SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. – The Lingle-Fort Laramie Dogger boys and girls track teams both finished fifth at the Binfield Invite on Saturday as the smallest school in attendance, but the Doggers still placed in several events.
“The coaching staff was very pleased with the overall performance of our athletes,” coach Mike Lashley said. “L-FL was by far the smallest school at this meet, but it never seemed to faze our kids.”
Lady Dogger transfer Kaelyn Riley had a solid first outing in an L-FL uniform on the track. She finished second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.34 seconds. In the 200, she qualified first in the prelims with a time of 27.48 seconds, but in the finals, she slid to third (28.05 seconds).
In the distance events, Cora Frederick picked up a fourth-place finish in the 3200, recording a time of 15:35.02. She also finished sixth in the mile (7:09.29), just ahead of teammate Jenny Manus, who took seventh with a time of 7:19.75.
Kaylan Maez came out of the gate strong this spring in the hurdles. With a time of 18.28 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, she finished second. She also finished second in the 300-meter event with a time of 55.10 seconds.
The Lady Doggers’ 400-meter relay team of Maez, Riley, Shelby Heilbrun and Jordyn Gasper turned in a time of 57.12 seconds to finish third.
In the field events, Heilbrun and Gaspers finished back-to-back in the high jump. Heilbrun cleared 4 feet, 6 inches, while Gaspers had a 4-foot, 4-inch effort for the two to finish fourth and fifth. Gaspers also took sixth in the triple jump (28-9) and eighth in the long jump (13-8). Maez took her solid day to the pole vault, where she cleared 7 feet to finish eighth.
In the throwing events, Savannah Mirich was the only Lady Dogger to place, taking fourth in the shot put with a put of 32 feet, 7 inches.
The L-FL girls piled up 61 points to slide into fifth place in the team race, with Torrington a slot ahead with 84 points. North Platte’s girls took the crown with 191 points, followed by Scottsbluff’s 141.5 points and Douglas’ 117.5 points.
Boys
Landen Fuller started off his outdoor track season strong with two first-place finishes in Scottsbluff. He took the top spot in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.42 seconds, and clocked a time of 2:03.42 in the 800 to finish first.
Joining fuller in the 800, Kelly Peterson finished fifth with a time of 2:16.70, while Gaven Niles was one slot behind, taking sixth (2:21.89).
Also on the track, Cole Shepardson finished fourth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 43.70 seconds. Rhett Greenwald turned in a time of 47.63 seconds in the same event to take sixth. Greenwald also competed in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing fifth with a time of 18.09 seconds.
L-FL’s 1600-meter relay had the best finish for the Doggers, with Shepardson, Niles, Peterson and Fuller combining to turn in a time of 3:43.45, earning them second. Greenwald was joined by Clay Colton, Cooper Hill and Hayden Hill for the 400-meter relay, taking fourth with a time of 50.14 seconds.
Greenwald was the only Dogger to place in the field events, snagging a third-place finish in the pole vault after clearing 11 feet, 1 inch.
“Considering it is very early in the season, we still managed to see some phenomenal efforts,” Lashley said. “We met several state qualifying marks and even registered some personal records.”
The Doggers amassed 58 points in the boys team race, finishing fifth behind Douglas’ 71 points. Scottsbluff (232), North Platte, Neb. (171) and Torrington (107) populated the top-three spots.
The Doggers are slated to attend the Bayard CD Invite on Thursday, with the field events kicking off at 9 a.m.
“We are still trying to figure out where we can score the best, so we will mix it up with some of our athletes this week in Bayard,” Lashley said. “The Bayard CD Invite usually has about 20 teams entered, so it will give us a good idea of where we are at and what we need to focus on the next few weeks.”
Full results for those who competed but did not place include:
Boys
100-meter dash – 12, Clay Colton, 12.68; 20, Hayden Hill, 13.11.
200 – 9, Hayden Hill, 25.76; 11, Clay Colton, 26.59.
Shot Put – 13, Rayden Alonzo, 36-8.
Discus – 31, Rayden Alonzo, 57-5.
Long Jump – 12, Hayden Hill, 17-6; 16, Clay Colton, 16-9.5.
Girls
400 – 11, Shelby Heilbrun, 1:12.14.
Shot Put – 20, Emily Hatch, 21-7.5; 25, Shelly Ann Sorrick, 16-11.
Discus – 16, Savannah Mirich, 72-0; 24, Emily Hatch, 50-0; Shelly Ann Sorrick, 49-3.
