Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Coyote 4x800 relay team breaks Class D meet record

The Potter-Dix boys 4x800 meter relay team broke the Class D meet record at the Bayard meet held last Thursday.

The team of Jake Johnson, Samuel Bogert, Cameron Purcell and Cooper Hicks won the event with a time of 8:40.92. The old record of 8:49.6 was set by Southeast (Wyoming) in 2000. The Coyotes also came close to beating the overall meet record in the event, which is 8:40.8.

"The boys 4x800 relay team themselves have set the bar very high this year, in that they want to return to state and hopefully finish in the top three," said Potter-Dix coach Bob Hilpert. "They are a very determined bunch of guys, and personally, I don't want to stand in their way. In fact, I am trying to get them to do more individual events, because we all realize that just winning relays won't be enough to go for team titles at conference and district meets. We do have a plan in place that we are going to try the next few meets, and see how it goes."

Other top performances for the boys includes the 4x400 relay team, which finished second in 3:46.23. Members of that relay squad are Cooper Hicks, Samuel Bogert, Johnson and Purcell.

Johnson finished second in the 800 meter run while Cooper Hicks took third place, and Johnson also finished sixth in the 400 meter dash. Rozelle led the Coyotes in the field events, taking third place in the high jump and fifth in the long jump. He also finished sixth in the 100 meter dash.

"On the boys side, all three relays performed well. Even though the 4x100 didn't place, they ran well, despite changing our running order around," Hilpert said. "Jake Johnson ran the open 400 for the first time and finished sixth, and the finish of Johnson and Cooper Hicks in the 800 was better than expected.  Kelsey Rozelle's making the finals in the 100 and placing in the finals was a good effort from him, especially since it was a strong, mostly all 'C' field...

"The jumpers struggled a little bit because of the weather, but Coby Hicks was able to work through it and finished third. This will be another tough meet this week at Grant, (Perkins County) as class B Ogallala and mostly class C field will be there."

The Lady Coyotes had a strong showing in the field events at Bayard. Alexus Rozelle won the shot put with a throw of 36-02, and also finished second in the discus. Pole vaulters Payton Franklin and Ryley Hicks each tied for second with a leap of 7-06.

Franklin finished fifth in the 300 meter hurdles in 54.07, while Regyn Hicks finished sixth two hundredths of a second later. The Lady Coyote 4x400 meter relay team of Hope Shepard, Hoffman, Presley Christensen and Regyn Hicks also took fifth place in 4:41.30.

"There have been some pleasant surprises on both the girls and boys teams," Hilpert said. "On the girls side, sophomore Payton Franklin and freshman Payge Hoffman are doing better than expected in both hurdle races.  Senior Hope Shepard has already run a 100, 400 and 800, both in relays and in opens, and has done very well. The vaulters of Ryley Hicks and Payton finished in a tie for second/third, and Payge Hoffman will be joining them in the weeks to come as she develops her vaulting skills. Both the 4x400 and 4x100 relay teams are doing well, and if we fine tune our hand offs, will be in strong contention come district time for that spot at the state meet. 

"Thursday was a grueling day for all the jumpers, but they will overcome, and I look for more improvement.  In the throws, Alexus Rozelle and Cortney Lewis again came through with some good performances, and I know that both of them will continue to improve as the year goes on."

In Thursday's standings, the Potter-Dix boys finished fifth and the girls finished eighth. In the overall scheme of things, however, Potter-Dix did very well against district foes.

"One of the coaches goals this past meet was to feel out our district field, as all 10 of the teams in District 11 were present at the Bayard meet, and our hope is that we would be able to outscore them," Hilpert said. "The boys succeeded with their great finish, and the girls were only outscored by Crawford, who has been one of the Coyote nemeses the last couple of years. The girls felt very confident after the meet that they will compete with them at districts, and hopefully return as district champs. I am very pleased after the first two meets."

Girls standings

1. Bayard 64

2. Bridgeport 56

3. Burns 54

4. Pine Bluffs 50

5. Crawford 44

6. Kimball 42

7. Lingle-Fort Laramie 41

8. Potter-Dix 39

9. Gordon-Rushville 37

10. Southeast 27

11. Morrill 19.5

12. Leyton 18

13. Creek Valley 11.5

14. Cody-Kilgore 8

T15. Hemingford 6

T15. Sioux County 6

17. Banner County 2

Girls results

100 meter dash

17. Sara Gingerich 14.76

25. Presley Christensen 15.26

29. Jourdan Langley 16.03

200 meter dash

15. Savannah Shaw 30.02

22. Sara Gingerich 31.23

24. Presley Christensen 31.64

400 meter dash

8. Hope Shepard 1:06.85

15. Trinity Langley 1:12.81

110 meter hurdles

8. Regyn Hicks 18.26

9. Payge Hoffman 18.60

13. Payton Franklin 19.23

300 meter hurdles

5. Payton Franklin 54.07

6. Regyn Hicks 54.09

14. Payge Hoffman 56.46

4x100 meter relay

7. Potter-Dix 57.30

(Hope Shepard, Savannah Shaw, Payton Franklin, Trinity Langley)

4x400 meter relay

5. Potter-Dix 4:41.30

(Hope Shepard, Payge Hoffman, Presley Christensen, Regyn Hicks)

Shot put

1. Alexus Rozelle 36-02

6. Cortney Lewis 32-09.5

Discus

2. Alexus Rozelle 115-05

Pole vault

T2. Payton Franklin 7-06

T2. Ryley Hicks 7-06

Boys standings

1. Bridgeport 73

T2. Pine Bluffs 58

T2. Hemingford 58

4. Kimball 50

5. Potter-Dix 47

6. Burns 40

7. Garden County 31

8. Bayard 30

T9. Morrill 24

T9. Lingle-Fort Laramie 24

11. Cody-Kilgore 23

T12. Gordon-Rushville 20

T12. Southeast 20

14. Banner County 16

15. Minatare 12

16. Leyton 1

Boys results

100 meter dash

6. Kelsey Rozelle 12.16

400 meter dash

6. Jake Johnson 54.99

8. Cameron Purcell 55.33

28. Dylan Nielsen 1:10.22

800 meter run

2. Jake Johnson 2:07.02

3. Cooper Hicks 2:08.88

110 meter hurdles

10. Coby Hicks 19.88

4x100 meter relay

7. Potter-Dix 48.89

(Kelsey Rozelle, Cameron Purcell, Samuel Bogert and Cooper Hicks)

4x400 meter relay

2. Potter-Dix 3:46.23

(Cooper Hicks, Samuel Bogert, Jake Johnson, Cameron Purcell)

4x800 meter relay

1. Potter-Dix 8:40.92

(Jake Johnson, Samuel Bogert, Cameron Purcell, Cooper Hicks)

High jump

3. Kelsey Rozelle 11-0

Long jump

5. Kelsey Rozelle 19-0.5