CASPER – Seven Guernsey-Sunrise athletes performed well at the 2022 state track meet in Casper this past weekend in an unusual late May snowstorm.

The 2022 State Track meet will be one that not many that attended will forget anytime soon.  Both Thursday and Friday were miserable with the snow/rain mix and cold temperatures.  In fact several events were postponed from Thursday to Friday.

“Caleb Christensen podiumed on both of those frigid days in the discus and shot put with seventh place finishes,” head track coach Doug Horton said. “ Jacob Roper was not very far behind in the discus and will be a force to deal with in the future. Berkleigh Pafford also had a very nice weekend.  She set a personal record in the Triple Jump by almost 2 feet.  Rylie Thompson also had a top 10 finish in the shot put against an extremely competitive field.”

The Guernsey-Sunrise who had encountered more than one unusual adverse weather meets this year handled the Wyoming weather like champs.

“Probably the craziest situation that happened was with Julian Schield,” Horton said. “The pole vault was bumped due to weather at the same time as her long jump event.  She was granted three long jumps in a row so that she could focus on her favorite event which is the pole vault.  However, Juliana partially dislocated her patella (knee cap) in a run through in the long jump and collapsed as her knee gave out.  In the meantime, the pole vault had already started.  She was then sent to the trainer’s tent where her knee was evaluated by medical officials for quite some time.  After doing several minutes of testing and evaluation it was deemed safe for her to pole vault after her knee was taped.

“The bar was already at 7 feet when she arrived at the pole vault area.  In the wind and rain, she made 7 feet and then limped her way to a very respectable 7'6" vault which was good for third place and the bronze medal.  It showed a lot of guts and determination.”

The entire season was deemed a success and exceeded many expectations.

“The season was a very successful one with a very young and inexperienced team,” Horton said. “Not in my wildest dreams did I think we could qualify eight athletes for the state track meet after we lost two very outstanding seniors last year and the six members (Foggies and Harrimans) of the track team that moved to New Mexico last November.  In fact Gabby Foggie was the 5A state champion in New Mexico in the 400 as a freshman.  I am very proud of each member of the track team that competed their tails off this season.  It was a lot of fun to be around this group of kids for all of our coaches.”

State results

Guernsey-Sunrise girls

Triple Jump: Berkleigh Pafford – 14th place 28-05

Pole Vault: Juliana Schiele – third place 7-6

Shot Put: Rylie Thompson – 10th place 29-8.75

Guernsey-Sunrise boys

1600-meter run: Domonic Ramirez – 16th place 5:32.93

3200-meter run: Domonic Ramirez – 14th place 11:57.38

Triple Jump: Nathan VanNatter – 16th place 34-3

Discus: Caleb Christensen – seventh place 110-4

Discus: Jacob Roper – 10th place100-8

Shot Put: Caleb Christensen –  seventh place 41-2.5