Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Two freshman Pioneers qualify for state meet
Lady Pioneer Sky Taylor takes off during the long jump at the Worland D & D Invite on April 13 at Worland High School.
TEN SLEEP - The Ten Sleep track team added to their impressive season last weekend in Lander during the 1A West regional meet.
The Lady Pioneers placed fourth as a team and had two regional champions. Kelli Holiday won the 400-meter dash and Sydney Holiday won the 100. And after trying all season the Pioneers will be sending two athletes to the state meet, Zane Taylor in the shot put and Zayne Cooper in the high jump.
"It was a lot of fun and I think we performed well. I was especially proud of Zane Taylor and Zayne Cooper. Then the 4x800 relay team allowed us to bring more girls to state," said TSHS track coach Desiree Egger.
Egger was proud of all her athletes but seeing Cooper, who did the high jump for the first time this season at regionals, and Taylor qualify for state was the highlight of the meet.
"Zayne Cooper hasn't done high jump all year. His shins were hurting and he wasn't able to throw either because of a thumb injury. So we put him in an event we thought he'd be successful in and he did amazing. Getting down there and experiencing what it is like is going to be big for him," said Egger. "Zane Taylor wasn't even expected to make the finals but he beat out a kid from Burlington by throwing a 36. It's a nice compliment to their tenacity to make it to state. Some kids wouldn't take on the high jump if they hadn't done it all year."
Egger added, "The girls, I'm happy for them. They've been great all season and we expected that from them. But it's always the unexpected ones that get you excited and the adrenaline pumping."
At regionals Egger and her assistant coach Brian Holiday made the decision to play it safe with how many events the Lady Pioneers competed in and this week's practice will be used to get everyone healthy.
"We didn't compete in all of our events. We didn't want to wear them down because state is our focus. We got Sydney Holiday qualified in the 300 hurdles, she'll go in with no time but that's OK with us. We didn't want to risk injury then have her not able to get the team points at state," said Egger. "Practices will be like pre-race that way we make sure we're all healthy and ready to go for state."
The Lady Pioneers are in contention of a top-three finish and accomplish their season goal of adding new hardware to the Ten Sleep High School trophy case.
"I have to give big kudos to my assistant Brian Holiday. He's good at crunching the numbers and looking at the other teams and where we can place the kids. I think for us it's more of where are we going to fall and how we're going to place. If the stars align there's a good chance of us placing and then it's about where at on that scale are we going to place," said Egger.
One thing Egger will not have to worry about is her team's competitive drive.
"Allison [Hampton] has a bit of revenge going into state because Mackenzie Powell. It's fun for us to look at the numbers and mess around with them, but at the end of the day they're competitors. They're not going to let someone beat them because they're tired," said Egger.
The Wyoming State track and field championship meet for 1A through 4A will begin on Thursday. For exact times of specific events be sure to visit WHSSA.org as events are subject to change due to the weather.
