WyoPreps Athlete of the Week Honors for 1-24-24 Go to Mortensen, Lee [VIDEOS]

The Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Wyoming WyoPreps Athlete of the Week awards for Jan. 24, 2024, go to a girls’ wrestler and a jumper in boys' indoor track. Pinedale sophomore McKinzie Mortensen and Natrona County senior Kaiden Lee earned recognition for last week’s performances on the wrestling mat and track.

Mortensen won the 100-pound title at the Lander Invite. The sophomore improved to 13-0 this season with three wins on the mat, two by fall, and one major decision. She pinned opponents from Powell and Wind River to reach the finals. In the championship match, Mortensen rolled past Rylie Meyer of Kemmerer with a 13-0 major decision. The defending state champ is the No. 1 ranked wrestler at 100, according to Wyowrestling.com rankings.

WyoPreps has not had an opportunity to speak with McKinzie. We will post the video interview after we have that chance.

Get our free mobile app

Lee won both his events at the Campbell County Invitational for indoor track last Saturday in Gillette. He set the state’s all-time best mark in the high jump when he cleared the bar at 6-10. That broke the state record, but those can only be broken at the state championships. Lee was 10 inches above the next closest competitor in the high jump. He also captured the triple jump with a leap of 41-11. That was over two feet farther than the runner-up (39-7). Lee is the defending state champion in both events.

Kaiden spoke to WyoPreps on Wednesday about a great start to his indoor track season. He took us through his high jump record, how he wants to push himself higher and farther, trying to stay healthy with training, recovery, and therapy, his goals, and more.

Congrats to McKinzie and Kaiden!

The WyoPreps Athlete of the Week nominations are open from Fridays at 5 p.m. until Mondays at 9 a.m. Coaches, family, friends, and student-athletes can nominate deserving student-athletes. Early and late nominations are not accepted.