State champions

Lovell Bulldogs capture Class 3A track and field title in Casper

They did it! In a perfect example of teamwork in action, the Lovell Bulldogs – one of the smallest schools in the division – captured the Class 3A state track and field title over the weekend in Casper, beating much larger schools including Cody, Douglas, Worland, Lander and Powell.

The Bulldogs earned 117 points during the meet, topping Cody with 110 points, Douglas with 71 and Buffalo with 68. The Lovell boys won six meets this season including Regionals and State.

This is the first Class 3A track and field title in school history.

In the girls division, the Lady Bulldogs tied for ninth place with Pinedale, each team earning 35.5 points. Lander won the girls title going away with 149 points to 75 for Cody.

The Lovell boys broke three school records in Casper, the girls one.

Coach Joshua Sanders noted how the team came together in the right way to win the title.

“You have to have a lot of athletes across the board to win a state title, because they add the total points from all your events, and if you’re not, if you don’t have a lot of athletes, you’re not going to get enough points to win,” he said. “Everything has to fall into place. You don’t want to leak too much oil along the way. We had some areas that didn’t go as well, but then we had some areas that went better than expected.”

Sanders marveled at winning the title in Class 3A.

“C (Caleb) Sanders and I were talking about how we almost didn’t think we could get to this point again, because all of our titles have happened in 2A, and winning 3A is obviously a lot harder,” he said. “So we commented to each other several times (in recent years) that we didn’t know if this would happen again. Just this week we were kind of looking back and saying, ‘Yeah, we thought that a lot, that we didn’t think we’d get to this point again,’ especially with Cody coming down (to 3A from 4A). They have the numbers in track and field, and they’ve been very successful.”

The Bulldogs racked up the points in field events, scoring 71 points on jumps and vaults and 13 on throws to go with 33 points in running events, especially sprints and hurdles.

“They feed off each other,” Sanders said. “Several coaches have commented to me how much our kids support each other, so I do think that’s a big deal. They’re competing against each other, but they’re not enemies at all.

“And it seems like we have a lot of kids who are fast and jump well, so it makes sense to put them in the jumps. Sometimes you can have fast kids, but maybe they’re not as springy.”

Champion Bulldogs

Junior Matthew Newman brought home four individual medals from the state meet. He won the triple jump and crushed his own school record by nearly nine inches, leaping 47-5, a mark just one-half inch off the Class 3A state record set by Charlie Clinger of Star Valley in 1995.

“I wondered quite a bit if either one of those jumping records could go down, because we’ve had good jumpers and we just haven’t got there. So I wondered if this is possible. Are we going to be able to do it? Then he blows it out of the water.”

It was thought that Newman had tied or broken the record, but a meet official ruled that he had fallen just short.

“They have to verify it and make sure the tape is pulled tight and correct,” Sanders said. “I remember this happened to Karen Koritnik her junior year – same exact thing. She thought she had it, and then she lost it. They pull it tight, and they do that. I’m sure Matthew is very focused to get that next year. I bet he’s intent on getting it.

“He is so good on his technique. I mean, lots of kids have speed and they can jump, but he is technically sound. That started when he was a freshman. He would go home and practice the drills at home. He would watch video on YouTube. He just has good body control.”

Lovell dominated the event. Junior Owen Walker placed second with a personal record jump of 44-5¼, and senior Jarrett Allen placed fifth at 41-4¼, setting a personal record by nearly a foot and a half.

“This is a kid who didn’t even qualify for Regionals the last three years. In that event, he couldn’t even make it to regionals,” Sanders pointed out. “I love his story. He was just dedicated to it, and he didn’t let discouragement stop him. In the last three weeks of the season, he was in a groove. With Jarrett, too, he’s not the fastest kid, and he’s not the most springy kid, but he focused on the technical aspect, on his form – with sprinting and jumping. It made a huge difference.”

Razor close

Newman placed second in both hurdles races, running the 110-meter high hurdles in a time of 15.95 and the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 38.78, finishing second to Boston Cronebaugh of Cody by 3/1,000ths of an inch in a photo finish, officials determined.

Sophomore Kaeson Anderson placed 7th in the 300 hurdles in 43.85 after qualifying sixth in 43.32.

Walker won the high jump, clearing 6-2, and Newman placed fourth at 6 feet.

Senior Gavin Robertson placed second in the long jump and broke a 30-year-old school record. Robertson hit the sand at 22-10¼, eclipsing the record set by Trent Bowers in 1995 – 22-7¾. His jump was a half inch off the state record, and the only jumper to top him in Casper, Payson Hollingsworth, set the new state mark at 23-4.

Walker placed fourth with a leap of 22-½.

“You don’t jump 22-10 and lose hardly ever,” Sanders noted of Robertson’s second-place finish. “How would you love to end it like that, the very last jump of your high school career, and you set a new school record that you’ve been chasing forever. And Gavin’s had his ups and downs, but he’s one of the most focused seniors we’ve had.”

Robertson also placed third in the 200-meter dash in 23.64 after qualifying in 22.72, and he placed fourth in the 100-meter dash in 11.50 after qualifying third in 11.30. Freshman Hunter Krei placed fifth in the 100-meter dash in 11.68 after running 11.55 in the prelims. Krei almost made the finals in the 200-meter dash, finishing ninth in the preliminaries in 23.35.

The Bulldogs suffered disaster in the 400-meter relay when they were disqualified on the third exchange while also dropping the baton. Running the event were Anthony Garcia, Robertson, Walker and Krei. Their regional time of 44.03 would have placed the Bulldogs second for eight more team points.

Sanders said the team may have been pressing by the third handoff after the team was interfered with on the first handoff and would have likely had a re-run. But with the third handoff DQ, the first-exchange interference was a moot point.

“We would have won the darn thing, because we had changed it up,” Sanders said. “I think we really believed that we were the best team. I really think that interference on the first exchange was a bad deal and really messed with us.”

Junior Halen Strom earned two throwing medals in Casper. He placed second in the shot put with a throw of 50-2, his third consecutive meet reaching 50 feet, and he placed eighth in the discus with a toss of 135-2. Sophomore Tazz McArthur set a personal record in the discus at 135-11, good for fifth place.

The Bulldogs dominated the pole vault. Senior Taggart Shumway won the event and broke his own school record by clearing the bar at 14-3. Senior Talon Burton and junior Owen Edwards tied for third, each clearing the bar at 12-6.

“It’s a dicey event,” Sanders said. “I think that (coach) Colten Galambas has helped us this year. He’s brought some good energy. He can help the kids with some of the nuances of the event.

“You know, Taggart is a diver in swimming, so there’s kind of that gymnastics type of element that I think he really thrived in. I was really happy for both (Burton and Edwards). Tying for third with Talon as a senior, it’s a great way to cap off a career.”

 Other boys results at the state track meet were:

800 meters – Stetson Asay 15th, 2:10.14; 110-meter high hurdles – Kaeson Anderson 10th in prelims, 17.55; shot put – Brody Muller 14th, 40-6½.

Girls results

The Walker twins had an outstanding meet as freshmen. Avery Walker shattered her own school record in the triple jump by 9½ inches, winning the event with a leap of 37-10, earning all-class best of the best honors, and she placed third in the high jump, clearing the bar at 4-11.

Ali Walker placed fourth in the triple jump and set a new PR with a leap of 35-11½.

Sanders noted that Avery Walker got to stand on the triple jump best-of-the-best awards platform with her cousin, Landon Walker of Casper Kelly Walsh, son of longtime Lovell record holder David Walker whose LHS record in the triple jump was recently broken by Matthew Newman.

“That was kind of cool,” Sanders said. “I don’t know if Avery completely knows what happened there. I hope she appreciates that it’s a big deal. She beat out a lot of good triple jumpers for that.

“She nailed her first jump and set a PR by a foot. That (early success) put a lot of pressure on the field to do well. I guarantee some of those girls felt that pressure, some of their competitors.”

Junior Becca Nichols earned two individual medals in Casper, placing sixth in both the 100- and 200-meter dash. She placed sixth in the 100-meter dash in 13.42 after qualifying fourth in 13.08. She also placed sixth in the 200-meter dash in 27.57 after running 26.44 in the prelims. Sanders said she also ran a great leg of the 400-meter relay.

Relays were strong for the Lady Bulldogs. The team of Brooklin Clark, Ali Walker, Kandace Asay and Nichols placed fifth in the 1,600-meter relay in a season best time of 4:14.43.

“They were only five seconds away from winning the whole darn thing. I mean, they just came and blew it out of the water. Those girls ran fantastic,” Sanders noted.

The quartet of Janelle Hessenthaler, Jaycie Allen, Ali Walker and Asay placed sixth in the 1,600-meter sprint medley relay in 4:35.26, also a season best.

The team of Asay, Jenna Hessenthaler, Elana Schilthuis and Caylee Herman placed seventh in the 3,200-meter relay, running the eight laps in 10:36.41, and the quartet of Avery and Ali Walker, Janelle Hessenthaler and Allen finished ninth in the 400-meter relay in 52.11.

Other girls results at the state track meet were:

400m dash – Kandace Asay 10th in preliminaries, 1:04.41; 100m intermediate hurdles – Brooklin Clark 10th in prelims, 17.94; 300m low hurdles – Clark 12th in prelims, 49.87; long jump – Avery Walker 13th, 15-6¾; triple jump – Becca Nichols ninth, 34-6½ (PR), Clark 15th, 33-6¼.

Awards

Sanders presented season awards to four members of the team Tuesday. He honored Robertson as the male track athlete of the year for being a consistent placer in the 100- and 200-meter dash this season and a key member of the 400-meter relay team.

He named Newman the male field athlete of the year for his jumping success, including the high jump, and his school record in the triple jump.

Sanders named Nichols as the female track athlete of the year for her sprinting success and consistency, and he chose Avery Walker as the female field athlete of the year, noting her school record in the triple jump.