Laramie Volleyball Takes Care of Sweetwater County Schools

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen volleyball team kept up their winning ways last week with a pair of non-conference wins last Tuesday and Saturday.

Laramie (18-3) rallied for a four-set win at home over Rock Springs last Tuesday. That was followed by a victory at Green River by sweep last Saturday.

The Lady Plainsmen lost the first set to the Tigers 16-25, but came back and won the next three. Scores were 25-23, 25-16 and 25-21. Junior Katie Welniak had a career-high 19 kills, plus six digs and a pair of service aces. Sophomore Jennifer Aadland added 10 kills.

In Saturday’s sweep of the Wolves on the road, Laramie prevailed 25-22, 25-17 and 25-19. Welniak had 11 kills with eight digs and four aces. Aadland had nine kills and three blocks, while junior Maia Edwards added eight kills and three blocks.

The third-ranked Lady Plainsmen finish the first round of conference play at home Tuesday. They host No. 1 Cheyenne East at 6 p.m.

Girl’s Swimming & Diving

The Lady Plainsmen swept a pair of double duals last week at the LHS Natatorium. Laramie improved to 13-2 in duals this season.

Last Tuesday, LHS topped Rawlins, 103-68 and Cheyenne South, 92-71. In the dual they won a combined 11 of 12 events. Carter Burchi finished first in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Olivia McPherson added wins in the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke.  They also won all three relays, in addition to four other individual events, which included diving.

That was followed by a dual sweep of Jackson and Rock Springs last Friday. Laramie defeated the Broncs, 101-79 and the Tigers, 104-66. The Lady Plainsmen won seven events. McPherson won both the 50 and 100 free. Other first place finishes came from Maggie Clerkin (200 free), Carter Burchi (100 fly), Elena Hennerman (100 back) and both the 200 and 400 free relays.

Laramie didn’t have any new state qualifiers and are at 18 on the season.

They swim Cheyenne East Tuesday at 5 p.m. in their final home dual.

Cross Country

Both Laramie teams placed among the top four at the large Thornton Cross Country Invitational last Friday.

The Lady Plainsmen took third, while the Plainsmen came in fourth. Arvada West (CO) and Fossil Ridge (CO) won the girls and boys divisions, respectively.

Freshman Abigail Whitman came in fifth at the top runner for the LHS girls. That was out of 283 runners in the race.

Junior Philip Henry paced the LHS boys with a sixth place finish. There were 316 runners in the race.

Laramie High School cross country has this weekend off.