Newcastle is No. 1!

Walter Sprague
Art and Culture Reporter 
 
“I feel great!” Robert Munger said after the victory ride around Newcastle for taking first place at the Wyoming State Firemen’s Convention on Saturday. “I owe my department, all the members, for making this happen. And I owe the town for all their support.”
The praise for all the members of the Newcastle team was well earned. Still, much of that praise rightfully goes to Robert and Donny Munger.
“They (the Munger brothers) only have so many of these (conventions) left,” said Seth Norris of Newcastle. “And they want this. Us younger guys have years left. This opportunity will come around for a long time. We all just want to win it for them now.”
Norris also said that the Mungers are the only veterans on the team. Most are younger men with a lot less experience.
In describing the training that prepared the Newcastle team to win the trials, Norris said that they practiced five and sometimes six days a week. He noted that it was the excellent training under the leadership of the Mungers that was key to Newcastle’s win.
“We’ve been practicing since March,” Norris said, “At least two hours a day and sometimes more. We even practiced if it was only 30 degrees outside.”
By the end of Thursday, Newcastle was in third place, with Riverton in second and Afton City in first. Less than a second separated the three teams. But, on Friday, Newcastle surged ahead of its competitors, eking out Afton City by 0.02 seconds for first place. They then increased that lead on Saturday to take the championship, leading Riverton, who had stepped ahead of Afton City for second place. Newcastle’s winning margin was 8.0 seconds. The teams changed positions throughout the three days, but the top three teams never lost one of those top-three places.
These results were not a big surprise, especially to the teams from Torrington and Lingle. Both teams were filled with firefighters that had never participated in these events before. With Lingle placing last in the trials on Friday, Layne Johnson and Kyler Labbe (both from Lingle) said they were filled with nerves.
“It kind of sucks going last,” Labbe said, “Everything is in your head all day long, and we’re spending that time trying to figure out what is working for the other teams and what isn’t.”
But at the end of the competition, no one had any complaints. Each team participated, giving it their best. Donny Munger said he was impressed by all the teams.
“Some of them haven’t competed in a long time.” Donny Munger said, “and are filled with newcomers.”  
He said they were all doing a great job. 
“They should all be proud of the work they put in,” he said, “because they did well. Each of the cities should be very proud of their departments.”