WORLAND – While many track meets across Wyoming have been canceled, including three more this past weekend, there was one that was able to go on as scheduled with the D&D Invitational at Worland High School where Lander, Riverton, Shoshoni, Wind River, Wyoming Indian and Western Heritage Lutheran Academy all participated.
They were all part of over 30 teams to send student-athletes and while there were no winners as far as teams go, plenty of young Fremont County track and field stars had their own personal victories throughout the day.
LANDER
The Tigers and Lady Tigers definitely had some of the best times throughout the D&D Invitational, as far as Fremont County teams go, and all without their superstar hurdler Gage Gose who was off in California at the Arcadia Invitational (see page B1). They were able to have such a good overall day thanks to the combined efforts of strong runners like junior Avery Crane, junior Reed McFadden, freshman Adelyn Anderson and sophomore Ameya Eddy.
For starters, Crane finished top eight in both the 100- and 200-meter dash, but she didn’t break a personal record until she competed in the pole vault where she notched seven-foot-six-inches. Crane was closely followed in both her running events by junior Avery Bever who finished with a 27.88 in the 200-meter dash, just five-tenths of a second behind her junior teammate, giving her a seventh-place finish. Bever would also finish in the top 15 in the triple jump (29’7”).
As for Lander’s emerging freshman, Anderson dominated the discus throw with a toss of over 107 feet and set new personal records in that and the shot put (33’ 8.25”). She finished top five in the discus throw and top 10 in the shot put. Anderson’s teammate on both the track team and the basketball court, Darian Bell, also had a top-10 finish with her time of 13:44.15 in the 3,200-meter run.
Finally, Eddy only participated in one event, but she was able to grab a top-six spot in it as she ran the 800 meter with a time of 2:30.22. She also helped the girls’ 4×800-meter relay team finish fourth as she was the lead runner. Additionally, the Lander girls finished third in the 4×400-meter relay team thanks to a burst of speed from Crane, the anchor leg of the team.
As for the Tigers, they had a couple great showings, like their 4×400-meter relay team that finished second by four seconds and their overall team score was boosted greatly by some of their older runners and throwers. One of which was McFadden, who finished second in the 800-meter run (2:02.43) and another was senior Matisse Weaver, who grabbed a top-10 finish in the same event with a time of 2:10.31.
Another Bever made their name known as well with Joel Bever finishing 11th in the 100-meter dash (11.95 seconds), just one place behind senior Jack Pasquinelli (11.93 seconds).
Senior Gabe Harris did well also, finishing in the top 18 of both the high jump (5’4”) and the long jump (17’11”), before grabbing 11th place in the discus throw with a new personal record of 109 feet and one inch. Another Lander senior, Dylan Huelskamp, finished 11th, and the All-State swimmer turned in a shot-put distance of 41-feet and five-and-a-half inches.
Up next, the Lander Valley Tigers and Lady Tigers’ track and field teams head to Rock Springs this weekend for the Ted Schroeder Invite before heading to their rivals on Tuesday, April 18, for the Twilight Meet on the Riverton High School track. They also host Riverton the following Tuesday, April 25, in their annual Lander-Riverton Dual.
RIVERTON
The Riverton Wolverines’ and Lady Wolverines’ track and field team has had their fair share of canceled meets this year, meaning they are still getting their legs underneath them for the most part. But, that doesn’t mean they did not have a good outing in Worland alongside 30 other teams.
Some familiar names did what they’re known to do in Worland, including junior Kaden Chatfield who finished third in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:33.48, a new personal record for outdoor track but two seconds shy of his best time during the indoor track season. In that same event it was junior Alexander Truax, also setting a personal record, as he finished 10th with a time of 4:51.48.
They weren’t the only boys finishing top 10 though — they were joined by senior Hayden Prettyman who finished seventh in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.65 seconds, three-tenths of a second slower than his personal best (54.32).
Sophomore Davian Spoonhunter also broke through in his only event of the day, the 3,200-meter run, finishing fourth with a time of 10:59.72, a new personal record in outdoor track and field. Spoonhunter was one of many Wolverines to finish in the top five of their respective events, joining standout senior Watie Whiteplume who finished fifth in the high jump with a new personal record of five feet and eight inches.
Juniors Nick McIntosh and Nathan Mills also cracked the top five with McIntosh finishing third in the triple jump (40’ 1.25”), a new personal best, and Mills finishing second in the discus throw (126’ 3”). While Mills’ discus throw was not the best of his young high school career, his 43 foot, 0.25 inch shot put toss was a new personal record that earned him eighth place at the D&D Invitational.
The boys weren’t the only successful bunch to come out of Riverton though. The girls also put up some extremely strong showings with freshman Jaylah Griffith having the best output of the day as she tossed the discus 110 feet, good for second place in Worland. Griffith also earned a seventh-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 35 feet even.
But the Lady Wolverines had plenty of top-10 finishes throughout the day thanks to runners like Kiana Swann and hurdlers like Addison Alley and Samantha Ablard.
Swann finished sixth in the 1,600-meter run (5:44.31) and eighth in the 800-meter run (2:31.96), both of which being new personal bests for the junior that has competed in indoor track and cross country over the past two seasons. Meanwhile, Alley would grab seventh in the 100-meter hurdles (18.09 seconds) and Ablard would finish fifth in the 300-meter hurdles (51.13 seconds).
A few other good finishes include sophomore TaiLynne Keyes’ 12th-place finish in the triple jump (30’4”), senior Ella Judd’s 10th-place time in the 400-meter dash (1:07.13) and senior Ava Crowley’s new personal record in the discus throw (98’3.5”) that earned her 12th overall.
Up next the Riverton track and field team travel to Casper on Thursday to run and throw in the Trojan Invite before hosting Lander on Tuesday, April 18, in their Twilight Meet.
SHOSHONI
The Wranglers and Lady Blue of Shoshoni did not send very many track and field athletes but that does not take away from their weekend where they learned a lot while competing hard.
Sophomore Wiley Philleo had a good day overall, finishing 18th in the 400-meter dash (58.05 seconds) while setting a new personal record in the process. He did the same in both the 100-meter dash (13 seconds) and the 200-meter dash (26.78 seconds).
Junior Jaxson Kiser also had a strong day, finishing 28th in the discus throw with a toss over 100 feet, before setting a new personal best in the shot put (32’ 10.5”). He wasn’t the only Kiser there though as junior Lacoda Kiser finished the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:20.36.
She was joined by her teammate Lilly Howell who finished the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 1:11.98, just three seconds shy of her personal best.
Up next, the Wranglers host their Shoshoni High School Invite on Friday, April 14, starting at 10 a.m. with teams like Dubois, Fort Washakie, Thermopolis and more joining them at the home of the Wranglers.
WIND RIVER
The Wind River Cougars and Lady Cougars traveled to Worland as well, participating in just their second event of the year due to the weather around Wyoming.
Sophomore Emma Miller posted the best individual score of the day when she finished second in the high jump (4’9”), tying Powell’s Addy Thorington just one inch behind the leader from Thunder Basin (4’10”).
Miller’s female teammates helped the team’s overall score as well, especially junior Cora Remacle who had her best time ever in the 3,200-meter run (14:04.06), earning 11th on the way. Not only that, she finished in the top nine of the triple jump with a leap of 30 feet and 10 inches, just one week after she set her new personal best (32’2.5″).
Wind River’s JayCee Herbert, the outstanding athlete across multiple sports, once again proved why he is one of the better runners in the state as he placed fifth in the 100-meter dash (11.69 seconds), seventh in the 200-meter dash (23.93) and third in the 400-meter dash (53.14). He also helped the Cougars’ 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team finish second (4:04.67) as the third leg.
There were a few other good performances on the boys’ side, with Cougars like freshman Graham Robison finishing top 25 in the high jump (5’ 2”) and freshman Kai Alatani grabbing a top-20 finish in the 3,200-meter run with a new personal record of 13:06.37.
Up next, the Wind River track and field team have not chosen which meets they are going to participate in this weekend but they will likely have their spot at their rivals’ home field in Shoshoni prepped and ready for the team.
WYOMING INDIAN
The Chiefs and Lady Chiefs of Wyoming Indian High School (WIHS) are definitely known for their basketball, but over the years the track and field team, as well as the cross-country team, have started to show they deserve to be respected.
A few names stood out among the rest in Worland though, specifically Colton SunRhodes, who once again proved he likes to run long distances at quick speeds when he finished 25th in both the 1,600-meter run (5:06.13) and the 800-meter run (2:20.50), both of which being new personal bests for the freshman distance runner.
The boys’ 1,600-meter sprint medley team had bursts throughout the race but ultimately would finish seventh, just seconds behind sixth-place Burlington.
Jason Slow Bear continued to get back into spring form when he finished the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, just 10 inches behind his personal best (17’ 10”). Also, freshman Jacob Medicine Horse completed his first meet of his high school career and grabbed a top-40 finish with his discus throw performance that reached 92 feet and eight inches.
As far as the girls of WIHS goes, their best finish of the day came from experienced distance runner Roberta Whiteplume who finished in the top 30 of both the 800-meter run (2:57.60) and the 1,600-meter run (6:28.07).
There were a few top-50 finishes with girls like Anessa White (74’ 6”) and Emil Posey (73’ 7”) doing so in the discus throw and Madison McLeod (1:21.42) doing so in the 400-meter dash. Posey also grabbed a top-30 finish in the shot put with her throw of 29 feet and two inches, just three inches short of her personal best.
Up next the WIHS track and field team look to join a meet this upcoming weekend, whether it be in Shoshoni, Douglas or somewhere else across Wyoming.
WESTERN HERITAGE
The Western Heritage Lutheran Academy (WHLA) has been one of the only teams in Fremont County to consistently get out on the track throughout the wintery spring season so far, with Worland’s D&D meet marking their fourth meet of the season. Many other teams only have one or two to hang their hat on so far this spring.
While they don’t send many student-athletes to the meets they do get the most out of who they bring, including this past weekend when one of their best field athletes, Ashdon Eagleroad, finished in the top 25 in the long jump (17’ 5”) before taking 35th in the discus throw (95’ 6”).
There were also a few top-50 finishes on the girls’ side with throwers like Sam Hamilton (27’ 1.5”) and Calli Pingatore (26’ 7.5”) both doing so in the shot put.
Not only that, sophomore Sydney Mortimer grabbed a top-50 finish in the long jump with her 12 foot, 3.5 inch finish in the field event.
Up next the WHLA track and field team head to Shoshoni on Friday, April 14, to compete in the Shoshoni High School Invite starting at 10 a.m.
By: Shawn O’Brate