CASPER – The WHSAA adjusted the schedule for the state track meet in Casper due to weather. With a new schedule and only three events being run on Thursday after press time, here is a look at the top local athletes to check out Friday and Saturday in Casper.
Torrington
Total entries: 39 (20 boys, 19 girls)
Torrington’s Logan Harris is the man to beat in 3A shot put. At the regional meet, he recorded a throw of 62 feet, 0.5 inches, which was just shy of 10 feet further than the second best throw at either regional meet. Harris is also set to compete in discus. Nathaniel Woodruff joins Harris in both throwing events, while Jacob Wambolt earned a spot in the shot put.
In other field events, Tristan DeMott, Cade Schwartzkoft and Jared Spencer all qualified for the pole vault. DeMott tied for the second-highest vault (12 feet, 9 inches) at the regional meets. Casey Britton will represent the Blazers in the high jump.
Brice Krick earned his spot in two events after posting times of 44.07 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles and 18.42 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles.
Pake Haun and Josh Posten both competed in the 3200-meter relay that was Thursday. Rounding out the distance performers, Aaron Borger laid down a solid time in the 800-meter run, earning a spot in Casper. He also is set to compete in the 400-meter dash.
Frank Rand is the only Blazer to compete in the 100-meter dash or 200-meter dash, and he earned a spot in both. At the regional meet, he recorded times of 12.19 seconds in the 100 and 23.68 seconds in the 200.
The Blazer boys had a qualifying team in all three relays. DeMott and Rand join Bo Moorehouse and Mondell Tolman for the 400-meter relay. Borger takes the place of Rand in the foursome for the 1600-meter event. Their time of 3:32.16 at the regional meet was third-fastest among all the 1600-meter relay teams at regionals. The 3200-meter relay was run on Thursday, with Torrington’s team comprised of Borger, Haun, Posten and Cameron Juma.
The Lady Blazers have nine entries in field events. Katie Wiford, Sarandon Keeran, Onalisa Albaugh and Nakalyn Garner are all slated for the pole vault. Samantha Hill and Logan Murphy qualified for the long jump. Hill is set to be joined by Renee Cline for the triple jump in Casper.
Pamela Pierce is set to compete in the discus as the only Lady Blazer thrower to qualify for the state meet.
Shelbey Prusia is set to have a busy weekend, qualifying for both the 100 and 200. Albaugh also earned a spot in the 200-meter dash. Dantia Palmer and Albaugh will run side-by-side in the 400-meter dash.
Adia Sherbeyn is the only Lady Blazer distance runner to qualify, posting a time of 2:35.11 in the 800-meter dash to reach Casper.
In the girls’ hurdles, Cheyenne Mickle earned a spot at 100-meters. Murphy posted the sixth-best time in the 300-meter hurdles at either regional, punching her ticket for the state meet.
Murphy, Palmer, Prusia and Latosha Wiford posted the fastest time between the regional meets in the 400-meter dash (51.88 seconds) to earn a spot. The relay team of Albaugh, Prusia, Murphy and Wiford are set to compete in the 1600-meter relay.
Lingle-Fort Laramie
Total entries: 62 (30 boys, 32 girls)
Several LFL athletes are slated for a busy weekend after qualifying in multiple events. Georgia Wollert is set to compete in both the 100 and 300-meter hurdles. Kaylan Maez is joining Wollert in both of the hurdle events.
Wollert also qualified for the high jump as the only 1A girl to clear 5 feet at regionals. Jordyn Gaspers, Shelby Heilbrun and Kalli Nichol all join Wollert in the high jump.
In pole vault, Maez and Makenna Greenwald earned spots, while Greenwald and Gaspers are set to compete in the long jump. Jenna Kaufman joins the same duo of Greenwald and Gaspers in the triple jump. Savannah Mirich was the only Lady Dogger thrower to qualify, earning a spot in both shot put and discus.
On the track, Cora Frederick, Jenny Manus and Makenna Steely are all set to race in the 1600-meter run. The trio also competed in the 3200-meter run Thursday. Rounding out the distance qualifiers, Kaufman is slated for the 800-meter run.
Kaufman translated her speed to the longest dash. She is scheduled to race side-by-side with Heilbrun in the 400-meter dash. Kaylynn Jefferson earned her spot in the shortest sprints, the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Jade Cooper joins Jefferson in the 200-meter dash.
The relay team of Jefferson, Maez, Greenwald and Wollert posted the fastest time at the 1A regionals for the 1600-meter relay (4:21.75), which was more than six seconds faster than the second-best qualifying time. Jefferson joins Gaspers, Nichol and Cooper for the 400-meter relay. In the 3200-meter relay on Thursday, Manus, Kaufman, Frederick and Heilbrun represented the Lady Doggers.
Landen Fuller is slated to have a busy weekend representing the LFL boys on the track. He earned a spot in the 200, 400 and 800. He has the fastest seed time in both the 200 and 800 and the third-fastest seed time in the 400.
Ty Mueller was the only other Dogger to qualify in a sprint, punching his ticket for the 200-meter dash.
Kelly Peterson and Gaven Niles are slated to join Fuller in the 800-meter run. Peterson is also set to compete in the 1600-meter relay and he raced in the 3200-meter run Thursday. Scott Gilchriest also competed on Thursday in the 3200-meter run and is set for the mile. Jackson Gregory is the third Dogger to qualify for the mile.
Mueller qualified for the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles, posting the second-best seed times in both events. Rhett Greenwald joins Mueller for both of the hurdle events and Cole Shepardson joins his teammates for the 300-meter.
The Doggers qualify a team in each of the three relays. LFL’s 1600-meter relay team of Shepardson, Niles, Fuller and Taylor Wagner turned in the fastest seed time (3:38.24). Shepardson, Wagner, Niles and Hayden Hill earned a spot in the 400-meter relay. Gilchriest, Wagner, Peterson and Niles competed in the 3200-meter relay Thursday.
Justice Madayag qualified for three field events, punching his ticket for the high jump, long jump and triple jump. Mueller joins Madayag in the long jump. The pair had the two best efforts in the long jump at regionals.
In the pole vault, Greenwald and Wagner both punched their tickets. Wagner cleared the second-highest seed mark (11 feet, 6 inches) at regionals.
Tyler Hunt had the best throw at regionals in the shot put. He also earned a spot in the discus. Dagan Davis is slated to join Hunt in both throwing events. Elias Dodson squeaked in to qualify for the shot put.
Southeast
Total entries: 21 (14 boys, 7 girls)
The Cyclone boys have several sprinters in the mix in Casper. Jacob Cushman and Porter Ross both qualified for the 100-meter dash. Ross joined Chase Lovercheck qualifying for the 200-meter dash, which was run on Thursday. In the final sprint, both Lovercheck and Brady Fullmer punched their tickets to compete in Casper.
Lovercheck, who ran the fastest time in 2A for the 400 at the regional meets, qualified for the 800-meter run with the second-fastest regional time. He is one of two runners to post times faster than two minutes. Patrick Swank is the only other distance runner for the Cyclones, competing in the 3200-meter run completed Thursday.
Southeast’s 400-meter relay team of Cushman, Fullmer, Ross and Connor Humphrey clocked a time of 45.51 seconds at regionals, which is the third-best time in 2A. Lovercheck joined the qualifying team of Fullmer, Humphrey and Jacob Schmitt for the 1600-meter relay, running a time of 3:31.69.
Four of the Southeast boys’ entries come in field events. Quinton Steinbock is set to compete in the high jump, while Chance Werner contends in the triple jump. Werner and Ross both qualified for the long jump with their efforts at the regional meet.
For the Lady Cyclones, a majority of their qualifying athletes are set to compete in the distance events. Jaiden Hopkins competed in the 3200-meter run Thursday and is also slated for the 1600-meter run, along with Kelci Lovercheck. Ellie Schmitt qualified for the 800-meter run.
Among all of the times laid down at the 2A regional meets for the 3200-meter relay, Lovercheck, Hopkins, Schmitt and Emily Buchanan posted the best time (10:54.08). They are one of two Lady Cyclone relay teams to qualify, with Buchanan, Lovercheck, Schmitt and Hailey Anderson running the 1600-meter relay.
Candee Coxbill is the only thrower for Southeast to reach the state meet, as she is set to compete in the discus.
Action starts at 9 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. For a schedule of events and full list of competitors, check out whsaa.org.
