Athletes and weather

An old adage about Wyoming states: "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes, it will change." Nowhere is this more apparent than at the State Track and Field Championship in Casper. Those who are familiar with the event know that one will experience all four seasons over the course of a weekend. This weekend was no different as competitors had warm weather and clear skies on Thursday, but dealt with rain and snow on Saturday.

Despite the deceivingly nice weather on Friday, which started out cloudy but had its moments of sunshine, the Wyoming High School Athletics Association (WHSAA) planned accordingly for the storm that was bearing down on central Wyoming. While the published schedule had both track and field events going through to Saturday, WHSAA quickly switched gears.

Instead of risking student athletes coming to any harm during field events, such as the shot put, all field events were rescheduled to conclude on Friday. In some cases, events like high jump and triple jump took place nearly concurrently with WHSAA officials working with the student athletes to ensure they were able to compete in both events.

By Saturday morning, the storm had arrived and cloudy skies and rain greeted athletes as they arrived to Kelly Walsh High School. Along with the rain, however, came cold weather. As the temperature dipped, rain turned to snow just in time for the hurdles. Despite the overall gray day, the bleachers sported varying shades of blues, reds, and greens as spectators watched the events under umbrellas or in rain slickers.

With rain and snow alternating and the temperature not showing any sign of rising, competitors in the 1600 meter relay, the final event of the weekend, did their best to stay warm as they waited for their turn to carry the baton.

Overall, individual athletes from Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2) did well. Sam Schneider of Saratoga Middle/High School and Shane and Conor McGraw of Hanna,Elk Mountain Medicine Bow High School all returned home with championships in two events, totaling one-third of the boys events. Lizzi James, of Encampment High School, left Casper as a State champion in discus.

"You know, it really is amazing to have such great kids going to school here," said CCSD2 Superintendent Jim Copeland on Monday ,. "They have great talent and heart and they still instill pride in the community. I know all of them as students and they are great students, which also inspires, and it really is a great honor that they are a part of this district. They excel at being students, athletes and other things. We have every reason to be proud of them."