WORLAND – The Pinedale High School outdoor track team demonstrated its grit at the D&D Invitational hosted by Worland High School on Thursday, April 6.

The meet was the first large outdoor track event of the 2023 season to take place in western Wyoming. More than 30 teams converged in Worland from all four corners of the state. Many events contained at least 150 athletes, with several sprinting events numbering over 200 contestants.

Pinedale fielded a small squad due to Spring Break and its roster consisted of 10 girls and six boys.

Both the Lady Wranglers and Wranglers held their own against tough competition from a variety of schools ranging in size from 1A to 4A.

“We were able to make it up to Worland this weekend, which is nice, because they will be hosting our 3A Regional Meet,” said Head Coach Kyle Sullivan. “It is always good to have an opportunity to compete at a venue before going into the postseason. With another small group traveling over Spring Break, we still saw several great performances. With early season competitions, we are able to see places that need improvement in our training, and are able to make adjustments so that the athletes are ready for the bigger competitions toward the end of the season.”

Sophomore Madison Antonino made a statement in long-distance events. Trouncing the competition in the girls’ 3200-meter run, Antonino snagged gold with an explosive time of 11 minutes, 34 seconds. Antonino crossed the finish line 45 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher from Powell.

In the girls’ 1600-meter, Antonino bagged second place in a heated race for the top two spots. Clocking in at 5:16.15, Antonino came within 0.44 seconds of closing the gap with the winner from Cody. The third-place runner from Worland trailed Antonino by nearly 13 seconds.

Junior Katyana Dexter captured her second spring-season victory in the girls’ discus. Clearing 126 feet with her throw, Dexter secured first place out of a field of 126 athletes. The runner-up from Riverton came up 16 feet short of Dexter’s toss.

In the shot put, Dexter earned second place in a tight competition for first and second that came down to the wire. Dexter’s throw measured in at 41 feet, 3 inches, within 2 inches of tying the winner from 4A Sheridan.

Antonino prequalified for State in the 3200-meters and Dexter prequalified in the shot put.

Additional girls’ results

Senior Stephanie Resendiz posted strong performances in sprinting events. She took 19th place in the 400-meters with a time of 1:09.52. In the 100-meter dash, Resendiz finished 26th out of 161 runners at 14.24 seconds.

Freshman Alicia Dexter bagged 36th place in the 100-meters, posting a time of 14.46 seconds. Sophomore Isabelle Rigo placed 72nd in the event with senior Keatin Bollock in 104th place at 15.96 seconds.

Timing the 200-meters in at 31.64 seconds, junior Seren Noble came in 54th place in a field of 137 athletes. Sophomore Matazi Landers secured 67th place in the 200-meters at 32.15 seconds. Bollock picked up 77th place, clocking in at 32.79 seconds.

Landers finished the 800-meters in 26th place with a sub-3-minute time of 2:54.67. Rigo snagged 30th place in the 400-meter run at 1:11.97.

In jumping events, Noble earned 45th place in the 100-meter hurdles, hitting the finish line in 21.16 seconds.

Junior Shelby Pearson snapped up 36th place in the 300-meter hurdles, finishing the race in 1:03.36.

Alicia Dexter placed 27th in the long jump with a leap measured at 13-07.

Alicia Dexter and sophomore Karsyn Henn also represented Pinedale in throwing events. Henn bagged 45th place in the shot put with a throw of 26-07. Clearing 75-03 ½ in the shot put, Henn came in 42nd place.

Dexter placed 81st in the shot put, with a throw measured in at 23-04 ¼.

Additional boys’ results

Sophomore Joseph Bain led the Wrangler pack in both the 100- and 200-meters. Timing the 100-meter dash in at 12.76 seconds, Bain earned 69th place out of 204 runners. He finished the 200-meters in 71st place at 26.45 seconds. Hitting the 400-meter finish line in 1:03.44, Bain took 56th place in the event.

Senior Noah Sletten secured 46th place in the 400-meter dash, timing the race in at 1:01.74. Sletten also earned 71st place in the 100-meters at 12.78 seconds.

Posting a time of 26.75 seconds in the 200-meters, junior Dalton Fryman achieved 81st place in the sprint. He finished 129th in the 100-meter dash at 13.39 seconds.

Fryman represented Pinedale in the long jump, placing 82nd with a leap clearing 13-09 ½.

Junior Andy DeClue took 119th place in the 200-meter dash at 28.08 seconds and 154th place in the 100-meters at 13.75 seconds.

In long-distance events, senior Liam O’Connor snagged 15th place in the 3200-meter race with a time of 12:22.72. O’Connor finished the 1600-meter run in 50th place at 5:38.32.

DeClue and junior Doug Dexter stepped up for the Wranglers in throwing events. Dexter rustled 14th place out of 124 entrants in the discus with a throw measured in at 107-09. Clearing 36-10 ½ in the shot put, Dexter placed 29th in the event.

DeClue pulled into 37th place in the discus, measuring his toss in at 92-11. He placed 103rd in the shot put with a throw clearing 27-02.