20 PRs achieved at Bobcat Invite, postseason is all that remains for track & field

The weather was warm in Thermopolis but the Glenrock High School boys and girls track & field teams were hotter at their final tunes up before regionals. The Herd was among two dozens teams in a packed stadium where both teams finished in the top half of the standings May 9 at the Bobcat Track & Field Invitational.

Remaining consistent was athletes breaking personal-best performances and that itself made the trip a huge success. It also gave coaches a chance to look at some other possibilities before taking on the two biggest meets of the year in each of the next two weekends to bring things to a close.

It was a chance for the Herders to run, jump and throw against some new competition and a few familiar foes with a big event loaded with small schools including Big Piney, Burlington, Encampment, Greybull, Hanna-Elk Mountain, Little Snake River, Meeteetse, Pinedale, Rawlins, Riverside, Shoshoni, Ten Sleep, Wind River, Saratoga, Green River, Farson-Eden, Dubois, Kemmerer, Lovell, Rocky Mountain, Thermopolis and Worland all lacing up.

“Twenty new personal records at a very warm track meet in Thermopolis. Coaches made a few relay changes in preparation to the Regional schedule to help our athletes and it paid off,” head coach Heath Hayes said. “The boys 4x800 relay set the tone for how our day was gonna go in Thermopolis. Made up of Owen Partridge, Koi Horn, Haiden Ward and Caden Tillard hit the auto-qualifying mark by running an 8-minute, 40-second relay which moved them into second place in the region.”

Not to be outdone, the Herder 4x100 relay team also made some noise in being among the headlines of the day. The  speedy quartet of Carson Tomlin, Preston Sorenson, Ayden Moulton and Brady Dona unleashed an auto-qualifying time when they crossed the finish line in 45.16 seconds and took third overall.  

“We fell two seconds off getting the trifecta with our 1,600 sprint medley relay but can still qualify either by placing in the top four or hitting the auto-qualifying time at the Regional meet,” Hayes said of his confidence in the boys. “Owen Partridge was called upon to run two 800s in relays and responded.”

The sprint relay team, though barely missing a State ticket, ran well. Brigham Partridge, Owen Partridge, Tomlin and Moulton beat out Worland for second place when they clocked a 3:52.72.

Other top placers included Brigham Partridge taking seventh out of 35 in triple jump with a mark of 37 feet, 10 inches. Sophomore Ayden Lamb made the top nine in pole vault at 10-6.

Sophomore Declan Federer and senior Carry Sarvey finished in the top 20 in shot put among 75 others, while Sarvey also earned fifth in discus among 80.

Tomlin had a good day in field events as well when he took fourth in high jump with a height of 5-8.

Dona continues to be one of the fastest around in 100 dash and that continued when the junior finished sixth out of 80 in 11.59 seconds.

Glenrock had a double take of great efforts in 300 hurdles where Tillard led the way fifth overall in 43.99 seconds, an eyelash shy of a PR. Sorenson did nail a PR in finishing seventh in 44.73.

Girls

 “On the girls side, we got back to some consistency in throwing, pole vault, high jump, sprints and hurdles,” Hayes said. “Hayden Lythgoe had a very busy day running the 4x800, 100 and 300 hurdles as well as the 4x400 relay.”

Some of the highlights of the day included sophomore Taitum Helmey in triple jump where she only missed a PR by an inch and took home third out of 31 when she hit the pit at 32-0. Senior Zhane Johnson was ninth in a large field of 61 in shot put with a toss of 31-8, just ahead of Caitilyn Williams at 30-9.75.

Senior Megann Farley has had a good week every week of her final season and did so again by capturing second in pole vault by clearing 9-6.

Helmey and Lythgoe finished in the top half of the leaders in 100 hurdles where they clocked 18.28 and 18.78, respectively. Later in the day, Lythgoe ran her way to 10th in 300 hurdles with a 51.70, while Helmey was one place back in a PR of 51.83.

In distances, newcomer Kennley Blackburn continues to improve and crushed her seeded time in the 1,600 by 10 seconds when she stopped the watch in 6:22.58, just ahead of teammates Lucy Ticknor and Maggie Halvorsen.

The only thing left now will be Regionals May 16-17 in Buffalo and the State May 22-24 in Casper.

“We have 10 athletes who have pre-qualified for the State track meet and will add on with the kids that have to get there the hard way fighting through the competition. These athletes have goals and have worked as hard as anyone in the state,” Hayes said. “On the boys side we are seeking a top four finish which hasn’t happened since 2019. For the girls it will be a bit more of a battle and hope to get 12-16 qualified.”