Laramie Prep falls to Titans

Richard Anderson photos
At top, Craig Welniak gets ready on deck as teammate Tommy Johnson bats Saturday against the Rocky Mountain Titans at Cowboy Field. At bottom, Laramie coach Armando Casas talks to catcher Kevin Dooley between innings.

Rangers come up short in opener

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Too many times when a team drops a heartbreaker in the first game of a doubleheader, they come out flat in the nightcap.

The Laramie Rangers prep baseball team did just that Saturday at Cowboy Field, falling to the Rocky Mountain Titans, 11-9 and 13-3.

Laramie led 8-3 after five innings, but gave up three runs in the top of the sixth and five more in the top of the seventh. The Rangers tried to come back in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with no outs, but could manage just one run.

The opening loss wasted an outstanding pitching performance by Abel Casas, who gave just three runs in five innings of work. Laramie, however, couldn’t hold the lead behind a pair of relievers and came up short.

“Pitching is the key to every game at every level,” Laramie manager VerDon Hoopes said. “We got five great innings from Abel, then struggled in relief. We couldn't hit spots, walked too many and is the case, often when that happens, it snowballs into trouble.”

Laramie had seven hits in the first game, with Dylan Watson knocking in a pair of runs and Kevin Dooley adding an RBI.

In the second game, Rocky Mountain scored five runs in the first two innings and never looked back. Titans pitcher Chris Davis threw a no-hitter at the Rangers, although Laramie was able to score three runs.

“In the second game, we were no hit by a confident Titans team,“ Hoopes said. “We hit better than that, just good hits going at Titan defenders.”

Despite the two losses, Hoopes said there were some positives coming out of their defensive effort, especially in the first five innings of the opener.

“We caused two rundowns, which we executed perfectly," he said. “We had three errors in the two games and had a lot of nice plays with good reaction and decisions.”

The Rangers Prep team returns to action June 11 against the Fort Collins Hawks in Fort Collins.
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(Game 1)
TITANS 11, RANGERS 9
Rocky Mountain Titans 200 103 5 -- 11 10 5
Laramie Rangers Prep 004 400 1 -- 9 7 2
Losing pitcher -- Dylan Watson; Winning pitcher -- Barry Hull
Laramie hitting -- Tyler Loose 1b; Alex Jordan 1b; Kevin Dooley 1b, RBI; Dylan Watson 1b, 2RBI; Casey Stangle 1b; Brady Olson 1b; Tyler Warren 1b.
Rocky Mountain hitting -- Jordan 1b; Tomaski 3b, 2b, 1b; Hull 2b; Sage 1b, 1b.
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(Game 2)
TITANS 13, RANGERS 3
Rocky Mountain Titans 410 233 -- 13 10 0
Laramie Rangers Prep 000 210 -- 3 0 1
Losing pitcher -- Alex Jordan; Winning pitcher -- Chris Davis
Rocky Mountain hitting -- Jordan 1b; Blazier 3b; Tomaski 1b; Davis 2b, 1b, 1b; Komar 3b; Hull 1b; Tomisino 1b; Hummerdarfer 1b; Justin 1b

UW track concludes regionals

by Wyoming Sports.org

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Wyoming's Alan John and John Alderson both came up shy of qualifying for the NCAA Championships Saturday during the final day of the NCAA Regional.

In the hammer throw, John, a freshman, had a personal best of nearly 10 feet with his toss of 199 feet, 1 inch. John made the finals and finished in eighth place, his throw was also good for ninth best all-time in Wyoming history.

“Today’s performance really shows what kind of athlete he is; he stepped in there and competed with the big boys,” said UW assistant coach Paul Barrett. “It is also a testament to what kind of future he has here, as he is only a freshman.”

Alderson finished 18th in the triple jump at 48-3/4. Alderson was coming off his third-place finish at the Mountain West Conference Championships.

“John has been suffering from a sore ankle for some time now and really had a gutsy performance today,” said UW head coach Don Yentes. “This weekend was really a good experience for these kids and hopefully will benefit us next year and in the future.”

Out of the eight competitors that qualified for the NCAA Regional meet, Kate Burton is the lone Cowboy or Cowgirl to move on to the national meet, June 11-14 in Des Moines, Iowa. Burton will compete in the hammer throw.

Burton qualifies for NCAAs

UW photo service
Wyoming senior Kate Burton competes in the hammer throw.

By Wyoming Sports.org

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Wyoming senior Kate Burton became UW’s first entry into the NCAA Championships with a second-place finish on Friday in the hammer throw at the NCAA Regional Meet.

Burton’s second throw of 202 feet, 8 inches was the second-best throw of the day and it earned her an automatic berth in this year’s NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 11-14. Burton also competed in the discus, where she and teammate Courtney Gougler would take to the field. Burton finished 15th with a toss of 155-6, while Gougler placed 24th with her toss of 140-6.

“Kate (Burton) really came through with a clutch performance,” said UW assistant coach Paul Barrett. “She is a great competitor and is going to be tough to replace, I really look forward to her competing in Des Moines.”

Other Cowgirls in action were senior Gretchen Johnson and junior Shaylee Babbitt. Johnson ran in the 5,000-meter run, where she placed eighth with her time of 17 minutes, 22.37 seconds, just missing qualifying for the NCAA Championships. As for Babbitt, she ran a 14.07 in the 100 hurdles, good for 20th best in the region.

“Gretchen (Johnson) seemed to struggle a little towards the end of the race, but was in with the mix most of the time,” said UW head coach Don Yentes. “Shaylee just didn’t have her best stuff today and failed to qualify for the finals tomorrow.”

For the Cowboy, freshman Jeremiah James finished in eighth place in the long jump at 24-7, which was four inches from fifth place and qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

“Jeremiah had a great freshman performance today, competing on a less than perfect ankle,” said Yentes. “If we can keep him healthy, look for him to be competing here again next year.”

Senior Vashone West was the final Cowboy to compete on Friday, as he ran in the very fast 100-meter dash. Vashone ran a time of 10.74 and a 20th place finish. The leader after day one was Gerald Phiri of Texas A&M, with a time of 10.32.

On Saturday, the Cowboys will send Alan John to compete in the hammer throw and John Alderson in the triple jump.

“Alan (John) is currently ranked 16th in a very tight field and is throwing very well right now,” Barrett said. “If he comes out tomorrow and throws to his ability, he has a good chance of making it to the NCAA Championships.”

Live results are available online at www.deltatiming.com/2008_midwest_regional.aspx, with John competing at 1 p.m. and Alderson jumping at 5 p.m.

Rangers fall to Greeley

By Wyoming Sports.org

GREELEY, Colo. -- The Laramie Rangers AA American Legion baseball team’s tough luck continues, as Greeley GoJo Sports rallied for two runs in the bottom of the eighth for a 5-4 win Thursday night in the first game of a doubleheader. The GoJo's then won the second game, 14-6.

Last weekend in Gillette, Rapid City (S.D.) Post 320 scored a run in the bottom of the seventh for a one-run win. Thursday’s losses dropped Laramie to 2-8 on the season. Greeley, which split with Cheyenne Post 6 on Wednesday, is now 3-1.

In the first game against Greeley, Laramie came back from a 3-0 deficit in the first inning with a run in the second, two in the fifth and one in the eighth inning.

The Rangers out-hit the GoJo's 8-5. Jon Sorenson and Jordan Rhodine both had a pair of hits for the Rangers, with Sorenson coming through with a two-run single in the fifth inning. Third baseman Max Schoen also had a pair of RBI in the game for Laramie.

Coleton Wilson was the tough-luck loser on the mound for Laramie, as he gave up just five hits.

The Rangers couldn’t recover in the nightcap, as one bad inning did them in. Laramie led 4-1 with three runs in the first inning, but Greeley exploded for 12 runs in the second inning. The Rangers did score twice in the fifth, but Greeley wended the game with a run in the bottom of the sixth.

Mike Garner had a two-run double in the first for Laramie and Skyler Joy had a RBI single in the second. Laramie finished with nine hits in the game, with Joy leading the way with a single and a double.

Rhodine was the losing pitcher, with Jason Rodriguez, Sorenson, Joy and Schoen also seeing time on the mound.

The Rangers will return to action Wednesday with their home opener against the WESTCO Zephyrs (Scottsbluff-Gering, Neb.), with a doubleheader at Cowboy Field beginning at 5 p.m.

UW to send eight to regional meet

UW photo service
Wyoming freshman Jeremiah James competes in the triple jump earlier this season at the Front Range Invitational in Laramie.


Top five finishers move on to NCAA Championships

By Wyoming Sports.org

The University of Wyoming track and field team is sending eight qualifiers to the NCAA Midwest Regional meet this weekend in Lincoln, Neb., hosted by the University of Nebraska.

The eight individuals and their events and times they are competing in or the Cowgirls include senior Kate Burton (hammer throw and discus throw, Friday 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.), senior Gretchen Johnson (5,000-meter run, Friday, 6:40 p.m.), junior Shaylee Babbitt (100-meter hurdles, Saturday. 4:45 p.m.) and junior Courtney Gougler (discus, Friday, 5 p.m.).

The Cowboys are sending senior Vashone West (100-meter dash, Friday, 3:40 p.m.), junior John Alderson (triple jump, Saturday, 5 p.m.), freshman Jeremiah James (long jump, Friday, 5 p.m.),and freshman Alan John (hammer throw, Saturday, 1 p.m.).

Burton, a native of Vancouver, Wash., and a Clark Junior College transfer qualified in her first year at UW. During the 2006 season she placed 21st at the NCAA Championships in the hammer throw. Burton currently owns the best throw in Wyoming’s history and the eighth best throw in the nation with her toss of 209-feet, 8 inches.

Johnson, a Sheridan High School graduate from Basin, qualified earlier this year at the Stanford Invite where she ran her personal best time of 16 minutes, 35.98, seconds four one-hundredths off the record time. Johnson ran in the 2007 Cross Country NCAA Championships this past season, where she placed 116th out of 253 runners.

Babbitt ran her personal best time of 13.62 at the MWC Championships and won her first title in four years. A resident of Yoder, she will compete in her first regional meet.

Gougler, the junior thrower from Glencoe, Okla., was the first to qualify as she tossed her personal best 166-0 in the discus at the first meet of the outdoor season in Boulder, Colo. Gougler competed in the 2007 NCAA Regional meet ,where she placed eighth in the discus.

For the Cowboys, West , who is from Fountain Springs, Colo., qualified in the 100-meter dash earlier this year at the Front Range Invite in Laramie with his time of 10.38. West currently holds the fifth best time in UW history in the 200-meter dash at 21.29.

Alderson, a team captain from New Castle, Colo., qualified in the triple jump this year with his leap of 49-4 ½ in Laramie at the Front Range Invite. Alderson was all-conference this indoor season as well as the outdoor season in both the long jump and the triple jump.

James, a freshman from Morne Fortune, St. Lucia, broke the top five all-time UW list in the long jump with his personal best leap of 24-9 ¼ and a title at the MWC Championships in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

John from Jackson, threw his personal best 190-0 in the hammer throw at the Front Range Invite earlier this May.

Rangers A open with Wheatland

Young Laramie team starts slow against defending A state champions

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

No coach likes to lose and Laramie Rangers A American Legion manager Jeremy Francom counts himself among those who play to win.

Yet, despite a tough season opener Wednesday night at Cowboy Field, Francom is upbeat about his young Rangers’ team. Wheatland, the defending Class A state champions that is loaded with experience (six 19-year-olds), took a pair from the Rangers 22-1 and 12-2.

“As far as the effort goes, I’m not disappointed,” Francom said. “You are disappointed after a loss. If you’re not disappointed after you lose, then you don’t need to be here. It was disappointing and also encouraging because you see so many good things and so much you can work on and improve on this early of the season.”

The doubleheader was the first two of a set 40-game schedule that has Francom and the Laramie coaches excited. Because of what lies down the road this season, the young Rangers A team is already ahead of last year.

“The great thing about this year compared to last year is we know we’re playing a full 40-game schedule and we’re only two games into it,” Francom said. “Like Coach (Sean) McKinney always says, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint. As long as we continue to get better every day, we’ll be OK come the end of the year.”

The Rangers A team is comprised mainly of 15- and 16-year-olds and will compete in the A level in Wyoming. The roster will be set at about 12 players for the season, giving them a chance to bond as a team without much movement up and down from the A and AA teams.

“The team is great because we don’t have one set guy who is out that will stand out above everybody," Francom said. “We’re a true team. I think when we come together as one, we’re going to have guys who can step up and do great things for us. We’re a team and a group who likes to work hard. They are willing to do the extra work to get the job done.”

Francom said the strength of the team now is its work ethic. “These kids are willing to stay after practice and put in the extra effort that it takes to get the little details ironed out. In the long run, that will make us stronger as a whole,” he said.

Like the AA team, other athletic activities in the school level have made it tough to really go as a full squad. Now with the high school seasons complete, Francom said they can really get to work as a team.

“What is going to help us too is when you have a full team show up for practice, you can do a lot more, rather than with just six guys,” Francom said. “We’re going to see those 12 kids all year long. We’re going to form a bond and we’ll do good things this year.”

It was a tough way to begin the season on Wednesday against arguably the top A team in the state that age-wise should probably play in the AA level. In the first game, Wheatland broke a 1-1 tie with seven runs in the second and eight more in the third.

Laramie had just four hits in the first game and six errors. Tim Carpenter paced the Rangers with a double and single, with Brody Hilgencamp adding a double and Barry Thomas a single. Thomas, Hilgencamp and Carpenter worked on the mound.

The second game was much more competitive, with the Lobos breaking away with three runs in the fourth, four more in the fifth and a single run in the sixth. Laramie actually out-hit Wheatland 8-7 in that second game, but committed five errors to none by Wheatland.

Tyler Mitchell led the Rangers with three singles, with Thomas adding a RBI double. Hilgencamp, Nolan Carter, Nick Armijo and Derek Campbell all had singles in the game. Carter scored both Laramie runs.

Sri Sritharan, Josh Peterson and Lance McCartney all pitched for the Rangers.

“We played a very, very good team,” Francom said. “They’ve played five or six games already and this is our first and second games. It gave us a look at where we are at and where we want to be. I definitely saw some good things and some things that we need to work on.”

Francom said the positive about Wednesday night was the mistakes his team made can be fixed.

“We’re going to do good things this year, we just need to come together as a team and get a few more innings under our belts. We’ll be all right,” Francom said.

“The first game was rough. There were first-game jitters. It’s the first time half of these guys have put on a Rangers’ uniform and you open up at home. We were a little nervous,” Francom added. “In the second game, we were able to relax a little bit and it was definitely a little closer than the score showed. It just got away from us at the end.”

Other team members include Travis Scott, Kyle Alexander and Zack Kersey.

The Rangers A team will hit the road next Wednesday with a doubleheader at Rawlins.
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WHEATLAND 22, LARAMIE A 1
(First Game)
Wheatland 178 06 -- 22 13 1
Laramie 100 00 -- 1 4 6
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WHEATLAND 12, LARAMIE A 2
(Second Game)
Wheatland 301 341 -- 12 7 0
Laramie 101 000 -- 2 8 5

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Prep falls to Cheyenne

The Laramie Rangers prep baseball team dropped a doubleheader to Cheyenne Prep on Tuesday night at Cowboy Field, 14-0 and 18-4. The twinbill was moved up from the originally scheduled July 23 date.

In the first game, the older Cheyenne team chipped away with three runs in the first and third innings and four runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings. Laramie had just one hit in the game, a leadoff single by Tyler Loose. Dylan Watson took the loss on the mound.

In the second game, Cheyenne broke open a relatively close game (9-4) with nine runs in the fifth inning. The Rangers had seven hits in that game, led by Loose's single and double and one RBI and two hits and a RBI by Abel Casas. Also for Laramie, Taylor Boggess had a single, Casey Stangle had a single and RBI, as did Alex Jordan.

Sam Feldman took the loss on the mound for Laramie, which fell to 3-6 on the season.

The Rangers Prep team returns to action on Saturday when it hosts the Rocky Mountain Titans in a doubleheader beginning at noon.

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(First Game)

CHEYENNE 14, LARAMIE PREP 0

Cheyenne 303 44 -- 14 9 0
Laramie 000 00 -- 0 1 4
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(Second Game)

CHEYENNE 18, LARAMIE PREP 4

Cheyenne 522 09 -- 18 17 0
Laramie 211 00 -- 4 7 4

Petrino returns to UW football

Courtesy UW photo service
Jason Petrino, then a graduate assistant coach for Wyoming, works with former Cowboy great John Wendling. Petrino is returning to Wyoming as the director of football operations.


Former graduate assistant will become director of football operations

By Wyoming Sports.org

Wyoming head football coach Joe Glenn announced on Wednesday that Jason Petrino will return to UW as the director of football operations. Petrino replaces Casey Glenn, who was recently named the UW tight ends coach.

Petrino’s duties with the Wyoming football program include, but will not be limited to: coordinating team travel, overseeing the day-to-day administrative operations of the football office and monitoring budgetary and compliance issues relating to Cowboy football.

“Jason (Petrino) is an individual who was on the ground floor with us when we first came to Wyoming,” Joe Glenn said. “As one of our graduate assistants when we first came to Laramie, he was instrumental in some big wins for us against BYU, CSU and UCLA.

“Jason understands our mission and our coaching staff, and he knows how we want to do things. He possesses a great number of characteristics that will help our staff, our administration and our team in his role as director of football operations. He’s a heck of a guy, and we’re thrilled to have him back.”

Petrino, a native of Kalispell, Mont., returns to the Wyoming football program after serving as the defensive graduate assistant during the 2003 and 2004 seasons, Glenn’s first two seasons at UW. As a graduate assistant coach, Petrino coached the Wyoming safeties and assisted in numerous facets of the football program. During his first season at UW, Petrino was a member of the coaching staff that led the Cowboy football team to home wins over rivals BYU and Colorado State. In his second season, he helped lead Wyoming to a 24-21 win over UCLA in the 2004 Las Vegas Bowl.

Petrino has spent the past three seasons as the defensive coordinator at the University of Mary, a Division II school located in Bismarck, N.D. Aside from coordinating the Marauder defense, Petrino also coached the defensive backs and was the recruiting coordinator. He also worked in many other capacities during his time at Mary including working as a speed enhancement coach, an assistant strength coach, a game day manager, a sports information director and an assistant equipment manager.

In his three seasons at the University of Mary, Petrino helped lead the Marauders to a 20-10 record. This past season, Mary had the best defense in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. They led the conference in pass defense, allowing only 197.6 yards a game, and ranked second in rush defense, allowing only 94.4 yards a game.

Prior to his first stint at Wyoming, Petrino was the defensive backs coach at his alma mater, Carroll College. At Carroll, he coached under former UW assistant coach and letterwinner Mike Van Diest. Petrino coached the Fighting Saints defensive backs for three seasons from 1999-2002, winning the 2002 NAIA National Championship and the Frontier Conference Championship all three seasons.

Petrino played football at Carroll College from 1995-99, serving as a team captain his senior year. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Carroll in 2002.

Petrino married the former Heather Fries on June 30, 2006. The couple welcomed their first child, Jason, Jr., on Aug. 28, 2007. Petrino joins his younger brother Jared on the UW football staff. Jared Petrino has served as the football video coordinator since 2006.

“We are very excited to get back to the University of Wyoming and are thrilled to work with so many great people, coaches and student athletes,” said Petrino. “When the opportunity for our family to come back presented itself, it was an easy decision to make. We have some great memories from our time at Wyoming like beating UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl and also some big wins over BYU, CSU and Ole Miss. We always wanted to get back to Wyoming and couldn’t be more excited to arrive in Laramie and get to work.”