Putting in the work

We saw good improvement across the board from our first meet to this week. Our younger athletes are figuring some things out and are beginning to understand the training required to be successful at the high school level. We are very pleased with the work ethic and attitude of both teams.”

Coach Mike Lashley

Up Next

The LFL track team competes at the Mitchell Invitational on Thursday beginning at 9 a.m.

BAYARD – Both the Lingle-Fort Laramie (LFL) boys’ and girls’ teams beat nine other schools from across the region to earn fourth place at the Bayard Invitational in Nebraska on March 28.

The Doggers placed fourth with 56 team points while the Lady Doggers picked up fourth place with 49 points.

Junior Brody Roberts dominated mid-distance events, capturing gold in both the boys’ 400-meters, posting a sub-1-minute time of 53.22 seconds, and the 800-meters, at 2 minutes, 6.15 seconds.

Roberts crossed the finish line in the 400-meters 1.46 seconds ahead of the competition, Southeast’s Kannon Tippetts. In the 800-meters, Roberts beat Mason Medley, of Burns, by more than six seconds.

Clocking the boys’ 1600-meters in at 4:50.32, sophomore Sullivan Wilson won the event and prequalified for state in the process. Wilson left the competition in the dust, finishing the race nearly 30 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Gordon-Rushville’s Luke Laws.

The race for the top two spots in the girls’ 800-meters came down to a friendly competition between sophomore Jordynn Speckner and senior Holly Leiseth. Speckner won the race with a time of 2:36.24. Leiseth came in a close second with a time of 2:38.32.

In the finals for the girls’ 100-meter hurdles, junior Jada Kaufman snagged gold, timing in at 17.40 seconds. Kaufman beat the second-place finisher, Leyton’s Zaili Benish, by 0.2 seconds.

Junior Louden Bremer hit a prequalifying time for state in the boys’ 300-meter hurdles, securing second place with a time of 42.84 seconds.

Freshman Charlotte Speckner punched her ticket to state with a fifth-place finish in the shot put and a mark of 33 feet, 3 inches.

Several relay teams achieved state-qualifying times at Bayard. In a neck-and-neck race for the finish line against Burns in the 4x400-meters that came down to a hundredth of a second, sophomore Brady Cook, junior Nathan Fish, Roberts and Bremer placed second with a prequalifying time of 3:42.39.

The girls’ 4x100-relay team obtained a state berth with a sixth-place finish. Sophomore Kiera Fleenor, freshman Addi Wilkins, freshman Madison Hatch and junior Kenzie Wilkins clocked the relay in at 55.13 seconds.

In the 4x400-meter relay, Kaufman, Kenzie Wilkins, Leiseth and Jordynn Speckner hit a prequalifying time of 4:28.81 to place fourth.

“It was nice to add a few more automatic state qualifiers,” coach Mike Lashley said. “We have several other athletes very close to a pre-qualifying mark, so I would not be surprised to see the list grow in the next weeks.”

Overall, LFL continued to gain momentum at the second meet of the season at Bayard, Lashley added:

“We saw good improvement across the board from our first meet to this week. Our younger athletes are figuring some things out and are beginning to understand the training required to be successful at the high school level. We are very pleased with the work ethic and attitude of both teams.”

Girls top eight

Kaufman pulled into second place in the 300-meter hurdles, posting a time of 51.76 seconds. 

In mid-distance, Jordynn Speckner crossed the finish line in fourth place, timing in at 1:04.10.

Throwers put in solid performances, with senior Izzy Spears capturing fifth place in the discus with a toss of 108-11 ½. Charlotte Speckner placed eighth in the discus at 99-09 ½.

Boys top eight

Cook broke into the finals for the 110-meter hurdles, finishing in third place with a time of 17.13 seconds.

Fish snapped up sixth place in the pole vault with a leap measured in at 10-06.

Representing LFL in the long-distance 3200-meters, freshman Tyler Smith placed eighth in the event with a time of 12:09.44.

In throwing events, junior Cooper Smith captured fifth place in the shot put, hitting a mark of 39-05. Cook came in sixth place in the discus, clearing 125-04, with Smith placing eighth in the event at 116-09 ½.

Additional results  girls

• 200-meters: Kenzie Wilkins in 10th place at 29.82 seconds and Kaiten Schilreff in 19th at 31.18.

• 400-meters: Haven Torres in 25th place at 1:21.70.

• 100-hurdles: Addi Wilkins in 14th place at 20.82 seconds and Hatch in 16th at 20.85.

• 300-hurdles: Addi Wilkins in 10th place at 54.63 seconds and Hatch in 15th at 57.02.

• Shot put: Avary Rising in ninth place at 30-06 ½ and Josie Houk in 12th at 30-01.

• Discus: Rising in 19th place at 82-00.

• High jump: Hatch tied for 18th place at 4-00.

• Long jump: Schilreff in ninth place at 13-03 ¾.

• Triple jump: Addi Wilkins in 10th place at 30-00 ½.

Additional results boys

• 100-meters: Wyatt Sylvester in 18th place at 12.71 seconds, Fish in 24th at 13.07 and Jay Olson in 35th at 13.93.

• 200-meters: Olson in 31st place at 29.72 seconds.

• 1600-meters: Tyler Smith in 11th place at 5:41.26.

• 110-hurdles: Rogan Fisher in 16th place at 23.55 seconds.

• 300-hurdles: Lucas Ingram in 11th place at 50.64 seconds and Fisher in 18th at 54.69.

• 4x100-meter relay: Cooper Smith, Ingram, Ned Nelson and Olson in ninth place at 50.46 seconds.

• Shot put: Colter McFarlin in 11th place at 36-04 ½.

• Discus: McFarlin in 16th place at 91-06.