Lovell thinclads set three new school records at home

Another meet, another school record -- or three. Competing at the best-of-the-best Wyoming Track Classic in Casper Friday, then hosting their own invitational at the LHS track on Saturday, the Lovell Bulldogs set several more personal records, broke two school records and tied a third.

Conditions were perfect for success on Saturday.

“Whenever the weather is nice, it’s always better,” head coach Joshua Sanders said. “Distance runners like it cooler, which is why we run the 3,200 in the morning. It moved along quickly and didn’t drag on all day. That’s good.”

The Lovell boys recorded 14 personal records and had 20 placers this week, while the Lovell girls set eight PRs and had 29 placers. The Lovell girls won the meet Saturday, topping a field of nine with 157 points to 149.5 for Powell. Powell won the boys division with 172.5 points, and Lovell was second with 121.5.

Eight Lovell athletes also qualified for and competed in the Wyoming Track Classic Friday.

Sanders named senior Owen Walker as the male athlete of the week for his performances in Casper and Lovell. Walker won the triple jump in Lovell Saturday with a leap of 42-3¼ and placed third in the long jump at the Track Classic, hitting the sand at 21-2½ after being seeded seventh. He also placed fourth in Casper in the high jump, clearing a season best 6-4, while junior Kaeson Anderson placed seventh, clearing 6 feet.

“Owen rose to the occasion (in Casper),” Sanders said. “He had a good meet there.”

Having already competed in the long jump and high jump the day before, Walker entered the shot put for the fun of it Saturday and threw more than 40 feet after practicing “for a couple of minutes,” Sanders said.

Sophomore Hunter Krei ran under 11 seconds in the 100-meter dash for the second and third consecutive meet, placing second at the Track Classic with a personal record of 10.82 and winning the 100 on Saturday in Lovell at 10.93.

“It’s no fluke, right?” Sanders said of the sub-11 times. “His start is his strength. He’s got good explosive speed. His top speed isn’t as fast as some competitors, but the first part of the race is where he excels.”

Anderson placed sixth in the 100 meters Saturday in a personal record time of 11.71, and he placed in both hurdles races, finishing second in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 43.10 and sixth in the 110-meter high hurdles at 16.38, a personal record. He also placed third in the triple jump Saturday, sailing 37-5¼.

Senior Matthew Newman had an outstanding weekend. He broke his own school record in the 300-meter hurdles Friday in Casper, running a time of 38.33.

“He won big,” Sanders said. “No one touched him.”

Newman tied the school record in the 110-meter high hurdles Saturday, winning the event in 15.21, a personal record time that ties the school record set by Dan Nicholls in 1998. He also placed second in the triple jump at the Track Classic Friday with a leap of 45-11¾.

The Lovell 400-meter relay team of Jacob Thomas, Krei, Nate Cornia and Newman won in a time of 43.72, a time just 7/100ths of a second off the school record set in 2024 and tied in 2025.

Thomas also set a personal record in the 800 meters, running the two laps in 2:09.25 to place fifth.

“This is our second year with the new track, and we appreciate having it,” Sanders said. “It does make a difference. We’ve had fewer injuries, and we’re faster. It feels better to race on that surface, and other schools like it.”

Senior Owen Edwards won the pole vault, clearing 12 feet, and Cornia placed fifth in the long jump at 18-9½.

Sanders noted that senior Halen Strom came through in a big way at the Track Classic Friday. He qualified for the shot put as the ninth seed but placed third with a personal record throw of 52-1¾. He also won the shot in Lovell the next day, throwing 51-9½, and placed fourth in the discus at 129-7.

Senior Kyle Wilson placed third in the discus Saturday with a toss of 130-5, a half inch off his personal record set the week before in Cowley.

“Kyle is showing consistency hitting 130 again. He’s not a one-hit wonder,” Sanders said.

Junior Joaquin Scheeler placed fifth in the discus with a throw of 123-9, a personal record, and Grant Hill was eighth at 119-5.

Other boys results in Lovell Saturday were:

100m dash – Nate Cornia ninth, 11.76 (PR), Owen Walker 14th, 11.91, Anthony Garcia 32nd, 12.45, Robert Capers 39th, 12.78 (PR), Kelvin Robertson 42nd, 13.00(PR), Karson Seitz 43rd, 13.03, Brandon Jasso 48th, 13.74; 200m dash – Capers 18th, 26.58; 800 meters – Gabe Buchholz 15th, 2:35.57 (PR), Ethan Hendershot 16th, 2:40.10; 1,600 meters – Grant Rose sixth, 5:39.89 (PR), Hendershot eighth, 5:51.14 (PR); 1,600m relay (Seitz, Robertson, Jasso, Connor Grant) second, 4:16.25; 1,600m sprint medley relay (Garcia, Capers, Rose, Hendershot) third, 4:23.38; long jump – Garcia 11th, 17-10¼, Capers 23rd, 16-4¾, Seitz 27th, 15-7¼; pole vault – Jasso 10th, 8-0; shot put – Walker 14th, 40-3, Grant Hill tie-17th, 39-7 (PR), Joaquin Scheeler tie-20th, 38-9¼, Matthew Newman 24th, 37-5½, Sam Cordova 28th, 35-6¾, Gage Pillow 39th, 31-6 (PR), Kajyn Claime 45th, 27-½, Tejeo Scheeler 48th, 26-5; discus – Cordova 25th, 100-10, Cliame 40th, 79-4 (PR), Pillow 43rd, 74-0 (PR), T. Scheeler 48th, 65-8.

Girls results

Sanders announced Avery Walker as the female athlete of the week. The sophomore “set a huge PR” in the high jump Saturday, he said, clearing 5-3 to win the event. She also set a personal record in the long jump, winning the event at 16-9 and qualifying for State, and placed sixth in the triple jump at the Track Classic with a leap of 36-1½.

“That was a tremendous jump (high jump),” Sanders said, “and then she came out and prequalified in the long jump. She was on fire.”

Twin sister Ali Walker placed fourth in the triple jump at the Track Classic, sailing a personal record 36-5¾, and she also set a PR in the long jump Saturday, placing second behind Avery at 16-4.

Lovell had six of the eight placing spots in the long jump Saturday. After the Walker sisters, senior Becca Nichols placed third with a jump of 15-6¼, Jaycie Allen fourth at 15-5½, Ava Edwards seventh at 15-1¾, a PR, and Brooklin Clark eighth at 14-10.

Asked about the success of the jumpers, Sanders said it’s combination of speed and technique, noting, “We were working on a variety of things this week like attacking the board better and maintaining our speed.”

Nichols placed third in the triple jump Saturday with a leap of 32 feet, and freshman Macie Anderson was fourth at 31-11½, a personal record.

Junior Celeste Lindsay had another strong throwing weekend. On Friday in Casper, she placed seventh in the shot put at the Track Classic with a toss of 36-5, then placed second Saturday at 38-9. She threw the discus 112-1 Friday to place ninth, then placed third in Lovell at 114-6.

“I don’t think Lovell has ever brought that many athletes (eight) and placed that well (at the Wyoming Track Classic),” Sanders said. “That was by far the best Track Classic we’ve been a part of.”

Freshman Morgan Harshman placed third in the shot put Saturday with a personal record toss of 36-9½ to qualify for State. Sanders noted her throw was the top throw for a freshman in school history.

In running events, the 400-meter relay team of Nichols, Avery and Ali Walker and Anderson crushed a school record that had stood since 2006. The quartet won the race in 51 seconds, topping the record of 51.74 set by Sarah Feldman, Kelsi Geiser, Meredith Asay and Betsy Bischoff in 2006.

“That was huge. That record has been around for a while,” Sanders noted.

In the individual sprints, Nichols placed second in the 100-meter dash in 13.31, and Avery Walker placed eighth at 13.78. Ali Walker placed second in the 200-meter dash in 27.90, with Anderson fifth in 28.06. Gracie Angell placed fourth in the 400-meter dash in 1:09.24, Toree Herman fifth in 1:10.47 and Kaycie Marberry sixth in 1:11.80 (PR).

Junior Kandace Asay ran well in the 1,600 meters, placing third in a personal record time of 5:39.44, and Candace Walker placed third in the 3,200 meters in 14.45.55, a PR.

Hurdlers were strong Saturday. Clark placed second in the 300-meter low hurdles in a time of 49.30 and third in the 100-meter intermediate hurdles in 17.39. Myles May placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles in 17.70 (PR) and finished ninth in the 300 hurdles in 55.85. Edwards placed eighth and set PRs in both the 100 hurdles (18.22) and 300 hurdles (54.53).

Other girls results in Lovell Saturday were:

100m dash – Ava Edwards 19th, 14.62 (PR), Alynna Monterde 26th, 15.83, Sofia Khan 28th, 16.33 (PR), Kylie Carabay 31st, 16.51 (PR), Isabella Martinez 33rd, 18.25 (PR); 200m dash – Kaycie Marberry 17th, 31.85 (PR); 1,600 meters – Bonnie Buchholz 12th, 7:02.93; 1,600m relay (Gracie Angell, Caylee Herman, Toree Herman, Jaycie Allen) fourth, 4:48.27; 1,600m sprint medley relay (Allen, Myles May, Toree Herman, Eliza Wagner) fourth, 5:20.49; long jump – Macie Anderson 10th, 14-5, Angell 17th, 12-11½, Khan 20th, 12-¼; triple jump – Angell 17th, 29- 1¾; shot put– Christina Zollman ninth, 31-9 ½, Brynnlee Spanier 11th, 29-11, Sady Espinoza 30th, 20-7¼; discus – Zollman 16th, 80-2, Morgan Harshman 17th, 76-6, Spanier 22nd, 72-1, Espinoza 32nd, 56-8.

Thermopolis meet

The Bulldogs will travel to Thermopolis Friday for the Bobcat Invitational. Events begin at 10 a.m.

The Class 3A West Regional meet follows on May 15-16 in Pinedale.