Bobcats qualify for state track competition

Bobcat track and field team members competed at the 3A East regionals last week in Newcastle.

“I am very proud of how our athletes went down and competed at regionals. We saw lots of PRs which is exactly what you want at the biggest meet of the year up to this point. Our sprinters, distance runners, jumpers, and throwers all showed tremendous growth over the year which is a reflection on the work they have put in the weight room and on the track this season. Our coaches have also done a phenomenal job of training our athletes,” said coach Calder Forcella.

Ina King had a fantastic performance in the triple jump winning regionals. “She is going into the state as the number one seed, and has the potential to come home as a state champion,”said coach Forcella.

He added, “Coach Boone Bowker has done a phenomenal job working with Ina this season and has her competing at an elite level. I am excited to see how their hard work this season plays out at state this week.” 

Jayci Basse proved to be amongst the best sprinters in the state at this meet, qualifying in all three short sprints including the 100, 200 and 400. “I am proud of her commitment this season to the weight room and how hard she has worked to improve this season,” said coach Forcella

Mariah Brooks and Joely Mounts qualified in the high jump. “Joely has continued building off a strong freshman season in that event. Mariah came out for track after not competing the last two years which goes to show her athletic ability. Coach Metz did a fantastic job with our high jumpers this year getting multiple qualifiers,” said coach Forcella.

He added, “Our 4x800 relay teams posted strong times and qualified for state. Our athletes on these relay teams are young and competitive. Both have a great opportunity to go down to Casper this week and get on the podium.” 

Girls 4x800 relay members are Dazlynn Hunt, Jayda Griffin, Brooklynn Williams and Ruthanne Johnson; alternate Hallie Martinez. 

Boys 4x800 relay members are Ethan Yarrington, Ryan Arends, Chris Arends and Seth Needham; alternates Ethan Crow and Jessen Basse.

“Both of our 4x400 teams came up short in qualifying but posted huge PRs and gave themselves a chance at the end of the meet. That race is always everyone’s highlight because it takes speed, grit, teamwork and is always the last race of the meet. Our entire team was there cheering them on and it was huge culture building moment for our program,” said coach Forcella. 

Individual results from regionals include:

Girls finals

100 meter dash: Jayci Basse 7th 13.51

200 meter dash: Jayci Basse 8th 28.61

400 meter dash: Jayci Basse 5th 1:04.60

800 meter run: Dazlynn Hunt 9th 2:39.97; Jayda Griffin 13th 2:46.60; Hallie Martinez 14th 2:46.91; Alexis Garrison 3:01.34

1600 meter run: Alexis Garrison 11th 6:08.30; Jayda Griffin 15th 6:25.50; Madyson Landon 21st 8:01.81

4x800 meter relay: 3rd 10:46.39

High jump: Joely Mounts 3rd 4-09.00; Mariah Brooks 8th 4-05.00; Aspen Brooks 11th 4-03.00

Long jump: Alexis Garrison 22nd 11-10.50; Maggie Landon 25th 10-05.75; Hannah Lippincott 26th 8-06.00

Triple jump: Ina King 1st 34-03.25; Hallie Martinez 11th 29-04.50; Ruth Johnson 15th 28-09.25

Pole vault: Brooklynn Williams 13th 6-07.00

Discuss: Lexi Overfield 11th 87-07.00; Xoey Rich 12th 86-03.00; Kaitlin Barral 23rd 60-02.00; Tera Kraushaar 5th 55-04.00

Shot put: Xoey Rich 9th 30-05.00; Lexi Overfield 12th 29-02.50; Kaitlin Barral 15th 28-04.00; Mariah Brooks 16th 26-08.00

Boys finals

800 meter run: Ethan Yarrington 10th 2:10.42; Ethan Crow 12th 2:14.49; Seth Needham 14th 2:15.34; Jarek Jeffs 23rd 2:27.34

3200 meter run: Jarek Jeffs 14th 11:46.62

300 meter hurdles: Jaye Christensen 10th 47.32

4x800 meter relay: 3rd 8:53.42

Long jump: Jessen Basse 19th 15-11.00; Jaye Christensen 20th 15-10.75; Ryan Arends 21st 15-10.00

Triple jump: Logan Dafoe 16th 31-03.50

Pole vault: Mason Reese 12th 9-00.00

Discus: Mason Reese 16th 99-05.00; Jarek Jeffs 23rd 85-08.00; Tanner Jensen 26th 79-02.00; Logan Dafoe 28th 75-10.00

Shot put: Damiyan Gosnell 22nd 35-07.25; Brody Sorensen 28th 30-00.00; Mason Reese 30th 29-07.00; Zane Smith 32nd 27-05.50