by nathan oster
The first nice weather of the season and a brand new running surface proved to be a perfect combination for a number of Greybull High School tracksters who turned in state-qualifying performances at Friday afternoon’s Riverside Invitational.
Heading into the meet, just one Buff, Jessica Hunt, had guaranteed herself of a trip to state.
By day’s end, seven others had joined her, including all three of the girls’ team’s hurdlers, Karly Thomas, Alex Powers and Michaela Jolley, and the boys’ 400-meter relay team of Shane Clucas, Dillon McCoy, Dylan Brenner and Clay Cundall.
“Conditions were absolutely ideal,” said Coach Jeff Sukut, adding that in addition to the warm temps and new track, runners also benefited from a slight wind at their backs down the homestretch.
Hunt had a stellar weekend for the Buffs. Already qualified in the high jump, she took it up a notch in Basin, clearing a personal-best 4 feet, 10 inches, to finish second. She followed that up with an even better jump at Saturday’s L.A. Kohnke Invitational in Powell, clearing 4-11 to tie for fifth place. Sukut said the jumps position solidified Hunt’s status as a contender to place at the state meet.
Powers, Jolley and Thomas all blew away their previous personal bests and came in below the hand-held AQ standard of 17.6 seconds. Jolley took third in 17.28, Thomas was fourth in 17.43 and Powers was fifth in 17.55.
On the boys’ side, the 400-meter relay team of Clucas, McCoy, Brenner and Cundall blew away the competition with its hand-held time of 46.48 seconds. The AQ standard is 46.7 seconds.
The girls’ 400-meter relay team of Jessica Hunt, Alex Powers, Angel Leyba and Michaela Jolley came close to qualifying as well with its winning time of 55.54 seconds.
“Of all our kids at that meet, I’d say 75 to 80 percent bettered their overall performances,” said Sukut. “Again, a lot of that had to do with environmental conditions. But overall, it was a good meet for us. With our training this time of year, we amp things up a little bit. The next two weeks, training will be a lot more intense before we start curtailing in the final couple weeks.
No team scores were available for Saturday’s competition in Powell, but Sukut mentioned several highlights.
Cundall ran a 42.43 in the 300-meter hurdles, missing the state-qualifying standard by just two hundredths of a second.
Edward DeCabooter “is getting really close” to qualifying, Sukut said. After missing the AQ standard by five seconds in the 3,200 meters in Basin, he came even closer in the 1,600 meters in Powell, running a 4:54 when a 4:52 was needed.
“Some of the qualifying marks, they’re tough,” said Sukut. “But I’m thinking right now, looking at our competition in our region, that if a lot of our kids don’t qualify by standard, they’ll have a good chance of placing in the top eight at the regional meet.”
With seven on board the Casper express already, and a number of others on the verge, Sukut is well above the “three or four” AQers he’s had in recent years. “This is the most I’ve had in awhile, and we should get a couple more in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
The Buffs will compete at a meet in Lovell on Saturday.
The Wyoming Track Classic is on the horizon for the following weekend, and several Buffs are in contention to receive invitations, including DeCabooter in the 3,200 meters (currently sitting in eighth place) and the 1,600 meters; Hunt in the high jump (currently tied for 11th); and Cundall in the 300 hurdles (currently tied for 10th).
Invitations will go to the athletes with the top 10 times in the state, regardless of classification.
Those who don’t qualify for the Classic will compete at a meet in Thermopolis.
RIVERSIDE INVITATIONAL
BOYS — Lovell 293, Burlington 202, Greybull 183, Meeteetse 79, Ten Sleep 73, Riverside 71, Rocky Mt. 31, Arvada Clearmont 26.
100 METERS — 3, Dillon McCoy 11.72. 5, Shane Clucas 11.83.
200 METERS — 2, Clucas, 24.01. 3, Clay Cundall, 24.17. 5, McCoy 24.8.
110 HURDLES — 1, Cundall, 16.64. 7, Wyatt Good, 19.29.
800 METERS — 4, Pavel Lobyntsev, 2:25.13. 7, Schuyler Kalik, 2:26.97.
3,200 METERS — 2, Edward DeCabooter, 11:00.
LONG JUMP — 7, Julian Wiley, 16-9.
SHOT PUT — 5, Cody Duffy, 37-11.
DISCUS — 3, Duffy, 115-5.
400 RELAY — 1, Greybull, 46.48.
GIRLS — Burlington 161, Lovell 146, Greybull 100, Meeteetse 66, Riverside 23, Arvada-Clearmont 19, Ten Sleep 8, Rocky Mt. 5.
200 METERS — 4, Angel Leyba, 31.14.
400 METERS — 3, Jackie Miller, 1:06.42. 6, Michaela Denniston, 1:11.21.
100 HURDLES — 3, Michaela Jolley, 17.28. 4, Karly Thomas, 17.43. 5, Alex Powers, 17.55.
300 HURDLES — 2, Powers, 51.57. 4, Jolley, 53.89. 5, Thomas, 55.34.
800 METERS — 3, Kayla Eaton, 2:47.96.
HIGH JUMP — 2, Jessica Hunt, 4-10.
LONG JUMP — 3, Jolley, 14-3. 4, Powers, 13-6. 6, Eaton, 13-3.
TRIPLE JUMP — 3, Hunt, 30-7 ¾.
SHOT PUT — 2, Lindsay Kern, 30-9.
DISCUS — 8, Kern, 78-9.
400 RELAY — 1, Greybull, 55.54.`
LA KOHNKE INVITATIONAL
GIRLS VARSITY
400 METERS — 4, Jackie Miller, 1:06.49.
100 HURDLES — 4, Michaela Jolley, 17.82. 5, Alex Powers, 17.98. 6, Thomas, 18.05.
300 HURDLES — 6, Thomas, 53.16. 7, Powers, 55.43.
HIGH JUMP — 5, Jessica Hunt, 4-11.
TRIPLE JUMP — 7, Hunt, 31-3 ½.
SHOT PUT — 5, Lindsay Kern, 29-5.
GIRLS JUNIOR VARSITY
200 METERS — 5, Angel Leyba, 31.8.
400 METERS — 1, Michaela Denniston, 1:09.78.
800 METERS — 2, Kayla Eaton, 2:59.
LONG JUMP — 4, Leyba, 13-0. 6, Eaton, 12-9.
TRIPLE JUMP — 6, Birdi Gallegos, 26-3.
SHOT PUT — 6, Lesly Gallegos, 21-7.
DISCUS — 6, Lesly Gallegos, 57-9.
BOYS VARSITY
100 METERS — 8, Shane Clucas, 12.38.
200 METERS — 3, Clucas, 24.58.
800 METERS — 4, Edward DeCabooter, 2:11.44.
1,600 METERS — 3, DeCabooter, 4:54.33.
110 HURDLES — 7, Clay Cundall, 17.59.
300 HURDLES — 3, Cundall, 42.53.
400 RELAY — 3, Greybull (Cundall, Clucas, Dillon McCoy, Jordan Jolley), 47.02.
BOYS JUNIOR VARSITY
100 METERS — 5, Dylan Brenner, 12.94.
200 METERS — 4, Brenner, 26.64.
400 METERS — 8, Pavel Lobyntsev, 1:02.25.
110 HURDLES — 1, Wyatt Good, 19.33.
LONG JUMP — 3, Julian Wiley, 16-2 ½. 5, Quinton Haley, 16-1 ½.
TRIPLE JUMP — 5, Haley, 32-8 ½.