BAYARD, Neb. – The Lingle-Fort Laramie boys’ track and field team dominated the Bayard CD Invite on Saturday.
The Doggers scored 134 points, winning the meet by 55 points. Burns was second with 79, while Pine Bluffs was third with 66.
“The boys’ team performed well across the board. We placed in all but three events,” LFL coach Mike Lashley said. “Typically, the winner of the Bayard CD Invite scores in the 80s. It is a credit to our kids to score 134 at a meet this big with this many quality teams.”
Senior sprinter Slade Hopkins led the way for the Doggers, setting a new meet record in the 400-meter dash. His time of 51.06 seconds broke a record set by LFL graduate Kyland Fuller, set just the year prior.
Hopkins also second in the 100-meter dash in 11.43 seconds.
In all, the Lingle boys scored seven wins on the day.
In addition to Hopkins, Myles Wilson and Sully Wilson traded wins in the distance events.
Myles won the 1,600-meter run in 4 minutes, 58.32 seconds, beating out brother Sully. Meanwhile, in the 3,200-meter run, Sully picked up the win over Myles.
Sophomore Louden Bremer picked up the win in the 300-meter hurdles in 42.69 seconds. Junior Aidan Matteus was seventh. Bremer was runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.81 seconds, while freshman Brady Cook was fifth.
The other three wins came in the relays. The 4x100 team of Nolan Spears, Bremer, Skyler Thomas and Cook won with a time of 47.10 seconds, while the 4x400 team of Spears, Brody Roberts, Bremer and Hopkins won in 3:36.35. The 4x800 team of Roberts, Braydon Posten, Myles Wilson and Spears won in 8:48.83.
In field events, senior Boyd Oliver finished second in both shot put (42 feet) and discus (135 feet, 5 inches). In triple jump, Thomas finished fifth with a leap of 35-11, while Roberts was seventh. Thomas also placed in the long jump at 17-9. Wyatt Sylvester cleared 9-6 to place eighth in pole vault.
In the girls’ division, the Lady Doggers were short-handed, missing six members of the team, but Lingle managed to come away with a fourth-place finish, scoring 59 points.
“We also had a very solid day on the girls’ side,” Lashley said. “We saw improvement in several areas and look forward to getting our missing athletes back.”
The Lady Doggers didn’t have a win on the day, but freshman Hallie Fuller was the highest placer on the day. She finished second in pole vault, clearing 7-6.
Senior Maddy Saul placed third in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, while Jada Kaufman was third in the 100-meter hurdles, beating out teammate Grace Gibson. Kaufman also finished fourth in the 300-meter hurdles, while Gibson was seventh. Freshman Jordynn Speckner finished fourth in the 400-meter dash, while junior Holly Leiseth came home fourth in the 800-meter run.
The Lady Doggers placed in the two relays which they ran. The 4x400 team of Gibson, Leiseth, Fuller and Kaufman finished third in 4:36.09, while the 4x100 team of Skyla Wunder, Speckner, Kenzie Wilkins and Saul placed fourth in 54.80 seconds.
In field events, freshman Avary Rising was fifth in shot put, while junior Izzy Spears placed fifth in discus. Speckner finished sixth in triple jump, and Addie Teeters was seventh.
Over the course of the day, both the Doggers and Lady Doggers added to the list of prequalified athletes for the state meet at the end of the season. The list includes: Kaufman (100 hurdles), Gibson (100 hurdles), Rising (shot put), girls’ 4x400 (Gibson, Leiseth, Fuller and Kaufman), Hopkins (100), Bremer (110 hurdles), boys’ 4x100 (Spears, Bremer, Thomas and Cook), boys’ 4x400 (Spears, Roberts, Bremer and Hopkins), and the boys’ 4x800 (Roberts, Posten, Wilson and Spears).
The Doggers were scheduled to take part in Thursday’s Mitchell (Nebraska) Invite. The meet was postponed to Tuesday, April 18, and now LFL turns its attention to the Burns Invite on Saturday, April 15.
