LUSK - The Tiger tracksters had a busy week starting with six athletes traveling to Scottsbluff on Tuesday to compete in the annual Best in the West track meet with the best track athletes in southeast Wyoming and the Nebraska Panhandle.

The lone medal winner for NCHS was Alec Penfield in the high jump. He cleared a personal best 6’ 5” to claim the bronze medal at the meet. This mark is currently leading Class 2A.

Jasper Caldera was the only two event competitor in both the shot put and discus. The sophomore went 44’ 8.5” in shot and 131’ in discus.

Senior Taylor Gaukel competed in her 4th Best in the West meet and placed 5th in the triple jump going just shy of 33’.

Riley Shaw ran a fantastic 400 m to place 5th in a personal best time of 65.06.

Junior Wyatt Stauffer made his first trip in high jump clearing 5’ 9” to place 7th, while freshman Dylan Molzahn ran a personal best 43.17 in the 300 hurdles to place 8th.

The three remaining throwers also went to Douglas for the 2nd Annual Jackalope Cage Wars. The lone placer for the Tigers was Mackenzie Lyons in the discus placing 8th with a toss of 99’ 9”.

On Saturday, NCHS hosted the 2nd Annual Dennis Zowada Invite. The coaching staff would like to thank all the volunteers who spent their day helping host the best meet of the year so far for our tracksters.

The Tigers had some standout performances as 4 individuals and 1 relay team prequalified for the State Track Meet.

Leading the way for the girls was sprinter Riley Shaw, who garnered 4 silver medals and 3 prequalifications. She ran 13.44 in the 100 and 27.99 in the 200. Both times get her to State. She also ran 66.77 to place 2nd in the 400. Shaw, along with Taylor Gaukel, Courtney Rowley, and Anna Richardson also prequalified in the 4 X 100 relay in a time of 54.41 and earned silver.

Gaukel also had a great day winning the triple jump going 32’ 7” and running a prequalifying time in the 100 hurdles of 17.65. She also placed 4th in the long jump.

Mackenzie Lyons also prequalified in the shotput going a season’s best 33’ 10” to place 4th. She also placed 5th in the discus.

The final prequalifier for the girls was Renae Marker in the high jump. She was the surprise of the day besting her all time mark by 6 inches. She went 4’ 10” to bring home 4th place.

Sophomore Courtney Rowley had a nice day placing in both of her individual events. She won silver in the pole vault going a season’s best 8’ 6” while also placing 8th in the 200 m.

Anna Richardson rounded out the scoring for the girls placing 7th in the discus going just shy of 90’.

Several boys had outstanding days also. The lone gold medalist was Alec Penfield in the high jump. He won it with a jump of 6’.

Thrower Jasper Caldera continued his successful season placing 3rd in the shot put at 46’ 3” and 4th in the discus with almost 139’.

Wyatt Stauffer placed in all of his events again. He placed 3rd in the high jump, 4th in the 110 hurdles, 5th in the 300 hurdles, and 6th in the triple jump.

Aric Eaton ran an excellent 400 m in a time of 55.46 to earn bronze and vaulted a personal best 11’ to bring home silver in pole vault. Eaton also placed 8th in the 300 hurdles.

Freshman Dylan Molzahn continues to impress as he placed 3rd in the 300 hurdles in 43.32 and also placed 8th in the discus.

Tyler Basile scored some points as he placed 8th in the 800.

Freshman Riley Blackburn had a personal best in pole vault clearing 8’ 6” to bring home 7th place. He, along with Damien Molzahn, Dylan Molzahn, and Caldera, rounded out the team scoring placing 6th in the 4 X 100 relay in 51.00.

Both teams ended up 5th overall in the team standings with the boys scoring 67, while the girls scored 76. The Tigers compete in the SEWAC meet on Saturday at Niobrara County High School starting at 9 am.

Best in the West Results:

400 M Dash—5. Shaw-65.06

300 M Hurdles—8. Dylan Molzahn-43.17

Shot Put—7. Jasper Caldera-44’ 8.5”

Discus—Caldera-131’ 7”

High Jump—3. Alec Penfield-6’ 5”; 7. Wyatt Stauffer-5’ 9”

Triple Jump—5. Taylor Gaukel-32’ 9.5”

Jackalope Cage Wars Results:

Mackenzie Lyons—8. Discus—99‘ 9“; Shot-32‘ 2.25“

Anna Richardson—Discus-86’ 10”; Shot-29’ 4.75”

Damien Molzahn­—Discus-112’; Shot-37‘ 8“

Zowada Invite Girls’ Results:

100 M Dash—2. Riley Shaw-13.44; Jaden Stauffer-15.20; Renae Marker-15.28; Sierra Lemons-16.02

200 M Dash—2. Shaw-27.99; 8. Courtney Rowley-30.10; Stauffer-31.84; Lemons-33.68

400 M Dash—2. Shaw-66.77; Marker-72.25

100 M Hurdles—4. Taylor Gaukel-17.65

4 X 100 Relay—2. Gaukel, Shaw, Rowley, Anna Richardson-54.41

Shot Put—4. Mackenzie Lyons-33’ 10”; Esmeralda Caldera-28’ 8.5”; Richardson-27’ 9”

Discus—5. Lyons-97’ 4”; 7. Richardson-89’ 10”; Caldera-81’ 8”

High Jump—4. Marker-4’ 10”; Stauffer-4’ 2”

Long Jump—4. Gaukel-14’ 11”; Lemons-11’ 3”; Marker-ND

Triple Jump—1. Gaukel-32’ 7”

Pole Vault—2. Rowley-8’ 6”

Zowada Invite Boys’ Results:

100 M Dash—Riley Blackburn-13.59

200 M Dash—Blackburn-29.13

400 M Dash—3. Aric Eaton-55.46

800 M Run—8. Tyler Basile-2:37.83

1600 M Run—Basile-6:13.06

110 M Hurdles—4. Wyatt Stauffer-17.08

300 M Hurdles—3. Dylan Molzahn-43.32; 5. Stauffer-44.28; 8. Eaton-47.19

4 X 100 Relay—6. Blackburn, Dy. Molzahn, Damien Molzahn, Jasper Caldera—51.00

Shot Put—3. Jasper Caldera-46’ 3”; Dy. Molzahn-40’ 8.5”; Da. Molzahn-40’ 5.5”

Discus—4. Caldera-138‘ 9“; 8. Dy. Molzahn-117‘; Da. Molzahn-107‘ 3“

High Jump—1. Alec Penfield-6’; 3. Stauffer-5’ 8”

Long Jump—Penfield-ND; Eaton-ND

Triple Jump—6. Stauffer-36’ 10”

Pole Vault—2. Eaton-11’; 7. Blackburn-8’ 6”