Like bees to honey, 29 track boys and girls track teams converged on Worland for the Warrior annual D&D Invitational. Though the season is now a month old, for most of the athletes it was their first competition of the season.
The entries reflected the weather-induced frustration that had kept most of the athletes, not just off the track in competition, but unable to even train outside due to snowdrifts several feet deep and sub-zero morning temperatures well into April.
There were almost 400 runners entered in the 100-meter dash alone, with 212 boys, and 176 girls. The flights seemed endless with a combined 51 heats. It took an entire box of .32 caliber blank shells for starter Joe White just to reach the fast heat of the boys’ 100.
There were three heats of the girls 1600 meter run, and four for the boys.
The meet was dominated by Sheridan, with sprinter Addie Pendergast sweeping the 100, 200, and 400-meter sprints.
No single boy dominated that side of the venue, but there were still some excellent times and distances for the first meet of the season for many of the competitors.
Last week at small meets in Greybull and Wheatland, a few teams were able to run for the first time, but the bulk of the boys and girls enjoyed the sunny skies and 40-degree weather with no wind in Washakie County.
Fremont County athletes competed well, with every team in competition except the Dubois Rams.
Riverton’s Jaylah Griffith did well in the throws placing second in the discus and seven in the shot put.
Wind River high jumper Emma Miller cleared 4-9 to take second.
The running events provided tough competition for the girls. Lander had three individual runners place in the 200-meter dash, and 800-meter run in Avery Crane, Avery Bever, and Ameya Eddy.
Riverton’s Kiana Swann placed eighth in the 800-meter run, and sixth in the 1600-meter race. Swann was seeded in the first heat, among slower runners since she didn’t have an entry time. At the finish, she kicked down the back stretch to win the heat and with tougher competition may have been able to carve even more time off the race.
Samantha Ablard did well in the 300-meter hurdles for the Lady Wolverines placing fifth, and the Lander 4×400 and 4×800 meter relays took third and fourth respectively.
For the boys, the Wind River sprint medley had a runner-up placing behind Sheridan. The Cougar quartet of Remington Herbert, Isaac Gardner, Jaycee Herbert, and Graham Robison ran a respectable 4:04.67.
Lander also tallied a second-place relay with Matisse Weaver, Aidan Russell, Joel Bever, and Reed McFadden finishing in 3:37.21
Individually, McFadden posted a 2:02.43 in the 800-meter run to finish second.
Jaycee Herbert placed in all three sprints with a fifth in 100, seventh in 200, and third in the 400-meter dashes.
Hayden Prettyman posted a 54.68 in the 400 for Riverton finishing seventh.
Davian Spoonhunter also ran well with a great early season time of 10:59.72 in the 3200-meter run, finishing fourth.
Riverton junior Kaden Chatfield was third in the 1600-meter race in 4:33.48.
Riverton had a great day in the field events paced by a second-place throw by Nathan Mills in the discus. Mills was also eighth in the shot put.
Nick McIntosh was third in the triple jump and Watie Whiteplume was fifth in the high jump.
Riverton’s 4×800 meter relay of Azaniah Guthrie, Kyler Heil, Marshall Walton, and Carlos Shaw was fourth, and Wyoming Indian’s sprint medley team of Jason SLowbear, Parlayne Ferris, Keiran McCorley, and Noah Red Willow finished seventh.
D&D Individual Girls Results
100 Meter Dash:1. Addie Pendergast, SHE 12.66, 8. Avery King, LAN 13.26
200 Meter Dash: 1. Addie Pendergast, SHE 25.95, 4. Avery Crane, LAN 27.32, 7. Avery Bever, LAN 27.88
400 Meter Dash: 1. Addie Pendergast, SHE 55.70
800 Meter Run: 1. Taylen Stinson, COD 2:23.84, 6. Ameya Eddy, LAN 2:30.22, 8. Kiana Swann, RIV 2:31.96
1600 Meter Run: 1. Taylor Stinson, COD 5:15.71, 6. Kiana Swann, RIV 5:44.31
3200 Meter Run: 1. Madison Antonino, PIN 11:34.00
100-Meter Hurdles: 1. Carly Norman, BUF 15.74, 7. Addison Alley, RIV 18.09
300-Meter Hurdles: 1. Vinaya Vanderploeg, RVS 47.05, 5. Samantha Ablard, RIV 51.13
4×100 Meter Relay: 1. Thunder Basin 50.8
4×400 Meter Relay: 1. Powell 4:16.87, 3. Lander Valley (Ellie Kaufman, Bria Calvert, Kyndal McFadden, Avery Crane) 4:24.24
4×800 Meter Relay: 1. Powell 10:13.16, 4. Lander Valley (Ameya Eddy, Alandra French, Marlee Jones, Autumn Bonella) 10:47.47
Sprint Medley Relay: 1. Cody 4:26.19
Long Jump: 1. Callista Roush, SHE 16-8
Triple Jump: 1. Callista Roush, SHE 33-4
High Jump: 1. Ashley Rogge, TB 4-10, 2. Emma Miller, WR 4-9
Pole Vault: 1. Lilly Charest, SHE 11-6
Shot Put: 1. Josie Ankeny, SHE 41-5, 7. Jaylah Griffith, RIV 35-0
Discus: 1. Katy Dexter, PIN 126-0, 2. Jaylah Griffith, RIV 110-0, 5. Adelyn Anderson, LAN 107-4
D&D Individual Boys Results
100 Meter Dash:1. Dillon Brost, COD 11.32, 5. Jaycee Herbert, WR 11.69
200 Meter Dash: 1. AJ Baustert, COD 23.19, 7. Jaycee Herbert, WR 23.93
400 Meter Dash: 1. Bradley Ekstrom, TB 51.68, 3. Jaycee Herbert, WR 53.14, 7. Hayden Prettyman, RIV 54.68
800 Meter Run: 1. Daniel Merritt, POW 2:00.03, 2. Reed McFadden, LAN 2:02.43
1600 Meter Run: 1. Austin Akers, SHE 4:29.98, 3. Kaden Chatfield, RIV 4:33.48
3200 Meter Run: 1. Trajn Swalstad, WOR 10:06.81, 4. Davian Spoonhunter, RIV 10:59.72
110 Meter High Hurdles: 1. Hunter Fisher, BP 15.69
300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles: 1. Aiden O’Leary, SHE 40.12
4×100 Meter Relay: 1. Thunder Basin 44.21
4×400 Meter Relay: 1. Sheridan 3:33.03, 2. Lander Valley (Matisse Weaver, Aidan Russell, Joel Bever, Reed McFadden) 3:37.21
4×800 Meter Relay: 1. Worland 8:43.02, 4. Riverton (Azaniah Guthrie, Kyler Heil, Marshall Walton, Carlos Shaw) 9:26.28
Sprint Medley Relay: 1. Sheridan 3:52.22, 2. Wind River (Remington Herbert, Isaac Gardner, Jaycee Herbert, Graham Robison) 4:04.67, 7. Wyoming Indian (Jason SLowbear, Parlayne Ferris, Keiran McCorley, Noah Red Willow) 4:28.13
Long Jump: 1. Cody Seifert, POW 20-5.25
Triple Jump: 1. Cody Seifert, POW 42-1.5, 3. Nick McIntosh, RIV 40-1.25
High Jump: 1. Clayton Edwards, BUR 6-0, 5. Watie Whiteplume, RIV 5-8
Pole Vault: 1. Dillon Brost, COD 12-0
Shot Put: 1. Cooper Stevens, GIL 50-3.5, 8. Nathan Mills, RIV 43-0.25
Discus: 1. Braydn Ballard, GIL 128-4, 2. Nathan Mills, RIV 126-3