Grizzly thinclads enjoy home cooking at RMHS Invitational

By: 
David Peck

A quick count of the results of the Rocky Mountain Invitational track and field meet Saturday shows some 27 personal records set by RMHS athletes, showing that the Grizzlies are peaking at the right time with the regional and state track meets approaching.
“Any time you have that many kids PR, you’re definitely heading in the right direction,” Rocky head coach Tobee Christiansen said.
Among the many highlights for the Lady Grizz was the performance of the throwers, as all four RMHS athletes threw personal records in the shot put, led by senior Rylee Winland, who set a PR with a fourth-place toss of 34-6.
“Rylee loves track,” Christiansen said. “She gets over there and puts in time, and it’s paying off for her. She’s chasing that 35-foot throw.”
Senior Katelynne Herren crushed her PR in the shot put by more than three feet, throwing 26-5 to finish 13th.
Winland also set a PR in the discus with a throw of 88-6, good for 10th place, and junior Elliahna Scheeler placed seventh at 97-3.
“So many little things go into your field events especially, just the repetition this time of year,” Coach C said. “Overall, we’re working on form and timing and muscle memory, and of course we’ve got to maintain shape.”
All three Rocky Mountain Lady Grizz pole vaulters have now qualified for the state track meet by reaching the 7-6 qualification height. Junior Tarynn Schoening tied her PR and placed third by clearing 8 feet, and both sophomores, Layla Gardner and Keylee Christiansen, cleared 7-6 to earn a place at State, tying for fifth place Saturday.
“They’ve worked hard,” Coach Christiansen said. “That’s a technical event. They’ve put in a lot of time, a lot of repetition and a lot of drills.”
In jumps, Christiansen was pleased to see continued improvement by freshman Charlee Welling in the long jump. Welling set a personal record by sailing 14-3, placing sixth, and senior Kaitey Christensen placed eighth at 14-2.
Senior MacKelle Moss tied for third in the high jump, clearing 4-11, and Christiansen nearly placed, finishing ninth with a personal-record height of 4-5.
Moss powered to a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash, winning by a remarkable four seconds with a time of 1:01.90, just 3/10ths of a second off her personal record. Evynn Alvarez placed fifth in 1:20.66 (PR), Ellie Alvarez sixth in 1:30.77.
Freshman Kaysie Cooley ran the 800 meters for the first time in high school and placed fifth in a time of 2:51.50, Christiansen noted, and Welling set a PR in the 200-meter dash, placing sixth in 29.04, with junior Brittly Boettcher seventh in 29.11.
Boettcher placed well in the 100-meter dash, but a timing issue on the fifth heat rendered no official time.
Boettcher did place third in the 100-meter intermediate hurdles in a season best time of 18.01.
“Brit is starting to hurdle better,” Coach C noted.
The foursome of Shelby Wambeke, Boettcher, Moss and Christensen placed second in the 400-meter relay, running the lap in 53.47.

Other girls results from the RMHS Invitational were:
100m dash – Shelby Wambeke 10th, 13.97, Tarynn Schoening 15th, 14.70, Layla Gardner 24th, 15.90 (PR), Evynn Alvarez 27th, 16.24, Ellie Alvarez 29th, 18.38; 800 meters – Emma Sponsel ninth, 3:13.10 (PR); 1,600 meters – Gwynff Bodtke seventh, 8:08.87; long jump – Sponsel 15th, 11-5½, Evynn Alvarez 16th, 10-5½ (PR), Ellie Alvarez 17th, 6-10; triple jump – Keylee Christiansen 14th, 28-10½ (PR), Sponsel 17th, 26-8½; shot put – Elliahna Scheeler 18th, 24-3 (PR), Evynn Alvarez 30th, 14-11½ (PR); discus – Katelynne Herren 19th, 69-10.

Boys results
Junior Hudson May led the Rocky boys by winning the 400-meter dash in 53.23, joined by three placing teammates in the single lap race. Senior Noah Bisby placed sixth in 1:02.74, William Fuller seventh in 1:02.84 and sophomore Landon Pruett eighth at 1:03.28.
Will Watts placed fourth in the 200-meter dash with a personal record time of 24.59, and May was fifth in 24.81.
“Hudson is a hard worker,” Christiansen said. “He’s one of those kids who always wants to do more.”
Watts placed seventh in the 100-meter dash in 12.19, a PR.
Freshman Sam Loyning ran a strong 800 meters, placing seventh in a time of 2:19.33, vanquishing his personal record by 15 seconds.
“Sam ran the first lap way too fast, but he did PR by 15 seconds, which is pretty significant,” Christiansen said.
Freshman Paul Shetler beat his PR in the 1,600 meters by more than 13 seconds, placing eighth in 5:34.06.
The 400-meter relay team of Joaquin Scheeler, Kellan Jackson, Matthew Crosby and Hayden Wambeke placed fifth in 52.72.
In field events, freshman Joaquin Scheeler set a personal record in the high jump by clearing 5-4, placing eighth, and he competed in the pole vault for the first time, tying with Dalan Wambeke for 10th place by clearing 9 feet.

Other boys results from the RMHS Invitational were:
100m dash – William Fuller 19th, 12,91 (PR), Noah Bisby 27th, 13.48, Matthew Crosby 33rd, 14.59, Race Moorehead 35th, 15.77 (PR); 800 meters – Paul Shetler 13th, 2:43.62 (PR); long jump – Fuller 14th, 16-5½ (PR); high jump – Lafe Files 13th, 5-0; shot put – Kellan Jackson 10th, 34-9½ (PR), Joaquin Scheeler 11th, 34-9, Hayden Wambeke 13th, 34-3; discus – Wambeke 13th, 97-2, Jackson 16th, 93-9.

Thermop next
The Grizzlies will compete in the final regular season meet of the 2024 season Friday when they drive south for the 2024 Thermopolis Bobcat Invitational.
The meet begins at 1 p.m. with both field events and running events.
The 2A West Regional meet follows on May 10-11 in Shoshoni.

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