There were a lot of high stakes at regionals and I was excited by how the kids handled things this weekend.”

Coach Russell Stienmetz

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THS tracksters board the bus for the 3A state track meet in Casper from Thursday to Saturday, May 22-24.

BUFFALO – The Torrington High School track team filled its bag with 31 top eight medals, five golds and plenty of PRs at the 3A East regional track meet hosted by Buffalo on Friday and Saturday, May 16-17.

The Lady Blazers clinched third place as a team, collecting 116.50 points, while the Blazers finished seventh with 47.50 points.

Junior Brooklyn Asmus captured two gold medals in girls’ sprinting events at regionals. In the finals for the 100-meters, Asmus beat Wheatland’s Desirae Iacovetto by 0.15 seconds to clinch the regional title at 12.50 seconds.

Asmus went on to win the 200-meter finals, posting a time of 24.91 seconds. The junior reached the finish line 0.48 seconds ahead of Iacovetto.

Fellow junior Trishell Pontarolo advanced to the No. 1 spot on the girls’ triple jump leaderboard, bagging the regional title with a mark of 36 feet, 1 ½ inches. Pontarolo finished 1 foot, 7 inches ahead of the runner-up, Gabi Hall of Buffalo.

Two girls’ relay teams struck gold in Buffalo. Asmus, junior Natalie Hawes, freshman Illyana Ponce and Pontarolo pulled ahead of Douglas by 1.13 seconds in the 4x100-meter relay to win at 49.42 seconds.

Hawes, Pontarolo, Asmus and Ponce snagged gold in the 1600-meter sprint medley relay, clocking in at 4 minutes, 21.86 seconds. The team beat Buffalo by 11.07 seconds.

“There were a lot of high stakes at regionals and I was excited by how the kids handled things this weekend,” coach Russell Stienmetz said. “We had several big PRs – the kids are peaking at the right time and we hope to carry those marks and times into state. Our numbers for state are not that great, but what we don’t have in quantity we make up for in quality. We expect to do well at state.”

The state track meet begins in Casper on Thursday, May 22.

Girls top eight

Ponce scooped up silver in the finals for the 400-meters, timing in at 1:01.68. The freshman went on to bag bronze in the 800-meters with a time of 2:33.37.

Senior Callie Taylor represented Torrington in the 3200-meters with a fifth-place finish at 13:23.05.

Hawes medaled in both hurdling events at regionals. Clocking the finals for the 300-meters in at 46.92 seconds, Hawes garnered bronze. 

Hawes pulled into fifth place in the 100-meter hurdles finals, reaching the finish line with a time of 16.56 seconds.

In field events, senior Teryn Stokes advanced to the No. 2 spot on the shot-put leaderboard, clearing 34-05 ½. Sophomore Catie Reimer placed seventh at 31-07 ¼.

Fellow sophomore Kaia Jacobson finished No. 3 in the discus, hitting a mark of 106-01. Stokes came in fourth place, posting a mark of 96-09, while Reimer placed sixth at 94-01.

Pontarolo battled to bronze in the long jump, clearing 16-09 ¾.

Sophomore Sophia Wilson took seventh place in the pole vault with a mark of 8-00.

Freshman Grace Hibben garnered eighth place in the high jump, reaching 4-07.

Relay highlights included a sixth-place finish by sophomore Esperanza Chavez, sophomore Laney Walter, Wilson and Hibben in the 4x400-meters at 4:41.51.

In the 4x800-meter relay, Chavez, Hibben, Taylor and Wilson bagged sixth place with a time of 11:18.52.

Boys top eight

Sophomore Drew Kramer snagged silver in the finals for the 200-meters, clocking in at 22.81 seconds. Kramer went on to clinch bronze in the 100-meter finals with a time of 11.54 seconds.

Senior Evan Hellus medaled in two jumping events. Battling to the No. 2 spot on the long jump leaderboard, Hellus posted a mark of 21-03 ½. The senior finished fifth in the triple jump at 39-10 ½.

Kramer came in seventh in the triple jump, clearing 38-07 ¼.

In the pole vault, senior Tyler Nicolay advanced to No. 6 with a mark of 11-00.

Sophomore Zeek Yung progressed to No. 4 in the shot put, hitting a mark of 43-03 ½. Senior Brayden Hime finished seventh at 42-07.

Yung also picked up sixth place in the discus, reaching 126-10.

In the 4x100-meter relay, Hellus, Kramer, sophomore Beau Martinez and junior Colby Sandusky captured fourth place with a time of 45.32 seconds.

The 1600-meter sprint medley relay team – sophomore Ace Heron, Hellus, junior Brady Dagen and Nicolay – came in seventh place at 3:59.82.

Additional results – girls

• 100-meter prelims: Ellis Mortimore 11th at 14.11 seconds.

• 200-meter prelims: Walter 18th at 31.12 seconds.

• 400-meter prelims: Walter 14th at 1:10.57.

• 1600-meters: Taylor ninth at 6:10.62.

• 100-hurdles prelims: Mortimore 11th at 19.53 seconds.

• Long jump: Mortimore 14th at 13-06 ¾.

• Triple jump: Mortimore 11th at 31-04.

• Shot put: Jacobson 15th at 28-05 ¼ and Wittni Bugher 20th at 26-10.

• Discus: Bugher 14th at 81-01.

Additional results – boys

• 100-meter prelims: Heron 18th at 11.98 seconds, Martinez 20th at 12.09 and Sandusky 24th at 12.31.

• 200-meter prelims: Heron 14th at 24.35 seconds and Sandusky 16th at 24.71.

• 400-meter prelims: Dagen 13th at 58.58 seconds and Martinez 20th at 1:01.78.

• 110-hurdles prelims: Cruz Lopez 17th at 22.81 seconds.

• 300-hurdles prelims: Martinez 14th at 49.61 seconds and Lopez 19th at 57.19.

• Long jump: Sandusky 21st at 15-03 ¼.

• Triple jump: Lopez 19th at 33-01 ½.

• Shot put: Brandt Eichenberger 24th at 33-08 ¼ and Aaraon Chavez 31st at 28-03 ½.

• Discus: Cayson Morris ninth at 119-06, Hime 12th at 113-10 and Chavez 28th at 82-02.