GUERNSEY – The Lingle-Fort Laramie boys track team took the title and the girls finished in sixth place at the Guernsey-Sunrise Invitational on Saturday.
“Most all of our athletes brought home medals from the meet, so that should offer some encouragement for them to keep working hard in practice,” coach Mike Lashley said. “We are thrilled that our boys were able to win the team championship, obviously, especially since we were missing three of our major contributors. We are developing into a very good track team.”
Tyler Hunt racked up 20 points, taking the top spot in both the shot put and discus. He had the second longest throw in the shot put prelims (45 feet, 2.75 inches) and went on to win the finals with a throw of 46 feet, 3.25 inches. In discus, Hunt qualified for the finals with a throw of 120 feet, 4 inches and took the crown with a final throw of 129 feet, 2 inches.
Dagan Davis reached the finals in discus with a throw of 103 feet in the preliminaries. In the finals, the Dogger’s 110-foot, 9-inch throw was good enough for sixth place. Gage Correa (68 feet, 3 inches), Rayden Alonzo (65 feet, 9 inches) and Elias Dodson (60 feet, 10.5 inches) were unable to reach the finals in the discus. Davis finished 27th in the shot put, while Dodson took 33rd, Correa finished 41st and Alonzo finished 49th.
The Doggers dominated several other field events. Justice Madayag took the crown in the triple jump with a 42 foot, 2.5 inch effort. Ty Mueller was not far behind, finishing third with a jump of 41 feet. Mueller had his time atop the podium, clearing 20 feet, 8.5 inches in the long jump to capture first. Madayag took fourth in the long jump (19 feet, 10.5 inches). Madayag continued his solid day, taking second in the high jump after clearing 5 feet, 8 inches.
“We are getting contributions from every one of our event areas,” Lashley said. “We are very tough in the field events and our distance crew is really beginning to blossom.”
Mueller took his good day to the track, taking the gold in both the 110-meter hurdles (16.34 seconds) and 300-meter hurdles (42.13 seconds).
In the distance events, Gaven Niles turned in a time of 2:12.30 in the 800-meter run to take third. Alex Pugsley finished seventh in the mile after clocking a time of 5:36.29. Christian Burton was the only LFL boy to run in the 3200-meter run and he finished sixth with a time of 12:16.69.
Cole Shepardson was the only Dogger to compete in any of the sprints, finishing 11th in the 200-meter dash after clocking a time of 24.92 seconds.
In the relays, Burton, Jackson Gregory, Clay Colton and Zane Rising took third in the 3200-meter relay with a time of 10:48.95. Niles, Colton, Hayden Hill and Scott Gilchriest finished fourth in the 1600-meter relay (4:05.55), while Colton, Hill, Madayag and Niles took fourth in the 400-meter relay (50.62 seconds).
“Coming off of a meet two days earlier in Mitchell, we decided to mix things up a bit in Guernsey,” Lashley said. “We did compete in field events like normal, but instead of entering mostly individual running events, the coaching staff decided to put our kids on relays and let them have some fun.”
The Doggers racked up 100 points as a team to edge out Glenrock, who had 93.5 points. The Glenrock and Encampment girls both racked up 56 points to tie for fourth, just ahead of the LFL girls. The Lady Doggers amassed 46 points to finish sixth, ahead of Guernsey, who had 37.
“I was also very proud of our girls team,” Lashley said. “Although the team score may not reflect it, we competed very well. It is exciting to see our younger girls begin to figure out the sport of track and field and what it takes to be successful.”
On the track, several Lady Doggers experienced success. Kaylynn Jefferson was the only LFL girl to compete in a sprint and she finished fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 29.13 seconds.
Makenna Steely captured the silver in the 3200-meter run with a time of 15:19.17. Kaylan Maez was the final Lady Dogger to compete in an individual event on the track, finishing third in the 100-meter hurdles (18.86 seconds).
Shelby Heilbrun, Jenny Manus, Kalli Nichol and Jefferson had the best finish among the LFL relays, taking second in the 1600-meter relay (5:11.20). Steely joined Manus, Heilbrun and Nichol in the 3200-meter relay team that finished fourth with a time of 13:42.84. In the 400-meter relay, Nichol, Maez, Jade Cooper and Jordyn Gaspers finished third with a time of 59.43 seconds. Cooper, Maez, Heilbrun and Manus formed a team for the 1600-meter sprint medley and they turned in a time of 5:09.79 to finish third.
Maez had the best finish in the field events, finishing fourth in the pole vault after clearing 6 feet, 8 inches. In the high jump, Gaspers and Heilbrun tied for seventh with a 4 foot, 2 inch effort.
No Lady Doggers reached the finals in the long jump. Jefferson finished 11th in the prelims with a jump of 13 feet, 2 inches. Gaspers (17th, 12 feet, 9.5 inches), Nichol (22nd, 11 feet, 11.75 inches) and Cooper (24th, 11 feet, 9 inches) all competed in the long jump. Cooper was the only Lady Dogger to compete in the triple jump, finished 12th with a jump of 25 feet, 11.75 inches.
In the throwing events, Savannah Mirich took 12th in both the shot put (29 feet, 4.5 inches) and discus (78 feet, 5 inches). Paige Forkner, Rhylea Horejs and Shelly Ann Sorrick all competed in both throwing events. Forkner had the second-best finish in both the shot (20th) and discus (16th).
Mitchell Invite, Boys 7th, Girls 12th
In previous season action, the LFL girls and boys competed in the Mitchell, Neb. Invite on Thursday. The Doggers tallied up 26.3 team points to finish seventh, while the Lady Doggers racked up four points to finish 12th.
“Although we were missing a big chunk of our team to State FFA, both the boys and girls teams performed very well,” Lashley said. “This was probably our toughest meet of the year, but our athletes continued to compete at a high level.”
Madayag had the best finish in Nebraska for the Doggers, taking second in the triple jump (40 feet, 11 inches). He also took fifth in the long jump (18 feet, 11.25 inches) and sixth in the high jump (5 feet, 8 inches). Mueller bested Madayag in the long jump after clearing 19 feet, 6.5 inches to take third. In the pole vault, Taylor Wagner took sixth with an 11 foot, 6 inch effort. Niles finished 22nd in the pole vault.
In the throwing events, Hunt took fifth in the shot put (43 feet, 0.5 inches) and ninth in discus with a throw of 117 feet, 11 inches. Dodson took 25th in the shot and 38th in disc. Alonzo finished 35th in the shot put.
Mueller took sixth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.35 seconds. Shepardson finished in the same slot in the 300-meter hurdles, clocking 43.71 seconds.
Burton placed 12th in the mile (5:28.08) and Gregory took 17th in the two-mile with a time of 12:56.99. In the sprints, Hill (28th, 12.54 seconds) and Colton (30th, 12.75 seconds), competed in the 100. Wagner had the best finish in the 200-meter dash, taking 18th. Hill (28th) and Colton (29th) finished back-to-back.
Shepardson, Wagner, Niles and Mueller hooked up for both the 400-meter relay and 1600-meter relays, taking fifth in both events. Gilchriest, Niles, Burton and Pugsley ran the 3200-meter relay and finished sixth.
“We are still experimenting with some of these kids in different events, but the picture is beginning to come into focus,” Lashley said. “The coaching staff is very impressed by the willingness of these athletes to try new events each week.”
On the girls’ side of action, Jefferson had the best individual finish, taking fifth in the long jump, clearing 14 feet, 4.25 inches. Gaspers (18th, 12 feet, 8.75 inches) and Nichol (22nd, 12 feet, 4.75 inches) both competed in the long jump. In the triple jump, Jefferson took 15th with a 27 foot, 6 inch effort. Cooper and Nichol finished back-to-back, taking 19th and 20th. Gaspers and Heilbrun tied for seventh in the high jump, clearing 4 feet, 2 inches.
Mirich was again the best thrower for the Lady Doggers, taking 11th in shot (28 feet, 2 inches) and 16th in shot (76 feet, 1 inch). Horejs took 30th in discus and 32nd in shot put, while Sorrick finished 34th in disc and 35th in shot.
On the track, Manus, Steely, Heilbrun and Jenna Kaufman took fifth in the 3200-meter relay with a time of 12:02.55. Jefferson, Maez, Nichol and Cooper placed 10th in the 400-meter relay and Manus, Cooper, Kaufman and Heilbrun combined to take 11th in the 1600-meter relay.
Maez had the two best individual performances on the track, taking ninth in the 300-meter hurdles (55.04 seconds) and 13th in the 100-meter hurdles (19.31 seconds). Manus placed 14th in the mile (6:32.93) and Nichol finished 28th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 15.50 seconds.
The Doggers girls and boys track teams are heading to Scottsbluff, Neb. this Saturday. Alliance, Neb. is the host of the invitational, but the action will get underway at 11 a.m. in Scottsbluff.
