Cross country ready to run

The Hot Springs County High School and Thermopolis Middle School cross country students began practice on Monday, Aug. 13, with their first official meet being the Kelly Walsh Invite this Friday.

Coach Stephanie Metz said the three juniors on the high school team - McKenna Bomengen, Tahja Hunt and Olivia Weyer - attended the prestigious Steens Running Camp this summer "so I think that set them up really well for the start of the season," and gave them some great base mileage to build upon.

Metz noted they're also increasing strength training this season to parallel the training they did this summer with strength and conditioning coach Dean Despain. "We had good attendance with him so they're coming in stronger and ready to go."

In addition to the three juniors, freshmen Hallie Martinez and Karsten Hart are also on the high school team. Metz estimated the middle school team has six so far, though she expects more.

Metz is excited to see how the students do this year, as they are in Division 2A this year, compared to 3A last year. While they are still competing against 3A schools for the normal meets, the conference will be 2A. She plans to keep an eye on the 2A runners' times until they actually see them at conference on Oct. 12.