April 26, 2012 I The Lovell Chronicle I 9
DAVID PECK
Rocky Mountain eighth-grader Ryker Everett (right)
jumps out of the way after handing off to teammate
Cole Wambeke during the 400-meter relay Friday
afternoon at the first ever track meet held at Rocky
Mountain Middle/High School.
Montanez signs with MSU-Billings
BY DAVID PECK
Years of hard work and
dedication to his craft has
allowed Lovell High School
senior track and field star
AJ Montanez to take his
throwing career to the next
level.
Montanez signed a let-
ter of intent last Wednes-
day, April 18, to attend the
University of Montana-Bill-
ings on a track and field
scholarship.
Montanez, the son of
Angel and Stephanie Mon-
tanez, considered sever-
al schools before settling
on MSU-Billings, visiting
Northern State University
in Aberdeen, S.D., and Dick-
inson State University in
North Dakota, both of which
were looking at him for
both football and track. He
also spoke extensively with
coaches at the University of
Wyoming.
But in the end, MSU-
Billings had what Montanez
was looking for in a school.
"Billings is so close, and
they have a really good coach
(Casey Clausen)," Montanez
said. "I liked the atmosphere
they had on my visit. I also
chose a school that would
help me get my degree. It's
the best place for me."
Montanez said he will
major in secondary educa-
tion, and when asked if he
would like to coach, he re-
plied quickly, "Definitely."
He plans to live with his un-
cle, Russ Walker, in Billings.
He said it was close be-
tween Northern and MSU-
Billings and that he loves
football but noted, "I want-
ed to see what I could do if I
just focused on track."
The MSU-Billings track
Family members and coaches gathering with AJ Montanez (front) as he signs
his letter of intent to throw for MSU-Billings April 18 include (l-r) coach Joshua
Sanders, parents Stephanie and Angel Montanez, coach Chad Lindsay and
grandfather Dale Walker.
and field program is only
in it's fourth year, Lovell
throwing coach Chad Lind-
say said, and coaches said
they want Montanez to be a
cornerstone of the program.
Montanez said he ap-
preciates the opportunities
he has received at LHS.
"My coaches have
been great to me," he said.
"They've helped me through
everything, especially
Chad. He's family to me.
He's one of the biggest role
models in my life, one of the
biggest factors in where I
am today."
Also important in his
development as an athlete
has been his uncle, Kev-
in Walker, he said, noting
that he learned how to work
hard and to develop as an
athlete from his uncle.
Lindsay said Montanez
has four attributes that
have led him to the college
level: coachability, work eth-
ic, commitment and follow-
through.
%Ve started when he
was 9, and it was all for
fun," Lindsay said. "The fo-
cus was on fun and the fo-
cus continues to be on fun,
but his program has become
more intense because he has
bigger goals that require
more time in the weight
room, in practice and study-
ing the techniques of the
sport. All through that there
were some forced rest peri-
ods whether he liked it or
not."
Lindsay said Montanez
should easily make the tran-
sition to college athletics.
"AJ has trained like a
college athlete for several
years," he said. "When he
made his visits he wasn't
surprised by what they
showed him because what
he saw was everything he
already does like practice
time, strength training,
practice methods and how
they peak for big competi-
tions. He will be the only
strength athlete to compete
in four events: the shot put,
discus, hammer and weight
throw.
"AJ has competed in col-
lege meets with the bigger
implements, which was one
of the selling points to col-
leges. He's already had suc-
cess with the bigger imple-
ments."
Lovell head coach Josh-
ua Sanders said having an
athlete the caliber of Mon-
tanez brings a lot of excite-
ment to the younger ath-
letes who see what he does
to prepare and understand
the kind of focus and work
ethic it takes to excel."
DAVID PECK
Lovell sixtlgrader Ana Cerda gives the shot
a fling during the shot put competition at the
Rocky Mountain Quad track and field meet Friday
afternoon in Cowley. Results were not available by
deadline this week.
BULLDOGS
• Austin Ellis took two
seconds off of his person-
al record in the 400-meter
dash, placing seventh with
a time of 55.52.
• Mark Grant won
the 300-meter intermedi-
ate hurdles with a time of
43.55, and Nathan Grant
was fourth at 44.84, McK-
ayan May sixth at 45.18
and Adam Beck seventh at
46.19 (PR). "Nathan ran the
hurdles for the first time,"
Sanders said. "He hit those
hurdles good. He was on
step to lead with his right
leg every time. He didn't
have to chop."
• The 1,600-meter relay
team of Calin McArthur,
Cody Savage, Colin May
and Collin McArthur placed
second with a season-best
time of 3:43.09. Sanders
said that team could be
important running the fi-
nal event at the state track
meet.
• The Bulldogs had
three jumpers hit the 19-
foot mark in the long jump,
among several outstand-
ing performers: Cody Sav-
age third with a jump of
19-113/, Dino Collins sixth
at 19-7 (PR) and Colin May
seventh at 19-4 (PR). "A lot
of kids jumped pretty well
all across the board," Sand-
ers noted. Kade Englert and
McKayan May were close to
19 feet, Englert at 18-11¼
(eighth) and May at 18-8
(10th).
• Savage won the triple
jump with a leap of 41-3½,
and Dino Collins was third
at 39-5, Morgan Baxen-
dale fourth at 39-5 1/4, Aus-
tin Ellis seventh at 37-43A,
Dylan Hultgren ninth at
36-10 (PR).
continued from page 7
TRIPLE WEEKEND
The Bulldogs will split
up the squad this weekend,
with some athletes compet-
ing at the Bobcat Invita-
tional in Thermopolis Fri-
day afternoon (1 p.m.) and
some qualifying for and
competing in the all-class,
best-of-the-best Wyoming
Track Classic Friday eve-
ning (5 p.m.). Those quali-
fying for the WTC, Sanders
said, include Collin McAr-
thur in the 800 and 1,600,
Montanez in the throws,
Savage in the triple jump,
Rohrer in the discus, Kim
Shumway in the 400 and
Susie Robertson in the 800.
The WTC athletes will
stay in Casper and compete
in the Casper Invitational
Saturday at 9 a.m., joined
by a few athletes already
in Casper for the State Art
Symposium.
Other boys results Sat-
urday included:
100m dash - Cade Sischoff 18 th in prelims,
12.08 (PR), Michael Brightly 23 rd, 12.74
(PR), Aaron Monterde 24 =h, 13.08 (PR);
200m dash - Zeke Collins 18 'h, 27.59 (PR);
400m dash - Brightly 15 t, 58.87; 800 me-
ters - Dylan Hultgren eighth, 2:19.96 (PR);
1,600 - Michael Steiner 14 th, 5:44.59 (PR);
3,200 - Austin Ellis sixth, 12:31.66; 110m
hurdles - Cade Bischoff 12 th, 18.89 (PR),
Eston Croft 16 th, 21.40 (PR); 300m hurdles
- Nathan Ballard 15 th, 48.65; long jump -
Cade Bischoff 12 th, 18-2¾, Nathan Ballard
13 th, 18-½, Calin McArthur 14 th, 17-11¾,
Mysen McArthur 1T", 16-8 (PR), Brightly
23 r, 15-5½ (PR), Alex Sawaya 26 t, 13-
5½; triple jump - Mysen McArthur 10 th,
36-4¼, Ryan Clark 13 th, 34-5½ (PR), Zeke
Collins 19 th, 32-2¾, Derek Phelps 24 t", 30-
10 (PR), Seth Kite 26 ', 30-4¼; high jump
- Kade Englert sixth, 5-8, Morgan Bax-
endale 10 th, 5-6, Bischoff 13 th, 5-4; pole
vault - Nathan Grant and Englert third
each, 11-0; shot put - Alex Connour 27 th,
32-9¼ (PR), Jacob Price 29", 32-7¾ (PR),
Tyler Tillett 31-9 (PR), Aaron Monterde
31-2½ (PR), Daniel Strom 30-5½, Payton
Hetland 22-4¾, Sloan Colvin 21-4 (PR);
discus - Connour 20 th, 103-0 (PR), Clark
27 th, 88-10, Monterde 30 =h, 84-8 (PR), Til-
lett 80-10; Price 66-3½, Hetland 57-1½,
Colvin 48-2½.
..................... ........... '*: :* ';: t ....................... .............
Hurdlers, jumpers excel for Grizz
BY DAVID PECK
Nice weather led to good times and
distances for the Rocky Mountain Griz-
zlies at the Lovell Invitational track and
field meet Saturday hosted by Lovell
High School.
Coach Dave Beemer said that, al'
though the team was missing a few ath-
letes due to the district music festival
and other reasons, those who were able
to participate had a good day.
The Rocky boys placed sixth in the
l 1-team field as a number of athletes
improved on their previous performanc-
es, thanks, in part, to hard work and the
good weather. The Grizz scored 24.33
points, finishing ahead of Riverton,
Meeteetse, Wind River, Riverside and
Greybull.
"It was a good track meet," Beemer
said. "We had good weather. We've now
had five good meets for weather. We
didn't get two last year."
Beemer noted the performance of
sophomore Joey Jewell, who placed sec-
ond in the long jump with a personal-re-
cord leap of 20-1½, which pre-qualified
him for the state track meet.
The coach also praised junior Bryce
Ward for his efforts.
"Bryce had a real good track meet,"
Beemer said. "He placed in everything
he ran in."
Ward set a new personal record
in the 110-meter high hurdles with a
time of 17.27 in the preliminaries, then
placed fifth in the finals at 17.43. Ward
also placed sixth in the 200-meter dash
with a time of 24.46, again a PR, and
sixth in the 400-meter dash at 55.45,
running the 400 for the first time this
sesason.
Noting that sprinters Jewell, Can-
non Simmons and Derik lmero also
set personal records in the 100-meter
dash, Beemer said Ward could bene-
fit from the quick starts the three have
learned to employ.
'Derik, Joey and Cannon all start
well," Beemer said. "If Bryce could mim-
ic them, he could be in the 16s in the
hurdles. And if we can get him to start
snapping down on the hurdles, we came
put him in the 16s, I'm sure we can.
"As it is, his 17.27 would have
placed third at Regionals last year. I
was pretty happy with all of our hur-
dlers. They all did well."
Beemer noted the performance of
sophomore Haley Strom in both the
100-meter intermediate hurdles and
the 300-meter low hurdles. Strom set
two personal records Saturday, placing
fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with
a time of 17.43 and pre-qualifying for
State and placing sixth in the 300-me-
ter hurdles at 55.18, which is five sec-
onds faster than she ran in Powell the
week before.
Also strong in the 100-meter hur-
dles was freshman Mikaela Hocker,
who placed fifth with a personal-record
time of 17.65, which is just 5/100ths of a
second off pre-qualifying time.
"She almost pre-qualified and
she hit number seven and stumbled
through to get fiih," Beemer said. "I
think she could have run 17.2 if she
DAVID PECK
Rocky Mountain sophomore Joey Jewell soars over the bar during the
high jump competition at the Lovell Invitational Saturday.
hadn't stumbled.
%Ve're going to really work hard on
her strength the last 30 meters. Haley
has the best form and is improving like
crazy. The hard work is paying off for
both of them."
As Beemer mentioned, Jewell, Sim-
mons and Romero ran personal-record
times in the 100-meter dash. Jewell
placed fifth with a time of 11.75 after
running 11.58 in the preliminaries,
Simmons ran 11.64 to nearly qualify
for the finals in the preliminaries and
Romero ran 11.82 in the prelims.
Jewell, Simmons and Romero were
joined by Kirby Winland in the 400-me-
ter relay and placed second with a
46.99, just 9/100ths of a second off pre-
qualifying time.
In other running results, Jack-
son Stevens placed 14 in the 200-me-
ter dash with a time of 25.24, Brady
Winland placed 16 in the 400-meter
dash at 59.55 with Jake Loyning 17 th
at 1:01.06, and Loyning was 12 t in the
800 meters with a time of 2:23.93 with
Brady Winland 16 at 2:31.52.
Three runners missed the meet
while attending the district music fes-
tival.
As for field event highlights, not
only did Jewell set a personal record in
the long jump, Simmons did the same,
finishing ninth with a jump of 18-10 ½.
He also placed fih in the triple jump at
38-7¼. Kirby Winland was 12 at 34-6.
Jewell competed in the high jump
for the first time and placed sixth by
clearing 5-8.
"He just started on it this week,"
Beemer said. 'e'll work on his form a
bit, and I believe he can get up there to
5-10 or so."
Kirby Winland was 15 at 5-2.
DAVID PECK
Rocky Mountain sophomore
Haley Strom glides over the
hurdle during the 100-meter
hurdles race in Lovell Saturday.
Chase Aagard threw a personal-re-
cord 31-4 ¼ in the shot put and 77 feet
in the discus.
The Rocky girls were missing three
athletes Saturday, but sophomore Syd-
ney Tyacke set two personal records.
She placed 15 in the long jump with
a leap of 13-8 and 16 t in prelims ofthe
100-meter dash at 14.83.
The Grizz will compete in Meeteetse
Saturday, with action beginning at 10
a.m., then attend the Thermopolis Pre-
Regional the following Friday.
