Junior Emmy Johnson won three events to help the Laramie girls’ track team finished second at last Saturday’s Kelly Walsh Invite in Casper.

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen won six total events and score 109 team points in their runner-up performance. LHS was only four points behind the girls’ division champion, Billings Senior, who scored 113 points.

Johnson captured the 100-meter dash in 12.90 seconds. She ran 25.02 for first place in the 200 meters and added another victory in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 45.46 seconds. Johnson also ran a leg on the runner-up 4x100 meter relay, which ran 50.86 seconds, and was just nine-hundredths behind Kelly Walsh.

Junior Aubry Sanchez cleared 11 feet in the pole vault and won on fewest misses. Freshman Alexis Stucky won the triple jump with a leap of 35-00.25, which was just ahead of sophomore teammate Taylor Gardner. She went 34-7.25 for second place.

The other event victory came from the 1600-meter sprint medley relay. Senior Ketisa Akambasi, junior Rachel King, Stucky, and junior Abigail Whitman won with a time of 4:24.72. Their margin of victory was nearly 12 seconds.

Laramie head track coach Gil Bradfield said the key for the girls’ team has been strength in numbers.

“We have a lot of depth in the girls. We have some point-getters that are really getting better and better each week. I think our relays are really coming around. It’s a good time to be getting better, and I really think that’s helped them a lot.

The Lady Plainsmen had nine other top-eight finishes that produced team points.

Bradfield added, “It’s been building from cross country through indoor track into outdoor track, and the coaches have been working hard with a lot of them. Plus, we have some good athletes out that are performing well.”

The Laramie boys took sixth place at the same meet. They scored 53 team points. Billings West won the team title with 158 points, followed by Natrona County at 124. Billings Senior (78), Kelly Walsh (73), and Lander Valley (65), all came in ahead of LHS.

The Plainsmen won one event. Sophomore Micah Zeller (pictured above) won the 1600-meters in 4:38.03.

Senior Derk Lyford took third place in both the 1600-meters and 3200-meters. Senior Jason Upton added a second place in the long jump third place in the 300-meter hurdles and a fourth place in the 200-meters. Zeller also came in fourth place in the 800-meters.

Bradfield said, “You have to remember, we’re really young. We lost a lot of senior point-getters (from) last year, one or two didn’t come out this year that we’re disappointed about, but, hey, we have to get going, and we have to get these guys ready. I was pretty pleased with Saturday.”

Laramie has one final meet left in the regular season before the regional track meet next week. LHS will attend the Viking Classic at Denver North High School this Friday.

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