Not the Conference Meet Laramie Cross Country Was Looking For

The conference cross country championships didn’t go as Laramie High School wanted in Rock Springs last Friday at White Mountain Golf Course.

Laramie had four runners earn all-conference honors at the Class 4A West Conference Championships with top 10 finishes, but neither team contended for the top spot.

Head coach Greg Schabron said, to be honest, it was brutal.

“The kids did not race nearly where we had hoped they’d be. On paper, and the team’s we’ve seen, much, much lower than we thought, so we’ve got to make some pretty good adjustments this week with workouts, with the mindset going into state because the kids are much better than they showed on Friday, and so it’s one thing to say that, but they’re going to have to come out and prove that on Saturday.”

Schabron referencing the upcoming state meet. He said it was a combination of factors that led to not as good of performances as they wished.

Junior Abigail Whitman finished runner-up in the girls’ 5K race with a time of 20:10.79. Junior Emmy Johnson came in sixth place at 20:31.61. They both repeat as all-conference honorees.

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen took third as a team with 67 points. Natrona won the conference meet with 35 points, while Evanston was second with 64 points.

The Plainsmen finished second in the boys’ division also with 67 team points. Evanston ran away with the conference crown. The Red Devils placed five runners in the top 11 and scored 35 points.

Junior Mason Swingholm and senior Derk Lyford earned all-conference accolades with fourth and seventh place finishes, respectively.

Swingholm came in at 17:18.26, while Lyford recorded a time of 17:26.52.

Schabron said of the four that earned all-conference, “They did a great job. Like I said, they didn’t run as sharp as they have been in the past, but being able to be all-conference and having, in their minds, kind of a flat or even a bad race, that says a lot to their strength overall.”

Laramie’s cross country teams head to the Class 4A State Championships in Sheridan Saturday, Oct. 20.

Lady Plainsmen Swimming and Diving

The Lady Plainsmen dominated the Laramie Girls Invite Saturday at the LHS pool winning the meet by 162 points in a field of 19 teams.

Laramie won four events and finished with a team score of 548 points. Green River was a distant second place at 386 points, while Cheyenne Central came in third with 371 points.

LHS head coach Tom Hudson felt they had a strong performance.

“I wouldn’t say we swam particularly fast. It’s typical for us to be really tired and broken down at this meet, and we are, but this is just a really good swim team and diving team, so we’re doing things like we always have done, we’re just really strong this year.”

Junior Olivia McPherson won the 50 and 100 freestyle races. Laramie also remained unbeaten on the season in the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays with first-place finishes.

The Lady Plainsmen added their 19th state qualifier when junior Alyssa Dale made it in the 500 freestyle by 0.01 seconds.

Laramie also won three events in the non-scored pre-invite last Friday.

LHS returns to competition at the 4A West Conference Championships in Casper Friday and Saturday at Kelly Walsh.

Lady Plainsmen Volleyball

It was good news, bad news for the Laramie Lady Plainsmen, as they took to the road to Casper and Sheridan.

Laramie (17-9) picked up a four-set victory at Natrona County over the Fillies on Friday night. Scores of the match were 25-18, 27-25, 22-25, and 25-21. Jennifer Aadland led the way with 15 kills and 19 digs. Alexis Stucky added 10 kills, four blocks, five digs, and 23 assists. Ashlyn Titensor added nine kills and Jessica Crane contributed eight kills.

The Lady Plainsmen weren’t as lucky Saturday at Sheridan. Laramie fell 20-25, 22-25, 25-17, and 22-25. No stats from the match were provided to KOWB.

LHS wraps up the regular season with three matches on the schedule. They play No. 5 Cheyenne Central in their home finale Thursday at 6 p.m. That is also Senior Night. Then, it’s on the road Friday at Cheyenne East at 5 p.m. and at Douglas Saturday at noon.