Track Season Preview – by Bonners Ferry High School Head Track Coach, Alec Hamilton
We have 62 athletes out for track this year, with 35 boys and 27 girls. One of the things we are really excited about is our numbers and our balance across grade levels. We have 17 seniors and 18 freshmen, so we have a good mix of leadership and young athletes coming into the program.
This is my first year as head coach, after coaching six years at the middle school. I am serving in the role this season to help transition the program moving forward. My wife and I will be relocating to Tennessee at the end of the school year to be closer to her family, so one of my biggest goals this year is to leave the program in a good place for the next coach and continue building a strong culture and strong leadership within the team.
Our main team goal this year is “Team First.” We talk a lot about being great teammates and putting the team ahead of individual success. We want to compete for a district title and we think we can compete with Timberlake, but more importantly we want to grow as athletes and as people over the course of the season.
We return a strong group of athletes this year across multiple events. Some of our key returners include Ireland Grady in hurdles, pole vault, and sprints; Eva Willis in the jumps and relays; Spiro Petras and Ben Middleton in the sprints; Riley Beggerly in sprints and jumps; Logan Archibald in sprints and pole vault; Daric Vincent in middle distance and jumps; and Kylie Calderone in distance.
Our throws program is probably the strength of our team this year. Hallie Hartman and Hana Hartman are both seniors and will be competing at Division I Southern Utah University next year. They lead a very strong throws group that also includes James Morgan and Grady Atkins, and we have several returning district and state placers in the throws. That group put in a lot of work in the weight room over the winter and we expect them to score a lot of points for us this year.
Our sprint group is upperclassman heavy, and we are hoping to have a very strong boys 4×100 relay this year. They are only a few tenths of a second away from breaking a school record that has stood since the late 1980s or early 1990s, so that is something we are excited about and will be chasing this season.
Our jumps group has a lot of depth, pole vault continues to improve each year, and while our distance group is smaller, they are a very hardworking group. Our hurdles group is a bit of a rebuilding group this year, but we have some athletes who are improving quickly.
We also have several younger athletes and new athletes who we expect to contribute this year, including Jaycee Bateman, Shane Rice, Olivia Lammers, Zain Vader, Brecken Miller, and Myles McCulla. We are excited about that group and the future of the program.
One thing I am proud of with this team is the character and leadership of our seniors. We have a lot of high character kids in this program. Two seniors, Conrad Hiatt and McKenna Baisden, both suffered ACL tears while competing in other sports, but they still come to practice often and
help mentor the younger athletes. That really says a lot about the type of team and culture we have.
Our coaching philosophy is pretty simple. We want to build great teammates and great people first, and great athletes second. If we compete hard, work hard, support each other, and do things the right way, the results usually take care of themselves.
We have some big meets this year including the Christine Finney Relays, the Rasmussen Invitational, and the Mooberry Relays. Districts will be May 7 and 8 at Timberlake High School and State will be May 15 and 16 in Middleton. Our goal is to be competing for a district title and qualify as many athletes to state as we can.
Overall, we are excited about this group. We have good leadership, strong throws and sprints, good numbers, and a lot of high character kids who are really buying into the Team First mentality. It should be a fun season.
