Personal bests for Lady Bulldogs at LA Kohnke Powell Invitational

A beautiful spring day in Park County provided the Lovell Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs with the perfect backdrop for some personal best performances at the 2024 LA Kohnke Invitational in Powell last Saturday. 

“It was an awesome weather day especially for the sprints and jumps, and we had some fantastic performances in both those areas,” commented Coach Josh Sanders in regards to the Powell meet. 

Adnan Khan, the Bulldog athlete of the week, led a strong performance by the Bulldogs in the long and triple jumps by winning the long jump event with a leap of 20-9 1/2  and was closely followed by teammates Gavin Robertson, who placed second just an inch behind Khan with a mark of 20-8 3/4, and Owen Walker took third with a jump of 20-7. Blake Wilson was in eighth place with a jump of 18-7 3/4, giving the Bulldogs four jumpers in the top eight. 

The trio of Khan, Robertson and Walker have been pushing to hit the 21 foot plateau “so they are almost disappointed with a 20-foot leap in the long jump,” stated Sanders. “They all want that magical 21’ mark,” Sanders reflected on the performances of his jumpers. In regards to Robertson, Sanders said, “Gavin has been jumping consistently over the past two meets, which is good to see.” 

The Bulldog jumpers also performed well in the triple jump with Matthew Newman leading the way with a third place finish with a jump of 42-3 3/4, with Khan just 1⁄2 inch behind in fourth place at 42-3 1/4. Wilson was fifth with a mark of 41-3 3/4, and Walker placed sixth with a jump of 41-1/4. 

The weather was also excellent for some very fast times in the sprints with Khan placing fifth in the 100 meters with a time of 11.40 seconds and fourth in the 200 meters in 24.05 seconds. Also placing in the 100 meters were Robertson, who placed seventh in 11.47 seconds and Newman in eighth place with a time of 11.74 seconds. Nate Cornia placed in the 400 meters, finishing in seventh place with a time of 58.42. 

Newman had an excellent race in the 800 meters, placing second with a very good time of 2:01.68 and is looking to “dip under the 2-minute mark and challenge the school record,” commented Sanders. AJ Clark was able to push into the top eight in the 800 meters with an eighth place finish in a time of 2:17.50. In the 3,200-meter run, it was Stetson Asay placing seventh for the Bulldogs in a time of 11:39.32. 

Leading the Bulldogs in the hurdle races was Kaeson Anderson, who placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 18.20 seconds. The Bulldogs put together a top three performance in the 3,200-meter relay with Clark, Asay, Jacob Thomas and Damian Wagner, who finished in third place with a time of 9:33.07. 

There were several other strong performances in the remaining field events led by Halen Strom, who placed second in the discus with a throw of 141-11 and seventh in the shot put with a toss of 42-1 1/2. 

“His discus throw has him now ranked seventh on the all-time list for Lovell High School throwers,” said Sanders. “I have been very impressed with Halen Strom. Three weeks in a row he has had significant personal records in the discus.” 

In the pole vault it was Taggart Shumway placing for the Bulldogs with a vault of 11-0 to finish in sixth place. 

In the boys division the Cody Broncs came away with the championship trophy scoring 188.5 points, followed by the host Powell Panthers in second with 148 points. Riverton placed third with 129 points, Lovell fourth with 91.5 and Burlington fifth with 51 points. Other teams competing were Worland 27 points, Rocky Mountain 11 points, Meeteetse 5 points and Greybull 2 points. 

Celeste Lindsay had an excellent meet at the LA Kohnke Invite and was named the Lady Bulldog athlete of the week for her outstanding performances in the shot put, discus and long jump. Sanders felt this was a good bounce back meet for her. 

“She had personal records in all three of her events, and her discus throw puts her No. 3 all-time for Lovell High School,” Sanders commented. In addition to her discus throw her toss in the shot put now has her ranked No. 5 all-time. 

With Celeste pushing her older sister Carissa in both throws, the pair placed second and third in the shot put and third and fifth place in the discus. Carissa had a mark 36-1 to place second in the shot put, with Celeste in third place with a toss of 34-7 1/2.  In the discus it was Carissa placing third with a throw of 108-0 and Celeste just a foot behind in fifth place with a mark of 107-0. 

Brooklin Clark had another great week according to Sanders. “She is starting to understand good running form, and it is helping her achieve personal records in the 100-meter hurdles and long jump,” commented Sanders. “She hit 15-8 1/2 on her last jump in the long jump, and I think it kind of surprised her.” Clark was able to place second with that jump, and Celeste Lindsay placed sixth with a new PR jump of 15-1. 

In the running events Clark was seventh in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.95 seconds and ninth in the 400 meters in 1:05.04. Becca Nichols was the top finisher for the Lady Bulldogs in the sprints placing fifth in both the 100 meters in a time of 13.56 seconds and the 200 meters with a time of 27.59 seconds. Keyanna Walker was Lovell’s top finisher in the 800 meters with a time of 2:52.02 to place 10th. 

The Lady Bulldogs 3,200-meter relay team of Nichols, Walker, Kandace Asay and Jenna Hessenthaler placed third with a time of 10:59.13. 

The champion of the girls division was the host Powell Lady Panthers with 183.5 points, followed by Cody in second with 172.5 points, and Worland was third with 112 points. In fourth place was Riverton with 64 points, fifth place Lovell 51 points, sixth place Rocky Mountain 30.5 points, Burlington 15.5 points and Greybull 3 points. 

Lovell High School will be hosting the Lovell Invitational Track and Field meet this Saturday and Sanders said, “We are looking forward to having a solid meet in Lovell. It is our last opportunity to secure spots for the Track Classic the following week.”