Thermopolis

IR Record
Thermopolis

Independent

SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

Volleyball players
headed to regionals

by Cindy Glasson
Hot Springs County High Schools Lady Cats had their
last two games before the Regional Tournament this past
week, dropping both games in straight sets to Buffalo and
Douglas.
The girls went head to head with Buffalo in an away
game last Friday with Buffalo coming out on top, 3-0.
Buffalo is the number one team in our conference and
our girls really gave them a run on Friday night, head
coach Shannon Hill said. We stayed with Buffalo at the
beginning of games one and two, but they pulled away towards the end of each game.
In the third game we went on an early run and stayed
in the lead the whole game until it was tied 24-24. Our
girls fought hard the entire match and played tough defense against Buffalos hard hitters.
In the end, it just came down to us not being able to execute with the ball.
Standouts in Fridays game included Makayla George
with ve kills and three blocks, Kelly Johnson with three
kills and two blocks, and Lizzy Lonk with three kills and
four aces.
The Lady Cats turned right around and played Douglas
Saturday afternoon.
Douglas is the number one team in the east conference,
Hill said. Both teams were tough teams to end our regular season with, however, our girls came out ready to play
in the rst game.
We stuck with them for a while and then they pulled
ahead in the rst game and we lost our momentum, losing
25-7 in the second game. We stepped up in the third game,
which tends to be a trend with our team, and played well
until the nal point.
Unfortunately, we have been unable to string together three solid games against our tougher opponents. Our
girls are very capable of beating teams such as Buffalo and
Douglas as long as we can nish the ball and keep the other
team from going on runs.
Lonk led the team with six kills against Douglas, followed by Mary Ryan with an additional six kills and one
block. Maggie Ryan dropped for eight digs and popped over
a single ace. Haley McDermott had 14 assists on Saturday
along with three aces.
The girls will be in Rawlins Friday and Saturday for the
Regional Tournament.
We have a tough match going into regionals, Hill said,
with our rst opponent being Douglas at 12:30 Friday. If
we win, we would play at 4 p.m. Friday evening, and if we
lose, we play at 10:45 Saturday morning.
We have a great chance to make it to state, if we play
with the passion and the grit I know our girls have. This is
a huge weekend for them and I have all the faith that they
can be successful and prove we can play with 3A teams.

Girls bring home second

by Mark Dykes
The Hot Springs County High School Cross
Country nished their season Saturday, at
the 3A State Championships in Sheridan.
The girls team brought home a second place
nish with 80 points; Star Valley took rst
with 58.
Jules Ward came in at under 20 minutes
for the course, with a second place nish of
19:17.92. McKenna Bomengen placed ninth
with a time of 20:22.38, and Tahja Hunt nished 10th with 20:41. The three girls were
also selected as All-State in cross country by
the Wyoming Coaches Association. Hudson
Roling, who nished seventh for the boys
with a time of 17:18.96, was also named a
WCA All-State athlete.
There were strong nishes from the rest
of the team as well, with Olivia Weyer coming in at 25th with 21:33.69, Stacy Lewis
in 35th with 22:19.92, Erica Meier at 54th
with 23:51.97 and Aime Robinson at 61st
with 24:48.7. On the boys team, Sean Miller
placed 66th with 19:53.85.
Coach Brenna Abel stated The girls team
had a great season. The girls team won three

Bobcat cross country.

Roling received All-Conference and AllState honors as a freshman in 2014. He did
not run in 2015, but came out after golf with
very limited distance training and was able
to accomplish some outstanding results as
he received 3A All-State and All-Conference
honors this season. He's a great competitor
and has pure talent for running.
Abel noted Miller had some huge improvements this season, setting a new career personal record of 19:02 and showing
a lot of growth.
Stacy Lewis and Liz Rhodes are seniors
that will be missed by the team, Abel said.
Stacy is a four-time letter winner and Liz a
three-time letter winner. Stacy received AllConference honors in 2015 and 2014. They
have been dedicated to the team over their
career and will be deeply missed.
Meier, Robinson and Weyer are three
freshmen that made some huge improvements over the season, Abel noted. We are
excited to have them within the program
and excited to see what their future holds
for Bobcat cross country.

photo courtesy of Heidi Hunt Photography

Strong season f inish

The Lady Bobcats Cross Country team ended their season with a second place nish at State. The team includes, from left: Olivia Weyer, Jules Ward, McKenna Bomengen, Stacy Lewis, Aime Robinson, Tahja Hunt and Erica Meier.

Bobcat football season wraps up

by Mark Dykes
The Hot Springs County High School football program capped off with a Friday night
loss against Mountain View, 47-6, and a season record of 1-7.
Of Fridays game, coach Matthew McPhie
stated, We had a tough challenge with the
number one team from the 2A West division. Our boys played with a great sense of
pride and had great effort versus a very good
football team.
Offensively, McPhie said, they were led
by Milton Peden, who rushed for 70 yards

Jump up

invitationals this season (Riverton, Home,

and Powell) and won 3A East Conference,
and placed 2nd at 3A State.
The team motto this season, Abel stated,
was "Rise Up" and the girls denitely did
that. Being back in 3A this season allowed
our competition to increase the pure number of competitors in the races, and higher
challenging level. Our girls competed well at
state giving it their all and leaving nothing
on the course, Star Valley had a great race
and they were the better team on Saturday.
Abel also acknowledged the four All-State
individuals, pointing out Ward was a fourtime All-State Runner; Ward placed second
in 2013 and 2016, and rst in 2014 and 2105.
She goes into the Bobcat record books as
one for the best cross country runners from
THS, Abel stated. She had a phenomenal
career and her achievements speak for themselves. She has been a great leader by her
work ethic and dedication.
Abel also said Bomengen and Hunt
acheived some great things as freshman, receiving 3A All-State and All-Conference honors. Shes excited to see their future within

and did an excellent job for the Bobcats both

rushing the ball and blocking.
McPhie noted Ryan Johnsons scoring a
touchdown on a three-yard pass reception
from Cullen Becher, and his diving catch
near the sideline on a very good pass from
Becher.
Michael Harvey did a great job for the
offensive line, McPhie stated, blocking well
and opening up holes for the running game.
Defensively, the Bobcats were led by Noah
Schwalbe, with nine tackles. Jon Harvey
and Kolby George also played well for the

defense adding ve tackles each.

Harvey also blocked a kick and had a
tackle for loss, Harvey had a total of 18 defensive points.
Despite the score indicating otherwise,
the players fought to the last whistle and
competed extremely hard for 48 minutes. I
believe this was a statement game from an
effort standpoint about which direction this
football program is heading., McPhie stated. I am very proud of each of the Bobcats,
especially the seniors who just played their
last game for us.

photo by Cindy Glasson

Makayla George, left, and Shaynie Bauer take to

the air against Douglas Saturday afternoon.

Ready to roll

photo by Cindy Glasson

The Bobcats came out ready to roll against Mountain View in their nal game of the season on Friday night. "I believe this was
a statement game, from an effort standpoint, about which direction this football program is heading," said Coach Matt McPhie.