A group of hard-working underclassmen is sparking hope the Plains High track and field team will grow and develop as the year goes by.

Coach Sean McCarthy says the team that has returned for springs practices this year is basically the same one as last year ... but with another year of experience he hopes will serve them well.

“We were a very young team last year,” he said. “We didn’t lose any seniors”.

Among the top returnees is Mason Elliot who made it to the state championships in the 110 meter and 300 meter hurdles. And after the first meet of the year, the Eureka Invitational last weekend, Elliot is looking like a solid state-caliber performer again as the 2022 season gets underway.

Elliot won the 400 meter race in Eureka with a time of 56.68, then added the 300 meter hurdles title to his daily haul, coming in first with a time of 46.74. He also finished fourth in the high jump.

The Horsemen, who McCarthy predicted would be strong in the middle distance running events, also got a first place finish from Joseph Martin in the 800 meter race, and a third place showing in the same event from Aaron Pfister.

On the girls side of the track, Elizabeth Flanagan won the 100 meter sprint in Eureka as teammates Amy Hill and Gracie Scribner took third and fourth respectively. Hill also added a third in the 110 meter hurdles.

Another event showing promise for the Plains team is the girls 800 meter run, where Payton Wasson finished first and teammate Teagan Thomas came in second. Thomas went on to win the girls 300 meter hurdles at the Eureka meet.

And the Trotters got an outstanding day out of weight thrower Alexis Deming, who won the shot put with a throw of 31 feet three inches, and also won the discus with a 70-feet even throw.

All of that is encouraging to coach McCarthy as the new season unfolds.

“We are made up of mainly freshmen and sophomores this year with three juniors,” McCarthy said. “I think our biggest strength is our ability to grow and get better every week. Nobody is currently close to their personal record (PR) so we have nowhere to go but up.

“Everyone is very hardworking and positive, which will help our growth. They are a fun group to coach”.

McCarthy said he considers integrity to be a key factor in future growth and development.

“My main philosophy I try to get across to my team every day is integrity,” he said. “In a small school we only have a couple of coaches and we can’t be everywhere and see everything that is going on. I have to trust the team to go 100% in every workout even if I’m not standing right there. Like I said, this is a very hardworking group that I’ve been able to trust is doing their workouts so far this season”.

Plains will join several other area track teams at the Bigfork Invitational this Saturday.