Rebels perform well at large meet

The Riverside Rebels continued to rack up the wins, personal records and automatic qualifications Friday at a meet in Shoshoni that attracted more than 20 teams, including several from the larger 2A and 3A classifications.
With their talented roster of sprinters and hurdlers, the Rebels earned 76 points.  The girls, with 37 points, placed fifth, behind only Lander, Big Piney, Rawlins and Kemmerer.  The boys, with 39, settled in seventh place, behind Thermopolis, Lander, Burlington, Rawlins, Dubois and Glenrock.
Ty Strohschein captured Riverside’s only wins of the day, taking the 100 in a time of 11.43 seconds and the 200 in 22.88.  The latter was a personal best and within .13 hundredths of a second off the school record set in the 1980s by Beckett Hinckley.
Reese Whisenant and Avery Clifford bettered the qualifying marks in individual events.  Whisenant did it in the 100, running an 11.86.  Clifford’s AQ came in the triple jump, where he recorded a leap of 39 feet, 11 1/2 inches.
And while it didn’t cross the line first, Riverside’s 400-meter relay team ran its fastest time of the season, a 45.93, to re-establish itself as the team to beat on the 1A side.  For most of the season, Whisenant, Clifford, Wyatt Daly-Patterson and Strohschein had the fastest time among 1A qualifiers. Dubois beat it recently, but the Rams’ stay at the top proved to be short lived.  
Riverside’s girls 400-meter relay team did not run in Shoshoni, which allowed its members to pick up additional individual events.  Vinaya VanderPloeg, Kennedy Bassett and Anna Stone accounted for all of the Rebels’ points.
VanderPloeg, meanwhile, placed in two individual events, with her best effort coming in the 100 where she ran a personal-best 12.96. “She’s just getting back into the swing of being a full-time sprinter,” said Coach Jason Mitchell  “She’s focused a lot on the hurdles the last couple years, but made the decision that she just wants to be a runner — and her times are coming down every week.”
“The 100 and the 400 are her best performances, but when someone’s that good in the 100 and the 400, it wouldn’t shock me to see a breakout from her at regionals or state in the 200.”
Kennedy Bassett, meanwhile, placed in three events, taking third in the 100-meter hurdles and fifth in both the 200 and the 300-meter hurdles.  Mitchell said it was Bassett’s first try at the longer hurdle race and that she nearly posted an AQ in the event.
“With her speed and already being a hurdler, we always thought it might be a possibility for her,” said Mitchell.
Anna Stone rounded out the scoring for RHS, placing fourth in the 3,200 meters.

Looking ahead
The Rebels will compete at the Rocky Mountain Invite Saturday in Cowley and are scheduled to compete in a triangular Tuesday in Greybull.  Three days later, they’ll wrap up the regular season at a meet in Thermopolis.
The regional meet is fast approaching, but several Rebels have already earned trips to Casper.  On the girls side, three relays teams have qualified.  Individually, VanderPloeg and Bassett have AQed in each AQd in three events.  Johnna Clifford has AQd in the long jump and Dakota Cervantes in the pole vault.
For the boys, the 400-meter relay team has qualified.  Strohschein has qualified in the 100, 200 and shot put, Whisenant the 100 and high jump and Clifford in the triple jump.
Mitchell offered kudos to his team for its buying into the team concept.  “While track can be viewed as an individual sport, if you don’t have an understanding that your events can impact your teammates’ events ... if you don’t understand how it all works together ... it can create a bad environment,” he said.  “Our kids have done a good job in that respect, whether it’s people wanting to run an event when they can’t or people that give up an individual event to run on a relay.”  

SHOSHONI INVITE
GIRLS RESULTS — Lander 152, Big Piney 89, Rawlins 56, Kemmerer 47, Riverside 37, Saratoga 35, Burlington 26.5, Bridger 26, HEM 26, Wyoming Indian 26, Thermopolis 20, Dubois 20, Glenrock 19.5, Kaycee 17.5, Shoshoni 14.5, Wind River 12, St. Stephens 10, Midwest 9, Greybull 5.
100 METERS — 3, Vinaya VanderPloeg, 12.96.  7, Kennedy Bassett, 13.41.
200 METERS — 5, Bassett, 28.31.
400 METERS — 3, VanderPloeg, 1:02.77.
3,200 METERS — 4, Anna Stone, 15:52.22.
100 HURDLES — 3, Bassett, 17.22.
300 HURDLES — 5, Bassett, 52.01.
LONG JUMP — 5, Johnna Clifford, 14-2.
BOYS RESULTS — Thermopolis 114, Lander 111, Burlington 86, Rawlins 58, Dubois 49, Glenrock 47, Riverside 39, Big Piney 39, Wyoming Indian 23, Midwest 20, Ten Sleep 18, Wind River 17, Kaycee 16.5, Saratoga 15.5, HEM 10, Bridger 10, Arapahoe Charter 8, Kemmerer 7.5, Greybull 6, Shoshoni 4, Western Heritage 3, Farson-Eden 0.5.
100 METERS — 1, Ty Strohschein, 11.43.  8, Reece Whisenant, 11.86.
200 METERS — 1, Strohschein, 22.88.
400 RELAY — 2, Riverside (Whisenant, Avery Clifford, Wyatt Daly-Patterson, Strohschein), 45.93.
HIGH JUMP  — 5, Whisenant, 5-4.
LONG JUMP — 6, Whisenant, 17-6.
TRIPLE JUMP— 5, Clifford, 39-11 1/2.