Lindsay breaks two school records, Newman one, at Worland

Competing for the second time in the young outdoor track and field season, the Lovell Bulldogs produced some more strong performances at the D&D Invitational in Worland last Thursday, April 2.

Lovell thinclads broke three school records in just the second meet of the season. Senior Matthew Newman, running the 400-meter dash for just the second time in three seasons and the first time this year, broke the school record by sprinting the oval in a time of 49.73, beating the time of 50.27 set by Ben Nichols in 2022. Newman placed first in Worland and easily qualified for the state track meet.

“That kind of surprised me,” Lovell coach Joshua Sanders said. “I was thinking he’d be in the low 50s, but I had no idea he would go sub-50. For him to do 49, we’ve never had that in Lovell. That’s a tremendous time. I guess I should have seen it coming.

“He’s had some good ‘fly 10’ times in practice (a sprinting drill for time improvement). Kids are able to see how fast they’re going.”

Newman also won the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.38, setting a personal record and approaching the school record of 15.21 set by Dan Nicholls in 1998.

“We really want him to get that (record),” Sanders said. “He’s getting down there.”

Newman added a third first-place medal in the long jump, hitting the sand at 21-2¾, setting his third PR of the meet.

“He’s definitely a versatile athlete, one of the most versatile athletes we’ve had at Lovell High School,” Sanders said, noting that Newman can place high in multiple events at State.

Lindsay flings it

Meanwhile, junior Celeste Lindsay set two school records. Lindsay crushed her sister Carissa’s record in the discus with a first-place throw of 120-3, topping the mark of 112-11 set by Carissa in 2024. Celeste easily qualified for State with the toss.

“She didn’t participate last year (knee injury),” Sanders said, “and it almost feels like she’s saying, ‘Because I missed a year, I’m coming out full throttle.’”

Lindsay also won the shot put with a toss of 39-10¾, topping the record of 38-7¼ set by Summer Teter in 2024.

“She was close last week,” Sanders noted. “We talked about that possibly happening, and she did it. Her next benchmark is 40 feet. She’s definitely a dedicated athlete.”

In other boys results, junior Tazz McArthur was strong in the throws, placing second in the discus with a throw of 137-5 and seventh in the shot put at 41-5, qualifying for State in the discus. Senior Halen Strom placed fifth in the discus with a toss of 124-4.

McArthur was named the male athlete of the week for his performance.

“He had a monster throw in the discus,” Sanders said, “and he threw it on his final attempt in the finals. I think Tazz was pretty jacked to get that.”

In other boys results, sophomore Hunter Krei placed second in the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.41, less than a 10th of a second behind first-place finisher Braxton Nelson of Powell.

“His hip was bothering him from the get-go,” Sanders noted. “He led for the first 50 meters, and you could see him pull up near the end. He’s the number two sophomore all time (in the 100) at LHS.”

Junior Nate Cornia tied for eighth in a time of 11.9. Cornia also placed only behind Newman in the long jump, sailing a personal record 18-11¾ to place second.

“Nate had a good meet,” Sanders said. “His goal has been 19 feet in the long jump, and he goes 18-11¾. We thought he had it. That’s as close as you can get.”

Owen Edwards started his senior season with a third-place finish in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 10-6.

“I was glad to see him get over the bar because of the things he’s had to deal with injury wise (knee injury),” Sanders said.

Senior Jacob Thomas placed fourth in the 400 meters behind Newman, running a time of 53.53.

“Jacob ran a really good time. He’s starting to hit times he had last year before his (calf) injury,” Sanders noted. “It (the time) wasn’t obvious, because Matthew was running such a fast race.”

In the only relay entry of the meet for the Bulldogs, the team of Isaac Sanders, Ethan Hendershot, Grant Rose and Rick Jensen placed fourth in the 3,200-meter relay in 10:08.66.

Still short a few athletes, the Lovell boys placed sixth in Worland with 76.5 points.

Other Lovell boys results in Worland were:

100m dash – Jacob Thomas 19th, 12.26 (PR), Robert Capers 50th, 13.24 (PR), Karson Seitz 53rd, 13.35, Brandon Jasso 56th, 13.51 (PR), Connor Grant 69th, 14.15, Kelvin Robertson 73rd, 14.88; 400m dash – Grant Rose 13th, 1:02.44; 800 meters – Gabriel Buchholz 17th, 2:39.40, Rose 18th, 2:39.42; 1,600 meters – Isaac Sanders 12th, 5:47.45, Rick Jensen 14th, 5:50.33 (PR), Ethan Hendershot 18th, 6:09.60; long jump – Dean Anderson 11th,17-5 (PR), Seitz 12th, 17-¾, Capers 14th,16-7 (PR), Jasso 22nd, 15-10¼ (PR), Grant 29th, 14-10; shot put – Sam Cordova 22nd, 35-5(PR), Gage Pillow 47th, 30-3½ (PR), Tejeo Scheeler 55th, 28-2½, Isaac Blau and Michael Cornia tie-65th, 26-¾; discus – Kyle Wilson 12th, 109-0, Anderson 30th, 96-7, Cordova 38th, 83-1, Robertson 48th, 79-11, Pillow 73rd, 63-7, Scheeler 77th, 58-8, Blau 80th, 55-5.

Girls results

Sophomore Christina Zollman placed sixth in the shot put with a personal-record toss of 33-¼ and was named the female athlete of the week.

“She’s been throwing really well,” Sanders said. “She’s definitely been on our radar. She had a good indoor season, so we knew she’d been throwing well. Her shot put is number two for sophomores all time at Lovell.”

The Lovell girls were strong in the 100-meter intermediate hurdles Thursday, as well. Junior Brooklin Clark placed fourth in a time of 17.87, and freshman Myles May topped her time from the Cody meet, placing sixth in 18.24, which is the fourth best freshman time at LHS. Clark also placed fifth in the long jump with a leap of 15-1¾ and sixth in the triple jump, hitting the sand in 32-1. Sophomore Jaycie Allen nearly placed in the long jump, finishing 10th in 13-10½.

Junior Kandace Asay had a strong run in the 800 meters Thursday, placing seventh and setting a new personal record in a time of 2:34.40.

“I liked Kandace Asay’s 800. I’m glad she’s focusing on that,” Sanders said. “I think she’s a talented mid-distance runner. I anticipate she’ll be able to get into the 2:20s. She works super hard.”

The Lady Bulldogs placed sixth in Worland with 40 points.

Other Lovell girls results in Worland were:

100m dash – Jaycie Allen 21st, 14.84, Myles May 24th, 15.23, Lindsey Scheid-Leonhardt 28th, 15.43 (PR), Claire Shumway 29th, 15.54 (PR), Alynna Monterde 35th, 15.95, Sofia Khan 45th, 16.57, Kylie Carabay 49th, 17.62, Isabella Martinez 50th, 19.46; 400m dash – Toree Herman 12th, 1:09.54, Brooklin Clark 13th, 1:09.62, Eliza Wagner 16th, 1:12.01; 800 meters – Caylee Herman 11th, 2:54.94, Gracie Angell 14th, 3:00.42, Candace Walker 17th, 3:08.16; long jump – Shumway 13th, 13-3¼, May 18th, 13-1¼, Monterde tie-21st, 12-9, Khan 28th, 11-5¾; triple jump – Angell 19th, 29-1; shot put – Randi Ayotte 29th, 24-2, Ariana Nuttall 41st, 17-8; discus – Christina Zollman 13th, 82-3, Ayotte 23rd, 72-10½, Nuttall 48th, 42-1.

Powell meet

Both the Lovell Bulldogs and the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies will compete in the LA Kohnke Invitational in Powell this Saturday. Action begins at 9 a.m. with field events. Relays start running events at 9:15 and 9:30 a.m., and individual running events begin at 11 a.m. with the 100- and 110-meter hurdles.

“This is the first time all of our athletes will be competing,” Sanders said. “I’m excited to see where they’re at.”