Bulldogs edge Cody to win D&D Invitational in Worland

Make it two in a row. For the second time in four days, the Lovell Bulldog boys track and field squad won a tough Big Horn Basin meet last Tuesday in Worland.

The Bulldogs dominated the field at the L.A. Kohnke Invitational in Powell on Saturday, April 12, and when the Worland meet, the D&D Invitational, was moved two days earlier due to expected bad weather on the scheduled date of April 17, the Bulldogs again found themselves at the top of the field. Enjoying balmy weather on April 15, the Bulldogs racked up 171.5 points to edge Cody (167) and crush Powell (106) and Worland (98.5).

The Lovell girls placed fourth with 34.5 points.

“We had a high number of really good performances (for the Lovell boys), and maybe it had to do with how warm it was, but we (also) had a high concentration in some events with large numbers of people doing really well,” head coach Joshua Sanders said.

The male athlete of the week is junior Owen Walker, who won both the high jump and long jump in Worland last week. He cleared 6-4 in the high jump and threatened the school record in the long jump (22-7¾ set by Trent Bowers in 1995) with a winning jump of 22-5.

Sanders said Walker scratched two jumps by millimeters, but the jumps were measured at 23-2, though they didn’t count.

 Walker also finished 11th in the 200-meter dash in personal-record time of 24.47, though he ultimately won’t likely compete in the event as an individual.

“He has enough speed to be in a relay, and it helps with his speed on jumps,” Sanders said of the 200-meter entry.

Junior Matthew Newman had an outstanding day, winning the 110-meter high hurdles and the triple jump, running on the winning sprint medley relay team and placing second to Walker in the high jump.

Newman blazed the 110 hurdles in 16 seconds even, a personal record, with sophomore Kaeson Anderson fourth in 18.25, and he won the triple jump, hitting 44-10 on his final jump, also a PR. Nate Cornia placed third with a leap of 38-6.

The team of Hunter Krei, Gavin Robertson, Newman and Jacob Thomas was the only entry in the 1,600-meter sprint relay, but the foursome ran a state qualifying time of 3:50.42.

Newman placed second in the high jump, clearing 6-0.

Senior Taggart Shumway set a personal record in the pole vault with a winning vault of 13-6. Senior Talon Burton was third with a personal-record vault of 11-6, junior Owen Edwards fifth at 11-0. After winning the event, Shumway went after Joel Nicholls’ school record of 14-1 with attempts at 14-2.

“It’s a goal (to break the record), and it’s a good goal,” Sanders said.

Robertson had a strong meet. Besides the sprint medley relay, he placed second in the long jump at 21-5 and third in the 100-meter dash in a personal-record 11.24, with Krei fourth at 11.34, qualifying for State.

“That’s a fantastic time as a freshman,” Sanders said of Krei’s 100. “That’s our number one freshman time.”

Thomas continued to run well in the 400-meter dash, placing fourth in 53.65, and senior Stetson Asay was an eye-opener in the 800 meters, running the race for the first time and placing fourth at 2:10.26.

“We were really impressed with that time,” Sanders said of Asay’s run. “Stetson is one of the hardest workers on the team. We were all impressed with his 800.”

The 400-meter relay team of Parker Steenbakkers, Cornia, Brody Muller and Anthony Garcia placed fourth in a time of 47.92.

In field events, the Bulldogs piled up the points in the discus, with throwers placing first, second, fifth, seventh and ninth.

“The discus people were amazing,” Sanders said. “We have five throw over 110 feet. That’s tremendous. They’re doing a lot of good work.”

Junior Halen Strom won the event with a throw of 128-3, and Tazz McArthur placed second with a toss of 123-6, Jace Pluhar fifth at 119-6 (PR), Grant Hill seventh at 112-5 (PR) and Braxton Felkins ninth at 110-5 (PR).

Strom also won the shot put with a heave of 47-11¼, and Muller was third at 44-4, a personal record.

“That’s a great mark,” Sanders said of the Muller throw.

Garcia placed fifth in the long jump, hitting the sand in at 19-2, a PR, and Wilson Hendershot placed eighth at 18-4½ (PR).

Robertson placed fourth in the high jump, clearing 5-10, and Anderson was ninth at 5-4.

Other boys results in Worland were:

100m dash – Brody Muller 30th, 12.65, Jett Hessenthaler 38th, 13.06; 200m dash – Nate Cornia 14th, 24.73 (PR), Kaeson Anderson 27th, 25.72, Wilson Hendershot 32nd, 26.27, Karson Seitz 38th, 26.86, Hessenthaler 45th, 27.32 (PR); 800 meters – Cutler Wilkerson 10th, 2:38.43 (PR); 1,600 meters – Gabe Buchholz 16th, 6:14 76; long jump – Hunter Krei 12th, 17-5 (PR), Parker Steenbakkers 15th, 17-2, Seitz 17th, 16-6¾, Kaeson Anderson 20th, 15-7¾, Kelvin Robertson 27th, 13-6¾; shot put – Braxton Felkins 10th, 39-1 (PR), Grant Hill 13th, 37-2½ (PR), Tazz McArthur 16th, 36-6½, Jace Pluhar 22nd, 34-10¼, Hessenthaler 24th, 34-2½ (PR), Sam Cordova 31st, 31-¼ (PR), Gage Pillow 45th, 24-3¼ (PR), Kajyn Cliame 48th, 18-2¾; discus – Dean Anderson 17th, 90-11, Cordova 22nd, 87-3, Pillow 38th, 62-10, Cliame 41st, 55-4.

Girls results

Sanders said freshman Ali Walker is the female athlete of the week for her performance in Worland. Walker placed second in the triple jump with a personal record jump of 34-2, seventh in the long jump at 15-4½, also a PR, and ninth in the 200-meter dash in a time of 28.58, her first time competing in the event.

 “I’m impressed with her ability,” Sanders said.

Lovell had four placers in the long jump. Junior Becca Nichols placed third with a leap of 16-5½, a PR, freshman Jaycie Allen fifth at 15-6 (PR), Ali Walker seventh with her 15-4½ and sister Avery Walker eighth at 15-4.

“Four people over 15 feet in the long jump? That was awesome,” Sanders said. “And Jaycie Allen at 15-6 as a freshman. Wow.”

Nichols was strong in the 400-meter dash, winning the race by four seconds over her closest competitor in 1:02.46, a personal record.

“I liked her time in the 400. That’s a nice time,” Sanders said.

Freshman Caylee Herman ran a personal record time in the 800 meters, placing sixth in 2:43.81, and freshman Addie Weber set a PR in the 3,200, running the eight laps in 15:18.96.

Sanders said he also liked sophomore Candace Walker’s triple jump performance. Walker placed eighth with a jump of 30-5.

Freshman Christina Zollman also PR’d in the shot put, finishing ninth with a throw of 28-3.

Other girls results in Worland were:

100m dash – Jaycie Allen 12th, 14.53 (PR), Kaitlynn Robison 23rd, 15.72, Claire Shumway 26th, 16.36 (PR); 200m dash – Janelle Hessenthaler 11th, 28.63, Allen 18th, 29.94, Ava Edwards 28th, 32.02; 3,200 meters -- Candace Walker 10th, 16:43.69; 100m intermediate hurdles – Edwards 15th, 19.65; long jump – Edwards 12th, 14-5½ (PR), Hessenthaler 13th, 14-3¾, Robison 22nd, 12-3¼; shot put – Brezhae Espinoza 32nd, 16-8 (PR); discus – Christina Zollman 16th, 78-8 (PR), Espinoza 34th, 50-5 (PR).

Rocky Mountain Invite

The Bulldogs will remain close to home this week as they compete at the Rocky Mountain Invitational in Cowley Saturday. Competition begins at 9:30 a.m. with field events and the 3,200-meter relay. Other running events commence at 10:15 a.m.

The Rocky Mountain Middle School meet will take place Friday afternoon in Cowley, with field events at 1 p.m. and running events at 3.