Bulldogs top the field again as Shumway breaks 30-year school record

In the world of track and field, peaking at the right time is the name of the game, and the Lovell Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs showed they are peaking as the regional and state meets approach with a number of outstanding performances at the school’s own Lovell Invitational Friday.

In winning their fourth consecutive meet, the Lovell boys squad recorded 24 new individual personal records and had 30 placers. The Lovell girls finished with 19 placers and 23 new PRs.

The Lovell boys topped the field of 10 with 180 points, followed by Big Horn with 132 points and Powell with 97. The Lovell girls placed second with 109.5 points, trailing only Powell with 168.5 points. 

“The meet couldn’t have turned out much better,” head coach Joshua Sanders said. “We had a lot of really exceptional performances, and the meet itself ran smoothly, which is what you want at your home meet. And the new track worked the way we wanted it to. There were a lot of fast times and good jumps. I don’t think that would have happened on last year’s track.”

 Senior Taggart Shumway reached a personal goal Friday when he eclipsed a 30-year school record in the pole vault. After winning the event and tying his personal record at 13-6, he asked that the bar be moved to 14-2, one inch higher than the LHS school record of 14-1 set by Joel Nicholls in 1995. He cleared the bar on his third attempt to break the record as gathering spectators cheered.

Coach Joshua Sanders named Shumway as the male athlete of the week.

“It was an exciting moment,” Sanders said. “There were a lot of people over there watching it. There was a good crowd, and it was a good crowd moment for track and field.

“That event fits him. He’s a diver (for swimming), which is similar to the pole vault in that you’ve got to be high in the air and upside down. It fits his personality.”

Junior Owen Edwards placed second in the pole vault, clearing 12-6 to set a new personal record and moving up to number six all time at LHS. Sanders said event coach Colten Galambas is doing a great job with the vaulters.

“He’s younger and brings some good energy and insights,” Sanders noted. “He was a successful vaulter in Gillette, and there are some nuances you can only get from having done it.”

Meanwhile, another school record almost went down for the Lady Bulldogs’ team. Freshman Avery Walker led five Lovell placers in the triple jump and won the event by sailing 36-3, a personal record one-quarter inch off the school record of 36-3¼ set by Karen Koritnik (now Wagner) in 2011.

Lovell dominated the event. Avery’s twin sister Ali placed second at 34-10¼, a personal record, junior Becca Nichols fourth at 34-5 (PR), sophomore Brooklin Clark fifth at 33-8½ (PR) and sophomore Hannity Felkins eighth at 31-9¼ (PR). Both Walkers, Nichols and Clark have now qualified for the state track meet.

“They’ve been working on a lot of their technique and enjoying learning how to improve,” Sanders said. “I think they were also feeling fast that day, and that’s part of the equation. I was really, really happy with that (five placers).

“We’re young, yes, but also have some rookies in the event. They just started learning over the last three weeks. It goes to show you that you don’t always know what you’re good at. It’s important to explore. I feel confident in what we’ve been doing in that area, that we’re doing the right thing to help people get better.”

The Lady Bulldogs had four placers in the long jump and nearly a fifth. Nichols placed second with a leap of 15-10, and Clark placed third at 15-4, Ali Walker fourth at 15-3 and freshman Jaycie Allen sixth at 14-8. Felkins jumped a personal record 14-5½ but was just out of the top eight in ninth place by an inch and a half.

Avery Walker won the high jump, qualified for State and set a personal record, clearing 4-11. Sophomore Kandace Asay placed fourth at 4-7.

Not only did Clark place high in the horizontal jumps, she placed second in both the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles. She set a personal record in the 100-meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 17.56, and she ran 50.30 in the 300-meter low hurdles.

“We’re into the season quite a bit, and you develop technique, you develop speed and you develop strength,” Sander said. “She’s pushed through some disappointment. That’s key, and she’s been patient.”

In the sprints, Nichols blazed to a time of 26.84 in the 200-meter dash, placing third, setting a new personal record and qualifying for State.

“That time was really good,” Sanders said. “I think that ranks her in the top three for Lovell High School.”

Ali Walker nearly placed in the 100-meter dash, finishing ninth with a personal record time of 13.77, and Avery Walker placed eighth in the 200-meter dash in 28.19. The sisters joined Nichols and Janelle Hessenthaler on the first-place Lovell 400-meter relay team, running a state qualifying time of 51.91.

In middle- to long-distance races, Asay placed sixth in the 400-meter dash in 1:05.47, freshman Caylee Herman placed fourth in the 800 meters in 2:40.61, a personal record, and freshman Addie Weber placed fifth in the 3,200 meters in 14:54.71, also a PR.

Other girls results from Friday’s home meet were:

100m dash – Kandace Asay 12th, 13.89 (PR), Jaycie Allen 17th, 14.15 (PR), Kaitlyn Robison 24th, 15.31, Claire Shumway 25th, 15.77 (PR); 200m dash – Janelle Hessenthaler 11th, 28.81, Allen 12th, 28.94 (PR), Ava Edwards 23rd, 31.78 (PR), Shumway 26th, 34.44 (PR); 800 meters – Candace Walker ninth, 2:58.03 (PR); 100m hurdles, Edwards 11th, 19.47; long jump – Shumway 15th, 13-5 (PR), Edwards 16th, 13-3½, Robison 28th, 10-1; triple jump – Candace Walker 16th, 29-5½; shot put – Christina Zollman 10th, 28-10, Hannity Felkins 14th, 27-9, Caitlyn Allen 32nd, 22-8½, Brezhae Espinoza 36th, 18-4 (PR); discus – Zollman 13th, 86-6 (PR), Caitlyn Allen 24th, 68-1, Espinoza 30th, 58-1½ (PR).

Boys results

With Shumway excelling in the pole vault, another senior performed well in the 1,600 meters. Stetson Asay placed second in under 5 minutes for the first time, running the four laps in 4:58.77.

“That’s a big moment, breaking the five-minute barrier,” Sanders said. “Of all of our kids, he’s, if not the hardest worker, he’s one of them.”

Sanders also noted senior Jarrett Allen, who placed second in the triple jump with a personal-record jump of 39-10¼.

“That shows you the value of sticking to something and working at it even when it’s a struggle sometimes,” Sanders said.

Junior Matthew Newman is knocking at the door of a school record in the 110-meter high hurdles, Sanders noted, running a winning time of 15.46 Friday, just 2/10th of a second off the school record set by Dan Nicholls in 1998. Kaeson Anderson placed seventh in 18.02 and placed sixth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 45.59.

Newman also won the triple jump with a leap of 44-8 and qualified for State in the 200-meter dash, running the race for the first time and placing fourth in 23.24. Freshman Hunter Krei also qualified for State in the 200, placing fifth at 23.27.

Senior Gavin Robertson won the 100-meter dash in 11.41 and topped the field in the long jump, hitting the sand at 22 feet even.  He also placed fourth in the 400-meter dash in 55.45.

“That was good for Gavin,” Sanders said of the long jump mark. “It shows 22 feet is not a fluke, that he is able to be consistent hitting 22 feet.”

Other sprinters performed well Friday. Junior Owen Walker placed sixth in the 100 meters in 11.86, a personal record, and freshman Anthony Garcia was right behind him in seventh, running 12.02. Garcia, Robertson, Newman and Krei placed second in the 400-meter relay in a time of 43.99.

Lovell had four placers in the long jump. After Robertson’s 22-foot jump, Walker placed second with a jump of 21-4½, Wilson Hendershot sixth at 18-8½, a PR, and Nate Cornia seventh at 18-8¼.

Walker won the high jump for the fourth consecutive meet, clearing 6-4, and Anderson placed second at 5-10, Jaxon Pluhar sixth at 5-4.

In the throws, junior Halen Strom crept closer to the 50-foot mark in the shot put, winning the event with a toss of 49-7. Brody Muller placed fourth at 43-11, Jace Pluhar sixth at 40-10 (PR) and Braxton Felkins seventh at 39-11 (PR).

Strom also won the discus with a throw of 136-7, qualifying for State, and sophomore Tazz McArthur placed fourth with a personal record throw of 127-1, Jace Pluhar sixth at 115-9 and freshman Grant Hill seventh with a toss of 115-5, a personal record.

Other boys results from Friday’s home meet were:

100m dash – Jaxon Pluhar 15th, 12.27, Parker Steenbakkers 18th, 12.37, Brody Muller 31st, 12.76, Wilson Hendershot 33rd, 12.95, Karson Seitz 33rd, 12.95, Jett Hessenthaler 40th, 13.16, Braxton Felkins 41st, 13.17, Kelvin Robertson 49th, 13.57 (PR); 200m dash – Taggart Shumway 20th, 26.09 (PR), Hendershot 21st, 26.11 (PR), Jarrett Allen 22nd, 26.31 (PR), Seitz 24th, 26.45 (PR), Hessenthaler 31st, 27.57, Robertson 33rd, 28.36; 1,600 meters – Cutler Wilkerson ninth, 6:12.18, Gabriel Buchholz 11th, 6:22.61; long jump – Hunter Krei tie-13th, 17-4½, Anthony Garcia 13th, tie-13th, 17-4½, Jaxon Pluhar 17th, 17-½, Seitz 19th, 16-4½; triple jump – Kaeson Anderson 10th, 37-1½, Nate Cornia 11th, 36-1¾; shot put – Tazz McArthur 11th, 38-1, Hessenthaler  21st, 34-10 (PR), Sam Cordova 29th, 33-2½ (PR), Gage Pillow 41st, 26-11½ (PR), Kajyn Cliame 47th, 17-7; discus – Felkins 15th, 99-8 ¼, Dean Anderson 18th, 96-10 (PR), Cordova 20th, 93-10, Cliame 35th, 63-4¾, Pillow 38th, 57-10½.

Thermop meet

The Bulldogs will travel to the Bobcat Invitational in Thermopolis Friday, with action beginning at 1 p.m., but since Thermop has limited the number of entries, Coach Sanders said he may also send some athletes to the Cody Trackstravaganza on Thursday.

The 3A West Regional meet follows on May 16 and 17 in Powell.