Here’s a quick overview of the 2022 fall high school sports seasons in Wyoming, aside from football, as updated to champlists.com:
Golf: The girls golf teams from Kelly Walsh (473) and Sheridan (484) posted the two best team scores ever seen at the state meet. They both beat the old record of 489 set by Sheridan last year. Natrona, which finished third at 501 strokes, finished tied for the seventh-best round ever by a team at state.
Individually, three players — Riverton’s Parker Paxton on the boys side and Lovell’s Erika Cook and Upton’s Brooklyn Materi on the girls side — won their third consecutive individual championships. Paxton is one of six boys to ever accomplish at least three state titles, while Cook and Materi are two of just six on the girls’ side. Paxton and Cook will return next season in attempts to become just the third boy and third girl to finish with four individual golf championships.
Kelly Walsh’s Josh Lane won the 4A boys title and Thermopolis’ Hadley Johnson won the 2A boys. Sheridan’s Samantha Spielman won her second 4A girls individual title (also winning in 2020).
Jackson and Riverton each won their second consecutive boys title, while Thermopolis’ boys won their fifth consecutive boys title. Kelly Walsh won the 4A girls, while Wheatland (3A) and Upton (2A) each won their second striaght.
Tennis: The Kelly Walsh girls won their second consecutive title and eighth overall to move into a tie for second place for most state tennis championships with Sheridan. Central leads with 16 overall. Gabriella Blumberg was the only repeat singles champion, winning No. 1 singles after winning No. 2 singles last year.
The Jackson boys win their fifth tennis title, with Cheyenne South’s Andrew Lock winning the No. 1 singles individual title.
Cross country: Saratoga’s Grant Bartlett won his fourth consecutive Class 2A championship, and in doing so became the first boy in Wyoming history to win four cross country individual titles. Mountain View’s Owen Burnett won his second consecutive 3A title and Star Valley sophomore Habtamu Wetzel won the 4A championship. Star Valley, Mountain View and Rocky Mountain/Burlington won team titles for the boys.
Three first-time champions were among the girls ranks with Cheyenne Central’s Sydney Morrell (4A), Lander’s Ameya Eddy (3A) and Moorcroft’s Mallory Jones (2A) winning individual titles. Central and Saratoga won their second consecutive team titles, while Cody won its fourth straight.
Volleyball: Wyoming had four new champions, as none of 2021’s title teams repeated. Riverside won its first championship in school history in its first year in 1A, while Burns won the 2A title and its third in school history after moving from 3A. Mountain View and Lyman played each other for the second consecutive year in the 3A title match, with Mountain View coming out on top this year to win its fifth team title. And in 4A, Kelly Walsh became just the third program in the state to crack-double digit championships with its 10th by winning the 4A title. (Cokeville has 25 titles and Pine Bluffs 12.)
In all, 11 players were named all-state players for the third time: Big Horn’s Saydee Zimmer, Cheyenne East’s Elysiana Fonseca and Boden Liljedahl, Kaycee’s Sierra Kilts, Kelly Walsh’s Abi Milby and Peyton Carruth, Laramie’s Maddy Stucky, Natrona’s Megan Hagar, Riverside’s Caroline Schlattmann and Vaidyn VanderPloeg and Thunder Basin’s Joelie Spelts. Zimmer and Stucky are juniors; the others are seniors.
Girls swimming: Laramie and Lander continued their dynasties, as Laramie won its sixth consecutive title and Lander won its sixth in seven years.
Cody’s Tara Joyce became the 31st girls swimmer in state history to win at least six individual championships with victories in the 200 and 500 freestyle events.
Remember to check out champlists.com for a ton of historical information on Wyoming high school sports.
–patrick