www. LovellChronicle.com
May 26, 2011 I The Lovell Chronicle I 11
*" DAVID PECK
Lovelljunior Morgan Baxendale reaches for the pit in the triple-jump competition
Friday afternoon in Casper. Baxendale placed seventh with a personal-record
jump of 40-9.
State Track Meet
DAVID PECK
Lovell junior Collin McArthur came into his own this season, placing in three
events at the State Track Meet over the weekend. Here, he legs out the final
stretch of the 800 meters Friday to place fourth.
Bulldogs battle for the top, place a strong third
BY DAVID PECK
The Lovell Bulldogs made a strong run
at the Class 2A boys state title over the
weekend in Casper, nearly reaching the
top with some outstanding performances
before finishing a strong third.
Lovell brought home three individual
titles and recorded five personal records
on a cold,, wet;and"Windy weekend at Har-
ry Geldien Stadium. The Bulldogs were in
contention for the title throughout the meet
and eventually finished third behind cham-
pion Pine Bluffs (93 points) and runner-up
Lusk (80). Lovell tallied 78.5 points for
third, ahead of fourth-place Tongue River
(63 points) and fifth-place Big Horn (55).
Junior thrower AJ Montanez was out-
standing in Casper, fighting off a challenge
fromregional champion Sam Middlestadt
of Wind River to win the shot put Friday
by 5½ inches with a throw of 49-103A, then
staving off a challenge from Riverside ju-
nior Brynnt Wood Saturday to win the dis-
cus with a personal-record throw of 161-8,
throwing nearly nine feet further than his
previous PR and more than 16 feet further
than his winning throw in Lander a week
earlier.
In the shot put Friday, Montanez
fought off Middlestadt and others on a rot-
ten morning.
"Middlestadt was the highest seed go-
ing in from Regionals and had the highest
mark in 2A," LHS throwing coach Chad
Lindsay said. He said Montanez was press-
ing and didn't throw well early but then he
relaxed and "put one together" for the near-
ly 50-foot throw, and that seemed to put
pressure on the rest of the field, and they
were never able to top the Lovell junior.
"With the weather conditions the way
they were, it's sometimes about getting the
job done, not getting personal records or
season bests," Lindsay said. "AJ rolled up
his sleeves. The conditions were not good,
but a state title was on the line."
In the discus, Montanez's first throw
was just out of bounds but was proba-
bly longer than his winning throw, Lind-
say said. His second throw went 157 feet,
and Lindsay said he probably had the title
wrapped up at that point but then threw
161 feet to increase his lead. Lindsay said
he loved Montanez's consistency.
"All four of his legal throws were well
above his personal record," Lindsay said.
"His shortest one was five feet above his
PR."
Coach Joe Koritnik said Montanez has
the ability to focus on the task at hand dur-
ing competition.
"He takes it very seriously. He is pre-
pared mentally and gets himself ready to
compete," Koritnik said. "When he steps
in the ring he's ready to give it his best ef-
fort.
"I'm happy for him to win both events.
It keeps Lovell's throwing dynasty going.
And it's not just the talent of the kids but
the coaching they get from Chad. They
work hard and take track very seriously.
It's nice to see those kids rewarded at the
end. They deserve it."
Lindsay was happy, too, that Mon-
tanez's efforts were rewarded.
"It's like all of the physical preparation
and the mental preparation and the hard
knocks le's experienced all came to a head
in the end," he said. "AJ was so focused and
so composed and so physically ready to per-
form in the end."
Tanner Rohrer finished just out of the
top eight in the discus Saturday with a toss
of 122-5, a strong effort for the sophomore.
Cody Savage also had a strong meet.
The sophomore placed third in the long
jump Thursday with a season-best jump
of 19-11, then came back Friday to win the
triple jump, eclipsing two late best-of-the-
day jumps by Tim Benedict of Wright and
Brandon Foster of Rocky Mountain to win
with a personal-record leap of 43-8.
"Cody stepped up. That's the mark of a
champion," Koritnik said. "He did what it
took to win. He has won it two years in a
row and is in line to do something few kids
do - win the same event all four years."
Junior Morgan Baxendale placed sev-
enth in the triple jump with a personal-
record jump of 40-9, and Dino Collins was
llth at 39-9¼.
Freshman Kade Englert placed eighth
in the long jump with a leap of 18-93A Thurs-
day, and Collins was 14th at 17-103A.
Neither Baxendale nor Englert made
opening height in the high jump Thurs-
day, but senior Kenny Grant closed out his
career in the pole vault with a sixth-place
vault of 11-6. Nathan Grant placed ninth
on misses after clearing the same height,
and Englert was 1 lth at 10-6.
Junior Collin McArthur had an out-
standing meet, placing second in the 3,200
meters with a personal-record time of
10:30.62 in light snow Thursday morning,
placing fourth in the 800 meters Friday
with a time of 2:06.04, then finishing off
the meet Saturday with a personal-record
time of 4:48.29 in the 1,600 meters, good
for second place.
"His running has really evolved this
year,': Koritnik said. "Caleb's training has
gotte him in solid shape, and he's figur-
ing out how to race. He runs smart and has
been strategic in several races, learning
how to pace himself. I like how he has a
good sense of the pace he needs to compete.
It's easy to get caught up in the moment
(and go out too fast).
"The fact that he placed in all three
races says a lot about him."
Junior Colin May also had a strong
meet, placing sixth in both the 3,200 at
10:50.22 and the 1,600 at 4:54.46.
Jacob Beck finished 13th in the 3,200
meters with a time of 12:01.96, and senior
Kenneth Moncur finished his career with
an llth-place finish in the 1,600 meters,
recording a time of 5:03.77.
Sophomore Nathan Ballard nearly
placed in the 110-meter high hurdles, fin-
ishing ninth in the preliminaries with a
time of 18.64. He also recorded the 12th-
best time in the prelims of the 300-meter
intermediate hurdles at 46.84.
The Lovell 3,200-meter relay team of
Darren Ballard, Moncur, McArthur and
Kaleb Leithead placed third on Thursday
with a season-best time of 8:50.21, and the
1,600-meter relay foursome of Mark Grant,
Savage, Collins and Leithead placed fifth
at 3:43.02.
SUPER SATURDAY
in Lander. Jumpers seemed tentative
after meet workers removed puddles
caused by overnight rain from the
runway.
Later that morning, Koritnik pow-
ered her way to her third individual
title of the track meet, running the
300-meter hurdles in 46.51, winning
by two seconds over Rocky Mountain
standout Eliza Higgins. It was Korit-
nik's best time of the season on a cold
morning.
The afternoon began with the
400-meter dash, and Once again the
Shumway sisters dominated, Kim
winning the race in 59.40 and Susie
placing second at 1:01.08, nearly two
seconds ahead of the third-place run-
ner.
After some time to rest, Kim
Shumway came back strong in the
1,600 meters, edging Southeast se-
Continued from page 10
nior Kelsey Ross in a sprint to the
finish. Shumway ran a personal-re-
cord time of 5:43.18.
Meryk McArthur finished 11 th
with a time of 6:14.51.
Koritnik said Shumway was
drafting behind Ross, letting the
Southeast runner take the brunt of
the wind, but Shumway passed her
on the third lap - too early, Koritnik
sai'd. Ross re-took the lead on the fi-
nal lap, but Shumway stayed with
her and out-sprinted her down the fi-
nal straightaway.
"Kim was strong enough and
fast enough to win it," Koritnik not-
ed. "She was seeded fifth, so it was a
good effort coming off the 400 to win
it."
After another break, Kim Shum-
way toed the starting line in the
200-meter dash, rounded the corner
and held off Pine Bluffs junior Cassi-
dy Smith down the stretch to win
with a time of 26.35, a personal re-
cord in her third consecutive race of
the afternoon, an amazing feat.
The final event of the day was the
1,600-meter relay, and the quartet
of Kim Shumway, Koritnik, Geiser
and Susie Shumway won going away
with a time of 4:08.69, just 36/100ths
of a second off the team's school re-
cord set a week earlier in Lander.
"I just think it's the perfect way
to end my senior year - with two
track championships and our basket-
ball championship," Karen Koritnik
said. "It's the perfect way to go out.
"Winning the first one is always
kind of exciting because it's new. We
were expected to win this one, but
it's just as meaningful as the others.
I'll remember it as much or more."
Koritnik named to all-star hoops team
Lovell graduating senior Karen
Koritnik has been named to the Wyo-
ming squad for the annual Wyoming-
South Dakota all-star basketball
games.
A 5-9 guard/forward, Koritnik is
one of 11 players chosen for the select
squad for games to be played Friday,
June 3, in Spearfish, S.D., and Satur-
day, June 4, in Gillette. Three of the
player s are bound for the University
of Wyoming: Koritnik in track and
field, Kayla Woodward of Sheridan in
basketball and Megan Sipe of Chey-
enne East in volleyball.
Koritnik was a Class 2A All-State
selection following the 2010-11 season,
helping lead the Lovell Lady Bulldogs
to the state basketball championship.
She was also named the Five Rivers
Conference player of the year and will
play in the Wyoming Coaches Asso-
ciation North-South All-Star game on
July 23.
Also named to the Wyoming team
were Shelby Garska of Casper Nat-
rona, Jordan Kelley of Gillette, who
can't play due to an injured shoulder,
Brittany Lawson of Cheyenne East,
Stephanie Lee of Casper Natrona, Dal-
las Shaw of Buffalo, Danielle Skinner
of Cody, Shelby Stewart of Glenrock
and Alex Ward of Burns.
Utah State and European
league player Jaycee
Carroll to conduct camp
in Basin
BY KARLA POMEROY
Basin Recreation is bringing in Jaycee Carroll
for a basketball skills camp next month.
Carroll, Utah State's all-time leading scor-
er and a two-time All-American, currently plays
for the Gran Canaria in the ACB Spain Basket-
ball League. He also plays in the NBA Summer
League and has played in the league for the Bos-
ton Celtics, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets,
Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Hornets.
Basin Recreation Director Derek Query said
he invited his brother-in-law to conduct the camp,
which will be open for anyone in grades 8-12.
The camp runs June 8-9 with boys grades 8-10
from 1-3 p.m., girls grades 8-12 from 3:30-5:30
p.m. and boys in grades 11-12 from 6-8 p.m.
Basin Recreation is also conducting a Lady
Rebel Volleyball Camp with the Riverside High
School Volleyball Team operating the camp. The
camp is open for grades 4-9 and will be May 31-
June 1 from 1-3 p.m.
For more information on either camp, contact
Query at 307-272-4298.
r / l
