EHS Track ends season with high marks

The Encampment Track and Field team came home with one individual state championship and a fistful of personal bests after competing in Casper this past weekend.

McKenzie Powell once again led her team with her record breaking 800-meter run, missing the state record by less than two seconds.

Powell ran the 800-meter in 2 minutes 21.21 seconds. The state record is 2:19.68.

In the 400-meter, Powell had her personal best coming in at 1:70. Powell came in second in the 400-meter dash, against Savannah Phillips, of Cokeville. Both girls are sophomores and competed against each other in both races.

They go back and forth, head coach Kegan Willford said of the girls. "It's good to have that kind of challenge. We had met Cokeville early on in the season and McKenzie gears toward competing against her." Willford said Powell enjoys competing against Phillips.

Powell brought home three medals from state, including one for the 4x800 relay.

In the 1600-meter run, freshman Ashlynn Johnson claimed sixth place at state with a time of 6:10.15. Johnson brought home three medals from state, including one for her high jump with a seventh place finish and a second place medal in the 4x800 relay.

Cassidy Little and Micaiah Pantle also ran in the 4x800 relay, breaking the school record for the fourth time this season completing the run in 10:41.48.

Little Snake River has been the relay teams nemesis the entire season and at one point, the Encampment team has closed in at four seconds. That would not be the case last weekend, as there were 11 seconds between the first place Snake River and second place Encampment.

Willford said that runners had preliminary events the same day, which puts stress on the runners and lessens time to recover. Willford added that is why the long distance runners don't sign up for several running events, to save themselves for the longer, more demanding runs.

With only three days to compete at state, the time for recovery is limited, Willford said.

Pantle exceeded her goal of 26 feet in the triple jump Saturday and also beat her personal record, Willford said.

Most triple jumpers are tall with long legs, Pantle is relatively short compared to most competitors, but with the strides she made this year, Willford has high hopes for her in the future.

Pantle didn't place, but was pleased with her personal record of 26' 8.25".

Makayla Wilder, Jamie Stradley, Cheyanne Jordan and Cassidy Little fell short in the events in the shot put and discus respectively.

"A lot of kids are star struck," Willford said. "The adrenaline builds up at state track and it can be a negative thing or a positive thing."

For the throwers, it was their first appearance at state in these events.

Brett Ralston had his personal best in the 800-meter run with a time 2:14.20. Ralston didn't place at state in the top eight, but Willford was still pleased with his progress. Willford said Ralston started off fast and that may have affected his second lap of the race.

That same problem hurt the 4x800 relay team, Willford said. The boys started off too fast in the first lap and couldn't keep up the pace in the second lap.

Gage Bartlett, who has been a long distance runner since the sixth grade placed 11th in the 1600-meter and seventh in the 3200-meter bringing home his first state medal.

"Gage told me the further he runs, the better he runs," which showed in his 11:16.16 in the 3200-meter.

With a 5:21.45 finish in the 800-meter run, Bartlett had a personal best. Willford said he has seen improvement from Bartlett from week to week during the season.

Tylr Kozelisky had never competed in track, but pulled off an 11th place finish in the 110 hurdles. Kozelisky, a sophomore, has two years left to compete. Willford is confident he will place at state in hurdles in the future since he showed a four-to-five second improvement throughout the year.

Hunter Hammer had returned to track after taking a hiatus since the seventh grade. He tried several things this year, Willford said, and Hammer shined in the triple jump, bringing home a personal best and an eight place finish. Hammer finished 13th in the long jump. He competed in the 300-meter hurdles, but did not qualify for finals. Willford said he has seen a lot of improvement in the hurdles for Hammer, but believes his strong sport is the triple jump.

Keegan Johnson and Guy Erickson missed their marks in the discus. Whether it was state jitters or not, Willford wasn't sure. It was the first time for both of them to compete in discus at state. Both boys are juniors.

The 4x800 relay team placed fifth at state with a time of 9:21.11, nearly seven second slower than regionals. Once again, Willford thought they ran the first lap too fast. "Hunter was the most consistent, with two minutes in the first lap, while Ralston and Erickson ran their first lap in one minute flat. Running that first lap too fast can tire the runner, Willford said.

All in all, Willford is pleased with his team. This is the biggest team he has had since he started coaching and Willford hopes to build the program. "We are losing two seniors, but we have a lot of eighth graders coming up."

With 15 of the 19 qualifying for state, Willford is hoping they will all return next year to gain even more experience.