Grace (Tanner) Walker
Grace Tanner was an exceptional athlete at Big Piney High School earning individual recognition in each of her sports. By the time of her graduation in 2018, Tanner had earned All-State honors in all three of the sports in which she participated. Graduation was not the end of her athletic career as Grace went to the University of Wyoming where she performed as a member of the Cowgirl Track team for two years before bowing out due to injuries.
As an individual athlete in track, Grace's talent was on display throughout her four-year stint for the Lady Punchers. She qualified in all four of her individual events in each of her four seasons. As a freshman, she brought home the first of her seven gold medals by winning the 100m hurdles. As a sophomore, Tanner added another gold to her collection by repeating in the 100m hurdles. Her second-place finish in the 300m hurdles gained her additional All-State recognition. As a junior, she found herself atop the podium in the 100m dash adding to that gold collection. Second place finishes in the 200m dash and both hurdle events were additional All-State accomplishments. In her final year, Grace Tanner captured gold in both the sprint events and the hurdles events. During these four seasons a well-balanced Lady Puncher track team finished in the top three all four years culminating with the Wyoming State Championship in 2018.
As a volleyball player, Grace Tanner earned All-Conference recognition multiple years and was instrumental in the success of the Puncher team. During her junior year, the Punchers finished in third place at the regional tournament qualifying the team for the state tournament where they brought home a consolation championship trophy. As a senior, the talented team won the regional tournament and finished an impressive third place at state. During her last two seasons, Grace was honored by being selected to the Wyoming Class 2A All-State team.
In basketball, Tanner lettered all four of her years for the Lady Puncher squad earning all-conference honors along the way. Despite failing to qualify for state tournament action during her senior season, Tanner’s talent was still recognized by the Wyoming Coaches Association with her selection to Wyoming Class 2A All-State Team. A final tribute to Grace Tanner’s basketball career was being selected as the recipient of the prestigious state-wide “ Bob Carey Award” recognizing only one girl for her excellence play, leadership and sportsmanship displayed throughout the year
At the conclusion of her final year at Big Piney High, Grace Tanner was selected by the Wyoming Coaches Association to play in either the volleyball all-star summer game or the basketball all-star summer game. Due to injury suffered in track, Grace had to decline the opportunity to participate.