Alpine Skiing and Indoor Track are making their season debut this weekend for Laramie High School.

The Winter Sports Season kicks into high gear with every team in action. This is a look at what happened last weekend and what's ahead this weekend.

Alpine skiing, basketball, and boys’ swimming are at home, while Nordic skiing, track, and wrestling hit the road for competition.

Laramie Alpine Skiing

Laramie is hosting their Laramie Invitational at Snowy Range Ski Area this weekend. The slalom was yesterday, and the giant slalom is today on Sundance run. Lina Woelk was eighth and Ashton Ford finished fifth in the slalom on Thursday. You can find complete results on WyoPreps.com.

Laramie head coach Jasen Mitchell, who is in his sixth year, said this first weekend is just about seeing what type of team Laramie’s got this season.

“Kind of what I say every year, we’ll see what happens. I know a few things. We’ve got Ashton (Ford) on the boys’ team, who is really consistent, and I know where he’s going to end up. He’ll probably end up in the top five consistently all year. On the girls’ team, we have McCrea Doyle and Lina Woelk, who have been really consistent. Towards the end of last year, they were really starting to come on, so they will, hopefully, be in the top eight to ten. We’ll see where everybody else fits in after that.”

The rosters include 15 boys and seven girls. There are three returning girls’ varsity skiers and six back for the boys’ team. Both squads took fifth place at the state championships last March.

Laramie Indoor Track

The start of a new eight-week indoor track season has Laramie going to the Natrona Invite in Casper on Saturday. Field and running events will start at 10 a.m.

Both teams finished fifth at the state meet last year, and both did that with just nine state qualifiers. Of last season’s qualifiers, six boys and three girls return for the 2022 season. LHS also has a returning state champion in junior John Rose, who captured the high jump last year.

This year is closer to normal, in terms of the meets, and the schedule, and that is something head coach Greg Schabron is thankful for.

“The kids that did indoor track two years ago have really done a great job of pumping up the program to the younger kids, and even kids that did it last year, but didn’t see it at its normal capacity.”

Schabron is also excited for more personnel. They have close to 90 kids out for the program, as he begins his 10th year as the indoor track head coach.

“A lot are younger kids, so at this point, the first couple of weeks, we’re just trying to keep them engaged, get them going, but not pushing over the edge yet. We’ll really start amping up different training over the next couple of weeks.”

Laramie does have 28 seniors on the indoor track roster.

LHS is scheduled to host a couple of meets at the University of Wyoming’s War Memorial Fieldhouse. Those are set for Jan. 29 and Feb. 25, 2022.

Plainsmen Swimming & Diving

Laramie enjoyed a big weekend last week with two dual wins and a first-place finish in an invite.

The Plainsmen rolled past Thunder Basin (120-37) and Campbell County (116-41) in Gillette last Friday. LHS won all 12 events, which included two-event winners Mace Spiker-Miller, Josh Lui, and Kody Mathill.

Last Saturday, Laramie took first in the eight-team Sheridan Invite. The Plainsmen scored 488 team points. Buffalo was second and Sheridan took third.

LHS won six events. Spiker-Miller won the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly races. Dallin Taff placed first in the 200 IM. Dylan Bressler won diving. Lowden Ewers finished first in the 400-freestyle race, and the Plainsmen also won the 400-freestyle relay.

Laramie will host the non-scored Cheyenne Pre-Invite with Campbell County, Kelly Walsh, and Sheridan attending on Friday.

They also host the big 12-team Cheyenne Invite on Saturday with ten 4A schools, plus Green River and Lander.

Laramie Wrestling

wrestling at Laramie high school
David Settle, WyoPreps.com
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The Plainsmen came in 12th place at the Shane Shatto Memorial Wrestling Tournament in Douglas last weekend.

Laramie scored 59 team points with only a few wrestlers. They had two placers, as Dakota Ledford took second place at 132 pounds, and Liam Knerr finished fourth at 113 pounds.

On Wednesday night, LHS had their first home dual against Cheyenne East. Laramie lost 60-16. Knerr at 113 (by fall) and Connor Hobbs at 120 (by major decision, 16-6) were the lone wrestlers to win. LHS also had a forfeit victory.

The Plainsmen return to the mat at the Thoman-Jackson Duals in Green River and Rock Springs on Friday and Saturday. Laramie is in the pool with Green River, Wheatland, and Mountain View.

Laramie Nordic Skiing

The Nordic squads had their second race weekend last week on Casper Mountain. They took part in the Jacobson Memorial.

Last Friday was a team sprint, and the top finishers for LHS were Laura Brande and Eliza Fay, who were 12th in the girls’ race, and Thomas Faber and Emmet Shuman, who came in ninth in the boys’ race.

In last Saturday’s 5km class, Fay was the top skier for the girls’ team in 17th, while Shuman placed 13th for the boys.

Nordic Skiing heads back to Casper for the High Plains Jr. Nationals Qualifier and Kelly Walsh High School race on Friday and Saturday.

Laramie Basketball

The Plainsmen and Lady Plainsmen will conclude non-conference play with two games this weekend. The first is on the road, and the second is at home.

On Friday night, Laramie plays at 3A Rawlins. The girls’ game is at 5:30 p.m., followed by the boys’ varsity at 7 p.m. KOWB radio will broadcast the games live starting at 5 p.m.

It’s back home on Saturday, as Laramie will host Rock Springs. The girls’ game is at 1 p.m. with the boys’ at 2:30 p.m. Both LHS teams have beaten the Tigers twice this season. Radio coverage starts at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

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