PINEDALE – Big Piney High School runners, jumpers and throwers brought their A-game to the annual Mountain Man Invite in Pinedale on April 26.

The Puncher boys beat five other schools to snag first place with 157 points. Big Piney scored two crucial points to advance into the No. 1 spot ahead of Jackson with 155 points.

The Lady Punchers clinched second place with 145.50 team points.

Junior Kelby Staley bagged gold in two events. Staley won the boys’ 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.23 seconds, clocking in 0.18 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Dubois’ Zander Hawkins.

In the 400 meters, Staley beat Pinedale’s James Tolson by almost one second to pull into first place at 55.14 seconds.

Timing the boys’ 3200 meters in at 12 minutes, 51.53 seconds, junior Ben Ferguson garnered gold in the event. Ferguson crossed the finish line with more than 11 seconds to spare over the second-place finisher, Jeffrey Strock of Wind River.

In the boys’ 1600 meters, freshman Finley Strong snapped up first place with a time of 5:33.87, beating the runner-up, Jackson’s Lucas Hong, by 1.31 seconds.

Senior David Farrington, sophomore Judah Farrington, freshman Cactus Chrisman and sophomore Scotty Ring won the boys’ 4x800-meter relay with a time of 10:47.90.

Sophomore Lizzy Brandt dominated long-distance events. Brandt picked up first place in the girls’ 800 meters, clocking in nearly two seconds ahead of Pinedale’s Bethany Vrska at 2:42.10.

Brandt went on to win the 1600 meters, crossing the finish line with 46 seconds to spare over Wind River’s Olivia Remacle at 6:11.18.

Junior Micah Strong also secured gold in two events. Strong won the girls’ 100-meters by a 0.3-second margin to clock in at 13.10 seconds. In the 400 meters, Strong beat Pinedale’s Isabelle Rigo by more than four seconds at 1:02.56.

In hurdles, sophomore Ahbreanna Nunn snagged gold with a time of 18.25 seconds. The race came down to the wire, with Nunn pulling ahead of Dubois’ Sami Becker by 0.08 seconds.

The girls’ 1600-meter sprint medley team – sophomore Kodee Greene, freshman Myka Wicks, Brandt and Micah Strong captured first place with a time of 4:43.38.

“Pinedale was a great meet, especially for some of our younger athletes,” head coach Jess Nugent said. “We had Punchers try new events, and they did well. We had some huge PRs in field events. We know we have some work to do this week before regionals, but we are proud of the work the kids have put in up to this point. Hubba hubba!”

Big Piney tracksters competed at Mountain View on Tuesday. Results were not available at press time.

Girls’ top eight

Wicks led the Big Piney pack in the 200-meters, pulling into second place with a time of 28.32 seconds.

Greene snapped up fifth place in the 100-meters, timing in at 13.70 seconds, with Wicks in seventh place at 13.96 seconds.

Greene went on to achieve third place in the 400 meters, timing in at 1:07.57.

In distance events, sophomore Kamia Runyan garnered third place in the 1600 meters, posting a time of 7:06.18. Fellow sophomore Kaydence Guest placed fourth in the event at 7:15.53.

Runyan went on to take eighth place in the 800 meters with a time of 3:09.02.

Jumpers posted strong performances in Pinedale. Sophomore Clairee Bingham captured silver in the 300-meter hurdles, clocking in at 54.50 seconds and placed sixth in the 100-hurdles at 20.12 seconds.

Nunn snapped up sixth place in the 300-hurdles with a time of 58.33 seconds.

Representing Big Piney in the pole vault, sophomore Maybrie Denison tied for third place at 6 feet.

Relay highlights included a third-place finish by Denison, Nunn and juniors Charleigh Smith and Mari Sambrano in the 4x100-meters with a time of 58 seconds.

Greene, Bingham, Brandt and Strong cruised into second place in the 4x400-meter relay at 4:25.12.

In throwing events, Smith garnered second place in the shot put, hitting a mark of 31 feet, 4 inches. Runyan placed sixth in the event at 27-09 ½.

Smith went on to take fourth place in the discus, clearing 99-08, while junior Addison Losik placed fifth at 84-06.

Boys’ top eight

Four Punchers advanced into the top eight in the 100-meter. Senior Karsyn Gurr led the pack with a second-place finish and a time of 11.96 seconds. Junior Caden Clifford finished fourth at 12.10 seconds, with freshman Zavier Clifford in fifth at 12.14 seconds and junior Dominic Sanchez in sixth at 12.22 seconds.

Gurr also secured second place in the 200 meters, posting a time of 24.18 seconds, while Sanchez finished third at 24.58 seconds.

The top eight for the 400-meters also featured four Punchers. Freshman Zach Ferguson crossed the finish line in fifth place with a time of 57.81 seconds. Sophomore Nate Brown came in sixth place at 1:01.12, with junior Karsyn Busby in seventh at 1:01.38 and David Farrington in eighth at 1:01.67.

Ben Ferguson snapped up second place in the 800-meters, clocking in at 2:23.19.

In hurdling events, freshman Gerardo Galvan clinched second place in the 300-meters, posting a time of 48.56 seconds, and placed third in the 110-meters at 18.31 seconds.

Zach Ferguson picked up bronze in the high jump, hitting a mark of 5-06.

Clearing 8-06 in the pole vault, Staley bagged sixth place. Brown tied for seventh place in the event at 8-00.

Sanchez advanced to third place in the long jump, leaping 18-11 ½.

In throwing events, sophomore Zef Zuniga came in fifth place, hitting a mark of 38-02 ½.

The 4x100-meter relay team – Galvan, Busby, David Farrington and Finley Strong – placed fourth with a time of 50.83 seconds.

Busby, Zach Ferguson, Ben Ferguson and Zavier Clifford captured silver in the 4x400-meter relay, timing in at 4:05.08.

In the 1600-meter sprint medley relay, Busby, Strong, Brown and Zavier Clifford cruised into second place at 4:16.89.

Additional girls’ results

• 100-meters: Nunn in 17th place at 15.04 seconds, Sambrano in 18th at 15.13, Denison in 19th at 15.27, Statham in 24th at 16.30 and Sydney Burgess in 27th at 17.59.

• 200-meters: Denison in 14th place at 31.23 seconds, Sambrano in 16th at 31.87 and Statham in 20th at 34.70.

• 800-meters: Addalee Cunninghma in ninth place at 3:11.35 and Guest in 10th at 3:13.82.

• 100-hurdles: Statham in 11th place at 22.57 seconds.

• 300-hurdles: Statham in 13th place at 1:09.60.

• Pole vault: Smith in 11th place at 11-01 ¾.

• Shot put: Burgess in 19th place at 17-02 ½.

• Discus: Runyan in 10th place at 66-02 and Burgess in 22nd at 47-00.

Additional boys’ results

• 100-meters: Ben Ferguson in 12th place at 12.85 seconds, Galvan in 16th at 13.00, Judah Farrington in 30th at 14.43, Logan Visser in 34th at 14.86 and Ivan Silvas in 36th at 16.84.

• 200-meters: Strong in 17th place at 27.22 seconds, David Farrington in 19th at 27.47, Visser in 24th at 30.88, Brayden Losik in 25th at 32.20 and Silvas in 26th at 38.63.

• 400-meters: Losik in 13th place at 1:12.43 and Visser in 14th at 1:17.66.

• 800-meters: Ring in ninth place at 2:40.48, Judah Farrington in 12th at 2:46.59 and Chrisman in 14th at 3:01.83.

• 1600-meters: Ring in 11th place at 5:58.88 and Judah Farrington in 13th at 6:08.06.

• Shot put: Zach Ferguson in 12th place at 33-11, Zack Murphy in 15th at 32-11, Chrisman in 25th at 26-10 ½, Kian Pelham in 27th at 24-10, Brody Cogburn in 30th at 23-05 and Robert French in 31st at 22-07.

• Discus: Zuniga in 13th place at 89-03, Murphy in 16th at 80-10, Gurr in 23rd at 68-05, Losik in 24th at 66-04, Pelham in 26th at 64-09, Cogburn in 28th at 59-07, Chrisman in 30th at 52-06 and French in 31st at 47-02.