Small Burlington crew competes in Cody

A small Burlington High School track team competed against 16 other teams on Thursday in Cody. “The Cody Invitational is one of the biggest meets we will attend all year,” said Coach Ryan Olson. “Sometimes I worry a bit about how our freshmen and new athletes will handle the competition with the larger schools. We constantly need to remind them that we’re focusing on our 1A competition, and more importantly, just getting better each week with our events.”
With over half the team down at the state FCCLA competition in Cheyenne and a few working through injuries, the Huskies had a small crew with just eight girls and 15 boys. The competition was steep, but Burlington still saw some fifth-place finishes with Linnie McNiven in the two mile, Jordan Michaels in the 400 meters, Levi Wardell in the pole vault and the boys’ relay teams in both the 4X400 and 4X800.
The 4X800 team of Connor Hoyt, Howard McNiven, James McNiven and Joe Bassett ran 20 seconds under the state qualifying time and Jordan Michaels joined some of the same boys in qualifying in the 4X400 relay. “The 1600 relay was the most exciting race of the day,” said Olson. “Ten Sleep has a couple outstanding 400-meter runners and they certainly brought out our best. It was satisfying for our boys to edge them out at the finish line.
“I was especially impressed with our throwers at this meet. Coach Aagard has taken this group, broken down their throws at the fundamental level and then has been coaching them to new season and personal bests. Rykael Andrew, Mickey Maroni, Jozelyn Snelling and Kitzen Schatz all improved between 2 and 4 feet in the shot put. Kitzen also improved 12 feet in the discus. Other highlights of the day included watching Sky Olsen and Joseph Stanworth making a height in the pole vault and Levi Wardell opening the season with a 9-6 vault. It was also great to get Joey Chatwin back after returning from the senior trip. She provides great leadership, a positive attitude and a willingness to put in the work at practice.”
Burlington will be hosting its own meet this Friday with field events starting at 1:30 p.m. and the 3200-meter relay starting at 2 and the rest of the running events at 2:30. “We’re excited to host our own meet. It will be smaller this year with some schools celebrating spring break, but for the schools that attend, it should be a great meet. We’re always amazed at how much work goes into hosting a meet and we are very appreciative of the volunteers and helpers that make it happen,” ended Olson.
GIRLS
100 METERS — 36, Sky Olsen, 31.63. 45, Joey Chatwin, 32.46.
400 METERS — 24, Mackenzie Mehr, 1:15.82.
3200 METERS — 5, Linnie McNIven, 14:48.96.
100 HURDLES — 15, Dalley Bassett, 18.78. 37, Eve McNulty, 22.69.
400 RELAY — 7, Burlington, 1:01.73.
SPRINT MEDLEY RELAY — 4, 5:09.96.
LONG JUMP — 45, McNulty, 11-11.
POLE VAULT — 14, Olsen, 6-0.
DISCUS — 46, Kitzen Schatz, 60-07. 68, Jozlyn Snelling, 45-01.
SHOT PUT — 63, Schatz, 17-10.75. 72, Snelling, 15-10.

BOYS
100 METERS — 95, Robert Mehr 13.54. 95, Brikton Wardell 13.54,
200 METERS — 76, Mehr, 27.37.
400 METERS — 5, Jordan Michaels, 54.63. 31, Mehr, 1:03.34.
800 METERS — 7, Howard McNiven, 2:13.25. 9, Michaels, 2:14.80. 11, Paul McNiven, 2:16.67.
1600 METERS — 13, H. McNiven, 4:59.71. 36, James McNiven, 6:01.11.
3200 METERS — 8, Connor Hoyt, 11:27.56.
110 HURDLES — 10, P. McNiven, 18.33. 17, J. McNiven, 21.67. 19, Levi Wardell, 22.46.
4X400 RELAY — 5, Burlington, 3:54.52.
4X800 RELAY — 5, Burlington, 9:30.
HIGH JUMP — 9, Bruce McNiven, 5-08. 22, Joseph Stanworth, 5-00.
LONG JUMP — 42, B. Wardell, 15-7.5. 64, Brian O’Barr, 12-7.5.
TRIPLE JUMP — 21, Colt Haslam, 34-01.5. 37, O’Barr, 30-02. 38, J. McNiven, 27-09.5.
POLE VAULT — 5, L. Wardell, 9-06. 14, Stanworth, 8-0.
DISCUS — 9, Mickey Maroni, 116. 25, Hunter Aagard, 101-6.
SHOT PUT — 19, Aagard, 38-0.5. 27, Maroni, 35-1. 29, Rykael Andrew, 34-9.