Grizzlies enjoy balmy Worland meet ahead of storm

It was a wise decision to move Worland’s D&D Invitational up two days with a massive cold front looming on Thursday, and competing in two meets in four days presented some challenges, but the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies met the challenges and produced some strong results, head coach Tobee Christiansen said.

The meet was held on a balmy day Tuesday, April 15, after the Grizz competed in Powell on Saturday.

“We mixed some things up. We didn’t do the triple jump back to back,” Christiansen said. “It was a quick turnaround. It was good training, though. It was beautiful. I’m glad they moved it.”

For the Rocky boys, the top placer was senior Hudson May, who placed third in the 800 meters in a time of 2:05.50, a qualifying time for the state track meet.

“He was sitting in third with two just ahead of him coming off the corner, and when he went to kick it down the stretch, his knee kind of buckled on him. You could see it,” Christiansen said. “He still prequalified, but he was right there to win it. I feel bad for him. He’s fought that injury for four years.”

Junior Will Watts continued his strong season in the sprints, placing eighth in the 100-meter dash, just 4/100s of a second off his personal record set three days earlier in Powell. He was also a member of the third-place 400-meter relay team that ran a time of 47.48, joining Landon Pruett, Cooper Ward and William Fuller.

With about a month left in the season, the sprinters are fine tuning some things and enjoying a friendly competition among themselves, Coach C said.

“This time of year, you always have a few things you’re trying to clean up,” he noted.

He said the relay team can improve, as well.

“This was the first time they ran it (in a meet). We definitely need to clean up some handoffs,” Christiansen said. “It was good to get a time.”

Sophomore Sam Loyning finished ninth in the 1,600 meters, covering the four laps in 5:14, a personal record, and senior Cole Minchow was close behind in 13th, running 5:23.99.

In field events, senior Hayden Wambeke placed eighth in the shot put with a toss of 39-11 ¾, a personal record just a couple of feet short of a qualifying mark. He also finished 14th in the discus with a throw of 93-7, topping a strong corps of Grizzly throwers.

“We have a solid corps of throwers. We have some depth there, so that is fun,” he said.

Junior Jacoby Wachob finished 10th in the pole vault, clearing 10 feet, a personal record.

Other boys results in Worland were:

100-meter dash – Cooper Ward 21st, 12.23, William Fuller 26th, 12.48; 200m dash – Fuller 30th, 25.99 (PR); long jump – Ward 19th, 15-9 (PR), Landon Pruett 26th, 14-¾; shot put – Joaquin Scheeler 17th, 36-5½, Cooper Winland 21st, 35-8 (PR), John Mader 26th, 33-7½ (PR), Kellan Jackson 29th, 32-1½, Alex Walker 35th, 30-3; discus – Scheeler 16th, 93-4, Walker 20th, 88-3; Winland 26th, 83-4 (PR), Mader 28th, 82-3.

Girls results

The top performers for the Rocky girls were pole vaulters Tarynn Schoening and Keylee Christiansen. Schoening, a senior, qualified for State and placed third in the vault by clearing 8 feet, just one level (six inches) off her personal record, and junior Christiansen placed fifth at 7-6, one notch below her PR.

Sophomore Kaysie Cooley placed sixth in the high jump, matching her PR at 4-5.

Freshman Leah Haslem placed seventh in the 800 meters in a time of 2:47.37, with fellow freshman Bailey Gifford 11th in 3:04.10, and Gifford placed eighth in the 400-meter dash in 1:10.32, which raised some eyebrows at her first meet, Christiansen said.

“She surprised some people in the 400,” he said. “She’s a hard worker. We’ll see her improve on that. Leah and Bailey like to train together. They’re a good duo and like to help each other out.”

Haslem also placed eighth in the 3,200 meters, running a time of 14:43.14.

Senior Brittly Boettcher finished ninth in the 100-meter dash in her first meet of the year after nursing an injury, sprinting to the finish line in 14.10. Freshman Kennedy Brimhall finished 12th in 14.53.

“We got Brit back doing some stuff. She’s day to day with the hurdles,” Christiansen said.

Junior Kamryn Welling was competitive in the 300-meter low hurdles, finishing 10th in 56.54, a personal record, and senior Rebecca Herren finished 11th in the 1,600 meters in 7:31.80.

Other girls results in Worland were:

100m dash – Kamryn Welling 18th, 15.13; 200m dash – Charlee Welling 15th, 29.75, Kennedy Brimhall 21st, 30.49, Evynn Alvarez 33rd, 38.79; 1,600 meters – Rebecca Herren 11th, 7:31.80, Evynn Alvarez 12th, 8:19.24, Ellie Alvarez 13th, 8:39.49; long jump – Evynn Alvarez 26th, 10-2¾, Charlee Welling 27th, 9-6½, Ellie Alvarez 28th, 8-2¾; shot put – Elliahna Scheeler 16th, 26-½ (PR); discus – Scheeler 13th, 85-8.

The Grizzlies had the weekend off and will return to action Saturday when they host the Rocky Mountain Invitational. Action begins at 9:30 a.m. with field events and the 3,200-meter relay. Other running events begin at 10:15 a.m.

“We’re looking forward to our home meet. Familiarity with our complex always helps,” Christiansen said.

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.