebrand said. “She hung in there on day one and then came back on day two to play her best golf of the year so far. She is a player that is willing to really work at improving each day at practice and I think these next couple of weeks will be very valuable for her.”

On the boys’ side, it was once again Trey Scott who took the lead for the Panthers, posting scores of 84 and 78 to finish in a tie for 13th, just one stroke outside of a top 10 finish.

“He is playing solid, consistent golf right now and if he can be a player that is able to keep his rounds under 85 every week he is going to have a great senior season,” Hildebrand said.

Just a few strokes behind Scott was Jackson Hill, who posted a career best first round 78 before an 87 in the second round to finish 19th.

“Jackson posted a career best 78 on day one and then had to work hard on day two to keep his round in the 80s,” Hildebrand said. “I was proud of how he battled through the finish of that second round for our team score and that is a sign of his individual growth as a player.”

Third for the Panthers and just one stroke behind Hill was Cody Fisher, who posted an individual best 76 on the first day and a second round 90 to tie for 20th.

“Cody had a career day Thursday and played a spectacular round to be sitting in fourth place with his 76,” Hildebrand said. “Friday got off to a solid start but he ran into some trouble late in his round and just wasn’t able to get things put back together and keep it around 85. He has improved immensely from last year and has high expectations of himself for this season.”

Panther Park Harvison took fourth with posted rounds of 91 and 88 to tie for 32nd.

“Park wasn’t able to play in the Powell tournament but he spent a ton of time on the course last spring and this summer with some of our older players,” Hildebrand said. “This was his first competitive golf and he really played outstanding.”

The fifth placer for the Panthers was Jace Harris, who posted rounds of 101 and 97 to place 56th.

“Jace had only played one round in Lander prior to this week and I thought he handled the course very well,” Hildebrand said. “He had one tough hole each day that if he can work to get that reined in a little bit he’ll be under 95 soon.”

Just behind in sixth for the Panthers was Julian Frost, who posted rounds of 102 and 99 to tie for 59th; Kason Sherman posted rounds of 104 and 99 to take 62nd and Knox Johnson posted rounds of 101 and 105 to take 64th.

The boys’ individual winner was Ryker Lind of Evanston who posted rounds of 71 and 66 to win by 11 strokes; Evanston’s Madison Brown claimed the girls’ crown with rounds of 81 and 86 to win by 13 strokes.

The Riverton boys took the team crown with a score of 635, as the Powell boys finished sixth and fourth among 3A teams, while the Evanston girls won the team title with a score of 544 and the Powell girls finished sixth, third among 3A teams.

The Panthers will take this week off from competition with the start of school, and will return to action next week in Thermopolis on Thursday, Sept. 5.