10 The Lovell Chronicle I May 26, 2011
www.LovellChronicle.com
Karen Koritnik, Sr.
First
Long jump, 17-10½ -
Kim Shumway, Fr.
First
200m dash, 26.35,
400m dash, 59.40: '
First
t ;600 meters, 5:43.18
pe/,onal record
First
1,600m m!ay, 4'.08:69
Susie Shumway, Jr.
First
800 meters, 2:25.52
First
4:08.69
400m dash, 1:01:08
Third
high jump, 4-10
Th
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The Lovell Lady Bulldogs won their second consecutive state track and field
title over the weekend thanks to some impressive performances. Here's a look
at how the Lady Bulldogs scored their championship points:
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Jr.
y, 4:08.69
400m relay, 54.09
Lady Bulldogs swamp the field in Casper to win state track ,title
BY DAVID PECK
They did it again! Depth, determina-
tion and talent paid off for the Lovell Lady
Bulldogs for the second straight season as
they ran away from the pack in Casper to
win the Class 2A State Track Meet in deci-
sive fashion.
Conditions at Casper Kelly Walsh High
School were horrible for all three days of
competition - snowy, cold and wet on
Thursday and rainy, cold and windy Fri-
day and Saturday - but several Lovell ath-
letes eclipsed their personal records, broke
school records or even broke a state record
as the Lady Bulldogs rose to the occasion
in a big way.
Lovell topped second-place Lusk by
46 points, racking up 116 points to 70 for
Lusk, 69 for third-place Burns, 63 for Pine
Bluffs and 50 for Sundance.
Eight Lady Bulldogs placed in Casper,
and the Lady Bulldogs won eight individu-
al titles and one relay.
"We have really good kids right now,"
coach Joe Koritnik said. "They have talent
and they have a good attitude. They come
to practice and work hard, and that's re-
flected in their individual performances,
which ultimately results m a good team ef-
fort.
"We also have good coaches. Caleb and
Josh (Sanders) and Chad (Lindsay) push
them to work toward their potential and
to compete at a high level. And the kind of
kids we have (is a factor). They are self-mo-
tivated. Some of it is coaching and some of
it is intrinsic - their drive and competitive
nature."
Karen Koritnik, the lone senior compet-
ing at State for the Lady Bulldogs, agreed
with her father.
"We have good athletes," she said, "but
not only are they good athletes, they are
competitive. They really, really want to
win. They knowwhat it takes to win."
Coach Koritnik, who is turning over
the reins of the program to Joshua Sand-
ers in order to focus on his athletic director
duties next season, said the future is bright
for Lovell track.
"Definitely, the program is competing
at a high level, and I think that's going to
continue," he said. "The talent is there."
Two athletes were simply amazing
in Casper. Karen Koritnik and freshman
Kim Shumway each won three individual
titles and were members of the first-place
1,600-meter relay team along with juniors
Alyssa Geiser and Susie Shumway. Su-
sie Shumway won a first-place individual
medal, as well.
Koritnik finished her LHS career in
style, breaking the state record in the long
jump and the school record in the long jump
and triple jump. She also sailed to victory
in the 300-meter low hurdles and was a
• DAVID PECK
LoveU junior Jodi Walker lands in the pit during the triple-jump competition
Friday morning at the State Track Meet in Casper. Walker placed fourth with
her season-best jump.
member of the winning 4x4 relay.
"I have great praise for Karen," Coach
K said, "to be where she was in the long
jump last year (falling ¼-inch short of the
state record) and knowing that her goal
was to come back and get the state record,
then seeing the conditions Thursday morn-
ing that were not conducive to jumping
well, let alone break a 19-year record. She
has such great determination and is such a
great competitor."
Karen was named the Wyoming Coach-
es Association Outstanding Female Track
and Field Athlete for Class 2A and she was
the runner-up in all four of her events in
the all-class best-of-the-best tally.
"She just had an outstanding meet,"
Coach K said. "What a great way for Kar-
en to cap off her career at Lovell High
School."
"When I come into a competition like
State, I get the mind set and focus on what
I have to do," Karen said. "I try to keep a
positive mind set and stay confident. The
weather was bad that day (Thursday), but
I wasn't going to let that stop me from get-
ting my record."
Kim Shumway was equally impressive,
running and winning four consecutive rac-
es Saturday afternoon: the 400-meter dash,
the 1,600 meters, the 200-meter dash and
the first leg of the 1,600-meter relay.
"The sprints were pretty quality ef-
forts," Koritnik said. "The mile was a bit
more challenging for her. It was definitely
quite an effort on her part, especially as a
freshman."
Susie Shumway won the 800 meters
going away, placed a strong second to Kim
in the 400-meter dash, placed third in the
high jump and ran the anchor leg of the 4x4
relay.
Griffis shattered her own school record
in the discus and placed third.
Junior Jodi Walker placed third in the
long jump and fourth in the triple, while
the quartet of Chelsey Ellis, Kassidy Het-
land, Walker and Geiser placed fourth in
the 400-meter relay.
STRONG START
On a snowy, wet, frigid day, Griffis was
competitive in tle shot put Thursday, fin-
ishing 10 th with a throw of 30-113A, while
Meryk McArthur was solid in the 3,200 me-
ters, finishing 12 th with a time of 14:10.23.
Then along came the long jump and
with it the first points of the track meet
for the Lady Bulldogs as Koritnik placed
first, Walker third. Koritnik broke her own
school record of 17-83A set last year and the
state record of 17-8½ set by Lovell's Adri-
enne Prosser in 1992 with a winning leap
of 17-10½. Walker placed third with a sea-
son-best jump of 15-73A.
Coach Koritnik said the record-break-
ing jump was Karen's second of the long-
jump competition.
"She scratched a little bit on the first
one," he said. "She moved back because she
wanted to make sure she got a good jump
in and she just hit it."
"I moved back probably an entire foot
to be safe," Karen said. "It was a big jump.
I definitely didn't want to scratch two times
in a row. I wasn't even on the board really.
It was probably well over 18 feet total."
Kim Shumway qualified for finals in
the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.92,
the top time in the preliminaries. Geiser
almost made the finals, finishing 10 in
29.05.
GAINS ON FRIDAY
Jumping events continued Friday
morning, and Koritnik was strong once
again, winning the triple jump with a leap
of 36-3 ¼, topping Prosser's school record of
35-10 set in 1992. Walker was fourth with
a season-best leap of 34-23A.
"Jodi did a good job from where she's
been this season," Coach Koritnik said.
"She rose to the occasion and got some sol-
id jumps."
Geiser finished 12 th in the triple jump
with a jump of 31-¼, Ellis 13 th at 30-3.
The first running event of the day was
the 800 meters, and Susie Shumway took
an early lead and never looked back, win-
ning by five seconds with a time of 2:25.52.
Still hampered by a leg injury, Aman-
da Shumway finished 15 th with a time of
2:41.36.
"That was nice for her. She dominated
that event at the 2A level this year," Korit-
nik said. "She also ran well in the 400?
In the 100-meter trials, Hetland fin-
ished 11 th with a time of 13.65 and Ellis
was 12 th at 13.72, a personal record.
Koritnik qualified for the finals in the
300-meter low hurdles, finishing with the
best time in the prelims at 46.62.
Lovell's next points came in the dis-
cus Friday afternoon when Griffis shat-
tered her own school record of 106-11 set
at the Worland meet with a throw of 112-7,
good for third place. Schuylar Davis near-
ly placed, finishing 10 with a toss of 98-7,
her best throw of the season.
"Miranda just keeps improving," Korit-
nik said. "Going in, on paper, she was sit-
ting ninth or 10 m, but she competed well
and got third. Hats offto her."
Meanwhile, the Lovell 400-meter relay
team of Ellis, Hetland, Walker and Geiser
placed fourth with a time of 54.09.
The Shumway sisters, Kim and Susie,
qualified first and second in the 400-me-
ter dash to wrap up the day with times of
1:01.03 and 1:01.19, respectively.
SUPER SATURDAY
An amazing Saturday run for the Lady
Bulldogs began with the high jump on a wet
runway as Susie Shumway finished third
with a jump of 4-10 - a solid jump but be-
low her season best jump of 5-2 performed
the previous weekend at the regional meet
See 'SUPER SATURDAY,' page 11
