Grizzly thinclads fine tune, look forward to final three meets

As they head down the final stretch of the 2025 season, the Rocky Mountain track and field squad is rounding into shape with one regular season and two postseason meets to go.

Head coach Tobee Christiansen said the team is pretty well set for events and is just working on the finer points of certain events in final meets including the Lovell Invitational held Friday.

“We’ll taper a little bit before Regionals, but the kids are pretty honed (for events) and know where they’ll compete for Regionals,” he said.

For the Lady Grizzlies, both pole vaulters, senior Tarynn Schoening and junior Keylee Christiansen, matched their personal records, Schoening placing second with a vault of 8-6 and Christiansen placing third at 8 feet.

“They had a good day,” Coach C said. “It was a good day for vaulting, and they’ve been putting in the time.”

Sophomore Kaysie Cooley placed sixth in the high jump, clearing a personal record 4-7.

“Kaysie is pretty springy, and a lot of it is just timing, too,” Christiansen noted. “Kids PRing this time of year is always fun to see.”

The Lady Grizz put together a 1,600-meter spring medley relay team for the first time this season and placed third with a strong time of 5:03.59. Running the relay were Kennedy Brimhall, Kamryn Welling, Bailey Gifford and Leah Haslem.

“They did a good job,” Christiansen said of the quartet, whose time is just five seconds off the state qualification standard.

The team of Charlee Welling, Brimhall, Cooley and Brittly Boettcher placed fifth in the 400-meter relay, running a time of 54.64.

Haslem placed fourth in the 1,600 meters, covering the four laps in 6:27.47, and Ellie Alvarez placed eighth in 8:00.02, sister Evynn Alvarez ninth in 8:18.723.

Boettcher ran her best time of the season so far in the 100-meter intermediate hurdles, placing seventh in 18.69, and Kamryn Welling placed seventh in the 300-meter low hurdles in 57.19.

Other girls results from the Lovell meet were:

100m dash – Brittly Boettcher 15th, 14.03, Kennedy Brimhall 21st, 14.38 (PR), Evynn Alvarez 27th, 17.37; 200m dash – Charlee Welling 13th, 29.29, Brimhall 15th, 29.71; 400m dash – Bailey Gifford 14th, 1:12.87, Delyla Welling 15th, 1:18.52 (PR); long jump – Charlee Welling 20th, 12-9½, Evynn Alvarez 29th, 8-10½, Ellie Alvarez 30th, 7-7; high jump – Keylee Christiansen 10th, 4-3; shot put – Elliahna Scheeler 25th, 24-11; discus – Scheeler 18th, 75-10.

Boys results

Senior Hudson May was the top placer for the Rocky Mountain boys, placing second in the 800 meters in a time of 2:09.15.

“Hudson got boxed in during the first 100 meters, and that kind of hurt him,” Christiansen said. “We’ve got to get him out a little quicker this week.”

Sophomore Sam Loyning placed eighth in the 800 in 2:20.01, and he placed third in the 1,600 meters, running the four laps in 5:04.26, a PR by 10 seconds.

“The last few weeks he’s taken seconds off his time,” Coach C noted.

Senior Cole Minchow placed fifth in the 1,600 meters in 5:31.55.

The 400-meter relay team of William Fuller, Landon Pruett, Cooper Ward and Will Watts placed third in a season-best time of 46.64, and Christiansen said there is still some improvement to be had.

“There’s still one handoff we need to clean up, one exchange,” he said.

Watts placed sixth in the 200-meter dash, racing the half lap in 23.52, a personal record.

“His start is better,” Christiansen noted. “He’s just getting stronger and running his corner a little better.”

In field events, Rocky Mountain’s six throwers had a strong day. Senior Hayden Wambeke placed eighth in the discus, flinging the discus a personal record 114-2¾. Sophomore Joaquin Scheeler threw a personal record 102-10 to finish 10th, and sophomore Kellan Jackson finished 12th at 100-10½. Alex Walker improved his personal record by more than 10 feet, finishing 17th with a toss of 98-7.

Scheeler finished 10th in the shot put with a toss of 38-6, just four inches off his PR, and freshman Alex Walker and Jackson tied for 14th at 36-10½, a PR by more than three feet for Walker. Freshman Cooper Winland threw a personal record 36-5 in the shot to finish 17th.

“That’s a fun group,” Christiansen said. “They have a friendly competition going on there.”

Junior Jacoby Wachob tied for sixth in the pole vault, clearing 10 feet to tie his personal record.

Other boys results from the Lovell meet were:

100m dash – Cooper Ward 11th, 12.18 (PR), Landon Pruett 20th, 12.42, William Fuller 22nd, 12.54, Austin Weller 53rd, 14.34; 200m dash – Weller 38th, 29.58; long jump – Fuller 15th, 17-2¼, Ward 22nd, 15-10, Joaquin Scheeler 26th, 15-2½; shot put – Hayden Wambeke tie-21st, 34-10, John Mader 33rd, 31-3; discus – Mader 23rd, 91-5 (PR), Cooper Winland 32nd, 75-7½.

Thermopolis Friday

The Grizzlies will travel south Friday for the Bobcat Invitational, hosted by Hot Springs County High School in Thermopolis. Running and field events begin at 1 p.m.

The 2A West Regional Track and Field meet follows on Friday and Saturday, May 16-17, in Shoshoni.