Participating the 2015 Saratoga High School Track and Field are front row, left to right, Meredith Lincoln, Shaelee Hamann, Allison Falk, Veronica Lincoln, Kelsie Samson, Mati Love, Alicia Zaragosa, Katie Loose, Brooke Hughes. Second row Jaxon King, Aaron Kerbs, Alex Ziegler, Thomas Ingraham, Kyle Bartlett, Hunter Mason, Jaimi Detterer, Marshal Hill. Back row, Bradley Bifano, Matt Lincoln, Dusty Edwards, Riley Sandilands, Andrew Oiler, Colton Jones, Ben Fairbanks and Hazer Hinkle.
Saratoga High School Head Coach Rex Hohnholt has 34 athletes signed up for track this spring.
Half of those athletes are returning from last season, which gives the coach a good idea of the potential of the team.
Hunter Mason is the only boy on the team to have participated all four years. Veronica Lincoln and Kelsie Samson are the four-year participants for girls.
Mason's 4-by-400 meter relay team broke the school record last spring at state. The fact they placed first at state was icing on the cake.
It is that type of commitment that Hohnholt looks for in his track and field athletes, to do their personal best.
Other seniors returning this year are Andrew Oiler, Kyle Bartlett, Marshal Hill and Riley Sandilands.
Senior leadership is very important, Hohnholt said. The younger athletes see them reaching their personal best early in the season.
The three juniors are important too, Hohnholt said. They reap the benefits every year.
"It's tough to compete as a freshman. You always want them to get better."
Hohnholt said he reinforces with the athletes it is a building program, especially for the boys.
As freshmen, the girls are more mature and compete better.
He used Oiler as an example. As a freshman, Oiler was pole vaulting at 9 feet and now he at 12 feet 6 inches. Oiler finished six in the state with a pole vault finish of 11 feet last season.
Hohnholt uses these examples to encourage the athletes to stay with the track program year after year, because as a freshman competing in individual events can be difficult. "It's hard to come back after getting your fanny kicked," Hohnholt said.
The athletes have to take a step back and look at it as becoming better – it's not winning every meet, Hohnholt said. It is about improving every week.
"You have to remind them 'You will have your time to shine'," Hohnholt said.
For Hohnnolt the track and field program is about making "better men and women" and making it a life-long activity.
"Our goal is to help our kids be up in school, be a part of something and compete," Hohnholt said. [They] learn that the world is not going to stand still once you leave high school."
The commitment and dedication of competing in track and field prepares the athletes for life outside of high school.
"That is our goal," Hohnholt said. "To know you can teach to work hard, give it their best and walk away happy."
Hohnholt has seen success in his track and field program over the years. "Your success is based off the efforts of the kids," Hohnholt said.
The team's schedule has already been pushed back because of the early March snowstorm. Their first meet will begin at 9 a.m., at the Natrona Invite in Casper.
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