Rebel thinclads gear up for upcoming track season

Published by admin on Thu, 03/25/2021 - 11:00am
By: 
Sam Smith
After not having a season last year due to COVID-19, the Riverside Rebels track and field squad are eager to get back on the track and prepare for the upcoming 2021 season.
The Rebels don’t have to travel far to open up the season as they will compete at the Bill Gerrard Invitational Saturday at 10 a.m. in Greybull.
The Rebels have 26 out for track this year. The team is made up of four seniors, eight juniors, eight sophomores and six freshmen.
The Rebels have a new track coach this year as Dale Query will move up from his assistant role and be the head coach. Assisting Query will be Colin McArthur. This year is Query’s first year working with the team.
The Rebels return five that have competed at the Wyoming State Track Meet in 2019.
Senior Breana Riley placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles two years ago at State with a time of 18.59 seconds and 13th in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 54.13 seconds.
Senior Alexis Garay placed seventh in the discus at State in 2019 with a personal-best throw of 94-6. 
Junior Valeria DeNiz also competed at the State Meet in Casper in 2019 in the discus.
Junior Jersey Streitz placed 15th in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 20.49 seconds at State two years ago.
For the boys, junior Garret Ellis-Rudd placed ninth in the 100-meter hurdles two years ago in Casper with a time of 17.34 seconds. He also placed 10th in the high jump, clearing 5-6. Ellis-Rudd is the lone member returning from the eighth-place 3,200-meter relay team that competed at State with a time of 9:44.27. Ellis-Rudd also competed in the triple jump at State in 2019.
Query is pleased with the participation and the hard work the athletes are showing in practices after the two-year hiatus.
“It’s tough going from one season to the next and retaining a lot of that skill and technique, so two years is even tougher,” the coach said. “We have had great participation, and the athletes are working hard.
“All the other teams are in the same boat, but half of our team has never participated in a high school track meet, so it will take the leadership of the older students to mentor our younger athletes.”
Query’s expectation this year is to get his athletes to compete in a wide variety of events.
“My expectation for this season is for the kids to try different events and find out where they will be most successful,” the coach said. “I also am trying to get kids in relays in hopes of getting more of them to State in more events.”
Query believes that the growth within the track program will help the Rebels be competitive as a team in the 2A level.
“The team to beat in most cases is the team that can fill the most events,” the coach said. “If you are able to fill events that smaller teams can’t, odds are you will be ahead in the points. We are not at that point numbers wise. However, we have had a huge growth in the program and hope to see the numbers continue to grow. We have a great group of kids, and I’m excited to watch them grow in the next couple of months.”
 

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