Dramatic repeat: Girls win state on final event

Posted 5/24/22

Months of hard work came down to one final event at the Wyoming State Track and Field Championships on Saturday in Casper. 

The Panther girls’ track team sat in second place just four …

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Dramatic repeat: Girls win state on final event

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Months of hard work came down to one final event at the Wyoming State Track and Field Championships on Saturday in Casper. 

The Panther girls’ track team sat in second place just four points behind leader Mountain View heading into the 4x400 meter relay.

Knowing that the relay team made up of senior Jenna Hillman, juniors Megan Jacobsen and Anna Bartholomew along with sophomore Waycee Harvey needed at least a fourth place finish to claim a second consecutive team title, the girls left it all on the line.

With Mountain View not qualifying a team for the event, that opened the door for the Panthers to push ahead.

The quartet walked away with a personal best time on the season and a first place finish. The Panthers scored that final victory to cap off an impressive weekend, as Powell crossed the finish line in 4:07.05.

“Since I have been here, we have won seven boys’ titles and only two girls’ titles but have had over 15 runners-up finishes between the two, and earning any trophy at state is an accomplishment,” Panthers Head Track Coach Scott Smith said. “Getting up that last step on the ladder is huge and feels exponentially better.”

Outside of that relay finish, Hillman added two more firsts when she walked away with two sprinting titles, winning the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.65 and the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.59.

Hillman also finished second in the 400 meters, as she broke the one-minute mark, finishing in a time of 59.80 seconds.

“It was great to get to see the real Jenna [Hillman] in action this weekend after fighting some nagging injuries,” Smith said. “I know she gave it her all because when I asked if they wanted to do a victory lap, she said she could not run any more.”

Other top finishes included Harvey, who placed just behind Hillman in the sprints. She placed third in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.93 and fourth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.92.

Harvey placed second in the long jump, finishing with a leap of 16 feet, 6 inches, to cap off an impressive sophomore season.

Each athlete dealt with difficult conditions on Thursday and Friday, as a snowstorm swept through Casper and forced events to be shuffled around.

Senior Reagan Thompson finished her final meet with a strong performance, placing second in shot put with a throw of 36 feet, 7 inches.

Bartholomew earned a fifth place finish in the 800 meters in a time of 2:27.80 and scored additional points in the 400 meters as she placed seventh in a time of 1:02.38.

Sophomore Addy Thorington added her own fifth place finish in the high jump, clearing 4 feet, 10 inches.

Junior Sydney Spomer placed sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 33 feet; sophomore Lauryn Bennett placed seventh in the pole vault as she cleared 9 feet; Megan Jacobsen placed eighth in the 800 with a time of 2:30.52.

The 4x800 relay team of Megan Jacobsen, Bartholomew and freshmen Kenna Jacobsen and Kinley Cooley placed third with a time of 10:17.27.

The 1600 meter sprint medley team of senior Kylie Kahl, Floy and the Jacobsen sisters placed third in a time of 4:35.02.

The 4x100 relay team of Spomer, senior Abigail Urbach, sophomore Kenzie Ratcliff and freshman Catelynn Floy placed sixth with a time of 53.30.

“Our kids were great at battling through the nasty weather both at regionals and state, and it really speaks volumes about how tough these kids are and how well they were able to persevere,” Smith said. “Those are character traits that will help them be successful later in life.”

   

FUTURE OUTLOOK

The Panthers graduate significant talent from this state championship team, as Powell loses Hillman, Thompson, Urbach and Kahl, who all earned points as seniors this year.

The team will return just over half of the individual point getters on this year’s team, along with a majority of the runners on the relay teams as the younger Panthers will look to lead the team into next year.

Despite graduating such significant point getters, Smith is hopeful for the girls’ team looking forward, and he believes a strong core will return next year and could make noise again at the state meet.

    

STATE TRACK MEET

^ Denotes preliminary mark

Team scores: 1. Powell 96, 2. Mountain View 90, 3. Lander 76.50, 4. Rawlins 67, 5. Torrington 64, 6. Buffalo 53.50, 7. Lyman 51.50, 8. Wheatland 51, 9. Pinedale 40, 10. Burns 35.50, 11. Kemmerer 24, 12. Worland 20, 13. Lovell 17, 14. Thermopolis 10, 15. Douglas 6

   

100 meters: 1. Jenna Hillman 12.65, 3. Waycee Harvey 12.93

200 meters: 1. Jenna Hillman 26.59, 4. Waycee Harvey 26.92

400 meters: 2. Jenna Hillman 59.80, 7. Anna Bartholomew 1:02.38

800 meters: 5. Anna Bartholomew 2:27.80, 8. Megan Jacobsen 2:30.52, 15. Kenna Jacobsen 2:39.80

3200 meters: 13. Kinley Cooley 13:04.07, 14. Jordan Black 13:05.32, 16. Brynn Hillman 13:19.10

100 meter hurdles: 12. Abigail Urbach 18.16^, 15. Gretel Opps 18.39^

4x100 meter relay: 6. Sydney Spomer, Abigail Urbach, Catelynn Floy and Kenzie Ratcliff 53.30

4x400 meter relay: 1. Megan Jacobsen, Jenna Hillman, Anna Bartholomew and Waycee Harvey 4:07.05

4x800 meter relay: 3. Kinley Cooley, Megan Jacobsen, Anna Bartholomew and Kenna Jacobsen 10:17.27

1600 sprint medley relay: 3. Kylie Kahl, Catelynn Floy, Kenna Jacobsen and Megan Jacobsen 4:35.02

High jump: 5. Addy Thorington 4, 10”

Pole vault: 7. Lauryn Bennett 9’, 12. Kenna Jacobsen 8’

Long jump: 2. Waycee Harvey 16’, 6”

Triple jump: 6. Sydney Spomer 33’, 13. Catelynn Floy 31’, 5”

Shot put: 2. Reagan Thompson 36’, 7”

Discus: 9. Grace Coombs 103’, 5”

   

For more photos click here!

Powell High School, Panther Track and Field

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