Lovell thinclads gain strength with nearly full squad

Coming off the state basketball tournament and the ensuing spring break, several Lovell athletes didn’t have enough practices under their belts to compete at the first two track and field meets of the season, but last Saturday the Bulldogs had a nearly full squad for the L.A. Kohnke Invitational at Powell High School.

The Lovell boys placed a strong fourth with 64 points behind only Class 4A Sheridan (185 points), Powell (93) and Cody (92.5). The Lovell girls tallied 71.5 points but finished behind Sheridan (141), Powell (116), Worland (109), Cody (97) and Lander (87.5).

“We pretty much had a full team, but we did have some injured kids who didn’t participate,” head coach Joshua Sanders said. “It was a beautiful day until near the end when a lightning storm came in right before the final flight of discus, which was kind of a bummer.”

Three of Lovell’s top throwers – Halen Strom, Tazz McArthur and Kyle Wilson – were unable to compete in the discus due to the storm.

Girls results

Coaches named sophomore Ali Walker as the female athlete of the week for her performance in Powell. Walker placed second in the triple jump and qualified for the state track meet with a jump of 35-2¾, just ahead of twin Avery Walker, who placed third at 35-1½, also qualifying for State, and senior Becca Nichols, who placed sixth, hitting the sand at 32-10½.

The springy Ali also placed fourth in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet, a personal record, just behind Avery’s third-place jump of 16-1. Nichols placed fifth at 15-10¾.

In running events, Ali placed eighth in the 100-meter dash, crossing the finish line in a personal record time of 13.63, and she ran a leg of the Lovell 400-meter relay team that placed third in a time of 52.43, qualifying for State. Also running were Macie Anderson, Avery Walker and Nichols.

“She (Ali) is one where you can really see improvement from last year to this year,” Sanders said. “From the first practice she has looked improved. The 4 by 1 time is a very nice time.”

Sanders noted the strong performance of freshman Anderson in the 100-meter dash. She placed sixth in a time of 13.54.

“She does a really good job with her top speed mechanics,” the coach said. “She’s able to bring her knees up a little bit to run taller and avoid shuffling.”

Sanders also mentioned the solid performance of junior Kandace Asay in the 400-meter dash, placing seventh in 1:06.03. Asay normally runs the 800 meters.

“It (running the 400) helps her with her speed,” he said. “It’s common to have 800-meter runners run the 400. She may even run the mile.”

Junior Brooklin Clark had a solid first run in the 300-meter low hurdles, Sanders said, as she placed sixth in a time of 52 seconds even. She also looked strong in the triple jump, he said, finishing ninth at 31-10.

The quartet of Asay, Caylee Herman, Gracie Angell and Eliza Wagner placed fourth in the 3,200 meters, running the eight laps in 11:08.53.

In the throws, junior Celeste Lindsay had another strong meet, winning the discus with a toss of 115-9 and placing second in the shot put with a toss of 37-2, but Sanders also noted the work of freshman Morgan Harshman, who placed seventh in the shot put at 33-10.

“It was her first meet, and she almost hit 34 (feet),” he said. “She’s going to be a monster thrower.”

Other Lovell girls results in Powell were:

100m dash – Becca Nichols ninth, 13.69, Avery Walker 10th, 13.79, Kaycie Marberry 42nd, 16.06; 200m dash – Jaycie Allen 23rd, 30.73, Alynna Monterde 38th, 34.55, Sofia Khan 40th, 35.12, Kylie Carabay 44th, 37.63; 400m dash – Myles May 17th, 1:18.29; 800 meters – Eliza Wagner 14th, 2:48.98, Caylee Herman 20th, 2:56.76, Candace Walker 25th, 3:02.37, Bonnie Buchholz 30th, 3:19.31; 1,600 meters – Candace Walker 22nd, 6:55.29, Buchholz 24th, 7:20.92; 100m intermediate hurdles – Brooklin Clark 10th, 18.17, May 12th, 18.52; long jump – Macie Anderson ninth, 14-11, Allen 18th, 13-11¾, Claire Shumway 22nd, 13-2½, May 32nd, 12-6, Khan 36th, 11-11¾; triple jump – Anderson 11th, 30-3, May 18th, 28-4¼, Angell 20th, 28-1½; shot put – Christina Zollman 11th, 30-11, Brynnlee Spanier 19th, 28-7, Caitlyn Allen 32nd, 26-0 (PR), Haley Sanders 33rd, 25-6, Randi Ayotte 40th, 23-8, Sady Espinoza 48th, 21-8 (PR), Ariana Nuttall 60th, 18-2 (PR); discus – Sanders 16th, 88-6, Morgan Harshman 19th, 85-5, Zollman 21st, 82-11, Spanier 24th, 81-4, Allen 35th,71-8, Ayotte 36th, 70-7, Nuttall 53rd, 50-8 (PR), Espinoza 55th, 48-8.

Boys results

Although he didn’t come out for the team initially, junior Kaeson Anderson has come on strong and was named the male athlete of the week in his first weekend of competition. Anderson recorded a “huge PR” in the high jump, Sanders said, placing third by clearing 6-3. His best jump last year was 5-10. 

“That’s a fantastic mark,” Sanders said. “His hurdles run was close to a PR, too. It’s good to see that improvement.”

Anderson ran the 110-meter high hurdles in 16.89 to place ninth, just off his personal record of 16.81. Also competing in his first meet of the season was Owen Walker, who also cleared 6-3 in the high jump and finished fourth on number of misses. Walker also placed second in the long jump at 21-11.

“He almost hit 22 feet,” Sanders said. “He put it all together on his last jump.”

Senior Matthew Newman challenged his personal record in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles, winning the event in 38.73, beating the state qualification time by four seconds, a time 15/100ths of a second off his personal and school record.

He also won the triple jump, sailing 45-3½.

The quartet of Anderson, Newman, Walker and Nate Cornia placed second and qualified for State in 45.03.

In the long jump, Cornia had a strong, consistent day, Sanders said, with his best jump covering 19-4, a personal record good for eighth place.

“Nate had a lot of good jumps. He’s jumping really well right now,” Sanders said. “He kind of pushed himself over that edge. Nineteen feet is a whole other level for him.”

Senior Owen Edwards placed fourth in the pole vault, tying his personal record by clearing 12-6.

“I’m excited about Owen,” Sanders said. “With his injury (knee) I wondered if he could get there. It’s definitely a positive and gives him confidence that, even with his bum knee, he can do something.

Though the lightning storm didn’t allow him to compete in the discus, Halen Strom placed second in the shot put with a toss of 49-10, and Tazz McArthur placed sixth at 44-½, a personal record. Throwing for the first time this year, senior Brody Muller finished 10th with a toss of 41-5.

Other Lovell boys results in Powell were:

200m dash – Nate Cornia 15th, 24.29 (PR), Robert Capers 39th, 26.19, Brandon Jasso 44th, 26.54, Connor Grant 54th, 28.64; 400m dash – Jacob Thomas 13th, 57.02, Grant Rose 19th, 1:00.92 (PR); 800 meters – Isaac Sanders 14th, 2:24.62, Thomas 16th, 2:25.94; 1,600 meters – Sanders 16th, 5:30.38 (PR), Rick Jensen 22nd, 5:47.94 (PR), Rose 24th, 5:52.38, Gabriel Buchholz 29th, 6:24.44; long jump – Capers 20th, 17-8½, Grant 34th, 16-3¼, Karson Seitz 35th, 16-1¾, Jasso 37th, 15-6¼; triple jump – Capers 11th, 33-5½; shot put – Joaquin Scheeler 15th, 40-4 (PR), Grant Hill 32nd, 35-6, Sam Cordova 42nd, 33-9½, Gage Pillow 54th, 29-2½, Michael Cornia 59th, 27-8 (PR), Tejeo Scheeler 66th, 26-8½, Isaac Blau 69th, 25-1½; discus – Hill 16th, 111-3, Joaquin Scheeler 20th, 106-7 (PR), Cordova 24th, 100-4 (PR), Cornia 34th, 91-4 (PR), Kelvin Robertson 45th, 78-5, Pillow 54th, 71-3 (PR), Tejeo Scheeler 58th, 67-4 (PR), Blau 66th, 53-0.

Greybull meet

The Bulldogs will travel to Greybull Saturday for the Bill Gerrard Memorial Meet. Running events and field events begin at 10 a.m.

“We’re trying to get athletes to the (Wyoming) Track Classic,” Sanders noted. “Quite a few are on the bubble.”