Lovell thinclads finish season at Cody, Thermop

The end of the season is near, and the Lovell Bulldogs are pushing for the finish line.

With the regional and state track meets approaching, the Lovell Bulldogs tuned up for the postseason at a pair of meets last week in Cody and Thermopolis.

Most of the athletes attended the Bobcat Invitational Friday in Thermop, but all but one of the throwers went to the Cody Trackstravaganza Thursday, featuring just Lovell, Cody and Powell performing on a day with rain and lightning delays.

The weather was perfect the next day in Thermopolis, however, head coach Joshua Sanders said, describing the day as sunny and warm with no wind and adding, “It couldn’t have been any better.”

Sanders said he had a plan for the final meet of the season – with a mindset of allowing some athletes a final shot at “pre-qualifying” for State while others were given a bit of a break to prepare for Regionals and State.

Senior Matthew Newman continued his remarkable season at the Bobcat Invitational, a large meet attended by 24 team, shattering his own record in the 110-meter high hurdles. Having tied Dan Nicholls’ 1998 record of 15.21 the week before at home, Newman put the pedal to the metal Friday, running the hurdles in 14.97 – and he did it on a re-run after the finish line camera failed to record the time on the first run.

“We thought on his first attempt that he broke the school record and ran in the 14s,” Sanders said. “He had to go back later and do it again, and he proved it.”

Newman won the 400-meter dash in 50.08 and ran the 100-meter dash for the second time this season, placing fifth in 11.46. He also set a new personal record in the long jump, winning the event with a jump of 22-2.

Senior Jacob Thomas placed eighth in the 400, running the lap in 54.33.

Sprinter extraordinaire Hunter Krei ran the 200-meter dash this week and won the race in 22.83, a personal record. He also joined Kaeson Anderson, Nate Cornia and Owen Walker to run the 400-meter relay in 43.90, winning the race.

Senior Owen Edwards cleared 13 feet in the pole vault for the first time to win the event, and coaches named him the male athlete of the week.

“He’s had to nurse (a knee injury) quite a bit, so I think it’s good he could get that personal record with the bum knee,” Sanders noted.

Walker and Anderson both cleared 6-1 in the high jump, with Walker placing first on misses. Walker placed second in the long jump, hitting the sand at 21-10½, and Cornia placed sixth with a personal record jump of 19-5.

Anderson had a strong meet. He placed fourth in the 300-meter hurdles in 42.92 and eighth in the 100-meter dash, running a personal record time of 11.58 to qualify for State.

Throwers at Cody

Lovell throwers performed well at the Trackstravaganza in Cody Thursday, despite rainy conditions. Senior Halen Strom set a personal record in the shot put, winning the event with a toss of 53-9½. Junior Tazz McArthur placed fourth at 43-3.

McArthur excelled in the discus, winning the event and setting a personal record by 14 feet with a throw of 151-8. Strom placed second with a toss of 133 feet, Joaquin Scheeler fifth at 121-6 and Kyle Wilson seventh at 117 feet.

“We have a cluster of throwers doing really well,” Sanders said. “Everyone is. It feels like we’re gaining momentum in all of our areas. The boys had 16 PRs this week and the girls nine.”

Other Lovell boys results in Thermopolis were:

100m dash – Jacob Thomas 12th, 11.72 (PR), Owen Walker 21st, 11.83 (PR), Nate Cornia 24th, 11.87, Robert Capers 46th, 12.54 (PR), Connor Grant 79th, 13.42 (PR), Kelvin Robertson 82nd, 13.45; 200m dash – N. Cornia 10th, 24.16 (PR), Thomas 11th, 24.23; 400m dash – Ethan Hendershot 38th, 1:04.71; 800 meters – Isaac Sanders 19th, 2:19.55, Grant Rose 26th, 2:27.37 (PR); 1,600 meters – Rose 25th, 5:40.92, Hendershot 29th, 5:49.93 (PR); 3,200 meters – Hendershot 12th, 13:39.18; 300m hurdles – Capers 21st, 50.80; long jump – Karson Seitz 23rd, 17-4½, Capers 25th, 17-2¼; triple jump – Capers 21st, 35-2; shot put in Cody – Grant Hill 12th, 38-6, Kyle Wilson 14th, 37-2½ (PR), Joaquin Scheeler 16th, 36-2, Sam Cordova 18th, 31-7½, Gage Pillow 19th, 31-5, Kajyn Cliame 21st, 29-6½ (PR), Christian Garcia 23rd, 28-2 (PR), Isaac Blau 24th, 27-10 (PR), Michael Cornia 26th 26-9, Tejeo Scheeler 27th, 26-½; discus in Cody – Hill 11th, 107-1, Dean Anderson 13th, 101-7 (PR), Cordova 16th, 98-9, M. Cornia 17th, 96-1, Pillow 21st, 91-5 (PR), Garcia 22nd, 84-3, Cliame 23rd, 78-3, T. Scheeler 26th, 65-5, Blau 27th, 55-9 (PR).

Girls results

The Walker twins had an outstanding meet in Thermop. Avery won the long jump with a leap of 16-6½, and Ali was right behind her at 16-6, a personal record. Freshman Macie Anderson placed third at 15-11¼ (PR), Becca Nichols sixth at 15-6½ and Brooklin Clark seventh, hitting the sand at 15 feet.

Avery Walker also placed second in the high jump, clearing 5-1, and seventh in the 100-meter dash in a time of 13.34 (PR), just behind Anderson, who placed sixth at 13.31 (PR).

Nichols placed fourth in the 200-meter dash, racing the half lap in 27.06 and qualifying for State, with Anderson seventh in 27.36 (PR). She also placed fourth in the triple jump at 33-5, with Anderson fifth at 31-8½.

The Walkers, Nichols and Clark combined to run the 1,600-relay in 4:20.32, a season best time, and the team of Asay, Caylee Herman, Gracie Angell and Eliza Wagner placed third in the 3,200-meter relay in 10:57.67, also a season best.

Coaches named Nichols as the female athlete of the week for her overall performance last week as a senior.

“She qualified in the 200 and ran a good split in the 1,600-meter relay, around 60 seconds for her 400,” Sanders said. “She’s in a good spot – excited to see what she can do. She’s enthusiastic about racing right now.”

Junior Kandace Asay had a strong run in the 800 meters, placing second in a personal record time of 2:27.87, topping her previous best time by more than four seconds.

“She did it back to back,” Sanders noted. “She ran a good time in the (3,200) relay that morning. She has good stamina and can recover between races.”

Clark was strong in the hurdles again, placing third in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.91, a personal record, and third in the 300-meter low hurdles in 49.48.

“Brooklin has had a really good season,” Sanders said. “She keeps getting stronger and better. I’m really happy with the way she approaches everything. She works hard.”

Throwers strong

The Lovell throwers who competed at the Trackstravaganza Thursday in Cody performed well. Junior Celeste Lindsay won both the shot put and discus, heaving the shot 39 feet and the discus 108-1. Freshman Morgan Harshman placed second in the shot put, throwing a personal record 36-9½ for the second straight week, and she placed seventh in the discus at 85-3.

Sophomore Christina Zollman placed in both events, as well: fifth in the discus at 91-8 and sixth in the shot put with a toss of 32-10½.

Other Lovell girls results in Thermopolis were:

100m dash – Ali Walker 11th, 13.51 (PR), Jaycie Allen 25th, 14.47, Myles May 36th, 14.86, Lindsey Scheid-Leonhardt 43rd 15.16 (PR), Alynna Monterde 53rd, 15.57 (PR), Kylie Carabay 76th, 16.81, Isabella Martinez 84th, 18.22 (PR); J. Allen 16th, 29.08, Kaycie Marberry 38th, 31.89, Claire Shumway 49th, 33.12; 400m dash – Toree Herman 14th, 1:11.19, Marberry 17th, 1:12.79; 800 meters – Eliza Wagner 12th, 2:45.35, Gracie Angell 17th, 2:48.48; 1,600 meters – Bonnie Buchholz 25th, 7:01.75; 3,200 meters – Candace Walker 11th, 15:35.85; 100m hurdles – May 11th, 18.07, Ava Edwards 13th, 18.23; 300m hurdles – Edwards 10th, 54.65, May 13th, 56.54; 400m relay – Lovell 11th (Monterde, Marberry, Carabay, Shumway),1:02.41; long jump – J. Allen 13th, 14-1¾, Edwards 24th, 12-9½, Shumway 28th, 12-6½; triple jump – Angell 16th, 30-4 (PR); pole vault – Shumway T-9th, 6-6; shot put – Randi Ayotte T-38th, 24-4; discus – Ayotte 61st, 54-2; shot put in Cody – Brynnlee Spanier ninth, 29-3½, Haley Sanders 10th, 28-8, Caitlyn Allen 15th, 25-7, Ariana Nuttall 18th, 20-11 (PR), Sady Espinoza 19th, 20-9; discus – Sanders 11th, 77-7, C. Allen 14th, 75-10, Espinoza 17th, 57-2, Nuttall 19th, 47-0.

Regional track meet

The Bulldogs are off to Pinedale Friday for the Class 3A West Regional meet. Action begins at 1 p.m. with the boys pole vault and triple jump and girls discus. Running begins with the 800 meters at 1:15 p.m. Saturday’s events begin at 9 a.m.

The state track meet follows in Casper May 21-23.