A memorable finish

Colin Tiernan photo
Zane Moore (right) leads the pack down the final stretch of the 800-meter race during day two of the Wyoming Track and Field Championships last Friday in Casper. Moore finished sixth and also took fourth in the 1600-meter race to help pace the Herders in their best finish as a team since they finished third in 2003.

By: 
Eddie Poe eddie@glenrockind.com

Heading into the final day of the Wyoming Track and Field Championships, the Glenrock Herders had their work cut out for them.
The Big Horn Rams held a commanding first-place lead after day two with 98 overall points. The Herders sat outside of the top-three looking in, also behind Wright and Rocky Mountain. As the 2A triple jump got underway on one end of the track, senior Ian Arnold stepped to the starting line in the 110-meter hurdles on the opposite end. He went on to finish fifth with a time of 16.55, effectively commencing Glenrock’s come-from-behind performance last Saturday in Casper.
“We knew we could make up points having a couple of kids in each of the finals on Saturday,” senior Tucker Bopp said. “We also knew the kids that made it to finals were going to place high.”
Following the 110-meter hurdles race, Bopp and two of his teammates laced up for the finals of the 100-meter dash. Bopp went on to finish second with a time of 11.40 and earned All-State honors in the process by finishing in the top two. Jaren Fritz crossed the finish line in fifth and Payton Steinmetz claimed eighth.
Less than an hour later, Arnold regrouped and finished even better in the 300-meter hurdles, placing third with a time of 43.29. The Herders still had several decisive finals set for the second half of the day and were in prime position to make a run for the podium.
At 1 p.m., Bopp toed the starting line in the 400-meter and took home his lone gold medal of the weekend. He outpaced the competition in the rain with a time of 49.71. A short time later, fellow senior Zane Moore finished fourth in the 1600-meter race with a time of 4:59.60 to keep the points coming for the Herders.
Then, at 3 p.m., Bopp lined up for the final race of his illustrious high school career and finished third in the 200-meter race. Fritz took eighth. When all of the events had been run and the final point totals were tallied, the boys concluded another year of the state championships with 96.5 points to take second-place overall. It was the boys’ best finish at state since placing third in 2003.
Along with his fourth-place finish in the 1600-meter, Moore also took sixth in the 800-meter. James Halvorsen placed sixth in the 3200-meter and Skyler Piasecki took 14th. Piasecki also impressed in the high jump, taking fifth, and earned a third-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 4.75 inches. Adrian Maas persevered in the pole vault and finished fifth at a height of 11 feet.
Urian Moreno joined Bopp in All-State honors with a second-place finish in the shot put with a toss of 45 feet, 8 inches.
As a team, the boys also took gold in the 4x100-meter relay and finished second in the 4x800-meter relay. Arnold, Fritz and Steinmetz also earned All-State for their effort in the relay, along with Bopp.
“We didn’t go out on top like we wanted but I think it was a great achievement by the track team and track program,” Bopp said. “This year we had more state qualifiers than the past couple of years and it was awesome to be able to share that experience with my friends.”

LADY HERDERS
Annelise Clark put all of her energy over the last four years into the Lady Herders track and field team. She grew to embrace the community of friends, teammates and coaches that she became close with, and along the way had a successful four years.
“I worked really hard to have fun this year at state, but after my last ever race in the 400-meter finals on Saturday, I was pretty sad,” Clark admitted. “Happy, but also sad.”
Clark concluded her high school career with four top-five finishes for Glenrock. She took third in the 100-meter with a time of 13.31, and also placed third in the 400-meter. The hurdles were Clark’s specialty over the last four years, and she finished second in the 300-meter hurdles to earn All-State honors. She added a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles.
The senior had high praise for assistant coach Cody Tillard, who helped push Clark over the years in the hurdles and was one of the many reasons why she learned to love track and field and everything that it had to offer.
“The track community is so special,” Clark said. “You race all of these girls but you also joke, laugh and complain with them before and after. They are really what makes track fun.”
She continued: “Really before I started track I didn’t know hardly anyone in my class or in the school in general, so I’m grateful for the opportunity sports have given me to come out of my bubble and meet incredible kids.”
Clark’s time of 12.67 in the 100-meter dash earned her the school record and a place in the record books at Glenrock.
Behind her in the 400-meter, teammate Emily Taper placed eighth. She also finished third in the 800-meter with a time of 2:25.54 and has a bright future for the Lady Herders.
Katelyn Cathcart placed seventh in the 100-meter hurdles, while Yesi Hermosillo and Abby Nunez took 10th and 11th in the 3200-meter race, respectively. They teamed up with Taper and Adelaide Williams in the 4x800-meter relay to finish third overall as a team. Abbi Cerny and Alescia Jenkins also finsihed 14th and 15th, respectively, in the 1600-meter race.
When it was all said and done, the Lady Herders finished in seventh with 44 points.
“Overall I think state went great,” Clark said. “It was such a good weekend. I feel so blessed.”
 

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