Freshman O’Neill, junior Warner capture girls state titles

CASPER — Nothing about Julia Kay O’Neill screamed freshman except for the “Fr.” next to her name on the results sheets.

Behind two individual state titles and a pair of strong performances for the Lady Panthers’ relay teams, O’Neill looked like a prep veteran in helping the Powell High School girls track squad post 77 points for third place at the Class 3A WHSAA State Track & Field Championships in Casper last weekend.

Junior Anissa Warner also captured a state title and two runner-up finishes to fuel the PHS girls.

Powell head track coach Scott Smith was elated by the performances from his younger athletes during the Thursday-Saturday meet, saying that the future could be now for the PHS track program.

“A lot of those kids, we were just hoping to get them down to state and get them the experience for the future,” Smith said. “But they came down and competed, and they competed very, very well.

“The girls team scored more points at state than they did at regionals. That’s just how good of a state meet our girls had.”

O’Neill won the 800-meter run with a personal-best time of 2:17.02 that was both a PHS girls record and the fastest time of all four classes at the state meet, earning her Best of the Best honors.

“For a freshman, that’s just very, very unusual,” Smith said of O’Neill’s Best of the Best award. “It’s just great to see that happen.

“She just ran a really smart, really impressive race.”

O’Neill also went on to claim the 400-meter dash title in 59.32 seconds, ousting Wheatland freshman Rachel Battershell by .37 seconds. While her coaches, teammates and opponents may have been surprised by O’Neill’s breakout performances, no one was more surprised than the athlete herself.

“No, not really. Not at all actually,” O’Neill said when asked if she saw herself winning two state titles. “I didn’t really think I’d win the 400 because the fast girl (Star Valley junior Caitlyn Turner) that beat me at regionals was in it, and I didn’t think I was going to beat her.

“And I just really, really wanted to win the 800. I’m just happy that practice paid off. All those times I just wanted to not do the sets in practice ... I’m glad I did them now.”

After finishing second behind Turner in the 400 preliminary race, O’Neill came on top as Turner placed third. In the 800, O’Neill beat Newcastle junior Calbi Ausmann by more than a second. O’Neill’s senior sister, SarahJean O’Neill, also ran well, grabbing fourth in the 400 with a career-best time of 1:00.97.

In the 4x800 relay (also featuring SarahJean O’Neill, Stephanie Liggett and Bailey Sanders) Julia Kay O’Neill helped the Lady Panthers to a second-place time of 10:13.38. Then in the 4x400 relay (SarahJean O’Neill, Liggett and junior Danna Hanks), Julia Kay O’Neill anchored PHS to a third-place time of 4:14.73.

Julia Kay O’Neill’s big weekend had coach Smith envisioning Division I collegiate athletics in the youngster’s future.

“I think if she stays injury free, I think she has that type of future in front of her,” he said. “She is such a good runner, but she’s also a quick learner.”

SarahJean O’Neill finished fourth in the 400 with a personal-best time of 1:00.97.

Warner had a big finish to her meet after coming up short twice on Thursday and Friday. Warner finished second in the high jump Thursday, clearing 5 feet. Cody’s Emily Reed reached 5-02 to win it. Warner was disappointed with her performance considering she came into the meet seeded at 5-03.

On Friday, Warner went toe-to-toe with Reed again, this time in the long jump. On her second-to-last leap, Warner shattered her previous school record of 16-03.5 with a distance of 16-11. But Reed ousted her on her final jump with a distance of 17-02.5.

Warner finally captured her first gold medal Saturday, winning the preliminary round of the triple jump before beating Douglas freshman Madison Hoopman by 4.75 inches in the finals. Warner’s winning jump (pictured above) saw her travel 35-03.25.

Warner’s win was especially impressive considering a knee injury limited her to triple jumping at just one meet this season: the Class 3A West Star Valley Regional on May 15-16.

“I didn’t know where I’d be at all since I only triple jumped once,” Warner said. “It was exciting. It was really heartbreaking with the other two (runner-up finishes), but this is the most amazing feeling I’ve ever felt.

“I’m definitely going to come back next year and try for all three of them.”

Hanks also had a solid meet, just missing out on a state title in the 100-meter hurdles. In the prelims, Hanks finished behind Reed, the winner, by just .41 seconds. Hanks narrowed that gap with a time of 16.34 in the finals as Reed won it in 16.23. Hanks later when on to finish sixth in the 300 hurdles in 47.92.

“Danna Hanks’ performance in both hurdles — especially in the 100 hurdles where she made all-state — she was just all over the top of (winner Emily Reed) in that race. I’m really proud of her,” coach Smith said.

PHS boys paced by Smith, throwers

On the boys side, Kalei Smith had a trio of performances that helped push the Panther boys to a sixth-place finish with 43 points.

Smith placed third in the long jump (22-01.25), third in the high jump (6-02) and second in the 110 hurdles in a tight race with Cody senior Jackson Bower. Smith finished the hurdles in 15.17 seconds, a hair behind Bower, who reached the finish line in 15.03. Smith’s performances were gutsy considering he didn’t see competition until May 8 thanks to dual knee injuries.

“He ran and jumped so well considering he hasn’t had the chance to work on it,” coach Smith said. “He was sore and stiff and still came very, very close (to winning). All things considered, he did well.”

Smith, the athlete, was a little harder on himself, choosing to focus on what could have been had he been healthy all season.

“I guess under the circumstances I performed decent, but it was hard because I know — or at least I felt like — I was better than the other competitors. And I felt like I was close to pushing past and winning. It’s disappointing knowing that maybe I could’ve won if I had the entire season.”

Also helping the Panthers were senior throwers Riley Stringer and Carter Baxter, as well as sophomore thrower Zach Easum.

In the discus, Baxter placed fourth with a heave of 137-07. He achieved the distance with less fouls than Easum, who took fifth with a throw of equal length. Easum’s throw was a 17-foot personal record.

In the shotput, Stringer and Baxter battled amongst a quintet of strong throwers, as the top five finishers reached 51-02.25 or better. Stringer placed third with a throw of 51-06, while Baxter finished fourth behind his best friend at 51-02, which was a personal record for the recent graduate.

The top five distances had both coach Smith and Stringer raving afterward.

“I have never seen a 3A shotput competition where five kids threw over 51 feet,” Smith said. “Nine years out of 10, 51 feet wins it.”

“It was awesome. Any time you go to a throwing competition, guys step up like that,” said Stringer, who toughed out the competition despite a torn left pectoral muscle. “I’ve never heard the top five places in shot put all throwing over 51 feet; I was honored to be a part of that group.”

At the end of the day

Douglas High School won the 3A boys team championship with 152.5 points. Cody captured the girls championship with 95 points. First- and second-place finishers in all events earned all-state honors.

Weather during the three-day meet was highlighted by cold temperatures, wind and rain. It was the second meet in a row that the Powell track team had to battle unfavorable conditions for success, and coach Smith praised his athletes for their hard work.

“I was really happy with the way the kids got after it,” coach Smith said. “We had so many — not just (personal records) — but big PRs.

“I thought the kids got out there and competed better than you could realistically ask for.”