What hurts can eventually make you stronger in the end.

Battling back from a series of injuries to some of their best athletes over the course of the last year, the Hot Springs track and field team is hard at work, overcoming that adversity and once again getting close to full strength.

Getting off to a rather slow start to regular competition this spring due to the weather and other commitments some athletes had, coach Jason Colyer and his Savage Heat athletes will host the 54th annual Dave Tripp Memorial meet in Polson Friday to officially get the season off in a big way. Most Western C teams and many Western B area squads will also be there per usual in the popular easy season meet, Colyer reports.

The Savage Heat are in various stages of recovery in injuries to some of their key players, Colyer said noting that girls standout Kara Christensen and boys team leaders Ben Aldridge and Daniel Slonaker are all back on the track and in the field for Hot Springs after some discouraging setbacks.

Christensen broke an ankle right before the District 14C track meet last spring, Aldridge broke an ankle during football season last fall and Slonaker tore an ACL, also during football season. The way they have all worked their ways back has impressed their coach.

Christensen and Aldridge, it could be argued, are both all the way back as Kara, a senior, just capped All-State C basketball and volleyball seasons, and Ben, a junior who was also named All-State C in football, went on to earn District 7B all-conference honors playing basketball for the Plains Horsemen this past winter as part of a cooperative agreement between the schools. A little behind his teammates in recovery time due to the severity of his injury, Slonaker, also a junior, has just recently been cleared to compete again.

“These kids have been through a lot of adversity and are bouncing back stronger and more determined than ever,” Colyer said. “There are great things ahead for these athletes this year and I couldn't ask for a better group of young men and women to coach.”

Colyer expects Christensen and junior Kora Hensrude to be team leaders for the girls, and Aldridge, Slonaker, senior Samson Jakabosky and sophomore Chase DePoe to be the leaders for the boys.

Erica Cannon, Callie Cano, Ava Bouquet, Alisha Jakabosky, Eleanor Massey and Dakota Slonaker are the other girls on the Hot Springs track roster and Bill Detienne, Odin Max, Brayden Colyer and Andrew Waterbury are the other Savage Heat boys.

The State C champion in the 110 meter hurdles last spring for Hot Springs, David Chapman is now in his first year as an assistant coach for his alma mater.

Although they were not full strength, Savage Heat thinclads did compete in the Spring Fever Meet in Eureka back on March 27 and several Hot Springs athletes had great outings. Also set to participate in the ARM Meet in Whitefish last Thursday, that meet ended up being cancelled in anticipation of forecast bad weather.

“We had a pretty solid day up in Eureka,” coach Colyer reported. “We saw lots of personal bests in just our first outing.”

Performing the best of all Hot Springs athletes and perhaps the best of any from any team in Eureka that day, Aldridge won the 110 meter hurdles, the 300 meter hurdles, the javelin and the long jump in the Spring Fever Meet, besides running down second place in the 100 meter dash.

Hensrude also had a strong season-opening outing, winning the shot put and placing second in 100 and 200 meter sprints, as well as in the discus

Whatever ends up happening this season, Colyer is just glad to have all his injured kids back, and has high hopes for all his other athletes as well. “We will be in full force for the Dave Tripp,” he said, “and look forward to what the season brings.”