THERMOPOLIS - With athletes gone over the spring break, the Hot Springs County High School track and field team had an open week last week. Now, with most of the team back together, the Bobcats and Lady Bobcats are raring to go as they get back to competition with the Powell Invitational on Saturday, April 6 at Powell High School.

This week's practice for the Bobcats and Lady Bobcats has had an emphasis on conditioning and getting more reps for field events.

"This week we've been improving our conditioning and getting consistently solid practice with our field events. They're looking more confident with those field events and hopefully, Powell just adds to that confidence," said HSCHS track and field coach Aimee Kay.

With the weather forecast looking promising and having her team at full strength, Kay is looking forward to Powell's meet.

"The weather looks to be nice in Powell, which is always a good thing," said Kay. "I think our distance kids can AQ [automatic qualify] or come close to it. We have some surprise sprinters who have stepped up and doing some nice things. I have a couple of boys that haven't had a chance to compete but I'm excited to see what they can do."

The Bobcat relay teams and Lady Bobcat distance runners will be among those to keep an eye on during the Powell meet.

"Our relays, getting the kids in the right spot is going to be instrumental this weekend. With those kids back this week, I'm really excited to see what they can do.

"Having our distance kids back will be good too. McKenna [Bomengen] and Tahja [Hunt] are back and we have some freshmen that are starting to step up," said Kay. "Boys-wise we have Kolby George for distance, Wyatt McDermott has been doing some middle distance for us and both have been looking strong in those events."