The Banner County Boy’s Track Team may be short on numbers but the “Cup of Quality” runneth over. With their squad of nine boys, the Wildcats finished third at the Bayard C-D Invite this past week scoring 76 points to trail only the champion Gordon/Rushville team that won team honors with 136 points and Pine Bluffs who finished second and only one point ahead of the Cats with 77 points. Many highlights for the Banner County crew with senior distance ace Tyler Gifford voted as co-Most Valuable Athlete along with sprinter Garrett Shall of Gordon/Rushville. Gifford won both the 3200 in 10:43.8 and the 1600 in 5:01.2 and ran a leg on the fourth place 4 x 400 relay team. Both of his wins were near the meet records. Senior jumper Jaymes Talkington set a new meet record in the triple jump with his winning leap of 44 feet 2 inches and in so doing, broke the old record of 43 feet 8 inches set by his coach, Kenny Hessler, way back in 1981! The record breaking jump pleased both Talkington and Hessler and the record stays in the Banner County High family. Talkington also placed second in the high jump at 6 feet even and ran fifth in the 110 meter high hurdles in his first attempt at the event, running a time of 16.4. He also ran a leg on the 4x400 relay. Brett Cross also showed off his jumping skills with a second place finish in the long jump at 20 feet 31 inches, and a third place in the triple jump at 42 feet 6 inches, and ran a leg on the 4x400 relay. Chase Wickard won the gold medal in the 110 meter high hurdles with his winning time of 15.9 and ran second in the 300 intermediate hurdles with a time of 43.7, and was also on the 4x400 relay. The Banner County girls are also battling a number problem but had some good showings at the Bayard C-D meet. They scored 36 points to finish sixth in the team standings from the 14 school field of entries. Brooke Wyatt was second in the high jump at 4 feet 8 inches. Rebekah Knaub was second in the discus with a throw of 104 feet 7 inches and fifth in the shotput at 34 feet. Laura Monsees ran third in the 1600 with an outstanding individual best time of 6:13.7. Kaylea Stoddard was fourth in the 300 hurdles in 54.4. Ashley Harrison ran fifth in the 3200 in 14:37.7. The 4x800 relay team of Laura Monsees, Hannah Benavides, Lindsey Soule, and Brooke Wyatt ran third with their time of 12:23.9. Coach Kenny Hessler took his squad to the tough Okie Blanchard meet in Cheyenne on Friday to go up against some of the big Cheyenne schools and they fared well to say the least. Talkington really shined in winning the triple jump with a career best leap of 45 feet 3/4 inches, and was only 10 inches back of the school record set by his coach, Kenny Hessler back in 1981. Talkington also took second in the long jump at 20 feet 3 inches and was seventh in the high jump. Coach Monty Stoddard said that despite his career best jump in the triple jump, he was still a bit rough and when he really hits a smooth jump, he will go over the 46 foot range. Brett Cross had a great day in the triple jump, event as well, finishing second only to his team mate with his best leap of 43 feet 4 inches. Tyler Gifford ran third in the 3200 in 10:55.22. Chase Wickard was fifth in the long jump at 19 feet 2 inches and sixth in the 110 high hurdles in 16.7. These four individuals teamed up to run a 3:42 in the 4 x 400 relay at the Cheyenne meet. Top performance for the girls was a seventh place in the 300 hurdles by Kaylea Stoddard with her time of 53.05. The Wildcats will be at the Alliance Invite on Saturday.