It's been an exciting season for the MHS Track and Field athletes over the last several weeks.  With the ups and downs of competition, these athletes have found it in them to push through any setbacks or limitations to improve and find progress in their performance.  As any track fan knows, it may be about individual events, but every team member’s efforts pushes each other to be better.

 Head track Coach Billy Kimberling has seen this first hand in his athletes over the 2022 season.  He shared, “As a team we are getting better and better. In track we often measure success by personal records or PR's. Last week we had 41 PR's. This week we took a few athletes to Tiger Grizz, which is probably the biggest high school track meet in southeast Idaho and we had 15 PR's from a small group. The kids are seeing their hard work pay off and that is a strength in and of itself.”

 In fact, the MHS track coaches spoke highly of every one of their athletes, seeing progress in all of them.  “For our returning athletes we have seen great progress as we compare their marks from last year to this year. On the boys team Ryan Adams has jumped 5'10" in the high jump which is well over his marks from last year. 

 “Porter Allen has broken the 1 minute barrier in the 400 meter dash and is running around a 5:30 mile. Baylor Bean has shaved seconds off his 300 m hurdle time and recently ran a 5:05 mile time. Aside from improvement in the pole vault event, Tayson Davis has proven to be a solid all around teammate on the sprint medley relay and other relay teams. Colton Ihler recently hit a new PR in the 800 m run of 2:03 and he is also a teammate on the men's relay teams. 

“Austin Jacobsen has picked up the triple jump and runs consistent times on the men's relay teams. Austin Nalder recently hit a new PR in the pole vault as he vaulted 10 feet and his mile time is constantly improving. Braylen Tripp has improved his long jump and triple jump by multiple feet this year and is ranked in the top 10 in the state.

“ Jace Williams continues to get quicker and quicker as he has hit new PR's in all the sprint races and is a valuable member of the boys relay teams. Hunter Wray continues to improve in the discus as he recently threw 95' 1".

“On the girls team Brynlee Bastian has shown improvement in many events. Her triple jump has improved by more than 2 feet from the previous year and she is ranked in the top 10 in the state in many running events. She has also been a solid teammate in the women's 4x400 meter relay. Addler Garrett's hard work has paid off as she improves in each of her events almost every week. Recently she threw 69' 2" in the discus. 

“Maclaren Garrett also continues to improve in the throwing events and has thrown 63' 6" which is a great improvement from last year. Oaklie Hebdon has improved in many events from the previous year and has picked up new events which help out her team. She has picked up more sprint events and the long jump and is ranked in the top 10 in the state in almost any event she tries. She has also been a valuable teammate in the women's 4x400 meter relay. 

“Brooke Isaacson has started running the distance races this year and shows great improvement each week. She has proven to be a reliable teammate in the relay races and recently ran 2:36 in the 800 meter. Catherine Leckie continues to work hard and has improved in the sprint races and long jump. Kaylee Nalder has pole vaulted 6'6" and has shaved seconds off her mile time recently running a 6:18 mile. 

“We’ve had some freshmen and newcomers that have really improved and shown a lot of potential for future years. Colter Christopherson has come out and worked hard and is one of our top 100 m runners. Leon Dirilo has been putting in a lot of miles and has recently run under 1 minute in the 400 m dash. Jes Schow has been brave in trying the high jump as we don't have many athletes that do this event and he is continually improving. 

“Brycen Talbot has progressed in the mile and two mile and recently ran under 11 minutes in the 2 mile race. Joni Beck has proven to be a solid team member on the girl's relay teams as she has recently run PR's in the 400 m, 800 m, and 300 m hurdle races. Rylee Neilson has been one of two female pole vaulters this season and she progresses every week. 

“Katie Coatney has been running the sprint races and won her heats in the 100m and 200m at the Bear Lake meet. Cally Coleman has really improved in the mile and two mile race and is ranked in the top 10 in the state. Miley Palmer has been doing great in the throwing events and recently placed 5th in the freshman event at the Tiger Grizz meet.  

“Gavin Coatney is a newcomer on the boys team that has broken the 1 minute barrier in the 400 m dash. Jaxom Whipple has worked hard at the pole vault and has improved each week in the sprint events. Sarah Beyler has improved each week in the 100 m and 200 m sprints. Cortlyn Coleman ran a PR in the  2 mile race at Tiger Grizz of 12:25 and is ranked in the top 10 in the state. 

“Bailey Timothy continues to improve in the 100 and 200 and has jumped 12' 1" in the long jump. Serena Whipple runs the 100 m and 200 m and recently ran a 400 m in 1:23. Sarah Young has come out this year and has thrown 48' 11" in the discus. We are excited about the continued progress of each athlete.”

The coaches have seen progress, not only in the team's events, but also how they work to push and support one another.  The  returning athletes and upperclassmen have been said to have really stepped up to lead the team, stepping up to lead practice and race warm ups, making Malad Track really feel like a team sport. They have also helped others be excited about track and have set the tone of positivity and hard work at practice. 

Last year eight athletes qualified to compete at the state track meet and the MHS track team has set the goal this year to, simply, take more athletes than last year. Coach Kimberling said, “It's looking like we are on our way to meet that goal. We had more kids come out for track this year than last year and the kids seem to be working harder than last year. At our district meet we plan to strategize our races and put together some relays in order to get as many athletes to state as possible.”