Rebel thinclads gear up for Regionals

By: 
Sam Smith

The Riverside Reb els track and field squad did some last-minute fine tuning in their events for this weekend's 2A West Regional Track Meet by competing at the Bobcat Invitational Saturday in Thermopolis.

This was the last chance for athletes to pre-qualify for State in different events. After the Thermopolis meet, athletes will now have to place in the top eight in their individual events or if they are on a relay team, the team will have to place in the top four to qualify.

"With how big the meet was, we were able to compete well and have a number of top 10 finishers," coach Dale Query said.

Coaches named Senior Monique Velasquez as the female athlete of the week as she placed ninth in the long jump, leaping 13-4½, and 11th in the triple jump, sailing 299½. She also placed 12th in the 400-meter dash, finishing the oval in 1:11.1.

"Monique is a tremendous athlete in general," Query said. "But with her work ethic and determination, she is a fun one to watch. She can jump well, has great speed along with endurance. I have high expectations for her in Regionals and in State."

Senior Breana Riley won the 100-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in 17.89 seconds, and tied for first in the pole vault with Rocky Mountain's Taylin Boettcher, both clearing 7-9. She also placed 10th in the 300-meter hurdles, coming in at 54.96 seconds.

Sophomore Vaidyn VanderPloeg placed fourth in the 100-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 12.93 seconds, and fourth in the 200-meter dash, coming in at 27.21 seconds.

"Vaidyn VanderPloeg earned fourth place in the 100-meter dash in a very close race," Query said. "Vaidyn received an other fourth place in the 200-meter dash in yet an -

other close race."

Freshman Dakota Cervantes placed third in the 3,200-meter run, finishing the two-mile race in 14:26.44.

"Dakota had an awesome time in the 3,200-meter run, which earned her third place," Query said.

The 3,200-meter relay team placed fourth with a time of 12:26.67. Freshman Anna Stone placed 10th in the 1,600-meter run, finishing the event in 7:00.56.

Sophomore Hailee McClure placed 10th in the high jump, clearing 4-4, and 13th in the long jump with a jump of 1210¾. Junior Markita Gesch was behind McClure in the long jump in 14th with a jump of 12-9½.

Freshman Melisa Martinez placed 15th in the triple jump, sailing 279¾, and senior Alexis Garay placed 12th in the discus, throwing 81-0.

OTHER RIVERSIDE GIRLS’ RESULTS WERE:

Gesch 39th, 15.21; 200m dash – Martinez 30th, 30.76; long jump – Martinez 21st, 12-2¾, triple jump – McClure 20th, 26-5¾; shot put – Kieri VanDeest 35th, 21-11½, Laila Davis 36th, 21-7½; discus – VanDeest 18th, 73-0, Davis 23rd, 69-8.

BOYS RESULTS

Coaches named Dylan Alexander as the male athlete of the week after the Bobcat Invite as he placed 27th in the 400-meter dash, finishing the oval in 1:01.75, and 36th in the 100-meter dash, finishing the sprint in 12.52 seconds. 

“Dylan is that type of kid that we can put in the events that no one wants to run, and he will give it his all,” Query said. “Probably the two toughest races are the 400 and the 800. This weekend he will be in the open 400, 1,600-meter relay and will run the 800 leg of the medley. He does all these events with a great attitude and pushes himself to get better every week.”

Junior Garret Ellis- Rudd placed second in the 110-meter hurdles, coming in at a personal- best time of 15.55 seconds, and seventh in the 300-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in 45.51 seconds. He tied with teammate Trenton Coronel for ninth in the high jump, clearing 5-8.

Coronel placed seventh in the long jump, leaping 17-9½, and 17th in the 800-meter run, finishing the half-mile in 2:26.97.

Junior Ryan Hoyt placed seventh in the 3,200-meter run, finish ing the two-mile race in 11:24.13, and eighth in the 1,600-meter run, finishing the event in 5:10.35.

Freshman Hayden Paxton finished 10th in the 3,200-meter run, coming in at 11:54.99.

Junior Griffin Zapata placed 10th in the discus, throwing a personal-best 101-5½.

OTHER RIVERSIDE BOYS’ RESULTS WERE:

100m dash – Blake Mautz 45th, 13.25; 200m dash – Ty Strohschein 20th, 25.05, Mautz 38th, 28.36; 400m dash – Jose Jimenez 35th, 1:05.27; 800m run – Jimenez 24th, 2:48.93; shot put – Brian Gesch 21st, 33-6½, Zapata 23rd, 32-11; discus – Gesch 20th, 86-0, Strohschein 28th, 75-10.

The 2A West Regional Track Meet will be held in Shoshoni this Friday and Saturday. The meet begins Friday with field events scheduled to start at noon. Running events are scheduled to start with the 800-meter run at 1:45 p.m.

Saturday, the meet continues with field events scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Running events will start with the 3,200-meter relay at 10 a.m.

“We are looking and getting out kids in as many events as possible,” Query said. “They have been working hard and would like to set them all up to earn a chance to make it to State.”

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