A Challenging Finish: Herder athletes face tough test in return to 3A state track & field championships

Clifford Smith photos

Preston Sorensen clears a hurdle en route to posting a time of 19.12 seconds in the 110 hurdles. He had a time of 44.74 in 300 hurdles as well to pace the Herders at the state competition in those events.

By: 
RJ Morgan

In a  season filled with ups, downs and adversity that comes with growing pains from a small program, the Glenrock High School track & field team brought the season to a successful end in Casper. A handful of Herders qualified for the sport’s biggest event, the state championships, May 18-20 at Kelly Walsh High School.

Though the school did not grow much in student population since last session, Glenrock moved from 2A to 3A and a faced a more challenging task just like cross-county foe Douglas. Powell had a ton a depth and swept both the boys and girls teams state championships and programs, like Lander’s and Worland’s, were also loaded to make it one of the most competitive 3A meets this decade.

While the competition made things tough for the Herders, they didn’t back down from a single challenge. In fact, GHS head coach Peter Fenster praised his team leaders and small group of qualifiers for their first gutsy efforts.

“As a team, we battled a lot of adversity and experienced a lot of thing this year in track. Our track team has a very bright future,” Fenster said. “I would like to highlight two seniors – Ann-Marie young and Sarah Winger. They are incredible young ladies and were great leaders for us.”

The Glenrock senior leaders led by example on and off the field. It provided the kind of leadership Fenster needed on such a young squad.

Young capped her successful high school career by capturing seventh place in discus with throw of 112 feet, 4 inches. The senior, who plans to play college basketball, won the 2A state championship last season.

Young also landed 10th overall in shot put with a season-best heave of 34-2.5. GHS freshman Caitilyn Williams, fresh off a PR at regionals, threw a 29-6.75 in her state debut.

The highest finish among all Herders came from Makenzi Partridge. She captured fourth place overall in high jump with a season-best height of 4-10.

Also in field events,  junior Erica Dority notched a season-best 8-6 in pole vault to finish ninth. Senior Isabella Taylor also inked ninth in long jump with a mark of 16-1.75, while sophomore Gracie Sixbey was 12th in triple jump with a personal-record leap of 32-1.

Glenrock ran into tough competition in sprint events where it was denied a spot in the finals of the 100 and 200 even though Taylor was close to finals in both. Megann Farley did record a season-best time in the 400 at 1:03.82.

Another personal-record fell for the Herders in the 4x400 relay. The foursome of Gillian Holman, Partridge, Farley and Sixbey set their best time when they finished eighth at 4:24.25.

The Glenrock 4x800 relay team also beat its best time by more than 30 seconds. The crew of Annika Klauenberg, Lucy Ticknor, Sarah Winger and Peyton Phillips came through at 11:54.40.

On the boys’ side, Glenrock’s only podium appearances was earned by the 1600 sprint relay. The team of Charlie Schowengerdt, Dusty Cox, Logan Jones and Ayden Moulton beat their season-best time by two seconds to finish eighth at 4:00.72.

GHS’ Brigham Partridge had a good day on the oval. The sophomore set a personal record when he was clocked at 56.39 seconds in the 400.

Preston Sorenson led the Herders in hurdles. He posted a time of 19.12 seconds in the 110 hurdles and had a time of 44.74 in 300 hurdles.

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Glenrock Independent

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