LANDER — The Kemmerer seventh and eighth grade track teams traveled to Lander on Tuesday of last week and competed in the “Best of the Best” meet. The meet featured the best track athletes from every Wyoming town west of, and including, Casper and Rawlins. The competition spurred the Kemmerer athletes into their best marks of the season, and the team achieved over 30 personal records at the meet. The squad rewrote the school record book again this year by besting six records, and not by just a small margin.

Eighth Grade Girls

Kenley Plowman had a phenomenal day by setting three individual school records and running a record-setting relay. She placed first in the triple jump and fourth in both the 400-meter and 800-meter dashes. Plowman’s jump of 32 feet 7.5 inches bested the old mark of 31-8 set by Alisa Mori in 1998. Plowman’s 400-meter time of 62.27 seconds bested the mark of 63.43 set by Grace Gregory in 2014, and her 800-meter time of 2:34.30 bested the mark of 2:42.50 set by Lindsay Yantzi in 1992. All three marks would have qualified her for the state meet this year by placing at regionals.

Plowman then ran the opening leg of the 4x200-meter relay, with the team finishing in a record setting time of 1:56.18. Plowman was joined by Genisis Malone, Madelyn Gregory and Marisa Orcutt. Their time bested the mark of 2:02.05 set in 1981 by Brenda Corbridge, Tiffany Atwood, Kim Anderson and Jackie Wright. The team dominated the race, placing first by a wide margin.

The final record set by the eighth grade girls was a prestigious one and they made it look easy despite rarely running the event this year. In the 4x100-meter relay, the team of Madelyn Gregory, Malone, Jillian Tibbetts and Orcutt ran the lap in 55.02 seconds, placing fourth. Their time bested the old record of 55.42 seconds set in 1982 by Katrina Vaughn, Shar Costello, Wendy Kulinsky and Royleen Kyser.

Orcutt finished ninth in the 200-meter dash at 28.84 seconds, 10th in the 100-meter dash at 13.68 seconds and 12th in the 100-meter hurdles at 19.05 seconds. Orcutt’s time in the 100 meter dash would have made the 2A state meet this year and her other times would have been close. Tibbetts ran the 200-meter in a personal record 30.58 seconds.

Tibbetts added a fourth place toss of 72 feet 5 inches in the discus. Ashlyn Simpson was close behind with a personal record 68-3 and threw a PR in the shot put as well at 23-3. Sydnie Julander added a personal best triple jump of 25 feet 11inches. These marks would have been very close to qualifying for the state meet this year.

Malone finished 11th in the 800-meter dash at 2:47.08, a time that would have been one second shy of qualifying for the state meet this year. Sophie Failoni finished twenty-first in a competitive mile but her best mark of the year would have qualified her for the state meet in the event at this year’s regionals.

This squad of eighth grade girls has left their mark on eleven school records in the last two years, including all six relays. The Kemmerer girls they bested won state titles in 1983 and 1984, powered by deep teams that featured nine scorers at the state meet both years. With this year’s team having similar depth and skill, another state title may be just around the corner.

Eighth Grade Boys

The eighth grade boys’ marks in Lander were outstanding for eighth graders and will definitely make an impact on the varsity level next year. All of the following marks were personal records.

Austin Quinn Martinez placed seventh in the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.55 seconds. He also ran the 100-meter dash in 13.04 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 27.58 seconds. Andres Vega placed eighth in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2 minutes 23.49 seconds. He also ran the 100-meter hurdles in 17.96 seconds, finishing in 11th place. Zach Jackson ran the same hurdle event in 18.40 seconds finishing 13th in the field of 30 runners. Finally, Aaron Ortiz threw the discus a distance of 95 feet 7 inches.

Seventh Grade Boys

Quentin Rosas outran a pack of 32 other runners in the 400-meter dash to win first place in an outstanding personal record time of 58.14 seconds. This mark would have been within a half a second short of the time needed to qualify for the state meet this year. The mark also falls just short of his father Marc Rosas’ school record of 56.90 seconds set in 1990.

Rosas also placed fourth in the long jump with a personal record leap of 16 feet 3.5 inches and fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.43 seconds. Rosas shattered the old record in the 100-meter dash of 12.40 seconds set by Noah Johnson with his first place run in Rock Springs the previous Saturday, but the official results are still pending.

Other personal records included: Matt McMillan 13.96 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 29.56 seconds in the 200-meter dash, Konnor Gregory 26 feet 10 inches in the triple jump and sixth grader Mason Riding at 70.49 seconds in the 400-meter dash.

Seventh Grade Girls

Cyndi Ashliman placed fourth in the 100-meter dash with a personal record time of 13.81 seconds. She also threw a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 23 feet 8.75 inches. Her 100-meter dash time was three-tenths of a second shy of the final state qualifier at the regional 2A meet for the event. Laurel Clarke ran a personal record 30.98 seconds in the 200-meter dash but did not place.