Shooting for bigger competition

Jackie Jones, Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School track and field head coach, is happy where many of her athletes are at this point in the season.

"Things are coming together nicely for us," Jones said as many members of the team have pre-qualified for state. "Conor (McGraw) and Shane (McGraw), Taylar (Scott) and Amy (Campbell) have qualified in several events."

Jones said the team faced adversity at Pine Bluffs on April 18 with 50 mph winds, but the team did well (See Record Broken at Pine Bluffs on page 7 of the April 24 edition of the Saratoga Sun).

"I see this weekend being really good for the team and I feel fortunate we are getting to travel to the different meets and see the different types of competition week after week," Jones said. "For us to be able to go to Pinedale and Kemmerer and race against some 3A and 4A teams, that raises our level of competition."

She said it was tough not to go to the Saratoga Invite, but the team has run against Valley teams already this year.

"I think the world of Rex Hohnholt and what he does with his program," Jones said. "But this weekend we can get two meets at bigger schools with competition we haven't seen before. These meets are actually warm ups for regionals, to be quite honest."

Jones had every reason to be happy with her athletes results after the Pinedale meet on Thursday and the Kemmerer meet on Saturday.

In Pinedale, Conor McGraw came in 1st in the Boy's 100 meter race at 11.54, the Boy's 110 meter hurdles at 15.70, the 200 meter race at 23.25 and 2nd in the discus throw hitting 112'6".

His twin brother, Shane, placed 1st at events at Pinedale, too. He came in 1st in the 400 meter race with a time of 51.99 and won the discus throw hitting 128'11". He came in 2nd in the triple jump at 38'06" and 3rd in the 200 meter race.

Jase Smith came in 4th in the 110 meter hurdles at 19.90 to give the team points. He placed 6th in the 400 meter race.

Other boys that contributed points were; Devon Grosttick who came in 3rd in the triple jump at 37'0.75" and 8th in long jump at 18'0.75". Joseph Borah placed 3rd in the shot put at 37'11.5". Mark Seager came in 5th in the 800 meter race at 2:32.46 and Taylor Kennedy was right behind him winning 6th at 2:35.75. Cody Swingholm won 7th in the 400 meter race with a time of 59.43.

The boy's 4x400 relay had the Miners come in 2nd at 3:58.25.

The girl's 4x400 also had the Lady Miners come in 2nd with a finish at 4:49.53.

Taylor Scott had a 1st place finish for the girls in the 400 meter race at 1:03.28 and came in 2nd in the 200 meter race. She came in 4th in the 100 meter race at 13.21.

Amy Campbell placed in several events. She came in 3rd in the shot put going 32'01.25", 4th in the 200 meter race at 28.83 and 7th in discus throw hitting 81'0.5".

Her twin sister, Madison, came in 2nd in the 1600 meter race at 6:18.05 with Sabrina Geller placing 4th with a time of 6:38.50 and Cloe Olson coming in 7th at 7:21.43.

Olson gave more points to the team, coming in 6th in the 800 meter race with a time of 3:12.

"I can't say enough about the work ethic of our athletes in practice and at meets," Jones said. "They are a dedicated group of young people who see that what you put in during practice pays off against competitors."

The team's hard work not only paid off at Pinedale, but also in Kemmerer.

Scott came in 1st in the 200 meter at 27.80 and the triple jump hitting the mark of 33'04.75". She was on the team that won the 1600 Medley. Rainey Wilson, M. Campbell and A. Campbell were also on the team.

A. Campbell came in 2nd in the long jump at 14'10.25" and 2nd in the shot put with 31'. She came in 5th in the discus throw with 83'7.50".

M. Campbell came in 3rd in the 300 meter race at 53.63. Geller came in 2nd in the 3200 meter run at 14:56.47 and Olson placed 4th at 16:07.84 in the same event.

T'lyssa Solaas came in 5th in the 100 meter hurdles at 19.13 and 6th in the 300 meter hurdles with 59.03.

Jolyn Borah gave the team points in the discus throw coming in 8th with 70'.

The team of Borah, Olson, Hayley Felton and Megan Hunter came in 3rd in the 4x100 meter relay.

The boys had five 1st place finishes in events.

C. McGraw came in 1st in the 100 meter race at 11.61; 1st in the 100 meter hurdles with a time 15.54 and 1st in the 300 meter hurdles at 43.76.

S. McGraw had a 1st place finish in the 800 meter race at 2:09.65. He came in 2nd to his brother in the 100 meter race at 11.64. He came in 2nd in the discus throw with 135'0.5"

Grosstick came in 1st in the triple jump at 39'02.5. He came in 2nd in the long jump with 17'11.50".

Joseph Borah came in 5th in the shot put with 35'04" and 7th in the discus throw at 99'09".

Smith cane in 3rd in the 200 meter race at 26.95 and teammate Swingholm came in 7th at 28.30.

In the 3200 meter run, Widdison came in 4th at 13:03.53, Kennedy 5th with a time of 13:22.18 and Seager 6th at 13:23.90.

The team of Swingholm, Borah, Kennedy and Ura Schmidt came in 3rd in the 4x100 meter relay with a time of 56.82.

The team of Grosstick, Smith, Borah and Swingholm placed 2nd in the 1600 sprint medley at 4:22.75.

"Our athletes had two great days of competition on the west side of the state," Jones said. "Both the boys and girls saw event winners and many athletes posted bests. Some final decisions will be made for athletes this week as far as entries for regionals, and the Thermopolis meet will be a great last meet before our culminating meet in Sheridan as we look ahead to the state meet."

The next scheduled meet is the Bobcat Invite in Thermopolis on May 3.