CASPER — The Big Horn High School boys track and field team clinched the 2A state title Saturday afternoon at Kelly Walsh.
The Rams needed every collaborated effort that was given as they edged Burns by 2.5 points.
Sheridan High School’s Addie Pendergast broke the 400-meter dash state record Saturday by running a time of 54.62 seconds, which beat the previous record by 0.16 seconds.
Competitors, coaches and fans from the entire state enjoyed unusually pleasant weather over the weekend as spectators packed the grandstand.
Below are highlights of the four high schools representing Sheridan County in Casper.
Sheridan Broncs
The Sheridan girls team placed third in 4A, while the boys finished in fourth.
The Broncs 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team made noise Thursday when Riley Green, Aiden Roth, Patrick Aasby and Austin Akers broke the 4A record by 3.04 seconds.
The boys team had won the previous two 4A state titles but head coach Taylor Kelting was pleased with the performance.
“The boys did a good job of scoring points on the first day,” Kelting said. “They were probably expected to score 50 points, and they ended up scoring 69. There is a great tradition here, so it was good to add it with a top-four trophy.”
Pendergast was seen wearing a leg sleeve on her right leg Saturday. She expressed her leg felt tight heading into the state meet. After running a 100-meter race, she noticed her leg feeling a bit “different.” As minor as it had been, Pendergast strained her hamstring with pivotal races approaching the next day.
“I ran the 400-meter soon after, which probably didn’t help much. But I found a trainer who helped me ice, recover and gave me the sleeve,” Pendergast said.
Pendergast weakened hamstring didn’t stop her from officially breaking the 400-meter dash state record. She also won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and took second place in the 300-meter hurdles.
“She's one of the best that the state has ever seen,” Kelting said. “She's got another year, so that's really cool. She's a generational kid and we’re pleased to be able to work with her. We’re like what she does for our team and what she does for our school and she's just really helping us develop our culture.”
Lilly Charest earned second place in pole vault Thursday. Josie Ankney was the top overall girls shot-putter as she thew for 42 feet, 9.5 inches. Nora Butler was right behind in second with a 42-foot, one-inch throw. The 800-meter relay team placed third with the help of Abby Newton, Kayley Alicke, Alexa Miller and Maggie Turpin.
On Saturday, Aiden O’Leary finished in second place in the boys 300-meter hurdles, Chance Morris placed third in the 200-meter dash and Jaylynn Morgan placed third in the discus.
Big Horn Rams
The state champions were sitting in first place with a day remaining and hung on to claim the hardware.
Cooper Garber and Isaac Adsit scored eight points each Thursday in discus and pole vault. Day two was highlighted by the 100-meter relay team that earned first place with a broken 2A record by 0.11 seconds earned by Dylan Greenough-Groom, Dawson Richards, Caleb Gibson and Gavin Stafford.
Garber earned another second-place finish shot put. The 800-meter relay team of Toby Schons, Cameron Guelde, Owen Petty and Ethan Alliot also earned second place Friday.
Stafford was the lone individual Ram that earned first place when he won 100-meter dash with a time of 11.16 seconds, best No. 2 by 0.02 seconds.
The Rams finished third at the regional meet, but performed best when it mattered.
“Maybe we weren’t hype enough for it,” head coach Kirk McLaughlin said.
Big Horn didn’t run Stafford or Alliot during regionals due to lingering injures.
“Everyone stepped up this week and I’m super proud of them for it,” McLaughlin said.
The Lady Rams finished as the sixth-place team in 2A. The girls 4x100-meter relay team of Peyton McLaughlin, Katie Mohrmann, Saydee Zimmer and Lexi Clark placed second. Mohrmann also earned second in long jump.
On the final day, McLaughlin placed second in the 300-meter hurdles and fourth in 100-meter hurdles. Mohrmann finished second in triple jump while Zimmer was behind in third. The 4x400 meter relay team of Clark, Zimmer, Ashley Billings and McLaughlin also earned third place.
Tongue River Eagles
The boys team finished in third place in 2A. The Lady Eagles placed ninth.
“We went into the final day with a puncher’s chance of being in the mix,” head coach Steve Hanson said. “Burns, Big Horn and some other schools gobbled up some points to push us a little bit further down but our kids performed well and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Al Spotted ran a strong first day taking second place in the 3,200-meter run. Freshman Grace Perkins also earned second place in the 3,200-meter run.
Caleb Kilbride won the 2A long jump, with a leap of 21 feet, 0.25 inches on day two. Kilbride then placed third in the 110-meter hurdles and triple jump.
Arvada-Clearmont Panthers
The Lady Panthers had three athletes competing and didn’t have enough to post a team score. There weren’t any boys present. Kamryn Michelena was the lone athlete representing ACHS in the finals round. Michelena placed 14th in discus and 15th in shot put.