Tracksters battle the Wheatland wind

The second track meet of the season was a typical one for a Wyoming spring event, so the Dogies competed in Wheatland Friday in a cold and windy environment. As such, head coach Chad Ostenson’s crew had to battle the elements as well as 14 other teams ranging from 1A to 4A in size.
“Despite the weather it really was a pretty good meet for us,” Ostenson began. “It was a long day though, and all things considered, the kids competed really well.”
To start the day, it was 40 degrees and windy so that impacted both the running and jumping events. The girls were jumping into the wind, which according to Ostenson may have caused them to have lost up to a foot.”
Julie Morris was able to get a mark this week after scratching all of her jumps at the Laura Chord Memorial last weekend. The freshman recorded a leap of 13 feet, 5 1/4 inches in her 14th place finish. 
“That was a [personal record] for Julie by quite a ways. We are young for the most part, so she will
improve as she gets high school track figured out,” Ostenson said. “The kids are coming out and competing, so that’s exactly what we want them to be doing.”
Only two girls competed in running events. Morris and Taylor Conklin ran in the 100 Meter Dash and mile run respectively. Morris was right on her time from the first meet of the season and Conklin improved her time by nearly 8 seconds. 
The throwers also had another good day. Tiernan Stanton, Braden Jenkins and Jacob Prell all got into the finals in the Shotput. 
“They had good throws and both Braden and Jacob probably got PRs,” Ostenson said. “Tiernan also had a good throw in the shot, but I know she’s got more in her.” 
Stanton finished fourth with a throw of 32 feet, 10 inches, Jenkins was seventh with a toss of 38 feet, 3 1/2 inches and Prell was eighth as he put the shot 37 feet, 11 inches. Jenkins also did well in the Discus Throw, finishing 10th with a throw of 103 feet, 7 inches.
Hurdlers made their debut as freshmen Cage Hardy and Elijah Morrill both raced the 100 Meter Race for the first time. 
“The hurdles are higher and the race is longer than what they have run before,” Ostenson said. “It was great to finally get one in, because we just weren’t ready last week. We’re probably still not ready, but they needed to get that first one in sometime, so that was good.”
Sam Scribner did well in the Pole Vault, despite adverse weather conditions. After going 8 feet, 4 inches last week, the freshman cleared 9 feet, 6 inches in Wheatland, earning eighth place. 
Morrill and Hardy also competed in the Triple Jump for the first time this season. Hardy marked 33 feet, 5 1/2 inches for 15th place while Morrill went 29 feet, 5 1/2 inches for 19th. 
The 1600 Sprint Medley Relay team of Holden McConkey, Colton Vanderpool Mobley, Jacob Prell and Thatcher Troftgruben had a good showing, finishing third behind Cheyenne East and Burns with a time of 4:08.03. 
Troftgruben also had another nice run in the mile, finishing 11th with a time of 5:20.60.
“It was cold with not the best of conditions, but it was great to see how the kids competed despite that,” Ostenson reported. “It sounds like it will be the same situation this week, and it’s spring in Wyoming, so we have to be able to get out and go no matter what the weather is like.”
The team will travel to Spearfish on Friday for this week’s competition, where currently the forecast looks to be much better than last week with sunny skies, a high of 58 degrees and winds from the north northwest at five to 10 miles per hour.