Herder trackers embrace busy week in Wright, Douglas

As the high school track & field journey has passed the midway peak of the season, the Glenrock boys and girls are now closing in on the time to begin some peaking of their own. They made that push last week with a rare two meets in four days as athletes chase late-season bests and settle into events they hope to continue all the way State in Casper.

Panther Twilight

The busy week started April 22 with a small, but good test against Campbell County, Wright, Moorcroft and Thunder Basin high schools. The day belonged to Wright which swept the team titles by winning the boys with 167 points and the girls with an overwhelming 233 while a smaller than usual Glenrock squad was third among the girls and fourth in boys.

Glenrock had plenty to smile about among both teams. 

Taitum Helmey cleared her way to second in 100-meter hurdles where she stopped the watch in 19.01 seconds. She later added a third to her collection in 300 hurdles with a 53.30.

GHS had two juniors finish in the top seven in the 400. Mallory Lawrence posted a 1:14.56, one spot ahead of teammate Laura Fernandez with a season-best 1:16.36.

In field events, senior Megann Farley led by example again and did it by winning pole vault with a height of 9 feet, 3 inches. Helmey soared to second place in triple jump with a mark of 32-1.

Sophomore Sheridan Sarvey showed her strength in discus where she landed third with a PR toss of 89-2, just ahead of junior Caitilyn Williams at 86-5. Senior Zhane Johnson nailed second in shot put with a mark of 30-8.25, while Williams earned fourth at 29-4.

For the boys, sophomore Caden Tillard was the best in 300 hurdles where he took first in 45.99, a fraction ahead of junior teammate Preston Sorensen in second at 46.10.

Sorensen flirted with gold in 110 hurdles where he missed first by an eyelash to take second in 19.59. Michael Schowengerdt also clocked the second best time in the 1,600 where he posted a 5:46.86.

Senior Casey Sarvey owned shot put. He took home first by 9 feet with a season-best heave of 135-4. Sophomore Declan Federer was third overall with a PR of 123-2.

Sophomore Owen Partridge crushed his seeded time in the 800 by eight seconds to capture second with a 2:12.74. Sophomore Terryn White was GHS’ best in the 400 as he crossed the finish line in fourth with a 59.96.

In field events, sophomore Haiden Ward tied his best in high jump, finishing second at 5-8.

Douglas Invitational

The weather was much different three days later just 25 miles away where a bigger challenge greeted the Herd. Hundreds of athletes and all 17 teams braved the cold, windy and wet conditions at the annual Douglas Invitational. The boys were competitive in the big field and finished seventh among all the schools with 60 points, while Thermopolis won the day with 93.83.

The girls were ninth (with 30 points), while Lander was the top squad (139).

“What a cold track meet, but again, it could be like that at the State track meet so we have to be able to fight through the conditions,” head coach Heath Hayes reiterated. “We had a lot of kids that were near their personal best performances.”

Junior Brady Dona was fantastic in the 200. He took home first out of 85 athletes when he crossed the finish line in 24.31 seconds. He later sped his way to third out of 103 in the 100 at 12.21, just outside of the first-place time of 12.02.

Glenrock’s only other golden performance was delivered by Farley, who won pole vault for  the second time in the week at 9-0.

Tillard ran his way to fourth in 300 hurdles where he posted a 46.10. He also finished seventh in 110 hurdles in 18.65.

Partridge was the fastest Herder in 1,600 again as he earned fifth when he stopped the watch at 5:15.09. Sophomore Ayden Lamb cleared fifth in pole vault at 10-0.

Ward was fourth best in long jump by landing a 19-4.75, and Casey Sarvey threw for fifth in discus with a 124-3.

It’s another busy week for the blossoming Glenrock program with a May 1 meet at Kelly Walsh and a day later in Saratoga.