Going into the Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championship meet, Feb. 22-24, expectations for Wyoming’s track and field team were high.
“Some of our expectations were going in and being some of the top placers,” Jackson Wood said.
Though the team had these high expectations set, the pieces didn’t quite fall together to give Wyoming the finishes they were hoping for. But, that is not going to stop them from continuing to work to reach those goals.
“I feel like we do have a lot to work on as a team,” Ja’la Henderson said. “A couple people came out and did really good. Overall, we need to improve as a whole unit. We have a couple random standouts, but as a team we need to do better.”
The team may not have placed as high as they had hoped, but Henderson and Wood are among the four Wyoming track and field athletes who took home All Mountain-West Conference honors. The other two being Jerayah Davis and William Nolan.
“When I saw I got third (in the 400) I flipped out,” Wood said. “I thought we were going to get all-conference in our relay, but I ended up not running the relay. So when I saw I had gotten all-conference in a single event I was really pumped up. That was sweet.”
Henderson was also happy to be given the prestigious honor, but she is not yet to where she wants to be in all of her events.
“It felt really good (to win triple jump) because winning my freshman year in long jump, I’ve been really wanting to take my title back, and stand on the first place podium again,” Henderson said. “I was really happy, especially because I didn’t win long (jump), it was my motivation to win triple (jump). I just need to stay more consistent, and it’ll come in long jump”
As for the rest of the team, finishes were not as high as the expectations set out for the final meet of the indoor season. But, there were some bright spots from some athletes who competed.
Sam Kirkeide finished seventh in the men’s 60-meter dash. Davis finished second in the women’s 60-meter dash. Wood grabbed a third place finish in the men’s 400-meter dash, which helped nab his All-Mountain-West-Conference honor. Ricky Faure finished seventh in the men’s 800-meter run, while Kerry White took home a fourth place finish in the women’s 800-meter run. Lauren Hamilton came in 10th place in the women’s 1 mile run. In the men’s 3,000-meter run, Jonah Henry came in 12th place, Christopher Henry came in 21st place, with Michael Downey coming in close behind him in 23rd place, and Harry Ewing rounding it out at 26th place. In the women’s 3000-meter run, Emily Person led Wyoming, coming in 26th place, with teammate Solana Quistorff coming in close behind in 29th place, and Kacey Doner finishing 37th. In the men’s 5000-meter dash, Downey once again appeared, this time in 13th place for the Cowboys, and Christopher Henry finishing behind him in 19th place. McCade Johnson finished 6th in the conference in the men’s 60-meter hurdles. In the women’s 60-meter hurdles, Heidi Pfoor came in seventh place. The Cowboys 4×400 meter relay placed fourth, while the Cowgirls came in third in the event. In the men’s and women’s distance medley, Wyoming crossed the line in sixth place.
Sophomore Kyle Pollock came in eighth in men’s high jump, while Sofia Hof and Marie Doherty placed 15th and 20th, respectively, in the women’s high jump. Bobby Wingeleth placed ninth in the men’s long jump, with Nolan taking home fourth place in the event. In women’s long jump, Henderson came in third with Davis coming in closely behind in fifth place. In men’s triple jump, Nolan brought home a second place finish, with ninth place going to Kyle Alexander. In the women’s triple jump, Henderson came out victorious, with a leap of 42 feet, 11 inches, while Allegra Carson finished ninth in her flight. Garrett Lynch finished eighth in men’s shot put, and for the women, Addison Henry and Hannah Carr placed ninth and 10th, respectively.
Hap Frketich took home fourth in men’s weight throw, with Lynch taking home 10th in the event. Carr and (Addison) Henry placed third and fifth, respectively, in their flight of the women’s weight throw, while Emelda Malm-Annan placed sixth in her flight. As a team, the Cowgirls scored 41 points to bring home a ninth place finish from the conference meet. The Cowboys also grabbed 41 points, leaving them with a sixth place finish.
Though the indoor season is over for the Pokes, there is a lot to look forward to for the upcoming outdoor season.
“I’m really excited about outdoor,” Wood said. “I’d say with this last indoor championship none of us were even close to what we can be for outdoor. So I’m really excited to see some school records broken and a lot of people getting conference titles.”
