Cayla Nimmo, Casper Star-Tribune and Don Cogger, Uinta County Herald photos

CASPER – Nature threw down the gauntlet at the 2021 State Track and Field Meet in Casper on May 20-22. Despite the sun, rain and wind, Big Piney High School track and field athletes brought their A-game to the season finale and returned home with a stack of new hardware.

Both the girls’ and boys’ team placed fourth with 56 and 59.5 points respectively.

Senior Muriel Jones wrapped up a successful season and earned four All-State awards at State. In the girls’ 3200-meter finals, Jones shattered the school record set by McKenzi Davison in 2015 by nearly a minute. Jones sailed into first place, clocking in at 11 minutes, 39.80 seconds.

Jones picked up another first-place finish in the 1600-meter run finals and broke another school record. Davison set the bar in the event in 2015 at 5:36.50. Jones finished the race on Saturday in 5:20.38. Jones also broke the 400- and 800-meter run school records.

Running neck-and-neck with Tongue River’s Addie Pendergast, Jones took second in both the 400 meter finals at 1:00.95 and 800 meter finals at 2:23.32.

The boys’ 1600-meter sprint medley relay team edged out the school record set in 2018 by four-hundredths of a second. Junior Jaron Petty, freshman Karsyn Gurr, sophomore Hunter Fisher and senior Carlos Munoz placed third in the event, timing in at 3:47.93.

Fisher returned with two All-State awards in hurdles. Taking second place in the boys’ 100-meter hurdles finals, Fisher clocked in at 16.92 seconds. Fisher picked up an additional second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at 43.03 seconds.

Munoz made the All-State list this year, snapping up second place in the boys’ 800-meter run finals at 2:05.40. Scoring additional points for the team in the 1600-meter run, Munoz came in fourth place in the event at 4:58.05.

“What a season!” said head coach Jess Nugent. “I’m so proud of how well they did at Regionals and they carried that on to State. We brought home some hardware and that was our goal with both teams. We had some young kids who competed and gained some experience for next year and that is always a plus. I wouldn’t trade any of our athletes and I have no words to express how proud of each and every one of them I am.”

Additional State highlights

Sophomore Shelby Guest came in fifth place in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles finals. She finished the event in 18.58 seconds.

In the throwing events, sophomore Thomas Howard placed fourth in the boys’ discus finals with a toss measured in at 117 feet, 8 inches. Senior Nathan Maxfield took fifth place in the boys’ shot put finals, clearing 43-01 1/4. Maxfield also took sixth place in the boys’ discus finals at 115-11.

Gurr pulled into fifth place in the boys’ 100-meter dash finals, clocking in at 12.16 seconds. Petty snagged sixth place in the boys’ 400 meter finals at 53.75 seconds.

Senior Torry Taylor took eighth place in both the girls’ 400-meter dash finals at 1:04.25 and 200-meter dash finals at 29.38 seconds.

Additional top eight finishes included sophomore Hannah Runyan taking eighth in the girls’ shot put finals, measuring in at 32-01. Freshman Julia Hymas placed eighth in the girls’ pole vault, clearing 7-06. Junior J.T. Day tied for eighth place in the boys’ pole vault at 9-00.

Relay results

Taylor, Jakobi Hibbert, Guest and Morgan Brown came in fourth place in the girls’ 1600-meter sprint medley relay at 4:56.59. Brown, Hibbert, Guest and Julia Hymas took fourth place in the 4x800-meter medley at 11:58.19.

In the boys’ 4x100-meter relay finals, Thomas Barron, Howard, Wiley Smith and Luis Zuniga placed sixth, clocking in at 50.37 seconds. Hampton Jones, freshman Jackie Meador, David Farrington and Howard placed seventh in the boys’ 4x800-meter relay, timing in at 10:36.26.

Allie Statham, Zoey Guerrero, Zoe Long and Maritza Galvan came in eighth place in the girls’ 4x100-meter relay at 1:01.87. In the girls’ 4x400-meter relay, Galvan, Brynne Hoffman, Lena Hatch and Jenny Montes took eighth place at 5:34.26.

The boys’ 4x400-meter relay team – Barron, Day, Anton Vickrey and Smith – finished in eighth place at 4:13.76.

Further results

• Girls’ 100-meter hurdles preliminaries: Guerrero in 13th at 22.34 seconds and Hayden Thoman in 14th at 24.42.
• Girls’ 800 meter finals: Brown in 14th at 2:49.56.
• Girls’ 300-meter hurdles preliminaries: Guest in ninth at 53.49 seconds, Brown in 12th at 59.25, Guerrero in 13th at 1:03.27 and Ceci Sambrano in 14th at 1:06.31.
• Girls’ shot put finals: Sierra Keiter in 12th at 28-08 3/4 and Hanna Hansen in 13th at 28-05 1/2.
• Girls’ 100-meter dash preliminaries: Taylor in ninth at 14.35 seconds.
• Girl’ discus finals: Hansen in 11th at 86-06 and Hatch in 15th at 77-04.
• Boys’ long jump finals: Fisher in 10th at 18-06 1/2.
• Boys’ 200-meter preliminaries: Gurr in 10th at 24.67 seconds and Petty in 13th at 25.10.
• Boys’ 300-meter hurdles preliminaries: Meador in 14th at 52.44 seconds.
• Boys’ discus finals: Jackson Hajba in ninth at 104-07.
• Boys’ 100-meter dash preliminaries: Petty in 14th at 12.55 seconds.
• Boys’ 400-meter hurdles: Gurr in 10th at 55.05 seconds and Munoz in 13th at 57.63 seconds.
• Boys’ shot put finals: Howard in 10th at 36-01 1/2, Hajba in 13th at 34-01 and Brayden Hymas in 14th at 32-11 3/4.
• Boys’ 1600-meter finals: Smith in 15th at 6:01.33.

Coach Nugent looks forward to next season and thanked her assistant coaches McKenzie Sullivan, Terry Cain, Jennie Kozeal and Josh Francis.

“These folks truly help make our program what it is.”