ROCK SPRINGS – Track and Field athletes opened the 2015 season as teams competed all over the state. For Rock Springs, several ladies opened in Casper while other members of the team traveled to Utah.
At the Glen Legler Memorial Early Bird Invite in Casper, even with just a portion of the team, the Lady Tigers finished in third overall. Natrona and Kelly Walsh took first and second by a substantial margin. Sheridan and Big Piney rounded out the top five.
Individually, the Lady Tigers had several standout performances. Lyndzie Kroupa took home top honors in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.56. Her time was almost a second ahead of the second-place finisher from Kelly Walsh. Kroupa was also a part of the 4×100 relay team and 4×400 relay teams which brought home top honors. The other members of the top relay teams were MaKenzie Kroupa, Emma Lapp and Bobbi Parker.
Parker just missed on two, first-place finishes. She finished second in the 100 meters and second in the 200 meters. Parker finished the 100 with a time of 12.85 just behind the leader’s time of 12.66. After getting Parker in the 100, Kelly Walsh’s Hannah Carter also just edged her out in the 200. Carter finished with a time of 26.41 while Parker crossed the line in second with a time of 26.95.
Lapp also had a solid meet. She followed her two relay titles with an 11th-place finish in the 200 meters and a 15th in the 100. MaKenzie Kroupa had a top-ten finish in the 100 meters as well coming in ninth overall.
Rounding out the top Lady Tiger runners in Casper was Selena Cudney. She finished with two, top tens in the 100 meters and 200 meters. In the 100, Cudney finished in seventh and in the 200 she crossed the line in ninth.
Lady Tiger Darian WIlliams was strong in the jumping events for Rock Springs. Williams finished with three, second-place finishes in the high jump, the long jump and the triple jump.
As a team, Rock Springs had an impressive finish in the Long Jump. Williams pace the team with a jump of 16-02.00 to finish in second. After top tens in the 100 and 200, Cudney finished right behind Williams in third while Kylie Balance jumped to a sixth-place finish. Williams’ jump of 5-03.00 in the high jump was just off the top jump of Kelly Walsh’s Sofia Hot who finished with a 5-05.00. Natrona’s Kaitlin Barnes jump of 35-09.75 was just in front of Williams second-place jump of 34.01.50.
UHSTCA Invitational
While some of the Rock Springs ladies were battling in Casper, others traveled to Utah to compete against 38 teams throughout the region. With only a portion of the team, the Lady Tigers finished with a 16th-place finish overall.
Individually, the Lady Tigers were again paced by Karli Piaia. In the 3200 meters, Piaia crossed the finish line in first with a time of 11:24.89. Her time was almost three seconds ahead of the second place time. Also in the 3200, Hannah Hampton finished in 16th place while Sheridan Klingensmith crossed the line in 19th place.
Erikka Soto had an impressive meet in the throwing events. Her best finish came in the discus as her throw of 106-04 put her in the fifth position. Soto also had a top ten in the shot put as her throw of 34-02.50 put her in seventh.
Two other Rock Springs ladies brought home top-20 finishes. Bailee Radakovich finished in 18th in the 400 meters and 19th in the 800 meters. Alyse Henry came in 17th in the 1600 meters.
