MITCHELL, Neb. – The Lingle-Fort Laramie High School track and field team knew the Mitchell Invite would be their toughest test yet of the season.
As a result, LFL coach Mike Lashley wanted his team to focus on improvement and not worry about placement.
“Our athletes seemed to embrace this idea, as our boys and girls together recorded 27 personal records on the day,” he said.
At the end of the day, the Dogger boys ended up fourth in the final team standings with 48 points, trailing Gering, Nebraska by only three points. Chadron, Nebraska won the team title with 154.5 points, while Sidney, Nebraska was second with 154.
Kyland Fuller led the way for the Dogger boys with the team’s only win of the day. His time of 23 seconds won the 200-meter dash, beating out teammate Slade Hopkins, who finished fourth in 23.83.
Fuller also finished second in the 400-meter dash in 50.77 seconds, while Nolan Spears finished seventh in 55.34.
Oliver Boyd finished runner-up in discus with a toss of 123 feet, 9 inches. He also finished fourth in shot put at 41-1.75.
Other placers in field events included Cooper Smith in triple jump with a sixth-place finish and Hopkins who placed eighth in high jump.
Hopkins also placed in the 100-meter dash in sixth with 11.81 seconds, while Myles Wilson finished fourth in the mile in 4 minutes, 55.9 seconds. Wilson’s time prequalifies him for the state meet next month.
Smith also medaled in both hurdle races, placing sixth in the 110-meter race in 18.2 seconds and eighth in the 300-hurdle event in 46.97.
All three relay teams finished in the top eight, including a third-place finish in the 4x400 by Spears, Hopkins, Fuller and Wyatt Sylvester. The 4x800 team of Wilson, Sylvester, Wyler Fisher and Noah Hatch finished sixth in 9:55.53, while the 4x100 team of Quirt Lee, Smith, Michael Lawrence and Fisher placed eighth.
In the girls’ division, the Lady Doggers finished 10th with 15 points at the 12 team meet. Sidney won the team title with 99, while Chadron was second with 78.
Izzy Spears and the 4x100-meter relay team paced the team with a pair of fourth-place finishes.
Spears’ throw of 88 feet was good for fourth in discus, while the 4x100 team of Grace Gibson, Tiah Meyer, Kenzie Wilkins and Jada Kaufman finished fourth in 55.82 seconds.
Meyer also placed in the triple jump with a leap of 30-2, while Leah Foster came home eighth in shot put at 29-11.75.
In the 200-meter dash, Maddy Saul finished sixth in 28.46 seconds, while Meyer was eighth in 28.66 seconds. Meanwhile, the in 400-meter dash, Brenly Shipp finished seventh in 1:05.84, while Hailey Smith placed eighth in the two-mile race in 16:54.14.
The Lady Doggers placed five of a possible six in the two hurdle races. In the 100-meter hurdles, Kaufamn finished fifth in 18.01 seconds, edging out Emma Walker, who placed sixth. Gibson finished eighth. In the 300-meter hurdle race, Gibson finished sixth and Kaufman, seventh. Walker placed ninth.
The 4x100 relay team weren’t the only ones to place, as the 4x400 team of Kaufman, Walker, Gibson and Saul finished fifth in 4:40.50.
“We started to look at some athletes in different events at Mitchell and we will continue to do that for the next few weeks,” Lashley said. “With a relatively inexperienced team, we are still trying to find the best events for kids. We will also continue to experiment with different relay combinations”
LFL was scheduled to compete on Thursday in Burns, but the meet was canceled late Tuesday morning. The next meet is scheduled for Friday, April 22.
