Strong start: Grizzlies win Greybull track meet

Strength in the middle- to long-distance races, hurdles and throws propelled the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies to the boys team championship at the Bill Gerrard Memorial Track Meet Saturday at Greybull High School.Rocky topped the eight-team field with 129 points to win the boys division, beating Shoshoni, who tallied 109 points. The Lady Grizz placed sixth with 45 points in the girls division, just behind Burlington (54 points) and ahead of Riverside and St. Stephen’s. Greybull won the girls division with 104 points with Shoshoni again placing second (97).Coach Tobee Christiansen said, like many schools, Rocky was missing a number of athletes due to other activities.[caption id="attachment_11065" align="alignright" width="285"]Rocky Mountain junior Mya Meier soars over the bar during the high jump competition at the Bill Gerrard Memorial meet in Greybull Saturday. Meier won the high jump by clearing 4-8. Lisa Kunkel photo Rocky Mountain junior Mya Meier soars over the bar during the high jump competition at the Bill Gerrard Memorial meet in Greybull Saturday. Meier won the high jump by clearing 4-8.
Lisa Kunkel photo[/caption]“The boys ended up winning it, which is crazy for how few kids we had,” he said. “That was good to see.“I was impressed with them overall. I wanted to see them come and compete.”Junior Dominic Twomey won both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs Saturday. He covered the “metric mile” in 5:16.16, and freshman Damon Watts placed third, covering the four laps in 5:35.35.Twomey won the 3,200 meters in 11:26.69, 12 seconds faster than he ran at the same meet a year ago. Watts was second at 13:29.50.“That was a good starting point for him (Twomey), something to work off of,” Christiansen said. “I was impressed with Damon Watts. The kid showed some guts.”Sophomore Lathan May won the 800 meters with a time of 2:29.37, and fellow soph Tristan Jewell won the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.87, a personal record. Freshman Skyler Drewes placed third, covering the lap in 58.83.“Tristan had a good day,” Christiansen noted. “The first time out he runs a 55.8 in the 400 – not bad for his first go-round. With Skyler, we might have the makings of a 4-by-4 relay team.”Junior Zac Zier more than picked up where he left off last year and won the shot put with a throw of 45-6, setting a new personal record in the process. He also set a new PR in the discus, winning the event with a toss of 134-5.“He had a good day,” Coach C said. “He pre-qualified in both events, and that was his goal coming in, to get that out of the way.”Sophomore Austin Grohman placed fourth in both events, heaving the shot a personal record 32-½ and the discus 90-1.Junior Gehrig Sweat battled Shoshoni’s Zac Pickinpaugh in the 110-meter high hurdles and was edged at the wire. Pickinpaugh recorded a time of 17.43, Sweat 17.66. May was a strong fourth in 17.84, a personal record, and sophomore Tristan Jewell was fifth at 17.89, also a PR.“Gehrig hit the second to last hurdle, so his time wasn’t as good as he is,” Christiansen said. “We’re excited (about the hurdlers). We’re hoping to get a lot of these guys to State.”Sweat also placed second in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 44.26.Freshman Ethan Price made his debut in the high jump and placed third with a jump of 5-11, pre-qualifying for State in the process. Jumper Jonathan Allred was attending the state Future Business Leaders of America conference, among various Rocky athletes.Jewell placed second in the long jump, sailing 18-8.Other boys results Saturday:100m dash – Austin Grohman ninth, 12.66, Skyler Drews 11th, 13.11; 200m dash – Grohman 11th, 26.97, Drewes 13th, 28.00.Strong trioThe Lady Grizz didn’t have many competitors Saturday, but three girls excelled.Sophomore sprinter Angelina Helms won the 200-meter dash with a personal-record time of 27.97 and placed second in the 100 meters at 13.62. Freshman Jade Sweat finished 12th in the 100 at 16.50.“She (Helms) didn’t have a great start in the 100, and she just missed pre-qual times in both races,” Coach C said.Junior Mya Meier won the high jump Saturday, clearing 4-8, and Helms was fourth at 4-4.Freshman Jacque Leonhardt placed third in the 1,600 meters with a time of 6:11.18, and fellow frosh Makaila Twomey finished 10th at 7:12.Leonhardt also placed third in the 400 meters, covering the lap in 1:10.9.“Jacque had two thirds and Mya did well in the high jump,” Christiansen noted. “We were missing eight girls.”A planned fun “Jack and Jill” meet scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was cancelled due to cold temperatures but may be rescheduled. The Grizz will return to action following the Easter break on Friday, April 8, at Burlington.

By David Peck