Indoor Track Season Hits Full Stride

The 2014 Indoor Track and Field season is upon us. Laramie High School begins with its first competition, while the University of Wyoming has its second this weekend. Both will be competing at the Campbell County Recreation Center in Gillette, WY.

The Laramie Plainsmen and Lady Plainsmen begin their season under first year head coach Greg Schabron. Laramie returns five all-state performers and nine state placers that scored points from last year's state championships.

Senior Jonah Henry is the lone all-stater returning for the Plainsmen, while senior Ashley Dodds, junior Phoenix Farnham, junior Taylor Arsaga and junior Ella DeWolf are back for the Lady Plainsmen.

The Laramie girls finished third at the 2013 Wyoming State Indoor Track Championships out of 16 squads last March. The Plainsmen ended up fourth out of 15 teams.

Schabron says Friday is just an opener for them, "We know that most of these kids haven't competed in quite a while. Overall, the goal is to go out at Gillette and get used to the field event areas and the track, and get some marks. There's not a lot of pressure performance-wise, but when it comes down to competition, we are going to expect athletes to give it everything they have."

Laramie has close to 100 student-athletes, freshmen through senior class, that are out for indoor track this year.

Action begins Friday at 10:30 a.m. in Gillette.

After a six week break from competition, the University of Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are back at it Saturday in Gillette, as they face Colorado State in the Border War dual. Field events start at 11:15 a.m., while running events will begin at 12:30 p.m.

This will mark the first of a short 6 weeks of action during the indoor season for UW.

The Cowboys return three NCAA qualifiers and two All-MW honorees, while the Cowgirls bring back three NCAA qualifiers and four athletes that earned six All-MW accolades last season.

Second-year Wyoming Track coach Bryan Berryhill says, "It's gonna be great. The people up in Gillette have been amazing to work with. Dave McCormick and his staff there at the rec center have just been awesome and welcoming for us. The kids are excited they get to compete in another city in the state."

This is a different format than typical for track and field, as it will be scored a dual between Wyoming and CSU.

Coach Berryhill said, "That's the one thing we're missing in track and field is rivalries. That's my hope of starting to have these dual meets. We're going to have Colorado State this Saturday and then Montana State two weeks later. My hope is this year is a good meet, and down the road we can have great meets. I just want to get back to meets where we have winners and losers at the end of the day."

The Cowboys and Cowgirls haven't competed since UW hosted its Power Meet in Laramie on December 6.