CHEYENNE — Dom Kaszas was expected to add depth to an already strong group of Cheyenne East sprinters when he arrived in the Capital City.
The senior did just that — and then some — while winning the 55- and 200-meter dashes, and helping East win the 4x200 relay at the Class 4A indoor state meet earlier this month.
However, Kaszas’ first outdoor season in a Thunderbirds uniform may feature an unexpected event — hurdles.
Kaszas hasn’t run the 110- or 300-meter hurdles in a meet, but he dabbled in those events during practice when he attended Sheridan High. He has practiced hurdles consistently since East opened outdoor practice. Kaszas could give the event — especially the 300 — a serious look this spring.
“Something we haven’t had during my time as head coach is a high-quality hurdler,” East coach Jesse Blunn said. “I don’t know if we’re fully committed to putting him in the hurdles, but he’s been doing it and looked good doing it.
“If he decides to do hurdles, we have a good chance of winning or finishing second in all of the sprints and the hurdles because of how strong our group of sprinters is. More than anything, he gives us depth and a lot of leadership for guys to follow.”
Kaszas finished fourth in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes while helping Sheridan win the Class 4A team championship last spring. He also was part of the Broncs’ state championship 4x100 and 1,600 sprint medley relay teams.
“I’m pretty serious about the hurdles, but I don’t know if I’ll run the 110s,” Kaszas said Wednesday afternoon. “You really have to have your technique down to compete in that race, but I think I could do OK in the 300. I’m in good enough shape because of the 400 workouts we do, and coach (Dan) Box is really working with me on my form.
“Your form doesn’t have to be as solid in the 300 as it does in the 110s.”
Kaszas knows it’s possible for an athlete to shine in the 300 hurdles, even if they haven’t dedicated their career to the event. His former Sheridan teammate Carter McComb placed second in the 300 hurdles last spring.
“He didn’t do the 300 hurdles until regionals, and he placed pretty well at state,” Kaszas said. “Seeing him do that makes me believe it’s something I could do, as well. We’re still a long way from me having to make that decision.
“I’ll give it a try at meets this spring and see how it goes. I’m just ready to do whatever the coaches think is going to score the most points for our team.”
Sheridan’s 4x100 relay team edged East by one-third of a second last season with Kaszas running the third leg. The T-Birds return seniors Marik Cummings, Ethan Brinkman and Jude Guevara from their state runner-up 4x100 quartet. Kaszas figures to replace Ian Garcia, who graduated last spring, in that group. Senior Garet Schlabs also could vie for a spot on the 4x100 team this season, Blunn said.
Cummings, Kaszas, Brinkman and Guevara teamed up to win the 4x200 at the state indoor meet.
“We have some really strong chemistry on that 4x200 team, and whoever we have in the 4x1 is going to give us a chance to win state,” Kaszas said. “It’s going to be a great relay.”
Cummings set East’s 100 record last spring, and figures to challenge that time again. However, he battled a hamstring injury during the indoor campaign, and reaggravated that injury during the 4x200 final. Cummings placed third in both the 100 and 200 at the state outdoor meet.
Guevara took seventh in the 200 at state last spring. Blunn expects his collection of sprinters to bring the best out of each other this season.
“The competition at practice is going to skyrocket,” he said. “They’re all friends, but none of them want to lose to the other ones. They all have goals and events they want to win. The beauty of the relay is putting them all together to make a run at winning it.
“Being part of that 4x1 relay here is a big deal because we’ve won that event a lot of years since I’ve been coaching. Those guys want to keep that tradition going.”
