CASPER – The Lingle-Fort Laramie Doggers combined for seven titles at the 1A State meet Thursday through Saturday in Casper on their way to a team title.
The girls finished fourth with two state titles to their credit.
“Both Dogger track teams had amazing performances all weekend long,” coach Mike Lashley said. “Although the weather was challenging, our kids showed great resiliency. Our athletes wanted to make the weather a non-issue by going out and competing at a high level.”
The LFL boys amassed 147.5 team points, outdistancing Cokeville (64 points), second-place, by more than 80 points. It was the second-straight year the Doggers won the 1A boys’ title, paired with the regional and SEWAC titles for each of the past two years.
“The boys’ team showed why they were the favorites going into the state meet,” Lashley said. “They performed at a very high level for three solid days and actually exceeded my expectations. In order to score almost 150 points at the state meet, it takes a team’s ability and depth to cover all events and score well in all of them.”
Ty Mueller accounted for 36 points by himself, winning three events and taking third in another event. He won the long jump with a 21-foot, 0.5-inch effort. On the track, the sophomore won both the 110-meter hurdles (15.92 seconds) and 300-meter hurdles (41.40 seconds). He snagged third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.65 seconds.
Justice Madayag added 24 points to the team total. In the triple jump, he cleared 42 feet, 5.75 inches to win the gold. Madayag took second in the high jump, clearing 6 feet, and finished third in the long jump, clearing 19 feet, 9.75 inches.
Tyler Hunt had a solid day in the throwing events, capturing the crown in the shot put with a throw of 45 feet, 7.75 inches. He snagged second in the discus with a 122-foot, 9-inch effort.
Landen Fuller was the final individual champion for the Doggers, picking up the crown in the 200-meter dash (23.34 seconds). He also took second in both the 400-meter dash, with a time of 51.59 seconds, and 800-meter run, with a time of 2:01.93.
The relay team of Fuller, Cole Shepardson, Taylor Wagner and Gaven Niles was the only LFL relay team to win a state title, taking first in the 1600-meter relay with a time of 3:36.53.
In the girls’ action, Georgia Wollert, now a four-time all-state track star, was the only Lady Dogger to stand atop the podium, and she did it twice. She won gold in the 100-meter hurdles (15.85 seconds) and 300-meter hurdles (46.56 seconds). She rounded out her individual day with a 5-foot effort in the high jump, taking second.
Other than Mueller, Madayag, Hunt and Fuller, five Dogger boys reached the top-eight. In the 300-meter hurdles, Shepardson earned third, posting a time of 42.61 seconds, and Rhett Greenwald snagged eighth with a time of 44.84 seconds.
Wagner took silver in the pole vault, clearing 12 feet. Greenwald tied for fifth in the event with a vault of 10 feet.
Dagan Davis captured fifth in the discus, recording a throw of 114 feet, 4 inches. He also took 12th in the shot put (35 feet, 7 inches) and Elias Dodson took 16th, recording a put of 33 feet, 5.25 inches.
“We scored 68 points in the field events alone,” Lashley said. “That would have been enough points to beat the runner-up, who had 64 points in the entire meet. On finals Friday, we scored more than 90 points. The guys wanted to put an exclamation point on this season, and I would say they accomplished that goal.”
In the distance events, Kelly Peterson took ninth in the mile (5:13.94) and 13th in the half-mile (2:14.29). Joining Peterson in the 1600-meter run, Scott Gilchriest took 13th (5:26.60) and Jackson Gregory earned 17th (6:00.75).
Shepardson, Wagner, Niles and Hayden Hill combined for a time of 47.53 seconds in the 400-meter relay, earning third. Gilchriest, Wagner, Niles and Peterson linked up for the 3200-meter relay, taking fourth with a time of 9:23.51.
Outside of Wollert, six Lady Doggers reached the podium. Makenna Greenwald took sixth in three different events. In the pole vault, she cleared 7 feet. She also cleared 14 feet, 3.25 inches in the long jump and 32 feet, 4 inches in the triple jump, all of which were enough for sixth.
Kaylan Maez joined Wollert in the 300-meter hurdle finals, taking seventh with a time of 53.06 seconds. She also joined Greenwald on the podium for the pole vault, earning eighth with a vault of 6 feet, 6 inches. In the 100-meter hurdles, Maez missed the finals, posting a time of 19.51 seconds in the prelims, which gave her 11th.
Behind Wollert in the high jump, three Lady Doggers finished in the top seven. Shelby Heilbrun cleared 4 feet, 4 inches, snagging fifth. Jordyn Gaspers and Kalli Nichol tied for seventh after clearing 4 feet, 2 inches.
Savannah Mirich was the final Lady Dogger to place, earning fifth in the shot put with a put of 31 feet, 6 inches. She also earned 14th in the discus with a throw of 64 feet, 10 inches.
Rounding out the field participants, Gaspers took 12th in the long jump (12 feet, 9 inches) and 11th in the triple jump (28 feet, 11.75 inches). Jenna Kaufman joined Gaspers and Greenwald in the triple jump, finishing 15th after clearing 26 feet, 6 inches.
On the track, Kaylynn Jefferson just missed the finals for both the 100-meter dash (11th, 14.48 seconds) and 200-meter dash (10th, 30.27 seconds). Jade Cooper was just behind Jefferson in the 200, posting a time of 31.20 seconds to slide into 13th. In the 400-meter dash, Kaufman tied for 12th and Heilbrun earned 15th, posting times of 1:09.45 and 1:11.84.
Kaufman had the best finish for the Lady Doggers in the distance events, taking 12th in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:47.93. In the mile, Jenny Manus and Cora Frederick finished back-to-back (13th and 14th), posting times of 6:29.55 and 6:46.99. Makenna Steely was not far behind, turning in a time of 7:11.76, earning 16th. Steely improved her standing to 15th in the 3200-meter relay with a time of 15:56.41.
Jefferson, Maez, Greenwald and Wollert combined for the best finish among the relays for the Lady Doggers, taking silver in the 1600-meter relay with a time of 4:21.00. The distance relay team of Manus, Kaufman, Frederick and Heilbrun snagged third with a time of 11:40.63. In the 400-meter relay, Jefferson, Gaspers, Nichol and Cooper took fifth (56.80 seconds).
The Lady Doggers tallied up 67.5 team points, earning fourth. Cokeville won the girls’ team title with 124 points.
“Going in, we knew that our girls would need a great effort to bring home a trophy. These young ladies certainly did not disappoint,” Lashley said. “Time and time again, they out-performed athletes from other schools who had beaten them throughout the season. This speaks volumes about the competitive spirit that these young ladies have.”
Eight Doggers earned all-state honors. Wollert was named all-state for the fourth year in a row. Fuller, Hunt, Madayag and Mueller earned all-state for their individual performances. Hunt is a three-time all-stater, while Fuller and Madayag both earned all-state for the second time. Niles, Shepardson and Wagner earned the distinction for being on the winning 1600-meter relay team.
“It will be difficult to lose the seven seniors (Fuller, Hunt, Madayag, Jefferson, Greenwald, Wollert and Rhylea Horejs),” Lashley said. “They have been the cornerstone of Dogger track for four years and have given numerous eye-popping performances throughout their careers. Their work ethic and positive attitude will be missed.”
