HSCHS track continues steady improvement

THERMOPOLIS - The Hot Springs County High School track and field continued to improve after their latest meet at Riverton Invitational at Riverton High School on April 13.

The Bobcat and Lady Bobcat athletes continued to set personal records in Riverton and put themselves in a better position for their respective events, as the 3A East regional meet in Burns on May 10-11 quickly approaches.

"We continued to get personal records by a lot of the kids, that's definitely on the plus side," said HSCHS track and field coach Aimee Kay. "For some, that was their first track meet and some of the kids are having to do some catch up with their conditioning but we're doing pretty good. We've been working hard in practice and Monday was a tough day for them."

Riverton was the first meet for junior Lady Bobcat McKenna Bomengen. The distance runner missed the last couple of meets due to other obligations.

Bomengen did not disappoint in her first meet out though, she won the 800-meter with a time of 2:36.21, took sixth in the 1600-meter and fourth in the 3200-meter, running a 5:52.64 and a 13:04.02, respectively.

"It was her first meet and it was a great start for her. I anticipate her to run faster as she gets more meets under her belt," said Kay.

Both 'Cat and Lady 'Cat pole vaulters continued to place well. Lady 'Cat Olivia Weyer finished fourth, clearing 8-06. 'Cats Blake Williams, Jesse Skelton and Wyatt McDermott came in third, fourth and seventh. Williams cleared 11-00, Skelton 10-00 and McDermott 9-06.

Skelton also set a personal record in the 200-meter with a time of 24.33, placing him seventh.

"Jesse Skelton is continuing to set PRs, he was close to prequalifying in the 200. I'm really excited to see that medley relay go because he's one of those legs for us. He's gotten so much stronger this year and it has been really fun to see him gain that confidence," said Kay.

With only a few meets left in the regular season, Kay and her staff will start spreading events for their athletes. Giving them a greater opportunity to focus and hone in on specific events.

"We'll spread things out for some of our kids, that way they can focus on certain events," said Kay. "I had a couple of my distance kids did all of the distance, they worked hard and it was good for them. But it will be nice for them to focus on their one race with having that other race down the road."

From now until the start of regionals the 'Cats and Lady 'Cats will have short practice weeks, like this week's with the Worland Triangular. As a result, Kay has bumped the team's hard conditioning days to Monday's.

Today's meet in Worland is also a combined high school and middle school meet and Kay for one is excited to see how her middle school athletes are going to perform.

"We're in Worland [Today] and it will be a good opportunity to see our middle school kids as well as my high school kids. It will be good for them to see how it looks at the high school level and get an idea of the potential they'll have," said Kay. "I'm excited for that."

"With it being a short week we'll have our hard practices to start the week. Then we'll go into more plyos and shorter workouts that way they have something left for today."