Indoor thinclads rounding into shape

As the indoor track season heads toward the state championships in two weeks, the Lovell Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs continued to show improvement at their last meet in the Sheridan Broncs Invitational held in Gillette on February 15. 

 Halen Strom helped lead the Bulldogs to a sixth-place tie with Torrington with a second-place finish in the shot put with a new PR (personal record) of 47-10.25. He is currently ranked third in Class 3A. Coach AJ Montanez stated that he feels that Strom will continue to improve as they head toward the state meet.

“Halen has been working hard, and we look for continued progress as the season starts to wind down and we prepare for State,” Montanez said. 

The other athletes that placed for the Bulldogs were Gavin Robertson, eighth in the 200-meter run with a time of 24.45 and Jaxon Pluhar fifth in the high jump with a jump of 5-6. Robertson also placed 10th in the 55-meter dash
with a time of 6.87 seconds and 12th in the long jump with a mark of 18-5.

Coach Montanez was pleased with Robertson’s performances, two of which were PRs for the team leader.

“Gavin had two big PRs in the 55 meters and the 200 meters against stiff competition. He works very hard and is a leader on the team. It is great to see him have success in competition.” 

Other top finishers for Lovell were William Watts, 19th in the 55 meters in 7.08 seconds and ninth in the 200 meters in 24.71. Jacob Thomas was ninth in the 400 meters in 56.33, and Stetson Asay was 10th in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 12:19.78 and 12th in the 1,600 meters in 5:32.06. 

Thunder Basin won the boys division with 149.5 points while Lovell and Torrington each scored 13 points. 

Girls results

Although the Lady Bulldogs did not score at the Broncs Invitational, they had some good performances as they continue to work toward peaking in the next two weeks of the season. 

Janelle Hessenthaler was the top performer for Lovell with a 29th-place finish in the 55-meter dash with a time of 8.06 and 22nd in the 200 meters in 30.02.

“Janelle is a very young sprinter who continues to impress. She broke her PRs in both the 55 meters and the 200 meters, and based on what I’ve seen in practice she has more in the tank,” Montanez noted.

Also competing at the meet for the Lady Bulldogs was Kaitlynn Robison, who placed 63rd in the 55 meters with a time of 8.90 and 34th
in the long jump with a mark of 11-9.5. 

 The Lovell teams will be competing this Friday at the Park County Invitational that will also be held in Gillette. Coach Montanez feels the teams have performed well but are at a disadvantage against other 3A schools because of the lack of meets on their schedule and the large gaps between meets.

“We have performed well, but we find ourselves at a disadvantage throughout the season because of how few meets we are able to attend,” he said. “Our practice-to-competition ratio is very unbalanced, so I am very impressed with the athletes’ ability to take advantage of the opportunities they get to go out and compete.”

 The Lovell teams will be competing at the 3A State Championships in Gillette on March 6-7. When asked about his thoughts on the state meet, Coach Montanez stated, “As we approach the end of the season I expect to see more PRs broken and outstanding performances from our athletes.”