Campbell County Wins the Girls’ Indoor Track State Title

For the first time since 2017, the Campbell County Camels captured the Wyoming High School Girls’ Indoor Track state championship last Saturday in Gillette.

The Camels won four of the 16 events, two individual and two relays. It was the second relay that was the difference, as the team title came down to the last event.

Campbell County had a slim lead of 5.5 points over Cheyenne Central entering the 4x400 meter relay. Both teams had a team in the relay, but they were in separate heats. The Camels had to finish in fourth-place or better to earn the team crown. Campbell County won that event with a time of 4:14.48. Cheyenne Central took fourth.

The Camels scored 95 points on their way to the team title. It’s the seventh girls’ indoor track championship in school history.

Head coach Micah Christensen said his team stepped up, big-time.

“We knew we didn’t have much wiggle room, and everybody really stepped up and out-performed their previous performances. There wasn’t a single hiccup, and it turned out that we really needed to be that way, and I couldn’t be more proud of the girls.”

Cheyenne Central was second with 84.50 points, while Sheridan took third with 56 points. Natrona County got the fourth-place trophy with 44.50 points, which was a half-point better than Laramie.

Campbell County started by winning the first two field events. Lauryn Love won the shot put. The senior’s best toss was 45-6.25. Nyomi Moore followed with a victory in the long jump. Her best leap was 17-10.

Christensen felt the two wins early were key.

“I think anytime you come out on fire like that and have performances that get you on top of the podium, it definitely had something to do with it (our team win), and the kids believing that they could do it, and getting some momentum going with it.”

Besides the 4x400 relay, the only other track event won by the Camels was the 4x200 meter relay. Campbell County crossed the finish line in 1:47.73.

There were two stars on the track and another in a field event that set a new state record.

Cheyenne South’s Caydince Groth won the 200 and 400 meters. Groth took the 400 in 1:00.68 with a margin of 0.2 seconds. Later in the day, she won the 200 in 26.30 seconds.

Another double-event winner was Cheyenne Central’s Sydney Morrell. She came from behind on the last lap and won the 1600 meters in 5:11.91. Morrell also won the 800 meters in 2:21.90.

The only state record that fell last Saturday was in the pole vault. Cody’s Grace Shaffer won with a new state mark of 12-6.50, which was a half-inch better than the old record.

Two defending champions won their event for a second straight year. Torrington’s Jordan Stoddard finished first place in the high jump. She cleared 5-6. Stoddard competed for Cheyenne Central last year, but Torrington had an indoor team for the first time this season.

Breonna Beckley of Natrona County won her second consecutive championship in the triple jump. Beckley’s best mark was 36-10.50.

Cheyenne East sprinter Taliah Morris won the 55-meter dash in 7.35 seconds. Mountain View’s Elena Jensen won the 3200-meters in 11:35.09. Laramie’s Taylor Gardner won the 55-meter hurdles by .01 seconds. Her time was 8.68 seconds. Cheyenne Central captured the 4x800 meter relay (10:11.38), and Rawlins won the sprint medley relay (4:19.42).

Noticeably absent was Rawlins star Sydney Thorvaldson. The senior ran a leg on the sprint medley but due to an injury was scratched out of the 1600-meters and wasn’t entered in the 800 or 3200 meters. She was the defending champ in the three longest distances.