I was impressed with both the boys and girls at regionals. We had great performances by all athletes. The kids are looking forward to state!”

Coach Russell Stienmetz

Up Next

The Blazer and Lady Blazer track teams travel to compete at the 3A State Track and Field Championships in Casper from May 16-18. Events are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Thursday and 9 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

WHEATLAND – Torrington High School runners, jumpers and throwers rose to the challenge at the 3A East Regional Track and Field Meet in Wheatland on May 10-11, scooping up plenty of hardware, new personal records and two new school records.

The Lady Blazers garnered second place as a team, posting 140 points. A smaller boys’ squad advanced to fifth place on the leaderboard with 67.5 points. 

Senior Alyssa Wondercheck captured the 3A regional championship in the girls’ long jump on Friday, clearing 17 feet, 8 inches. Wondercheck secured victory in the event by a four-inch margin over the runner-up, Douglas’ Jaden Meyer, and broke the Torrington High School record in the process. Marissa Moorehouse set the previous long-jump record in 2023.

Sophomore Brooklyn Asmus snagged the regional championship in three events. Progressing to the finals for the 400-meters on Saturday, Asmus won with a time of 58.62 seconds, beating the second-place finisher, Wheatland’s Lily Nichols, by 0.29 seconds.

Asmus broke the Torrington High School record in the 400-meters she set earlier this spring when the sophomore shattered the 1980 record held by Jackie Cruikshank of 59.26 seconds.

In the 200-meter finals, Asmus struck gold with a time of 24.79 seconds, crossing the finish line 0.6 seconds ahead of Wheatland’s Desirae Iacovetto. Asmus broke the 3A East regional meet record in the event set by Rawlins’ Kereston Thomas in 2011 of 25.09 seconds. 

Asmus bagged first place in the 100-meters, posting a time of 12.49 seconds.

In the girls’ shot put, junior Teryn Stokes advanced to the No. 1 spot on the leaderboard with a winning throw of 33-04 ½. Stokes’ toss landed more than three inches farther than the best mark hit by the runner-up, Taylor Maxwell of Douglas.

Sophomore Trishell Pontarolo clinched gold in the girls’ triple jump, hitting a mark of 36-00 1/2. Pontarolo won by a wide margin of nearly two feet over the second-place finisher, Buffalo’s Sophie Berglund.

The girls’ 4x100-meter relay team – Wondercheck, Asmus, sophomore Natalie Hawes and junior Jaycee Hurley – secured the regional championship with a time of 48.72 seconds. The team beat Wheatland by a 3.19-second margin and also broke the 3A East regional track meet record set by Torrington in 2006 of 50.72 seconds.

Junior Evan Hellus set the pace for the boys’ team by picking up the regional championship in the triple jump. Hellus hit a mark of 41-02, landing more than two inches further than the runner-up, Charlie Fonseca of Rawlins.

“I was impressed with both the boys and girls at regionals,” coach Russell Stienmetz said. “We had great performances by all athletes. The kids are looking forward to state!”

Girls top eight

In the finals for the 100-meters, Hurley snapped up second place, clocking in at 13.14 seconds, with Wondercheck in fifth place at 13.30 seconds.

Hurley went on to secure fourth place in the 200-meter finals, posting a time of 27.13 seconds. Pontarolo placed seventh in the event at 27.45 seconds.

Highlights in distance events included a fifth-place finish by sophomore Callie Taylor in the 3200-meters at 13 minutes, 0.61 seconds. Taylor also earned seventh place in the 1600-meters, timing in at 6:07.38.

Hawes captured hardware in both hurdling events. In the 300-meter hurdles, Hawes crossed the finish line in third place with a time of 47.72 seconds. Clocking the 100-meter hurdles in at 16.40 seconds, Hawes placed fourth.

Hurley garnered sixth place in the 300-hurdles, timing in at 48.49 seconds.

Pontarolo finished fifth in the long jump with a mark of 16-03 ½.

In the pole vault, freshman Esperanza Chavez took seventh place, clearing 8-06.

Throwers hit their marks at regionals. Freshman Kaia Jacobson clinched fourth place in the discus with a toss of 96-11. Fellow freshman Katie Reimer took seventh at 86-04.

Reimer also earned seventh place in the shot put, posting a mark of 30-07.

Hawes, Pontarolo, Wondercheck and sophomore Natalie Long scooped up silver in the 1600-sprint medley relay, posting a time of 4:28.56.

The 4x800-relay team – Taylor, Long, freshman Ava Mattis and junior Tiffany Krueger – picked up fourth place at 11:00.61.

Long, Krueger, Chavez and Mattis placed sixth in the 4x400-relay with a time of 4:44.80.

Boys top eight

Senior Tyler Bennick snagged second place in both the discus, clearing 146-02, and the shot put at 55-07 ¾.

Two other Blazers advanced into the finals in the shot put, with senior Trey Parriott finishing fourth at 49-09 ¼ and fellow senior Brayden Frazier in fifth, posting a mark of 46-09 ½. 

Parriott placed eighth in the discus at 119-04.

Freshman Drew Kramer secured hardware in two events. Kramer captured bronze in the triple jump, clearing 40-02 ¾, before placing sixth in the 200-meter finals at 23.83 seconds.

Hellus advanced to the No. 3 spot in the long jump, posting a mark of 20-06 ¾.

In middle- and long-distance events, senior Zabdiel Munoz picked up seventh place in the 800-meters, timing in at 2:02.92, and placed eighth in the 3200-meters at 11:12.08.

Junior Tyler Nicolay achieved eighth place in the pole vault with a leap of 10-00.

Relay highlights included a fifth-place finish by senior Jorey Asmus, Munoz, Nicolay and sophomore Brady Dagen in the 4x800-relay at 9:09.72.

Dagen, freshman Beau Martinez, sophomore Travis Nobs and Asmus took sixth place in the 4x400-relay, clocking in at 3:55.80.

The 4x100-relay team – Martinez, freshman Ace Heron, Hellus and Kramer – finished sixth with a time of 46.85 seconds.

In the 1600-sprint medley relay, Nobs, Heron, Dagen and Nicolay placed sixth at 4:02.44.

Additional girls results

• 800-meters: Krueger in 12th place at 2:44.43 and Mattis in 15th at 2:55.45.

• 1600-meters: Krueger in 12th place at 6:24.55.

• Pole vault: Sophia Wilson in 10th place at 7-06 and Long in 12th at 7-00.

• Long jump: Kadence Schamel in 17th place at 13-04 ¾.

• Triple jump: Mattis in 12th place at 29-05 ¾.

• Discus: Stokes in 14th place at 79-01 and Wittni Bugher in 19th at 68-09.

• Shot put: Jacobson in 15th place at 27-05 and Bugher in 22nd at 25-10.

Additional boys results

• 800-meters: Jorey Asmus in 16th place at 2:22.80.

• 1600-meters: Munoz in ninth place at 4:58.32.

• Long jump: Martinez in 17th place at 17-06 and Nathan Schamel in 26th at 15-02.

• Triple jump: Schamel in 23rd place at 29-11.

• Discus: Frazier in 16th place at 104-02 and Brayden Hime in 19th at 98-03.

• Shot put: Hime in 18th place at 36-00.