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Worland track braves the wind and cold at Cody meet

By ALEX KUHN

Sports Editor

CODY - The spring sports season in Wyoming isn't complete without some rain, snow, cold or wind, and on Saturday at Cody High School the Worland High School track and field team experienced two of the four. But even with the cold and windy weather the WHS athletes went out and performed their best.

"The kids did really well. The weather was pretty good until about noon, then it was windy and terrible cold conditions. You have to give kudos to the kids for trying to run, jump and throw against it. We had 22 PRs [personal records], we thought that was good, for the conditions. Someone said there was 44 mph wind gusts," said WHS track and field coach Tracey Wiley.

Due to various events going on, WHS track was still missing 23 of their athletes but those who went to Cody still performed to their best. For the Lady Warriors, freshman Lilly Lungren finished fourth in the 3,200-meter run. Freshman discus thrower Ajiah Montoya threw an 86-3 to finish eighth. Senior Kylah Mill came in sixth in the long jump and junior Alexa Caballero finished fourth in the shot put with a toss of 32-9.

"Lilly Lungren was finally able to run. She's a freshman and I'm just really excited for her. She's going do great things as she gets older," said Wiley about Lungren. "She trains every day with [distance running] coach [Tammy] Montoya and she trains very hard. Just watching her compete was awesome. I heard someone in the stands say 'She's the real deal.' She's coming along and I know she's going to be awesome when regionals come around."

Added Wiley about Montoya, "Ajiah Montoya was in the second to last flight and the wind was blowing straight at you. But they say that's an OK thing, you just need to keep it down. So with the wind straight at her, she launches an 86-3 throw and everyone was automatically jumping up and down because they knew it was a good one. As a freshman, she has lots and lots of potential. People who throw the discus make it look easy but it is not, there are so many moving parts."

On the Warriors side of the things, sophomore Luke Mortimer finished second in the 110-meter hurdles and eighth in the high jump. Junior Porter Harman came in third for both the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs. Junior Charles Rishel was fourth in the 800-meter run and senior Hayden Lambeth finished fourth in the shot put.

"Luke got second in the 110 hurdles and Donavin was eighth. Luke got over the hump of getting out of the range of 5-6, he cleared 5-8 and was pretty happy getting eighth. We still need to tweak some things here and there. When the bar starts getting higher the kids tend to adjust everything but you can't, you just have to keep doing what you're doing. He can clear 6-0 we just need to fine-tune some of his form ... Jacob Newell is another kid that just another kid that's improving week after week," said Wiley.

Another highlight from Cody was freshman Koby Tigner being recognized as the top freshman in the discus.

"Koby Tigner didn't place but over in Cody they give shirts out to the top three placers, the top relay and top freshman, and he got a T-shirt for being the top freshman in the discus. He was really happy and we were happy for him," said Wiley.

Each Monday for practice Wiley recognizes the athletes that either placed or set a personal record at the previous meet. This allows for the team to keep tabs on one another throughout the season, and after the Cody meet Wiley will have plenty of athletes to praise.

"On Mondays, I'll have each kid stand up and I'll recognize them and then we have a little clap we do. So many times none of the throwers get to see the sprinters and none of the sprinters get to see the jumpers. So sometimes the kids don't know how another kid is going. Each time we have someone place or get a PR, I recognize them on Monday," said Wiley.

Worland's next meet is Thursday in Buffalo, weather permitting. With the exception of the seniors who are in Washington, D.C., Wiley should have close to her full team competing in Buffalo, as long as the weather holds out. If it doesn't though, Thursday and Friday's practices will be tough ones before the team takes a small rest at the start of spring break.

"We go to Buffalo Thursday, hopefully. I should have most my team, I'm still missing the D.C. kids. If we don't go we'll get after it, we'll have more intense practices Thursday and Friday. I will give them next Monday and Tuesday off for spring break," said Wiley.

Results from the Yellowstone Sports Medicine Meet are as follows.

Girls

3200m

4, Lily Lungren, 15:18.

Long Jump

6, Kylah Mills, 15-4.

Discus

8, Ajiah Montoya, 86-3.

Shot Put

4, Alexa Caballero, 32-9.

Boys

800m

4, Charles Rishel, 2:13.96.

1600m

3, Porter Harman, 4:50.05.

3200m

3, Porter Harman, 10:43.13.

110 Hurdles

2, Luke Mortimer, 17.58.

8, Donavin Koch, 20.23.

300m Hurdles

6, Donavin Koch, 47.77.

4x100m Relay

4, Worland (Tommy Eckert, Joseph Keller, Gabe Webster, Luke Mortimer), 47.66.

1600m Medley Relay

2, Worland (Marcus Wiley, Colton Woffinden, Gabe Webster, Porter Harman), 3:54.78.

High Jump

8, Luke Mortimer, 5-8.

Shot Put

4, Hayden Lambeth, 40-8.