Henry and Johnson Win Titles as Plainsmen Take Third at State Track

Two individual champions helped the Laramie Plainsmen bring home a trophy from the 2016 Wyoming State Track Championships in Casper.

Senior Chris Henry won the 3200 meters last Thursday, while junior McCade Johnson crossed the tape first in the 300-meter hurdles last Saturday. Henry's winning time was 9:42.44 and his margin of victory was nearly 12 seconds. Johnson won by .35 seconds with a time of 39.06.

Laramie High School head track coach Gil Bradfield said those two worked hard all year.

“They’ve been there before, especially Chris, and he knew what it took to compete and get where he wanted to be. McCade was the same way all year… They both ran great races.”

Led by those two, Laramie scored 95 points and placed third in the team standings. Kelly Walsh utilized their depth in the sprints for first place with 127 points. Cheyenne Central came in second with 104 points.

Bradfield said, “We did an outstanding job, and considering the weather this spring, everything worked out for the best.”

Johnson added a second place in the 110-meter hurdles. He was beat by .20 seconds. Johnson also took eighth in the 400 meters. Henry took third place in the 1600 meters and was fourth in the 800 meters.

The Plainsmen also came in third in the 4X400 meter relay, which Johnson was a part of. Junior Reid Baty tied for second place in the high jump, as he cleared 6-feet.

The Lady Plainsmen tied for eighth place, as they scored 25 points over the three days of competition.

Bradfield admitted it was tough for them.

“We had a couple of bad things happen. A lot of it was still pretty good… I was hoping for a little higher of a place, but they did as good a job as they could.”

A third place from the girls’ 4X800 meter relay was the top finish. The 4X400 came in fourth, while the best individual effort was fifth from Kaitlyn Bingham in the triple jump.

The Natrona Fillies won the 4A girls team title with 161 points. Gillette was second at 137 points.