Wyoming state track total individual and relay championships

With the regional track and field meets this week, and the state meet next week, now seems like the appropriate time to look into Wyoming’s track and field history.

The Wyoming High School Activities Association already has a fantastic listing of state track and field results. The WHSAA’s listings are thorough, but they’re missing one key piece: first names.

So I took it on myself to put first names to those last names of Wyoming’s track champions. I had help from roughly 100 people to compile this list of individual state track and field champions dating back to 1974 (boys) and 1973 (girls). The listings are still a bit incomplete — a few times and marks are still missing, and I’m still missing first names for three champions and the winners of three relay races (1995 3A boys 4×8, 1979 B girls 4×1, 1991 4A girls 4×8).

From the listings, though, I’ve been able to dive a little deeper into Wyoming’s track and field champions. Specifically, one statistic I’ve compiled is the total number of individual and relay champions.

In these past 40 years, one school has been Wyoming’s most successful, and it’s probably not a coincidence that the same school leads both the boys and girls championship tallies.

Cheyenne Central has won 121 boys events at state and 110 girls events. Central barely topped Torrington (118) for the boys’ top spot; however, Central is the only girls’ track program in the state to have more than 100 individual and relay championships.

Combined, Cheyenne Central (231 champs), Torrington (198) and Gillette (180) have been Wyoming’s most successful in terms of total championships.

Full listings for boys, girls and combined state championships, since 1974 (boys) and 1973 (girls), with exclusions as noted above (defunct programs in italics):

Top 10 boys
1. Cheyenne Central, 121
2. Torrington, 118
3. Gillette, 100
4. Burlington, 86
5. Natrona, 79
6/7. Cheyenne East and Southeast, 78
8. Powell, 73
9. Kelly Walsh, 71
10. Cokeville, 69

Others in descending order:
Douglas, 68
Lander, 63
Lingle, 58
Upton, 57
Big Piney, 56
Jackson, Laramie, 54
Star Valley, Worland, 52
Dubois, 51
Glenrock, Lovell, 50
Guernsey-Sunrise, 49
Big Horn, 48
Lusk, 46
Cody, 41
Pine Bluffs, Rock Springs, 37
Wyoming Indian, 35
Kemmerer, Wind River, 34
Buffalo, Meeteetse, 33
Greybull, Snake River, Wright, 32
Ten Sleep, Tongue River, 31
Green River, Sheridan, 30
Evanston, Hanna, Riverton, Albin, Byron, 27
Saratoga, Sundance, 25
Pinedale, Thermopolis, 21
Burns, Encampment, 19
Lyman, 18
Shoshoni, Goshen Hole, 17
Midwest, 16
Newcastle, Riverside, 14
Basin, 11
Farson, Rocky Mountain, 10
Chugwater, Kaycee, 9
Hulett, Rawlins, 8
Moorcroft, Mountain View, St. Stephens, Medicine Bow, 7
Arvada-Clearmont, Wheatland, 6
Manderson, 5
Glendo, 4
Normative Services, Jeffrey City, 3
Deaver, LaGrange, 2
Rock River, 1

++++++++++++++++

Top 10 girls
1. Cheyenne Central, 110
2. Worland, 98
3. Kelly Walsh, 83
4/5. Gillette, Torrington, 80
6. Burns, 74
7. Lingle, 72
8. Pine Bluffs, 70
9. Douglas, 66
10/11. Natrona, Ten Sleep, 64

Others in descending order:
Cokeville, 60
Powell, 58
Cody, 57
Mountain View, 56
Lovell, 55
Dubois, Sheridan, 53
Burlington, Tongue River, 49
Riverton 48
Lander, 47
Greybull, 43
Meeteetse, 42
Green River, Wheatland, 41
Southeast, 40
Jackson, 39
Hulett, Laramie, 38
Cheyenne East, 37
Snake River, Upton, 36
Star Valley, 34
Shoshoni, 33
Buffalo, 32
Evanston, Guernsey-Sunrise, 31
Sundance, 29
Big Horn, Encampment, Kemmerer, 28
Chugwater, Hanna, Albin, 26
Riverside, 25
Rawlins, 24
Newcastle, Thermopolis, 23
Saratoga, 22
Rocky Mountain, 21
Pinedale, 19
Lusk, Rock Springs, 17
Big Piney, 16
Kaycee, Wright, 15
Midwest, 14
Glenrock, Lyman, Wind River, 12
Glendo, Manderson, 11
Basin, 10
Arvada-Clearmont, Medicine Bow, 9
Moorcroft, 7
Huntley, 5
Farson, LaGrange, 4
Byron, Deaver, Jeffrey City, 3
Normative Services, Rock River, Wyoming Indian, Goshen Hole, Seton, 2
Cheyenne South, 1

+++++

Top 10 combined
1. Cheyenne Central, 231
2. Torrington, 198
3. Gillette, 180
4. Kelly Walsh, 154
5. Worland, 150
6. Natrona, 143
7. Burlington, 135
8. Douglas, 134
9. Powell, 131
10. Lingle, 130

Others in descending order:
Cokeville, 129
Southeast, 118
Cheyenne East, 115
Lander, 110
Pine Bluffs, 107
Lovell, 105
Dubois, 104
Cody, 98
Ten Sleep, 95
Burns, Jackson, Upton, 93
Laramie, 92
Star Valley, 86
Sheridan, 83
Guernsey-Sunrise, Tongue River, 80
Big Horn, 76
Greybull, Meeteetse, Riverton, 75
Big Piney, 72
Green River, 71
Snake River, 68
Buffalo, 65
Lusk, Mountain View, 63
Glenrock, Kemmerer, 62
Evanston, 58
Rock Springs, Sundance, 54
Hanna, Albin, 53
Shoshoni, 50
Encampment, Saratoga, Wheatland, Wright, 47
Hulett, Wind River, 46
Thermopolis, 44
Pinedale, 40
Riverside, 39
Newcastle, Wyoming Indian, 37
Chugwater, 35
Rawlins, 32
Rocky Mountain, 31
Lyman, Midwest, Byron, 30
Kaycee, 24
Basin, 21
Goshen Hole, 19
Manderson, Medicine Bow, 16
Arvada-Clearmont, Glendo, 15
Farson, Moorcroft, 14
St. Stephens, 7
Jeffrey City, LaGrange, 6
Normative Services, Deaver, Huntley, 5
Rock River, 3
Seton, 2
Cheyenne South, 1

The next week or so on this blog will be dedicated to track and field. Keep checking back. And don’t forget to check out the champions listing for yourself!

–patrick