Walker snaps 21-year record in high jump, clears 6-8

Seeing action in their third meet of the season Thursday in Worland at the D&D Invitational, the Lovell Bulldogs were still experimenting with their athletes in various events, coach Joshua Sanders said.

The meet had been scheduled for Saturday but was moved to Thursday after inclement weather was forecast for Saturday.

Sanders said the Bulldogs had a mostly complete squad after several missed the Buffalo meet due to spring break, though a few were missing Thursday while attending a previously scheduled ski outing.

“We’ve had three meets, and it still feels like we’re at the beginning (of the season),” Sanders said. “The athletes are getting in better shape and are more confident in understanding what they need to do. We have a lot of experimentation going on. There are areas where some athletes are in (an event) for sure, but we’re still very much in the experimentation stage, particularly with someone like Matthew Newman (who can compete in multiple events).”

The male athlete of the week, Sanders said, is sophomore Owen Walker, who broke the school record and shattered his personal record in the high jump by clearing 6-8, snapping the record of 6-7 set by Jared Grant in 2003. Sanders said Walker didn’t miss a jump until 6-8, then cleared the bar on his second attempt. He also had a strong jump on his third try at 6-10.

“We should have scooted him back a little more to let him get up to that stratosphere,” Sanders said. “When the bar is raised, you need more time to elevate, so your approach needs to move back.

“He’s really good at taking off, and that’s really important. Other athletes might look better going over the bar, but I don’t think anybody takes off as well as him, and that’s the most important element.”

Walker also prequalified for the state track meet in the triple jump, placing second at 41-3½, and as a member of the Lovell 400-meter relay team. The Lovell sprint relay team — Newman, Adnan Khan, Gavin Robertson and Walker — placed first Thursday in a time of 44.81, nearly a full second under the Class 3A prequalification standard (45.74). Sanders said Thursday’s run was the third fastest in LHS history.

Newman also had an outstanding meet. Besides the 400-meter relay team, he qualified for State in the 300-meter hurdles, placing second in 42.27, and in the high jump, clearing 6 feet to place third. Newman has now qualified for State in five events.

“That’s impressive,” Sanders said. “He can still improve his form over the (300-meter) hurdles even more. He’s obviously a strong, fast kid, but improving his technique would be even more awesome.

“He’s enjoying it. He just loves it. I love it when kids try to explore (events). That’s part of the fun of track and field.”

Robertson, too, had a strong meet. Besides the sprint relay team, the junior qualified for State in the 200-meter dash with a third-place finish in 23.63, a personal record, and he won the long jump, qualifying for State with a personal-record leap of 20-8.

“He was jumping great, and this was after he was worried about his knee in the high jump,” Sanders said. “He was on top of the board when he was jumping. He had, like, four jumps at that distance (20 feet).

“Both of those guys (Newman and Robertson)
rocked it.”

Khan placed second behind Robertson in the long jump, splashing into the pit at 20-1/2, just an inch and a half off the qualifying mark.

“He’s so close to prequalifying,” Sanders said. “We’ve got to do that soon.”

Sophomore Jacob Thomas ran a personal record time of 5:24.67 in the 1,600 meters but was in the slower first heat and ran well ahead of the pack, so he wasn’t pushed by other runners, Sanders noted.

“It would have helped to be in the second heat,” Sanders said. “He could also probably be smarter on his first 800 (meters). He might have gone out a little too fast.”

Sophomore David Durfee placed sixth in the 3,200 meters, covering the eight laps in 11:40.59. Freshman Kaeson Anderson placed seventh in the 300-meter hurdles in 46.22 and 10th in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 19.04.

Sophomore Owen Edwards placed eighth in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 9-6.

In the throws, sophomore Halen Strom placed second in the discus with a personal-record throw of 127 feet, his third consecutive meet with a PR.

“He’s dialed in,” Sanders said.

Strom also placed seventh in the shot put with a heave of 40-2½.

Other Lovell boys results in Worland Thursday were:

100m dash – Owen Edwards 40th, 13.47 (PR), Jett Hessenthaler 53rd, 14.01, Robert Capers 58th, 14.26 (PR); 200m dash – Owen Walker 12th, 25.34, Nate Cornia 23rd, 26.00, Dean Anderson 42nd, 27.85; 1,600 meters – Damian Wagner 20th, 5:48.52, Jaxen Clark 24th, 6:33.94 (PR); long jump – Parker Anderson 11th, 18-½, Nate Cornia 15th, 17-6½ (PR), Dean Anderson 32nd, 15-5, Capers tie-39th, 13-2; high jump – Kaeson Anderson ninth, 5-8, Gavin Robertson tie-12th, 5-6, Parker Anderson 21st, 5-2; shot put – Elijah Montanez 15th, 34-9, Kyle Wilson 17th, 34-4¾ (PR), Tazz McArthur 27th, 31-11, Sam Cordova 40th, 29-½; discus – Wilson 13th, 101-6, McArthur 18th, 95-6 (PR), Montanez 20th, 93-5, Cordova 25th, 90-4 (PR).

Girls results

The LHS female athlete of the week is freshman Brooklin Clark, who set two new personal records in Worland. Clark placed fourth in the 300-meter low hurdles in a personal record time of 52.36, and she also placed fourth in the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, also a PR.

“That’s the second fastest freshman time in that race (300 hurdles),” Sanders said, noting that Clark improved her best time by three seconds in the event. “She’s getting in better condition for that race, and in the second half of it she looked stronger. And when you’re not as tired, your form is better, too.”

Sophomore Becca Nichols placed seventh in the 100-meter dash in 13.79 and eighth in the 200 meters at 28.15. She also ran a leg of the 400-meter relay team with Clark, Kaitlynn Robison and Kandace Asay that placed third in 54.29.

Freshman Kandace Asay placed eighth in the 400 meters, running the oval in 1:06.31. Freshman Jenna Hessenthaler placed fifth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:48.43, and senior Keyanna Walker was sixth in 2:56.36.

Lovell throwers placed second, third and fourth in the shot put. Senior Carissa Lindsay placed second with a toss of 35-2, and senior Summer Teter placed third at 34-3, a “great throw” that is fifth all time at LHS, Sanders said.

Freshman Celeste Lindsay set a PR in the shot with a fourth place throw of 32-2.

Carissa Lindsay placed fourth in the discus with a toss of 99-1, and sister Celeste was fifth at 98-9, a PR.

Other Lovell girls results in Worland Thursday were:

100m dash – Kaitlynn Robison 16th, 14.51 (PR), Hannity Felkins 32nd, 15.64, Candace Walker 37th, 16.37, Elena Aagard 39th, 16.67; 200m dash – Robison 24th, 32.32, Hallie Cornia 28th, 32.74; 100-meter intermediate hurdles – Brooklin Clark 14th, 18.75; long jump – Celeste Lindsay 15th, 12-10, Felkins and Asay tie for 17th, 12-0, Cornia 21st, 11-8; triple jump – Felkins ninth, 30-9½ (PR), Sadie Wassmer 12th, 30-2, Cornia 13th, 29-7½; shot put – Felkins 14th, 27-3; discus – Summer Teter 14th, 79-5.

Powell Saturday

The Bulldogs will compete at the L.A. Kohnke Invitational in Powell this Saturday and will then host the Lovell Invitational April 20.

Action in Powell begins at 9 a.m. with field events, and running events start at 9:15.