Spring Sports Preview: Experienced athletes return for new season

The Outdoor Track and Field season got underway last week with the beginning of practice on March 6. Green River's boys and girls Head Track Coach Dan Hansen said he is excited for the season to get started as they have the largest turnout they have had in several years, with approximately 70 athletes singed up so far.

While some of the athletes bring experience from previous years, there are also a number of new faces. What is known, however, is the level of performance of the approximately 25 athletes that just completed the Indoor Track season.

The girls' 800 Meter Relay team, consisting of the three Murdock sisters, sophomores Isabelle and Lily and junior Madison, along with sophomore Meeka Iwen, performed well, and all four girls form a solid nucleus of runners in the various distance events. Also performing well for the girls and returning as a veteran is senior Autumn Casey in the high jump and pole vault. Another returning team member is sophomore Lillian Allison, who was the top performer for the girls in the indoor season, finishing second in the shot put and making All State, giving the Lady Wolves a solid performer to help with the large contingent of throwers.

For the boys, the top performers in the just-completed indoor season included senior distance runner Nathan Stevenson; senior shot putter Dylan Davis, who finished second and achieved All State Honors; and three solid sophomores in the pole vault in Keegan Gailey, Christian Oswald and Trace Erdman, who finished third, fourth, and seventh at Indoor State respectively. Many of the other Indoor Track competitors gained valuable experience in setting their personal best performances, and there are other experienced and good new athletes performing this year.

The team will start their season this year, as they have in past years, with a couple of very large meets in Orem, Utah. The first meet will be the Orem Invitational on Friday, March 17, followed by the Utah Valley State Invitational, also in Orem, the following week. Finally they will travel to Vernal for their third out-of-state meet on April 1.

The Wolves will then compete in two in-state invitationals before hosting the annual Green River Invitational April 21. After that, the teams will have five more meets in the outdoor season before competing at Regionals in Cody May 12-13 and finishing up at Casper's Kelly Walsh Track at State May 19-20.

With the larger turnout this year, Coach Hansen is again excited to watch and help these athletes develop and is looking forward to a season of hard work and exciting improvements.