Coaches, athletes and their families gathered to enjoy food, fellowship and accolades Monday night as Lovell High School hosted its annual L Club Banquet for winter and spring sports.


Three-sport seniors Wendy Walker and Carson Hessenthaler were honored as the female and male athletes of the year, respectively, Monday.


Walker, the daughter of Jim and Debbie Walker, was a four-year letterman in volleyball, a 2A Northwest honorable-mention all-conference selection as a junior and a 3A West All-Conference selection as a senior. In presenting the awards, LHS girls basketball coach Bob Geiser said volleyball coaches told him that Walker was a very valuable member of the team who always worked hard and gave 100 percent.


In basketball, Walker was a four-year letterman, three-year starter, two-year captain, all-conference as a sophomore, junior and senior and all-state as a senior. She won the Wyoming Coaches Association Academic Achievement Award and four Wyoming High School Activities Association academic athlete awards, winning the Distinguished Award twice and the Outstanding Award twice.


“Wendy was an undersized post player that always gave everything she had,” Geiser said. “She made opponents respect our inside game. She used her quickness and tenacity against much bigger players to give us an advantage on the inside in most games. Her experience helped make the transition to 3A basketball much easier than opponents thought it would be for us.”


He noted that Jackson coach Sean Shockley told him after they played that the Lady Broncs knew about Kristen Scheffler but they didn’t know about the inside presence the Lady Bulldogs had with “the Walker girl,” a double threat that made the Lovell squad a dangerous team to play.


Walker is also a four-year letterman in track, competing in the long jump and triple jump for her first two years and switching to the hurdles following a knee injury.


This season she is on the 4x100-meter relay team and runs the 100-meter intermediate hurdles. Geiser said she will be a contender for a state berth in both events.


Walker said she plans to attend Northwest College next year but also is considering playing basketball at Sheridan College.


Hessenthaler was a speedy and hard-hitting safety for the LHS football squad, but he really excelled in indoor and outdoor track. Coach Joshua Sanders called him “one of the premiere sprinters in the state,” and if not for Laramie “phenom” Stephen Michel, he would be the top 200-meter man in all classes in Wyoming. He has lowered his own school record in the 200-meter dash three times this season, and the mark currently stands at 22.43 seconds.


The son of Charles and Amy Hessenthaler, he won the 200 at the Class 2A State Track Meet last season and was third in the 100, and he is running faster in both events this season, setting a personal record in the 100-meter dash at the Lovell Invitational Saturday with a time of 10.87.


Sanders said that some people may believe that sprinters are so talented that they just go out and run fast, but he said there is a lot of work involved both on and off the track.


“You have to work for it,” Sanders said. “Carson did a lot of weight training and biometric training during the indoor season.”


Hessenthaler plans to attend either the University of Wyoming or Northwest College this fall.

Athletic Director Ina Hubbell gave opening introductions at the awards banquet Monday, thanking the school board, faculty and parents, and thanking Denise Harrison for her help preparing programs.


After dinner, the awards began to flow.


Speech: LHS speech and drama coach Patti Hutchinson honored the four LHS students who advanced to the State Speech Meet, where they competed against students from all classes of Wyoming high schools, she noted. Honored were Amber Savage, Olivia Orton, Kris Hutchinson and Rosie Dang. Also noted, but not present, was Rocky Mountain High School’s Clinton Cordova.
“We took a small team to State but a very, very powerful team,” Hutchinson said, noting that Savage could continue her career in college.


Indoor track: Coach Josh Sanders presented the indoor track awards, first of all thanking assistant coach Chad Lindsay, who worked with the throwers. He listed the 14 members of the team and said there were more members of the team this year than he had anticipated. He presented the Outstanding Indoor Track Award to Carson Hessenthaler.


Dance: Coach Sharla Parks listed the members of the LHS Dance Team including captains Codee Trautman and Danielle Peck. She presented the award for Most Dedicated Dancer to Kaia Bartling.


Cheerleading: Basketball cheerleading sponsor Darlene Moncur and assistant Georgette Lewis presented each member of the all-freshman team with flowers, balloons and a stuffed bulldog. AD Hubbell also presented longtime football cheerleading sponsor Caroline Butters with a special letter, pin and megaphone for her years of work with the cheerleaders.


Wrestling: Coach Dane Mickelson noted the high attrition rate on the team this year due to injuries and acknowledged state wrestling qualifiers Jared Asay, Sean Savage and Rory Smith. No special awards were presented.


Boys basketball: Coach Joe Koritnik thanked Keela Mangus and the Bulldog Booster Club, the Lovell Chronicle, Ina Hubbell, Dan Coe and the administration, TCT West and Cindy Asay, announcers Tom Bassett, Ben Fowler and Matt Koritnik, his family and assistant coaches Chris Edwards and Craig Lundberg.


“Moving up to 3A was a challenge that out team met head on,” he said. “We were 18-1 and ranked number one until a couple of injuries late in the season.”
The Bulldogs finished 19-5 and won the regular season conference title with an 11-3 record.


“Through discipline, sacrifice and hard work they rose to the challenge most nights and found ways to be successful,” he said.


Koritnik presented scrapbooks to his three seniors, Brandon Angell, Braden Fink and Dane Robertson and noted the contributions of all-conference players Grant Geiser, Scotty Jameson and Braden Fink. Fink was also all-state for the second straight year.


Special awards included: Freshman of the Year, Benson Checketts, Mr. Hustle Award, Scotty Jameson, Defensive Player of the Year, Hyrum Checketts, Outstanding Player, Braden Fink.


Girls basketball: Coach Bob Geiser thanked the booster club and Keela Mangus, AD Hubbell, secretaries Denise Harrison and Susan McArthur and assistant coaches Dave Scheffler and Janis Beal.


“I think looking back over the season we probably over-achieved this year,” he said. “We had great senior leadership and the young players really matured quickly and filled a lot of holes left by graduation. We were 21-6 this year after going 18-6 last year in Class 2A and were conference and regional runners-up. It was a fun team to be around. We averaged 60.3 points per game and outscored all 3A West boys teams. We were also pretty good defensively, giving up 44.7 points per game.”


Geiser acknowledged 3A West all-conference players Kristen Scheffler and Wendy Walker and honorable mention picks Karen Koritnik, Stephanie Green, Katie Walker and Kristin Evanoff. Both Wendy Walker and Scheffler will represent Lovell at the Wyoming Coaches Association North-South all-star game on July 26 in Casper, the first time LHS has had two players selected for the game.


He also noted Scheffler’s Gatorade Player of the Year award, her selection to the Wyoming team for the Montana and South Dakota all-star games and that her jersey will be went to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame for inclusion in the Ring of Honor (see related story).


Outdoor track: Coach Joe Koritnik and assistant Josh Sanders presented awards and Koritnik thanked Sanders and fellow assistants Jamie May, Chad Lindsay and Devon Parks. Koritnik presented letters, noting that there could be additions due to upcoming regional and state competition and gave the following individual awards: Outstanding Track Athletes of the year, Wendy Walker and Carson Hessenthaler. Outstanding Field Events Athletes of the Year, Karen Koritnik and Braden Fink. Coaches Award, Sam Smith (see related story).


Hubbell also presented Ben Fowler with a letter as an honorary L Club member for his support of the teams, especially as an announcer for TCT West telecasts.