Track title dreams fulfilled for two Central seniors

The map guided them to the top of the podium Saturday at the state track and field meet at Harry Geldien Stadium in Casper.

Grayson Fleming stated his purpose in March and finished the mission this weekend, winning gold in the discus throw by 10 feet over Jake Geil of Casper Kelly Walsh. Fleming unleashed a throw of 172 feet, 7 inches on his third attempt of the competition.

“From the start of my senior year, I said I’m going to win it,” he said. “To complete that mission felt pretty good.”

Fleming earned his state championship about an hour after fellow senior Heidi Pfoor won hers. Pfoor entered the season with a single-minded focus on winning a state championship, and while she thought all along her best shot was in the 300-meter hurdles, she came out on top in the 100s.

“Winning the 100s, which I seem to get second a lot in, was a good start to the day,” said Pfoor, who has finished second twice and third once in the 100s at state.

Fleming competed in the first event of the day and put up a pair of 150-foot throws to set up his eventual winner. A large group of Central athletes stomped and cheered their approval whenever Fleming took to the throwing circle.

Central head coach Bruce Mowry coached the Indians’ throwers and helped Fleming improve on last year’s third-place finish.

“He’s done everything he could to become a better thrower,” Mowry said. “He worked in the weight room and worked on his footwork, and he’s probably taken about five times as many throws as any competitor out there.”

But all it took was one. After the winning throw in the preliminary round, Fleming put together a solid series to keep the pressure on his competition. After his final throw, he locked Mowry in an embrace.

“I absolutely could not have done this without coach Mowry, coach (Brad) Pickett and coach (Brick) Cegelski,” he said. “It means the world to me, everything they’ve done to help me.”

A little while later, Pfoor burst out of the starting blocks and led all the way to defeat Casper Natrona County sophomore Lauren Taubert with a time of 14.51 seconds, just off the school record of 14.36 she set at last week’s Class 4A East Regional meet.

“I had to get out fast and make sure I got down off every hurdle,” she said. “All season, we worked on the first and last hurdles especially, because you never know when a race will come down to that.”

Pfoor was in first off the last hurdle but spent all of her energy in getting across the line anyway, putting nearly 0.4 seconds between her and Taubert.

“She ran really hard between each hurdle from the first one to the last one,” Cegelski said. “She’s just a great competitor, and it was great to see her win.”

Pfoor competed in four events Saturday, also finishing second in the 300-meter hurdles and seventh in the 400-meter dash. She did not make finals in the triple jump.

The Central girls also got a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash from Melina Harris, who overcame a serious hamstring injury just to get to the starting line. Harris dashed from gun to tape in 12.38 seconds, helping the Lady Indians take sixth as a team with 57.3 points.

Fleming’s win was the only championship for the Indians, who finished sixth with 38 points – one point in front of Cheyenne East.

Cheyenne East

For the Thunderbirds, the state meet served to set up the program for the future. On that front, head coach Jesse Blunn said he’s happy with what he saw.

“The guys we placed today were all underclassmen,” the first-year coach said. “The seeds are planted. We just have to establish our program. We’ve got to get to the point where we’re chasing Natrona and Kelly Walsh.”

The East boys finished seventh with 37 points while the girls were eighth with 35.

Junior Tevis Bartlett placed third and junior Jacob Bobenmoyer took fourth in the discus, while junior Darian Pixley took sixth in the girls 400 meters. Sophomore Tyler Peeples added an eighth-place finish in the 300 hurdles.

Bartlett set a personal record by “a few inches,” and said he also established some new bests for a total series of throws.

“I felt really good about the competition. All my throws were over 140 feet, which hasn’t happened,” he said. “I feel like I could have had a few more feet, but I moved up from last year, which is important.”

Bartlett and Bobenmoyer played on East’s championship football team in the fall and already started looking to the future after receiving their medals Saturday. The two finished behind a pair of seniors and spoke of finishing 1-2 at the 2015 state meet.

“I don’t know if there will be a ton of people to push us next year, but it’s a step in the right direction,” said Bartlett, also a state championship wrestler. He also mentioned going 3 for 3 next year – another football title and another individual wrestling title leading up to a gold in the discus.

Cheyenne South

Behind junior Amber Codr’s fourth-place finish in the triple jump, the Lady Bison took seventh with 35.5 points, their best finish in five years of competition. Codr leaped 35 feet, 11¾ inches to finish just 2¼ inches out of second place.

The 1,600-meter relay team of freshman Karli Noble, junior Dani Noble, senior Tiaunna Roberts and junior Cali Stewart finished fifth to close the meet.

The South boys finished ninth with 23.5 points. Senior Isaiah Sims’ second-place finish in Friday’s shot put was the Bison’s best finish of the meet.

WYOMING STATE TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Casper

Saturday’s Finals Results

CLASS 4A

GIRLS

Team scores

1. Gillette 123; 2. Rock Springs 110.33; 3. Casper Kelly Walsh 83.33; 4. Casper Natrona 83; 5. Laramie 69; 6. Cheyenne Central, 57.33; 7. Cheyenne South 35.5; 8. Cheyenne East 35; 9; Sheridan 33; 10. Green River 12; 10. Riverton; 12. Evanston 9.5

Individual results

100 hurdles: 1. Heidi Pfoor, Central, 14.51; 2. Lauren Taubert, Natrona, 14.89; 3. Holly Huber, Green River, 15.32; 4. Ruth Sifuma, Gillette, 15.69; 5. Taylor Arsaga, Laramie, 15.69; 6. Abby Moerkerke, Gillette, 16.03; 7. Lyndzie Kroupa, Rock Springs, 16.42; 8. Jessie Geer, Gillette, 17.17

100 dash: 1. Jerayah Davis, Kelly Walsh, 11.94; 2. Melina Harris, Central, 12.38; 3. Gabby Edeen, Sheridan, 12.64; 4. Hannah Carter, Rock Springs, 12.73; 5. Ashtyn Leisy, Riverton, 12.74; 6. Dayanera Timberman, Kelly Walsh, 12.80; 7. Ashley Dodds, Laramie, 12.87; 8. Mercedes Merryman, Central, 13.10.

300 hurdles: 1. Lauren Taubert, Natrona, 43.45; 2. Heidi Pfoor, Central, 43.61; 3. Taylor Arsaga, Laramie, 45.64; 4. Ashley Dodds, Laramie, 46.20; 5. Cali Stewart, South, 47.31; 6. Julia Seamans, Gillette, 48.05; 7. Abby Moerkerke, Gillette, 48.26.

400 dash: 1. 1. Mesa Weidle, Rock Springs, 55.49; 2. Phoenix Farnham, Laramie, 56.80; 3. Maddy McClure, Sheridan, 59.34; 4. Kayla Sherrodd, Laramie, 59.44; 5. Cassie Johnson, Rock Springs, 59.82; 6. Darian Pixley, East, 1:00.91; 7. Heidi Pfoor, Central, 1:01.29; 8. MaKenzie Kroupa, Rock Springs, 1:01.62.

1,600 run: 1. Sydney Wendt, Gillette, 5:13.79; 2. Molly Olsen, Natrona, 5:14.39; 3. Abby Phillips, Gillette, 5:17.59; 4. Quinn DeStefano, Gillette, 5:18.29; 5. Karlie Piaia, Rock Springs, 5:26.15; 6. Ella DeWolf, Laramie, 5:27.57; 7. Ashley Sondag, Natrona, 5:27.88; 8. Madison Yager, Central, 5:30.75.

200 dash: 1. Jerayah Davis, Kelly Walsh, 24.44; 2. Mesa Weidle, Rock Springs, 24.94; 3. Phoenix Farnham, Laramie, 25.44; 4. Gabby Edeen, Sheridan, 26.24; 5. Hannah Carter, Rock Springs, 26.34; 6. Ashtyn Leisy, Riverton, 26.44; 7. Allee Williamson, Central, 26.64; 8. Cassie Johnson, Rock Springs, 26.84

1,600 relay: 1. Rock Springs, 3;56.72; 2. Laramie (Ashley Dodds, Phoenix Farnham, Ella DeWolf, Kayla Sherrodd), 3:57.10; 3. Casper Kelly Walsh, 4:03.35; 4. Casper Natrona, 4:06.43; 5. Cheyenne South (Karli Noble, Cali Stewart, Tiaunna Roberts, Dani Noble), 4:07.27; 6. Sheridan, 4:07.28; 7. Gillette, 4:09.87; 8. Green River, 4:16.31.

Triple jump: 1. Dayanera Timberman, Kelly Walsh, 37-5; 2. Darian Williams, Rock Springs, 36-2; 3. Kaitlin Barnes, Natrona, 36-2; 4. Amber Codr, South, 35-11¾; 5. Molly Fretland, Kelly Walsh, 35-3; 6. Ruth Sifuma, Gillette, 35-2½; 7. Emily Ice, Rock Springs, 35-1¼; 8. Brianae Sanders, Evanston, 34-4½.

BOYS

Team scores

1. Casper Natrona 150.5; 2. Casper Kelly Walsh 148.5; 3. Rock Springs 82; 4. Gillette 77; 5. Laramie 39; 6. Cheyenne Central 38; 7. Cheyenne South 37; 8 Riverton 28.5; 9. Cheyenne South 23.5; 10. Green River 20; 11. Evanston 12; 12. Sheridan 5.

Individual results

110 hurdles: 1. Joe Czellecz, Kelly Walsh, 14.59; 2. Seth Moerkerke, Gillette, 15.48; 3. Isaac Langi, Natrona, 15.66; 4. Chase Andersen, Natrona, 15.75; 5. Trevor Thorvaldson, Kelly Walsh, 15.93; 6. Logan Wilson, Natrona, 16.06; 7. Walker Newell, Gillette, 16.62; 8. Aaron Campbell, Sheridan, 19.89.

100 dash: 1. Carlos Salcido, Rock Springs, 10.66; 2. Chance Jones, Natrona, 10.73; 3. Sean Watts, Riverton, 10.91; 4. Garrett Ravert, Natrona, 10.98; 5. Clay Carlson, Kelly Walsh, 10.98; 6. Sam Zook, Kelly Walsh, 11.04; 7. Tristin Cloward, Natrona, 11.09; 8. Spencer Jahr, Kelly Walsh, 11.24.

300 hurdles: 1. Joey Czellecz, Kelly Walsh, 37.04 (4A and overall state record); 2. Carlos Salcido, Rock Springs, 38.43; 3. Chase Andersen, Natrona, 38.43; 4. Walker Newell, 40.04; 5. Jeff Salinas, Central, 40.28; 6. Logan Wilson, Natrona, 41.51; 7. Hyrum Peterson, Evanston, 41.85; 8. Tyler Peeples, East, 41.89.

400 dash: 1. Carlos Salcido, Rock Springs, 48.27; 2. Robert Counts, Natrona, 48.47; 3. Clay Carlson, Kelly Walsh, 49.07; 4. Dustin Erisman, Gillette, 49.84; 5. Calum Kepler, Kelly Walsh, 49.91; 6. Ryan Schwieger, Natrona, 50.20; 7. Trevor Brost, Natrona, 51.39.

1,600 run: 1. Ricky Faure, Rock Springs, 4:14.20 (4A and state record); 2. Hunter Davila, Kelly Walsh, 4:18.72; 3. Jonah Henry, Laramie, 4:19.13; 4. Harrison Simmons, Gillette, 4:23.63; 5. Michael Downey, East, 4:25.88; 6. Krey Ramsey, Rock Springs, 4:26.20; 7. Chris Henry, Laramie, 4:30.29; 8. John Freeman, Laramie, 4:31.12.

200 dash: 1. Carlos Salcido, Rock Springs, 22.04; 2. Robert Counts, Natrona, 22.10; 3. Chance Jones, Natrona, 22.24; 4. Clay Carlson, Kelly Walsh, 22.27; 5. Chase Andersen, Natrona, 22.37; 6. Sean Watts, Riverton, 22.47; 7. Garrett Ravert, Natrona, 22.60; 8. Sam Zook , Kelly Walsh, 22.86.

1,600 relay: 1. Casper Natrona, 3;20.07 (Class 4A and overall state record); 2. Casper Kelly Walsh, 3:20.68; 3. Green River, 3:25.56; 4. Cheyenne Central (Garrett Kuskie, Nick Mores, Jeff Salinas, Elliott Miller), 3:26.44; 5. Rock Springs, 3:26.48; 6. Gillette, 3:28.16; 7. Cheyenne East (Nate Fredrick, Ryan Mehalick, Jacob Strong, Tyrell Proby), 3:30.29; 8. Laramie (Reid Baty, John Freeman, McCade Johnson, Chris Henry), 3:35.34.

Discus: 1. Grayson Fleming, Central, 172-7; 2. Jake Geil, Kelly Walsh, 162-1; 3. Tevis Bartlett, East, 160-5; 4. Jacob Bobenmoyer , East, 156-11; 5. Riley Reichert, Riverton, 149-6; 6. Justin Kelly, Natrona, 148-1; 7. Jake Gray, Kelly Walsh, 147-10; 8. Bo Patterson, Riverton, 147-10.