SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. – The Lingle-Fort Laramie boys picked up 12 top-eight finishes, while the Lady Doggers combined for 16 top-eight places at the Twilight Invitational in Scottsbluff on Friday.
The Doggers were originally scheduled to compete in the Pine Bluffs Invitational, but it was canceled due to weather. LFL was able to change its plans and compete in the Twilight Invitational, where the boys racked up 60.25 points to take fourth and the girls had 54.33 points, earning them sixth. Gering, Neb. took the team title for both the boys (143 points) and girls (116.33 points).
“This meet was a very good test for our athletes. With teams like Scottsbluff, Gering, Alliance, Sidney and Torrington in attendance, we knew that we would have to compete extremely well in order to place,” coach Mike Lashley said. “I have to give our kids credit. They really stepped up. We saw some major improvement in the performances of our athletes.”
Ty Mueller was the only Dogger boy to reach the top of the podium, taking first in the long jump, clearing 21 feet, 2.75 inches. Justice Madayag was not far behind, finishing fourth with a jump of 19 feet, 7.75 inches. The two reversed their order in their triple jump, with Madayag taking second (41 feet, 5 inches) and Mueller finishing 10th (37 feet, 4 inches). Madayag also took fourth in the high jump after clearing 5 feet, 8 inches.
In the pole vault, Taylor Wagner had the best finish, taking 11th after clearing 10 feet, 2 inches. Rhett Greenwald took 12th after vaulting 9 feet, 8 inches and Gaven Niles took 17th after vaulting 8 feet, 2 inches.
Tyler Hunt had the best finish for the Doggers in the throwing events, recording a throw of 43 feet, 2 inches in the shot put to finish sixth. Elias Dodson (27th), Dagan Davis (30th), Gage Correa (31st) and Rayden Alonzo (32nd) all gave it a go in the shot put. In the discus, Davis had the best finish for LFL, clearing 112 feet, 4 inches to finish 10th. Hunt took 13th after clearing 109 feet, 6 inches. Correa (29th), Dodson (30th) and Alonzo (33rd) found themselves finishing close to each other in the discus.
On the track, Landen Fuller had the best finish for the Dogger boys, earning two silvers on the day. He clocked a time of 52.03 seconds in the 400-meter dash to take second and finished the 800-meter run in 2:03.66 to earn second. Also in the 800, Jackson Gregory turned in a time of 2:31.80 to finish 16th.
In the short distances, Hayden Hill was the fastest LFL boy in both the 100-meter dash (22nd, 12.75 seconds) and 200-meter dash (23rd, 26.37 seconds), but he failed to make the finals in either event. Clay Colton was not far behind Hill in either of the shortest sprints, taking 28th in the 200 and 30th in the 100.
Greenwald took seventh in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 18.56 seconds. Cole Shepardson turned in a time of 43.30 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles, earning him sixth.
Wagner, Niles, Kelly Peterson and Scott Gilchriest combined to finish the 3200-meter relay with a time of 9:24.25, taking fifth. Shepardson, Wagner, Niles and Hill ran the 400-meter relay, taking sixth with a time of 47.73 seconds. Shepardson, Wagner, Niles and Fuller linked up for the 1600-meter relay, clocking a time of 3:44.04 to take sixth.
Georgia Wollert had the best day among the Lady Doggers, earning two first-place finishes and two second-place finishes. In the 300-meter hurdles, Wollert finished first with a time of 50.42 seconds. She took second in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 16.73 seconds in the finals. Makenna Greenwald finished seventh in the 300-meter hurdles (53.33 seconds) and Kaylan Maez finished ninth in the 300 (54.70 seconds) and 11th in the 100-meter hurdles (19.63 seconds).
In the field jumps, Wollert had the best finish, taking the crown in the high jump after clearing 4 feet, 10 inches. Shelby Heilbrun finished eighth (4 feet, 4 inches) and Jordyn Gaspers took 11th (4 feet) in the same event.
Greenwald was the best finisher in both the long jump (fifth, 14 feet, 9 inches) and triple jump (sixth, 31 feet, 1.5 inches). Kaylynn Jefferson was not far behind in either event, taking eighth in both the long jump (13 feet, 11.75 inches) and triple jump (29 feet, 8.5 inches). Gaspers took 12th in the long jump (13 feet, 2 inches) and Jade Cooper finished 14th in the triple jump (25 feet, 4 inches).
In the pole vault, Greenwald finished 11th after clearing 7 feet. Maez vaulted 6 feet to take 16th.
Back on the track, Wollert picked up a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash, clocking a time of 27.94 seconds in the finals. Jefferson took eighth in the 200 with a time of 29.28 seconds.
Cooper and Nichol missed the cut for the finals of the 100-meter dash. Cooper’s time of 15.30 second earned her 22nd and Nichol was one spot behind, taking 23rd with a time of 15.44 seconds.
In the 800-meter run, Jenna Kaufman took seventh with a time of 2:44.22. Makenna Steely finished the two-mile in 15:09.28 to finish 10th.
Heilbrun, Maez, Kaufman and Jenny Manus clocked a time of 11:51.35 in the 3200-meter relay, earning sixth. Heilbrun, Kaufman and Manus added Cooper to the mix for the 1600-meter relay, where they finished seventh with a time of 4:59.84. The team of Jefferson, Gaspers, Nichol and Cooper turned in a time of 58.24 seconds in the 400-meter relay to finish seventh.
Savannah Mirich was the best thrower for the Lady Doggers in both the shot put (eighth, 30 feet, 8 inches) and discus (14th, 81 feet, 5 inches).
Paige Forkner took 19th in both the throwing events, recording throws of 27 feet, 1 inch in the shot put and 70 feet in the discus. Rhylea Horejs competed in the shot put (29th) and discus (26th), as did Shelly Ann Sorrick, who finished 32nd in both events.
“Overall, the coaching staff believes that our track teams are right where they need to be at this point in the season,” Lashley said. “We are in the midst of our hardest training cycle, so the athletes’ legs are still fairly fatigued during meets.”
The Dogger girls and boys competed in the Best in the West Invitational in Scottsbluff on Tuesday after the press deadline. They return to the track for the Wyoming Track Classic in Casper on Friday and the Dennis Zowada Invite in Lusk on Saturday.
